LXX Concordance for εἶπαν

And they said, “Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let's make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”

“I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant's way. Later, you can continue on.”

“Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”

and said, “My lords, turn aside to your servant's house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and go on your way.”

“No,” they said. “We would rather spend the night in the square.”

“Get out of the way! ” they said, adding, “This one came here as an alien, but he's acting like a judge! Now we'll do more harm to you than to them.” They put pressure on Lot and came up to break down the door.

Then the angels said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here: a son-in-law, your sons and daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of this place,

As soon as the angels got them outside, one of them[fn] said, “Run for your lives! Don't look back and don't stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away! ”

A meal was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.”

So Laban said, “Please speak.”

Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we have no choice in the matter.[fn]

But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for about ten days. Then she[fn] can go.”

So they said, “Let's call the girl and ask her opinion.”[fn]

They blessed Rebekah, saying to her:

Our sister, may you become

thousands upon ten thousands.

May your offspring possess

the city gates of their[fn] enemies.

They replied, “We have clearly seen how the LORD has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties ​— ​between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you:

On that same day Isaac's servants came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, “We have found water! ”

Jacob asked the men at the well, “My brothers! Where are you from? ”

“We're from Haran,” they answered.

But they replied, “We can't until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone is rolled from the well's opening. Then we will water the sheep.”

Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Do we have any portion or inheritance in our father's family?

“We cannot do this thing,” they said to them. “Giving our sister to an uncircumcised man is a disgrace to us.

But they answered, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute? ”

“Are you really going to reign over us? ” his brothers asked him. “Are you really going to rule us? ” So they hated him even more because of his dream and what he had said.

They said to one another, “Oh, look, here comes that dream expert![fn]

They sent the long-sleeved robe to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it. Is it your son's robe or not? ”

He asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim? ”

“There has been no cult prostitute here,” they answered.

“We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.”

Then Joseph said to them, “Don't interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them.

“Where do you come from? ” he asked.

“From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.

“No, my lord. Your servants have come to buy food,” they said.

But they replied, “We, your servants, were twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now[fn] with our father, and one is no longer living.”

They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother? ' And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here'? ”

But the men were afraid because they were taken to Joseph's house. They said, “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time. They intend to overpower us, seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.”

They answered, “Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.” And they knelt low and paid homage to him.

And Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What is your occupation? ”

They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants, both we and our ancestors, are shepherds.”

When that year was over, they came the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our lord that the silver is gone and that all our livestock belongs to our lord. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

“You have saved our lives,” they said. “We have found favor with our lord and will be Pharaoh's slaves.”

When the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a solemn mourning on the part of the Egyptians.” Therefore the place is named Abel-mizraim.[fn] It is across the Jordan.

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said to one another, “If Joseph is holding a grudge against us, he will certainly repay us for all the suffering we caused him.”

His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves! ”

The midwives said to Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.”

They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival for me in the wilderness.”

“May the LORD take note of you and judge,” they said to them, “because you have made us reek to Pharaoh and his officials ​— ​putting a sword in their hand to kill us! ”

“This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may worship me.

Now the Egyptians pressured the people in order to send them quickly out of the country, for they said, “We're all going to die! ”

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”

He caused their chariot wheels to swerve[fn][fn] and made them drive[fn] with difficulty. “Let's get away from Israel,” the Egyptians said, “because the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt! ”

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD. They said:

I will sing to the LORD,

for he is highly exalted;

he has thrown the horse

and its rider into the sea.

The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger! ”

When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it? ” because they didn't know what it was.

Moses told them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.

Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the LORD has spoken.” So Moses brought the people's words back to the LORD.

“You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don't let God speak to us, or we will die.”

He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey all that the LORD has commanded.”

He told the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute should go to them.”

“They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.' ”

and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than is needed for the construction of the work the LORD commanded to be done.”

and said to him, “We are unclean because of a human corpse. Why should we be excluded from presenting the LORD's offering at its appointed time with the other Israelites? ”

The riffraff[fn] among them had a strong craving for other food. The Israelites wept again and said, “Who will feed us meat?

They said, “Does the LORD speak only through Moses? Does he not also speak through us? ” And the LORD heard it.

They reported to Moses, “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit.

But the men who had gone up with him responded, “We can't attack the people because they are stronger than we are! ”

All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!

So they said to one another, “Let's appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”

and said to the entire Israelite community, “The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land.

They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have gone too far! Everyone in the entire community is holy, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the LORD's assembly? ”

Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come!

But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “God, God who gives breath to all,[fn] when one man sins, will you vent your wrath on the whole community? ”

Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we're perishing! We're lost; we're all lost!

The elders of Moab and Midian departed with fees for divination in hand. They came to Balaam and reported Balak's words to him.

The officials of Moab arose, returned to Balak, and reported, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

and told him, “Your servants have taken a census of the fighting men under our command, and not one of us is missing.

So the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses, the priest Eleazar, and the leaders of the community and said,

The Gadites and Reubenites answered Moses, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands.

They said, “The LORD commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites. My lord was further commanded by the LORD to give our brother Zelophehad's inheritance to his daughters.

They answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go.

The men answered her, “We will give our lives for yours. If you don't report our mission, we will show kindness and faithfulness to you when the LORD gives us the land.”

The men said to her, “We will be free from this oath you made us swear,

They told Joshua, “The LORD has handed over the entire land to us. Everyone who lives in the land is also panicking because of us.”[fn]

After returning to Joshua they reported to him, “Don't send all the people, but send about two thousand or three thousand[fn] men to attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, don't wear out all our people there.”

They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Please make a treaty with us.”

“So our elders and all the inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey; go and meet them and say, “We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.” '

All the leaders answered them, “We have sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.

They also said, “Let them live.” So the Gibeonites became woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had promised them.

But the descendants of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who inhabit the valley area have iron chariots, both at Beth-shean with its surrounding villages and in the Jezreel Valley.”

The Israelites were pleased with the report, and they blessed God. They spoke no more about going to war against them to ravage the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived.

Ehud was gone when Eglon's servants came in. They looked and found the doors of the upstairs room locked and thought he was relieving himself[fn] in the cool room.

They said to each other, “Who did this? ” After they made a thorough investigation, they said, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

But the princes of Succoth asked, “Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands that we should give bread to your army? ”

He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor? ”

“They were like you,” they said. “Each resembled the son of a king.”

They said, “We agree to give them.” So they spread out a cloak, and everyone threw an earring from his plunder on it.

His mother's relatives spoke all these words about him in the hearing of all the citizens of Shechem, and they were favorable to Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.”

Then the trees said to the fig tree,

“Come and reign over us.”

Later, the trees said to the grapevine,

“Come and reign over us.”

Finally, all the trees said to the bramble,

“Come and reign over us.”

But the Israelites said, “We have sinned. Deal with us as you see fit; only rescue us today! ”

They said to him, “Come, be our commander, and let's fight the Ammonites.”

They answered Jephthah, “That's true. But now we turn to you. Come with us, fight the Ammonites, and you will become leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD is our witness if we don't do as you say.”

Then Jephthah gathered all of the men of Gilead. They fought and defeated Ephraim, because Ephraim had said, “You Gileadites are Ephraimite fugitives in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh.”

“But if you can't explain it to me, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.”

“Tell us your riddle,” they replied.[fn] “Let's hear it.”

On the fourth[fn] day they said to Samson's wife, “Persuade your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father's family to death. Did you invite us here to rob us? ”

On the seventh day, before sunset, the men of the city said to him:

What is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?

So he said to them:

If you hadn't plowed with my young cow,

you wouldn't know my riddle now!

Then the Philistines asked, “Who did this? ”

They were told, “It was Samson, the Timnite's son-in-law, because he took Samson's wife and gave her to his companion.” So the Philistines went to her and her father and burned them to death.

So the men of Judah said, “Why have you attacked us? ”

They replied, “We have come to tie Samson up and pay him back for what he did to us.”

The Philistine leaders went to her and said, “Persuade him to tell you[fn] where his great strength comes from, so we can overpower him, tie him up, and make him helpless. Each of us will then give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

Now the Philistine leaders gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said:

Our god has handed over

our enemy Samson to us.

So the Danites sent out five brave men from all their clans, from Zorah and Eshtaol, to scout out the land and explore it. They told them, “Go and explore the land.”

They came to the hill country of Ephraim as far as the home of Micah and spent the night there.

Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God for us to determine if we will have a successful journey.”

They answered, “Come on, let's attack them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why wait? Don't hesitate to go and invade and take possession of the land!

The five men who had gone to scout out the land of Laish told their brothers, “Did you know that there are an ephod, household gods, and a carved image and a silver idol[fn] in these houses? Now think about what you should do.”

They told him, “Be quiet. Keep your mouth shut.[fn] Come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or for you to be a priest for a tribe and family in Israel? ”

They called to the Danites, who turned to face them, and said to Micah, “What's the matter with you that you mustered the men? ”

While they were enjoying themselves, all of a sudden, wicked men of the city surrounded the house and beat on the door. They said to the old man who was the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him! ”

The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.

The Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this evil act happen? ”

They set out, went to Bethel, and inquired of God. The Israelites asked, “Who is to go first to fight for us against the Benjaminites? ”

And the LORD answered, “Judah will be first.”

The Benjaminites said, “We are defeating them as before.”

But the Israelites said, “Let's flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.”

the men of Israel would return to the battle. When Benjamin had begun to strike them down, killing about thirty men of Israel, they said, “They're defeated before us, just as they were in the first battle.”

and cried out, “Why, LORD God of Israel, has it occurred[fn] that one tribe is missing in Israel today? ”

The Israelites asked, “Who of all the tribes of Israel didn't come to the LORD with the assembly? ” For a great oath had been taken that anyone who had not come to the LORD at Mizpah would certainly be put to death.

They asked, “Which city among the tribes of Israel didn't come to the LORD at Mizpah? ” It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp and the assembly.

The elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed? ”

They also said, “Look, there's an annual festival to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”

They said to her, “We insist on returning with you to your people.”

The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you without a family redeemer today. May his name become well known in Israel.

When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the LORD defeat us today before the Philistines? Let's bring the ark of the LORD's covenant from Shiloh. Then it[fn] will go with us and save us from our enemies.”

“The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “because the ark of God has been captured.”

They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel's God away, do not send it without an offering. Send back a guilt offering to him, and you will be healed. Then the reason his hand hasn't been removed from you will be revealed.”[fn]

The people of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of the LORD this holy God? To whom should the ark go from here? ”

When they gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out in the LORD's presence. They fasted that day, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.

The Israelites said to Samuel, “Don't stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, so that he will save us from the Philistines.”

They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.”

The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No! ” they said. “We must have a king over us.

Saul's uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go? ”

“To look for the donkeys,” Saul answered. “When we saw they weren't there, we went to Samuel.”

Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among the entire population.”

And all the people shouted,[fn] “Long live the king! ”

But some wicked men said, “How can this guy save us? ” They despised him and did not bring him a gift, but Saul said nothing.[fn][fn]

Then the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Tomorrow we will come out, and you can do whatever you want to us.”

“You haven't wronged us, you haven't mistreated us, and you haven't taken anything from anyone,” they responded.

They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so we won't die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of requesting a king for ourselves.”

Saul said, “Let's go down after the Philistines tonight and plunder them until morning. Don't let even one remain! ”

“Do whatever you want,” the troops replied.

But the priest said, “Let's approach God here.”

Samuel did what the LORD directed and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled[fn] and asked, “Do[fn] you come in peace? ”

so Saul's servants said to him, “You see that an evil spirit from God is tormenting you.

Then Saul himself went to Ramah. He came to the large cistern at Secu and asked, “Where are Samuel and David? ”

“At Naioth in Ramah,” someone said.

But Achish's servants said to him, “Isn't this David, the king of the land? Don't they sing about him during their dances:

Saul has killed his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands? ”

But David's men said to him, “Look, we're afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces! ”

Saul then said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.”

His servants replied, “There is a woman at En-dor who is a medium.”

but all the corrupt and worthless men among those who had gone with David argued, “Because they didn't go with us, we will not give any of the plunder we recovered to them except for each man's wife and children. They may take them and go.”

They brought Ish-bosheth's head to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here's the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who intended to take your life. Today the LORD has granted vengeance to my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”

All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.[fn]

On the seventh day the baby died. But David's servants were afraid to tell him the baby was dead. They said, “Look, while the baby was alive, we spoke to him, and he wouldn't listen to us. So how can we tell him the baby is dead? He may do something desperate.”

His servants asked him, “Why have you done this? While the baby was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate food.”

“Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant and said, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother so we may put him to death for the life of the brother he murdered. We will eliminate the heir! ' They would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband's name or posterity on earth.”

Then Absalom said to his servants, “See, Joab has a field right next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set fire to it! ” So Absalom's servants set the field on fire.[fn]

Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house and asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? ”

“They passed by toward the water,”[fn] the woman replied to them. The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

honey, curds, sheep, goats, and cheese[fn] from the herd for David and the people with him to eat. They had reasoned, “The people must be hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”

“You must not go! ” the people pleaded. “If we have to flee, they will not pay any attention to us. Even if half of us die, they will not pay any attention to us because you are worth[fn] ten thousand of us. Therefore, it is better if you support us from the city.”

All the men of Judah responded to the men of Israel, “Because the king is our relative. Why does this make you angry? Have we ever eaten anything of the king's or been honored at all? ”[fn]

The Gibeonites said to him, “We are not asking for silver and gold from Saul or his family, and we cannot put anyone to death in Israel.”

“Whatever you say, I will do for you,” he said.

“For today he went down and lavishly sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep. He invited all the sons of the king, the commanders of the army, and the priest Abiathar. And look! They're eating and drinking in his presence, and they're saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah! '

All the elders and all the people said to him, “Don't listen or agree.”

So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, about four hundred men, and asked them, “Should I go against Ramoth-gilead for war or should I refrain? ”

They replied, “March up, and the Lord will hand it over to the king.”

They replied, “A man came to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and declare to him, “This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you're sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore, you will not get up from your sickbed; you will certainly die.” ' ”

Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today? ”

He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

“This is blood! ” they exclaimed. “The kings have crossed swords[fn] and their men have killed one another. So, to the spoil, Moab! ”

Jehoiada brought out the king's son, put the crown on him, gave him the testimony,[fn] and made him king. They anointed him and clapped their hands and cried, “Long live the king! ”

The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will never get in here.” Yet David did capture the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.

So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.”

So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men, and asked them, “Should we go to Ramoth-gilead for war or should I refrain? ”

They replied, “March up, and God will hand it over to the king.”

When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “He must be the king of Israel! ” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him. God drew them away from him.

Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah, and Jehu's soldiers captured him (he was hiding in Samaria). So they brought Ahaziah to Jehu, and they killed him. The soldiers buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat who sought the LORD with all his heart.” So no one from the house of Ahaziah had the strength to rule the kingdom.

They brought out the king's son, put the crown on him, gave him the testimony, and made him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and cried, “Long live the king! ”

So the LORD's anger was against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why have you sought a people's gods that could not rescue their own people from you? ”

They took their stand against King Uzziah and said, “Uzziah, you have no right to offer incense to the LORD ​— ​only the consecrated priests, the descendants of Aaron, have the right to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully! You will not receive honor from the LORD God.”

Uzziah rested with his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the burial ground of the kings' cemetery, for they said, “He has a skin disease.” His son Jotham became king in his place.

They said to them, “You must not bring the captives here, for you plan to bring guilt on us from the LORD to add to our sins and our guilt. For we have much guilt, and burning anger is on Israel.”

Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole temple of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the rows of the Bread of the Presence and all its utensils.

Jeremiah chanted a dirge over Josiah, and all the male and female singers still speak of Josiah in their dirges today. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Dirges.

they approached Zerubbabel and the family heads and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we also worship your God and have been sacrificing to him[fn] since the time King Esar-haddon of Assyria brought us here.”

At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues came to the Jews and asked, “Who gave you the order to rebuild this temple and finish this structure? ”[fn]

Then all the assembly responded loudly, “Yes, we will do as you say!

When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked and despised us, and said, “What is this you're doing? Are you rebelling against the king? ”

Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “Indeed, even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall! ”

And our enemies said, “They won't realize it[fn] until we're among them and can kill them and stop the work.”

They responded, “We will return these things and require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.”

So I summoned the priests and made everyone take an oath to do this.

all the people gathered together at the square in front of the Water Gate. They asked the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses that the LORD had given Israel.

Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and with their hands uplifted all the people said, “Amen, Amen! ” Then they knelt low and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.

Even after they had cast an image of a calf

for themselves and said,

“This is your god who brought you out of Egypt,”

and they had committed terrible blasphemies,

The king's personal attendants suggested, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.

The king inquired, “What honor and special recognition have been given to Mordecai for this act? ”

The king's personal attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.”

The king's attendants answered him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.”

“Have him enter,” the king ordered.

Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai is Jewish, and you have begun to fall before him, you won't overcome him, because your downfall is certain.”

May the day I was born perish,

and the night that said,

“A boy is conceived.”

Abaddon and Death say,

“We have heard news of it with our ears.”

They open their mouths wide against me and say,

“Aha, aha! We saw it! ”[fn]

My enemies speak maliciously about me:

“When will he die and be forgotten? ”

They adopt[fn] an evil plan;

they talk about hiding traps and say,

“Who will see them? ”[fn]

For my enemies talk about me,

and those who spy on me plot together,

The wicked say, “How can God know?

Does the Most High know everything? ”

They said in their hearts,

“Let's oppress them relentlessly.”

They burned every place throughout the land

where God met with us.[fn]

They spoke against God, saying,

“Is God able to provide food in the wilderness?

They say, “Come, let's wipe them out as a nation

so that Israel's name will no longer be remembered.”

who said, “Let's seize God's pastures for ourselves.”

They say, “The LORD doesn't see it.

The God of Jacob doesn't pay attention.”

Then none who pass by will say,

“May the LORD's blessing be on you.

We bless you in the name of the LORD.”

They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace. It is as if children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.

“I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,

who said to you,

‘Lie down, so we can walk over you.'

You made your back like the ground,

and like a street for those who walk on it.

They stopped asking, “Where is the LORD

who brought us from the land of Egypt,

who led us through the wilderness,

through a land of deserts and ravines,

through a land of drought and darkness,[fn]

a land no one traveled through

and where no one lived? ”

The priests quit asking, “Where is the LORD? ”

The experts in the law no longer knew me,

and the rulers rebelled against me.

The prophets prophesied by[fn] Baal

and followed useless idols.

say to a tree, “You are my father,”

and to a stone, “You gave birth to me.”

For they have turned their back to me

and not their face,

yet in their time of disaster they beg,

“Rise up and save us! ”

They have contradicted the LORD

and insisted, “It won't happen.[fn]

Harm won't come to us;

we won't see sword or famine.”

This is what the LORD says:

Stand by the roadways and look.

Ask about the ancient paths,

“Which is the way to what is good? ”

Then take it

and find rest for yourselves.

But they protested, “We won't! ”

How long will the land mourn

and the grass of every field wither?

Because of the evil of its residents,

animals and birds have been swept away,

for the people have said,

“He cannot see what our end will be.”[fn]

“But they will say, ‘It's hopeless. We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.' ”

Then certain ones said, “Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will never be lost from the priest, or counsel from the wise, or a word from the prophet. Come, let's denounce him[fn] and pay no attention to all his words.”

“They keep on saying to those who despise me, ‘The LORD has spoken: You will have peace.' They have said to everyone who follows the stubbornness of his heart, ‘No harm will come to you.' ”

Then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man deserves the death sentence because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”

Then the officials and all the people told the priests and prophets, “This man doesn't deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God! ”

But they replied, “We do not drink wine, for Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, commanded, ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine.

They said to him, “Sit down and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.

The officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide and tell no one where you are.”

The officials then said to the king, “This man ought to die, because he is weakening the morale[fn] of the warriors who remain in this city and of all the people by speaking to them in this way. This man is not pursuing the welfare of this people, but their harm.”

and warned him, “Don't you realize that Baalis, king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you? ” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them.

However, there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Don't kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field ​— ​wheat, barley, oil, and honey! ” So he stopped and did not kill them along with their companions.

the prophet Jeremiah and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the LORD your God on our behalf, on behalf of this entire remnant (for few of us remain out of the many, as you can see with your own eyes),

And they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we don't act according to every word the LORD your God sends you to tell us.

Whoever found them devoured them.

Their adversaries said, “We're not guilty;

instead, they have sinned against the LORD,

their righteous grazing land,

the hope of their ancestors, the LORD.”

They cry out to their mothers,

“Where is the grain and wine? ”

as they faint like the wounded

in the streets of the city,

as their life pours out

in the arms of their mothers.

All your enemies

open their mouths against you.

They hiss and gnash their teeth,

saying, “We have swallowed her up.

This is the day we have waited for!

We have lived to see it.”

He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us. The LORD has abandoned the land.' ”

He answered me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has abandoned the land; he does not see.'

“Son of man, your own relatives, those who have the right to redeem your property,[fn][fn] along with the entire house of Israel ​— ​all of them ​— ​are those to whom the residents of Jerusalem have said, ‘You are far from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.'

“Son of man, hasn't the house of Israel, that rebellious house, asked you, ‘What are you doing? '

“ ‘Look, everyone who uses proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.”

They answered a second time, “May the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will make known the interpretation.”

Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm. He said to his advisers, “Didn't we throw three men, bound, into the fire? ”

“Yes, of course, Your Majesty,” they replied to the king.

“As for the command to leave the tree's stump with its roots, your kingdom will be restored[fn] to you as soon as you acknowledge that Heaven[fn] rules.

So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said to him, “May King Darius live forever.

Then the men were seized by a great fear and said to him, “What have you done? ” The men knew he was fleeing from the LORD's presence because he had told them.

So they called out to the LORD, “Please, LORD, don't let us perish because of this man's life, and don't charge us with innocent blood! For you, LORD, have done just as you pleased.”

“If a man is carrying consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and it touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any other food, does it become holy? ”

The priests answered, “No.”

“But didn't my words and my statutes that I commanded my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors? ' ”

So the people repented and said, “As the LORD of Armies decided to deal with us for our ways and our deeds, so he has dealt with us.”