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Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so.
The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
These are the records of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation. At the time[fn] that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,[fn] and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me — she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”
So the LORD God asked the woman, “What have you done? ”
And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
He said to the woman:
I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children with painful effort.
Your desire will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.
And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it':
The ground is cursed because of you.
You will eat from it by means of painful labor[fn]
all the days of your life.
“If you do what is right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness.[fn]
Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.
“But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives.
So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives entered the ark because of the floodwaters.
On that same day Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, entered the ark, along with Noah's wife and his three sons' wives.
The water surged and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.
The ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.
but the dove found no resting place for its foot. It returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought it into the ark to himself.
When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth's surface had gone down.
When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, he said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.
Eber had two sons. One was named Peleg,[fn] for during his days the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.
They said to each other, “Come, let's make oven-fired bricks.” (They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.)
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.”
“Please say you're my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.”
“Why did you say, ‘She's my sister,' so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go! ”
Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev — he, his wife, and all he had, and Lot with him.
He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been,
But the land was unable to support them as long as they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they could not stay together,
“Isn't the whole land before you? Separate from me: if you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”
Lot looked out and saw that the entire plain[fn] of the Jordan as far as Zoar was well watered everywhere like the LORD's garden and the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
Now the Siddim Valley contained many asphalt pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them,[fn] but the rest fled to the mountains.
Abram's wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar.
So Abram's wife, Sarai, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years.
He slept with[fn] Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her.
Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your power; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.
“As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations.
“This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised.
“Whether born in your household or purchased, he must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as a permanent covenant.
“If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah[fn] will be her name.
But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac.[fn] I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring.
The LORD said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year's time, and your wife Sarah will have a son! ” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.
“for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people is so great before the LORD, that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”
“Look, this town is close enough for me to flee to. It is a small place. Please let me run to it — it's only a small place, isn't it? — so that I can survive.”
Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us as is the custom of all the land.
So they got their father to drink wine that night, and the firstborn came and slept with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.
The next day the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight so you can go sleep with him and we can preserve our father's line.”
That night they again got their father to drink wine, and the younger went and slept with him; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.
The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab.[fn] He is the father of the Moabites of today.
The younger also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi.[fn] He is the father of the Ammonites of today.
He settled in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Should I have your son go back to the land you came from? ”
“If the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are free from this oath to me, but don't let my son go back there.”
“Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please lower your water jug so that I may drink,' and who responds, ‘Drink, and I'll water your camels also' — let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah — daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor — coming with a jug on her shoulder.
Now the girl was very beautiful, a virgin — no man had been intimate with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up.
She replied, “Drink, my lord.” She quickly lowered her jug to her hand and gave him a drink.
“Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master in her[fn] old age, and he has given him everything he owns.
“I am standing here at a spring. Let the young woman[fn] who comes out to draw water, and I say to her, ‘Please let me drink a little water from your jug,'
“and who responds to me, ‘Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels also' — let her be the woman the LORD has appointed for my master's son.
“Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you? ' She responded, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.' So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.
But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for about ten days. Then she[fn] can go.”
They called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man? ”
She replied, “I will go.”
and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us? ”
The servant answered, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself.
These are the family records of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's slave, bore to Abraham.
Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The LORD was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
After this, his brother came out grasping Esau's heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob.[fn] Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
“Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die.”
His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.”
So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved.
Jacob replied to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may bless me.”
So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
Then he said, “Bring it closer to me, and let me eat some of my son's game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it closer to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.
He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son's game, so that you may bless me.”
His father Isaac answered him,
Look, your dwelling place will be
away from the richness of the land,
away from the dew of the sky above.
And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching the sky, and God's angels were going up and down on it.
The LORD was standing there beside him,[fn] saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying.
“Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”
“Is he well? ” Jacob asked.
“Yes,” they said, “and here is his daughter Rachel, coming with his sheep.”
While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she'll bear children for me[fn] so that through her I too can build a family.”
“In the future when you come to check on my wages, my honesty will testify for me. If I have any female goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not black, they will be considered stolen.”
“I could do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Watch yourself! Don't say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.'
“If you find your gods with anyone here, he will not live! Before our relatives, point out anything that is yours and take it.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.
Then Laban said, “This mound is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore the place was called Galeed
and also Mizpah,[fn] for he said, “May the LORD watch between you and me when we are out of each other's sight.
He thought, “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining one can escape.”
Jacob then named the place Peniel,[fn] “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “yet my life has been spared.”
Leah's daughter Dinah, whom Leah bore to Jacob, went out to see some of the young women of the area.
“Live with us. The land is before you. Settle here, move about, and acquire property in it.”
“These men are peaceful toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and move about in it, for indeed, the region is large enough for them. Let's take their daughters as our wives and give our daughters to them.
During her difficult labor, the midwife said to her, “Don't be afraid, for you have another son.”
For their possessions were too many for them to live together, and because of their herds, the land where they stayed could not support them.
Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
He told his father and brothers, and his father rebuked him. “What kind of dream is this that you have had? ” he said. “Am I and your mother and your brothers really going to come and bow down to the ground before you? ”
After a long time[fn] Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers.
He went over to her and said, “Come, let me sleep with you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.
She said, “What will you give me for sleeping with me? ”
“I will send you a young goat from my flock,” he replied.
But she said, “Only if you leave something with me until you send it.”
“What should I give you? ” he asked.
She answered, “Your signet ring, your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
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.
About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law, Tamar, has been acting like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant.”
“Bring her out,” Judah said, “and let her be burned to death! ”
As she was being brought out, she sent her father-in-law this message: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Examine them. Whose signet ring, cord, and staff are these? ”
As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand, and the midwife took it and tied a scarlet thread around it, announcing, “This one came out first.”
But then he pulled his hand back, out came his brother, and she said, “What a breakout you have made for yourself! ” So he was named Perez.[fn]
After some time his master's wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”
“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.”
“This is its interpretation,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days.
When morning came, he was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
“The abundance in the land will not be remembered because of the famine that follows it, for the famine will be very severe.
“The food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine that will take place in the land of Egypt. Then the country will not be wiped out by the famine.”
Joseph gathered all the excess food in the land of Egypt during the seven years and put it in the cities. He put the food in every city from the fields around it.
When the whole land of Egypt was stricken with famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh told all Egypt, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”
Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.”
He said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned! It's here in my bag.” Their hearts sank. Trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What has God done to us? ”
Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. We will be on our way so that we may live and not die — neither we, nor you, nor our dependents.
Portions were served to them from Joseph's table, and Benjamin's portion was five times larger than any of theirs. They drank and became drunk with Joseph.
“So if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us — his life is wrapped up with the boy's life —
When the news reached Pharaoh's palace, “Joseph's brothers have come,” Pharaoh and his servants were pleased.
They said, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt! ” Jacob was stunned,[fn] for he did not believe them.
Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. They were born to him by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, a priest at On.[fn]
“the land of Egypt is open before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They can live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”
But there was no food in the entire region, for the famine was very severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were exhausted by the famine.
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.
“Why should we die here in front of you — both us and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food. Then we with our land will become Pharaoh's slaves. Give us seed so that we can live and not die, and so that the land won't become desolate.”
In this way, Joseph acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, because every Egyptian sold his field since the famine was so severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's,
“When I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way, some distance from Ephrath in the land of Canaan. I buried her there along the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
“May I never enter their council;
may I never join their assembly.
For in their anger they kill men,
and on a whim they hamstring oxen.
“Their anger is cursed, for it is strong,
and their fury, for it is cruel!
I will disperse them throughout Jacob
and scatter them throughout Israel.
along with all Joseph's family, his brothers, and his father's family. Only their dependents, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen.
But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous so that the land was filled with them.
But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.
Pharaoh's daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds, sent her slave girl, took it,
opened it, and saw him, the child — and there he was, a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.”
Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Should I go and call a Hebrew woman who is nursing to nurse the boy for you? ”
Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him.
She gave birth to a son whom he named Gershom,[fn] for he said, “I have been a resident alien in a foreign land.”
After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, they cried out, and their cry for help because of the difficult labor ascended to God.
“They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.
In addition the LORD said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, resembling snow.[fn]
These are the heads of their fathers' families:
The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel:
Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.
These are the clans of Reuben.
Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron's staff swallowed their staffs.
However, Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hard: He refuses to let the people go.
But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
“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.
“But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where my people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, the LORD, am in the land.
And the LORD did this. Thick swarms of flies went into Pharaoh's palace and his officials' houses. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies.
“As soon as I leave you,” Moses said, “I will appeal to the LORD, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. But Pharaoh must not act deceptively again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the LORD.”
Pharaoh sent messengers who saw that not a single one of the Israelite livestock was dead. But Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he did not let the people go.
“Therefore give orders to bring your livestock and all that you have in the field into shelters. Every person and animal that is in the field and not brought inside will die when the hail falls on them.”
The hail, with lightning flashing through it, was so severe that nothing like it had occurred in the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.
Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both people and animals. The hail beat down every plant of the field and shattered every tree in the field.
Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know the earth[fn] belongs to the LORD.
The flax and the barley were destroyed because the barley was ripe[fn] and the flax was budding,
Moses left Pharaoh and the city, and spread out his hands to the LORD. Then the thunder and hail ceased, and rain no longer poured down on the land.
When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his officials.
So Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he did not let the Israelites go, as the LORD had said through Moses.
“They will cover the surface of the land so that no one will be able to see the land. They will eat the remainder left to you that escaped the hail; they will eat every tree you have growing in the fields.
The LORD then said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, and the locusts will come up over it and eat every plant in the land, everything that the hail left.”
They covered the surface of the whole land so that the land was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on the trees or the plants in the field throughout the land of Egypt.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the LORD. Even your families may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.”
“This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the LORD. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.
“You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast from your houses. Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off from Israel.
“You are to hold a sacred assembly on the first day and another sacred assembly on the seventh day. No work may be done on those days except for preparing what people need to eat — you may do only that.
“Yeast must not be found in your houses for seven days. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a resident alien or native of the land, must be cut off from the community of Israel.
At the end of 430 years, on that same day, all the LORD's military divisions went out from the land of Egypt.
It was a night of vigil in honor of the LORD, because he would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the LORD, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations.
“Pharaoh will say of the Israelites: They are wandering around the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.
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.”
The Egyptians — all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, his horsemen,[fn] and his army — chased after them and caught up with them as they camped by the sea beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces. There was cloud and darkness, it lit up the night, and neither group came near the other all night long.
The Egyptians set out in pursuit — all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen — and went into the sea after them.
LORD, your right hand is glorious in power.
LORD, your right hand shattered the enemy.
The enemy said:
“I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil.
My desire will be gratified at their expense.
I will draw my sword;
my hand will destroy[fn] them.”
Then the prophetess Miriam, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women came out following her with tambourines and dancing.
As Aaron was speaking to the entire Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and there in a cloud the LORD's glory appeared.
Moses said to Joshua, “Select some men for us and go fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with God's staff in my hand.”
Moses's father-in-law, Jethro, along with Moses's wife and sons, came to him in the wilderness where he was camped at the mountain of God.
He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”
“Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine,
“No hand may touch him;[fn] instead he will be stoned or shot with arrows and not live, whether animal or human. When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they may go up the mountain.”
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You must not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates.
“If he arrives alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrives with[fn] a wife, his wife is to leave with him.
“If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to her master, and the man must leave alone.
“If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must pay an amount in silver equal to the bridal price for virgins.
“But if you will carefully obey him and do everything I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.
“I will not drive them out ahead of you in a single year; otherwise, the land would become desolate, and wild animals would multiply against you.
The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses from the cloud.
“Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, and the table can be carried by them.
“Five of the curtains should be joined together, and the other five curtains joined together.
“Also make fifty gold clasps and join the curtains together with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single unit.
“All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use and all its tent pegs as well as all the tent pegs of the courtyard are to be made of bronze.
“The robe will be worn by Aaron whenever he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he enters the sanctuary before the LORD and when he exits, so that he does not die.
“Take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle them on Aaron and his garments, as well as on his sons and their garments. So he and his garments will be holy, as well as his sons and their garments.
“The holy garments that belong to Aaron are to belong to his sons after him, so that they can be anointed and ordained[fn] in them.
“Observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Whoever profanes it must be put to death. If anyone does work on it, that person must be cut off from his people.
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God's writing, engraved on the tablets.
“and when my glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
As Moses descended from Mount Sinai — with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain — he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the LORD.[fn]
When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone! They were afraid to come near him.
Everyone whose heart was moved and whose spirit prompted him came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its services, and for the holy garments.
So the Israelites brought a freewill offering to the LORD, all the men and women whose hearts prompted them to bring something for all the work that the LORD, through Moses, had commanded to be done.
This is the inventory for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, that was recorded at Moses's command. It was the work of the Levites under the direction of[fn] Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
The tabernacle was set up in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month.[fn]
The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud rested on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
The Israelites set out whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle throughout all the stages of their journey.
“then the assembly must present a young bull as a sin offering. They are to bring it before the tent of meeting when the sin they have committed in regard to the command becomes known.
“He is to offer this bull just as he did with the bull in the sin offering; he will offer it the same way. So the priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven.
“or someone informs him about the sin he has committed, he is to bring an unblemished male goat as his offering.
“or if someone informs him about the sin he has committed, then he is to bring an unblemished female goat as his offering for the sin that he has committed.
“Or if someone swears rashly to do what is good or evil — concerning anything a person may speak rashly in an oath — without being aware of it, but later recognizes it, he incurs guilt in such an instance.
“He must bring his penalty for guilt for the sin he has committed to the LORD: a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin.
“But if he cannot afford an animal from the flock, then he may bring to the LORD two turtledoves or two young pigeons as penalty for guilt for his sin — one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.
“In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf concerning the sin he has committed in any of these cases, and he will be forgiven. The rest will belong to the priest, like the grain offering.”
“If someone sins and without knowing it violates any of the LORD's commands concerning anything prohibited, he is guilty, and he will bear his iniquity.
“Command Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the burnt offering; the burnt offering itself must remain on the altar's hearth all night until morning, while the fire of the altar is kept burning on it.
“If any of the meat of his fellowship sacrifice is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted. It will not be credited to the one who presents it; it is repulsive. The person who eats any of it will bear his iniquity.[fn]
“But the one who eats meat from the LORD's fellowship sacrifice while he is unclean, that person must be cut off from his people.
“If someone touches anything unclean, whether human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any unclean, abhorrent[fn] creature, and eats meat from the LORD's fellowship sacrifice, that person is to be cut off from his people.”
“If anyone eats animal fat from a food offering presented to the LORD, the person who eats it is to be cut off from his people.
This is the portion from the food offerings to the LORD for Aaron and his sons since the day they were presented to serve the LORD as priests.
Moses and Aaron then entered the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.
“But if she doesn't have sufficient means[fn] for a sheep, she may take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. Then the priest will make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean.”
“The priest will examine the sore on the skin of his body. If the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is in fact a serious skin disease. After the priest examines him, he must pronounce him unclean.
“But if the spot on the skin of his body is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest will quarantine the stricken person for seven days.
“The priest will then reexamine him on the seventh day. If he sees that the sore remains unchanged and has not spread on the skin, the priest will quarantine him for another seven days.
“The priest will examine him again on the seventh day. If the sore has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest is to pronounce him clean; it is a scab. The person is to wash his clothes and will become clean.
“But if the scab spreads further on his skin after he has presented himself to the priest for his cleansing, he is to present himself again to the priest.
“The priest will examine him, and if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest must pronounce him unclean; he has a serious skin disease.
“But if the skin disease breaks out all over the skin so that it covers all the skin of the stricken person from his head to his feet so far as the priest can see,
“the priest will look, and if the skin disease has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the stricken person clean. Since he has turned totally white, he is clean.
“The priest will examine him, and if the sore has turned white, the priest must pronounce the stricken person clean; he is clean.
“The priest will make an examination, and if the spot seems to be beneath the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a case of serious skin disease that has broken out in the boil.
“the priest is to examine it. If the hair in the spot has turned white and the spot appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a serious skin disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a serious skin disease.
“But if the spot has remained where it was and has not spread on the skin but is faded, it is the swelling from the burn. The priest is to pronounce him clean, for it is only the scar from the burn.
“the priest is to examine the condition. If it appears to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and sparse, the priest must pronounce the person unclean. It is a scaly outbreak, a serious skin disease of the head or chin.
“When the priest examines the scaly condition, if it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, the priest will quarantine the person with the scaly condition for seven days.
“The priest will reexamine the condition on the seventh day. If the scaly outbreak has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin,
“The priest will examine the scaly outbreak on the seventh day, and if it has not spread on the skin and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, the priest is to pronounce the person clean. He is to wash his clothes, and he will be clean.
“Or if he loses the hair at his hairline, he is bald on his forehead, but he is clean.
“The priest is to examine him, and if the swelling of the condition on his bald head or forehead is reddish-white, like the appearance of a serious skin disease on his body,
“the man is afflicted with a serious skin disease; he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; the infection is on his head.
“The person who has a case of serious skin disease is to have his clothes torn and his hair hanging loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean! '
“He will remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.
“and if the contamination is green or red in the fabric, the leather, the warp, the weft, or any leather article, it is a mildew contamination and is to be shown to the priest.
“The priest is to reexamine the contamination on the seventh day. If it has spread in the fabric, the warp, the weft, or the leather, regardless of how it is used, the contamination is harmful mildew; it is unclean.
“He is to burn the fabric, the warp or weft in wool or linen, or any leather article, which is contaminated. Since it is harmful mildew it must be burned.
“When the priest examines it, if the contamination has not spread in the fabric, the warp or weft, or any leather article,
“the priest is to order whatever is contaminated to be washed and quarantined for another seven days.
“After it has been washed, the priest is to reexamine the contamination. If the appearance of the contaminated article has not changed, it is unclean. Even though the contamination has not spread, you must burn the fabric. It is a fungus[fn] on the front or back of the fabric.
“If the priest examines it, and the contamination has faded after it has been washed, he is to cut the contaminated section out of the fabric, the leather, or the warp or weft.
“But if it reappears in the fabric, the warp or weft, or any leather article, it has broken out again. You must burn whatever is contaminated.
“But if the contamination disappears from the fabric, the warp or weft, or any leather article, which have been washed, it is to be washed again, and it will be clean.
“who will go outside the camp and examine him. If the skin disease has disappeared from the afflicted person,[fn]
“But if he is poor and cannot afford these, he is to take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be presented in order to make atonement for him, along with two quarts[fn] of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, one-third of a quart of olive oil,
“and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whatever he can afford, one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
“He is to then sacrifice one type of what he can afford, either the turtledoves or young pigeons,
“This is the law for someone who has[fn] a skin disease and cannot afford the cost of his cleansing.”
“the owner of the house is to come and tell the priest: Something like mildew contamination has appeared[fn] in my house.
“He will examine it, and if the contamination in the walls of the house consists of green or red indentations[fn] that appear to be beneath the surface of the wall,
“The priest is to return on the seventh day and examine it. If the contamination has spread on the walls of the house,
“the priest must order that the stones with the contamination be pulled out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city.
“the priest is to come and examine it. If the contamination has spread in the house, it is harmful mildew; the house is unclean.
“But when the priest comes and examines it, if the contamination has not spread in the house after it was replastered, he is to pronounce the house clean because the contamination has disappeared.[fn]
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any man has a discharge from his member, he is unclean.
“This is uncleanness of his discharge: Whether his member secretes the discharge or retains it, he is unclean. All the days that his member secretes or retains anything because of his discharge,[fn] he is unclean.
“When a woman has a discharge, and it consists of blood from her body, she will be unclean because of her menstruation for seven days. Everyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.
“If a man sleeps with her, and blood from her menstruation gets on him, he will be unclean for seven days, and every bed he lies on will become unclean.
“He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, so that the cloud of incense covers the mercy seat that is over the testimony, or else he will die.
“instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD before his tabernacle — that person will be considered guilty.[fn] He has shed blood and is to be cut off from his people.
“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for[fn] your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.
“Since the life of every creature is its blood, I have told the Israelites: You are not to eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it must be cut off.
“The land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its iniquity, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.
“For the people who were in the land prior to you have committed all these detestable acts, and the land has become defiled.
“If you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it has vomited out the nations that were before you.
“Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
“The priest will make atonement on his behalf before the LORD with the ram of the guilt offering for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven for the sin he committed.
“Do not debase[fn] your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity.
“If a man commits adultery with a married woman — if he commits adultery with his neighbor's wife — both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
“You are to keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.
“Say to them: If any man from any of your descendants throughout your generations is in a state of uncleanness yet approaches the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person will be cut off from my presence; I am the LORD.
“On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any daily work.
“You are to present a food offering to the LORD for seven days. On the seventh day there will be a sacred assembly; do not do any daily work.”
“There is to be a sacred assembly on the first day; you are not to do any daily work.
“You are to present a food offering to the LORD for seven days. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you are not to do any daily work.
“Bring the one who has cursed to the outside of the camp and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole community stone him.
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you, the land will observe a Sabbath to the LORD.
“Then the land will yield its fruit, so that you can eat, be satisfied, and live securely in the land.
“The land is not to be permanently sold because it is mine, and you are only aliens and temporary residents on my land.[fn]
“But if he cannot obtain enough to repay him, what he sold will remain in the possession of its purchaser until the Year of Jubilee. It is to be released at the Jubilee, so that he may return to his property.
“If a man sells a residence in a walled city, his right of redemption will last until a year has passed after its sale; his right of redemption will last a year.
“If it is not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house in the walled city is permanently transferred to its purchaser throughout his generations. It is not to be released on the Jubilee.
“Whatever property one of the Levites can redeem[fn] — a house sold in a city they possess — is to be released at the Jubilee, because the houses in the Levitical cities are their possession among the Israelites.
“If an alien or temporary resident living among you prospers, but your brother living near him becomes destitute and sells himself to the alien living among you, or to a member of the resident alien's clan,
“I will give you rain at the right time, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.
“if you reject my statutes and despise my ordinances, and do not observe all my commands — and break my covenant,
“and your strength will be used up for nothing. Your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.
“I will destroy your high places, cut down your shrines,[fn] and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless bodies of your idols; I will reject you.
“But I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword to chase after you. So your land will become desolate, and your cities will become ruins.
“Then the land will make up for its Sabbath years during the time it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time the land will rest and make up for its Sabbaths.
“and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies — and when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they make amends for their iniquity,
“For the land abandoned by them will make up for its Sabbaths by lying desolate without the people, while they make amends for their iniquity, because they rejected my ordinances and abhorred my statutes.
“if the assessment concerns a male from twenty to sixty years old, your assessment is fifty silver shekels measured by the standard sanctuary shekel.
“If the person is from five to twenty years old, your assessment for a male is twenty shekels and for a female ten shekels.
“If the person is from one month to five years old, your assessment for a male is five silver shekels, and for a female your assessment is three shekels of silver.
“If the person is sixty years or more, your assessment is fifteen shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female.
“But if one is too poor to pay the assessment, he is to present the person before the priest and the priest will set a value for him. The priest will set a value for him according to what the one making the vow can afford.
“When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will be holy to the LORD like a field permanently set apart; it becomes the priest's property.
“In the Year of Jubilee the field will return to the one he bought it from, the original owner.
These are the men Moses and Aaron registered, with the assistance of the twelve leaders of Israel; each represented his ancestral family.
So all the Israelites twenty years old or more, everyone who could serve in Israel's army, were registered by their ancestral families.
“The tent of meeting is to move out with the Levites' camp, which is in the middle of the camps. They are to move out just as they camp, each in his place,[fn] with their banners.
These are the Israelites registered by their ancestral families. The total number in the camps by their military divisions is 603,550.
The Gershonites' duties at the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting,
Their duties involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the sanctuary utensils that were used with these, and the screen[fn] — and all the work relating to them.
The assigned duties of Merari's descendants involved the tabernacle's supports, crossbars, pillars, bases, all its equipment, and all the work related to these,
The total number of all the Levite males one month old or more that Moses and Aaron[fn] registered by their clans at the LORD's command was 22,000.
“Whenever the camp is about to move on, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the screening curtain, and cover the ark of the testimony with it.
“Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has oversight of the lamp oil, the fragrant incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He has oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, the holy objects and their utensils.”[fn]
“This is the service of the Gershonite clans regarding work and transportation duties:
“All the service of the Gershonites, all their transportation duties and all their other work, is to be done at the command of Aaron and his sons; you are to assign to them all that they are responsible to carry.
“This is the service of the Gershonite clans at the tent of meeting, and their duties will be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
“This is the service of the Merarite clans regarding all their work at the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”
These were the registered men of the Kohathite clans, everyone who could serve at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron registered them at the LORD's command through Moses.
These were the registered men of the Gershonite clans. At the LORD's command Moses and Aaron registered everyone who could serve at the tent of meeting.
These were the registered men of the Merarite clans; Moses and Aaron registered them at the LORD's command through Moses.
“Tell the Israelites: When a man or woman commits any sin against another, that person acts unfaithfully toward the LORD and is guilty.
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If any man's wife goes astray, is unfaithful to him,
“May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach, causing your belly to swell and your womb to shrivel.'
“And the woman will reply, ‘Amen, Amen.'
“When he makes her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her to cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her womb will shrivel. She will become a curse among her people.
“But if the woman has not defiled herself and is pure, she will be unaffected and will be able to conceive children.
“This is the law regarding jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband's authority,
“If someone suddenly dies near him, defiling his consecrated head, he must shave his head on the day of his purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day.
“These are the instructions about the Nazirite who vows his offering to the LORD for his consecration, in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes in keeping with the instructions for his consecration.”
All the livestock for the fellowship sacrifice totaled twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty male lambs a year old. This was the dedication gift for the altar after it was anointed.
This is the way the lampstand was made: it was a hammered work of gold, hammered from its base to its flower petals. The lampstand was made according to the pattern the LORD had shown Moses.
“But the man who is ceremonially clean, is not on a journey, and yet fails to observe the Passover is to be cut off from his people, because he did not present the LORD's offering at its appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin.
On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony, and it appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning.
It remained that way continuously: the cloud would cover it,[fn] appearing like fire at night.
Whenever the cloud was lifted up above the tent, the Israelites would set out; at the place where the cloud stopped, there the Israelites camped.
At the LORD's command the Israelites set out, and at the LORD's command they camped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they camped.
Even when the cloud stayed over the tabernacle many days, the Israelites carried out the LORD's requirement and did not set out.
Sometimes the cloud remained over the tabernacle for only a few days. They would camp at the LORD's command and set out at the LORD's command.
Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning; when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out. Or if it remained a day and a night, they moved out when the cloud lifted.
“When both are sounded in long blasts, the entire community is to gather before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
During the second year, in the second month on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was lifted up above the tabernacle of the testimony.
The Israelites traveled on from the Wilderness of Sinai, moving from one place to the next until the cloud stopped in the Wilderness of Paran.
They set out from the mountain of the LORD on a three-day journey with the ark of the LORD's covenant traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.
Meanwhile, the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.
The people walked around and gathered it. They ground it on a pair of grinding stones or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot and shaped it into cakes. It tasted like a pastry cooked with the finest oil.
As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam's skin suddenly became diseased, resembling snow.[fn] When Aaron turned toward her, he saw that she was diseased
“Is the land they live in good or bad? Are the cities they live in encampments or fortifications?
“Is the land fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous. Bring back some fruit from the land.” It was the season for the first ripe grapes.
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!
and said to the entire Israelite community, “The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land.
While the whole community threatened to stone them, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.
“They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, LORD, are among these people, how you, LORD, are seen face to face, how your cloud stands over them, and how you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.
“Your corpses will fall in this wilderness — all of you who were registered in the census, the entire number of you twenty years old or more — because you have complained about me.
But they dared to go up the ridge of the hill country, even though the ark of the LORD's covenant and Moses did not leave the camp.
“When an alien resides with you or someone else is among you and wants to prepare a food offering as a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he is to do exactly as you do throughout your generations.
“and if it was done unintentionally without the community's awareness, the entire community is to prepare one young bull for a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and drink offering according to the regulation, and one male goat as a sin offering.
“But the person who acts defiantly,[fn] whether native or resident alien, blasphemes the LORD. That person is to be cut off from his people.
“He will certainly be cut off, because he has despised the LORD's word and broken his command; his guilt remains on him.”
Then the LORD told Moses, “The man is to be put to death. The entire community is to stone him outside the camp.”
So the entire community brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
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? ”
“Therefore, it is you and all your followers who have conspired against the LORD! As for Aaron, who is he[fn] that you should complain about him? ”
After Korah assembled the whole community against them at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole community.
So they got away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Meanwhile, Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance of their tents with their wives, children, and infants.
“But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them along with all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised the LORD.”
The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, all Korah's people, and all their possessions.
They went down alive into Sheol with all that belonged to them. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.
At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled because they thought, “The earth may swallow us too! ”
just as the LORD commanded him through Moses. It was to be a reminder for the Israelites that no unauthorized person outside the lineage of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD and become like Korah and his followers.
When the community assembled against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the tent of meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the LORD's glory appeared.
So Aaron took his firepan as Moses had ordered, ran into the middle of the assembly, and saw that the plague had begun among the people. After he added incense, he made atonement for the people.
Aaron then returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, since the plague had been halted.
“The staff of the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of the Israelites' complaints that they have been making about you.”
So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each of the leaders of their tribes, twelve staffs in all. Aaron's staff was among them.
The next day Moses entered the tent of the testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, formed buds, blossomed, and produced almonds!
“You will pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your assessment: five shekels[fn] of silver by the standard sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs.
“This is the legal statute that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red cow that has no defect and has never been yoked.
“Anyone who touches a body of a person who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person will be cut off from Israel. He remains unclean because the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, and his uncleanness is still on him.
“But a person who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person will be cut off from the assembly because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.
“Anything the unclean person touches will become unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening.”
The entire Israelite community entered the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and they[fn] settled in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.
Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.
Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that abundant water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
When the whole community saw that Aaron had passed away, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.
The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food! ”
So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us like an ox eats up the green plants in the field.”
Since Balak son of Zippor was Moab's king at that time,
The elders of Moab and Midian departed with fees for divination in hand. They came to Balaam and reported Balak's words to him.
When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing on the path with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the path and went into the field. So Balaam hit her to return her to the path.
The donkey saw the angel of the LORD and pressed herself against the wall, squeezing Balaam's foot against it. So he hit her once again.
When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she crouched down under Balaam. So he became furious and beat the donkey with his stick.
But the donkey said, “Am I not the donkey you've ridden all your life until today? Have I ever treated you this way before? ”
“No,” he replied.
The angel of the LORD asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you, because I consider what you are doing to be evil.[fn]
“The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I would have killed you by now and let her live.”
Who has counted the dust of Jacob
or numbered even one-fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright;
let the end of my life be like theirs.
Water will flow from his buckets,
and his seed will be by abundant water.
His king will be greater than Agag,
and his kingdom will be exalted.
Next he saw the Kenites and proclaimed his poem:
Your dwelling place is enduring;
your nest is set in the cliffs.
followed the Israelite man into the tent,[fn] and drove it through both the Israelite man and the woman — through her belly. Then the plague on the Israelites was stopped,
The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them with Korah, when his followers died and the fire consumed 250 men. They serve as a warning sign.
“The land is to be divided among them as an inheritance based on the number of names.
“Increase the inheritance for a large tribe and decrease it for a small one. Each is to be given its inheritance according to those who were registered in it.
“The land is to be divided by lot; they will receive an inheritance according to the names of their ancestral tribes.
These were the ones registered by Moses and the priest Eleazar when they registered the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
“who will go out before them and come back in before them, and who will bring them out and bring them in, so that the LORD's community won't be like sheep without a shepherd.”
“He will stand before the priest Eleazar who will consult the LORD for him with the decision of the Urim. He and all the Israelites with him, even the entire community, will go out and come back in at his command.”
“It is a regular burnt offering established at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.
“And one male goat is to be offered as a sin offering to the LORD, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its drink offering.
“On the first day there is to be a sacred assembly; you are not to do any daily work.
“The grain offering with them is to be of fine flour mixed with oil; offer six quarts with each bull and four quarts with the ram.
“On the seventh day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any daily work.
“with their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, six quarts with each bull, four quarts with the ram,
“Their grain offering is to be of fine flour mixed with oil, six quarts with the bull, four quarts with the ram,
“Offer one male goat for a sin offering. The regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offerings are in addition to the sin offering of atonement.
“with their grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in proportion to their number.
“with their grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, in proportion to their number.
“If a woman in her husband's house has made a vow or put herself under an obligation with an oath,
“Yet they are the ones who, at Balaam's advice, incited the Israelites to unfaithfulness against the LORD in the Peor incident, so that the plague came against the LORD's community.
“You are to remain outside the camp for seven days. All of you and your prisoners who have killed a person or touched the dead are to purify yourselves on the third day and the seventh day.
They said, “If we have found favor with you, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Don't make us cross the Jordan.”
“The LORD's anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years until the whole generation that had done what was evil in the LORD's sight was gone.
“But we will arm ourselves and be ready to go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our dependents will remain in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
“and the land is subdued before the LORD — afterward you may return and be free from obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the LORD.
“Our dependents, wives, livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead,
“Your border will turn south of the Scorpions' Ascent,[fn] proceed to Zin, and end south of Kadesh-barnea. It will go to Hazar-addar and proceed to Azmon.
“The border will turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, where it will end at the Mediterranean Sea.
“Your western border will be the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea; this will be your western border.
“from Mount Hor draw a line to the entrance of Hamath,[fn] and the border will reach Zedad.
“Then the border will go to Ziphron and end at Hazar-enan. This will be your northern border.
“Then the border will go down to the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea. This will be your land defined by its borders on all sides.”
So Moses commanded the Israelites, “This is the land you are to receive by lot as an inheritance, which the LORD commanded to be given to the nine and a half tribes.
“Measure a thousand yards[fn] outside the city for the east side, a thousand yards for the south side, a thousand yards for the west side, and a thousand yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the cities.
“the assembly is to judge between the person who kills someone and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.
“The assembly is to protect the one who kills someone from the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge he fled to, and he must live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.
“Do not defile the land where you live, for bloodshed defiles the land, and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it.
“When the Jubilee comes for the Israelites, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”
They married men from the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father's clan.
“Do not show partiality when deciding a case; listen to small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.
“They took some of the fruit from the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us back a report: ‘The land the LORD our God is giving us is good.'
“Indeed, the LORD's hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp until they had all perished.
“The Arabah and Jordan are also borders from Chinnereth[fn] as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.
“Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.'
“He let you hear his voice from heaven to instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard his words from the fire.
“but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. Do not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the resident alien who lives within your city gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do.
“All of you approached me with your tribal leaders and elders when you heard the voice from the darkness and while the mountain was blazing with fire.
“The LORD your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be able to destroy them all at once; otherwise, the wild animals will become too numerous for you.
“You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,'
“The heavens, indeed the highest heavens, belong to the LORD your God, as does the earth and everything in it.
“and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when in the middle of the whole Israelite camp the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing with them.
“For the land you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated by hand[fn] as in a vegetable garden.
“But the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys, watered by rain from the sky.
“Be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside, serve, and bow in worship to other gods.
“Then the LORD's anger will burn against you. He will shut the sky, and there will be no rain; the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land the LORD is giving you.
“You are to eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God chooses — you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite who is within your city gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in everything you do,
“When the LORD your God enlarges your territory as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I want to eat meat' because you have a strong desire to eat meat, you may eat it whenever you want.
“Indeed, you may eat it as the gazelle and deer are eaten; both the clean and the unclean may eat it.
“But don't eat the blood, since the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.
“If your brother, the son of your mother,[fn] or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let's go and worship other gods' — which neither you nor your ancestors have known,
“But if the distance is too great for you to carry it, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to put his name is too far away from you and since the LORD your God has blessed you,
“You may spend the silver on anything you want: cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, or anything you desire. You are to feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with your family.
“Then the Levite, who has no portion or inheritance among you, the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow within your city gates may come, eat, and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.
“If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, you must set him free in the seventh year.
“You are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the LORD your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the LORD your God has blessed you.
“Rejoice before the LORD your God in the place where he chooses to have his name dwell — you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite within your city gates, as well as the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow among you.
“Rejoice during your festival — you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, as well as the Levite, the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow within your city gates.
“The witnesses' hands are to be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from you.
“He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won't go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.
“Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years[fn] in Israel.
“This is the priests' share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether it is an ox, a sheep, or a goat; the priests are to be given the shoulder, jaws, and stomach.
“When a Levite leaves one of your towns in Israel where he was staying and wants to go to the place the LORD chooses,
“If, for example, he goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings the ax to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies, that person may flee to one of these cities and live.
“the elders of his city are to send for him, take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood and he will die.
“the two people in the dispute are to stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and judges in authority at that time.
“He is to say to them, ‘Listen, Israel: Today you are about to engage in battle with your enemies. Do not be cowardly. Do not be afraid, alarmed, or terrified because of them.
“The officers will continue to address the army and say, ‘Is there any man who is afraid or cowardly? Let him leave and return home, so that his brothers won't lose heart as he did.'[fn]
“your elders and judges are to come out and measure the distance from the victim to the nearby cities.
“The elders of the city nearest to the victim are to get a young cow that has not been yoked or used for work.
“The elders of that city will bring the cow down to a continually flowing stream, to a place not tilled or sown, and they will break its neck there by the stream.
“All the elders of the city nearest to the victim will wash their hands by the stream over the young cow whose neck has been broken.
“If a man has two wives, one loved and the other neglected, and both the loved and the neglected bear him sons, and if the neglected wife has the firstborn son,
“his father and mother are to take hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown.
“If you come across a bird's nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, do not take the mother along with the young.
“the young woman's father and mother will take the evidence of her virginity and bring it to the city elders at the city gate.
“When he found her in the field, the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.
“For the LORD your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you; so your encampments must be holy. He must not see anything indecent among you or he will turn away from you.
“When brothers live on the same property[fn] and one of them dies without a son, the wife of the dead man may not marry a stranger outside the family. Her brother-in-law is to take her as his wife, have sexual relations with her, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law for her.
“But if the man doesn't want to marry his sister-in-law, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, ‘My brother-in-law refuses to preserve his brother's name in Israel. He isn't willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.'
“The elders of his city will summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, ‘I don't want to marry her,'
“then his sister-in-law will go up to him in the sight of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she will declare, ‘This is what is done to a man who will not build up his brother's house.'
Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, “Keep every command I am giving you today.
“Your sons and daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes grow weary looking for them every day. But you will be powerless to do anything.
“You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because locusts will devour it.
“You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not moisten your skin with oil, because your olives will drop off.
“The most sensitive and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her refinement and sensitivity, will begrudge the husband she embraces, her son, and her daughter,
“Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be in dread night and day, never certain of survival.
“All of you are standing today before the LORD your God — your leaders, tribes, elders, officials, all the men of Israel,
“Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.
“Future generations of your children who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant country will see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses the LORD has inflicted on it.
“All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown, producing nothing, with no plant growing on it, just like the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD demolished in his fierce anger.
“When all these things happen to you — the blessings and curses I have set before you — and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you,
“Even if your exiles are at the farthest horizon, he will gather you and bring you back from there.
“This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach.
“But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow in worship to other gods and serve them,
“love the LORD your God, obey him, and remain faithful[fn] to him. For he is your life, and he will prolong your days as you live in the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
“Therefore write down this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; have them sing it,[fn] so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites.
“if I had not feared provocation from the enemy,
or feared that these foes might misunderstand
and say, ‘Our own hand has prevailed;
it wasn't the LORD who did all this.' ”
For their vine is from the vine of Sodom
and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poisonous;
their clusters are bitter.
“when I sharpen my flashing sword,
and my hand takes hold of judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
and repay those who hate me.
“I will make my arrows drunk with blood
while my sword devours flesh —
the blood of the slain and the captives,
the heads of the enemy leaders.”[fn]
“For they are not meaningless words to you but they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, gave the Israelites before his death.
He said about Joseph:
May his land be blessed by the LORD
with the dew of heaven's bounty
and the watery depths that lie beneath;
May the bolts of your gate be iron and bronze,
and your strength last as long as you live.
How happy you are, Israel!
Who is like you,
a people saved by the LORD?
He is the shield that protects you,
the sword you boast in.
Your enemies will cringe before you,
and you will tread on their backs.[fn]
The LORD then said to him, “This is the land I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ‘I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it.”
“This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on[fn] it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn't know where they were from.
“At nightfall, when the city gate was about to close, the men went out, and I don't know where they were going. Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them! ”
The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they left to pursue them, the city gate was shut.
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.”
“when the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth goes ahead of you into the Jordan.
and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the LORD crossed in the sight of the people.
“This is so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD's hand is strong, and so that you may always fear the LORD your God.”
When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua approached him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies? ”
After Joshua had spoken to the troops, seven priests carrying seven rams' horns before the LORD moved forward and blew the rams' horns; the ark of the LORD's covenant followed them.
So the ark of the LORD was carried around the city, circling it once. They returned to the camp and spent the night there.[fn]
“But the city and everything in it are set apart to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone with her in the house will live, because she hid the messengers we sent.
They burned the city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD's house.
“In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the LORD selects is to come forward clan by clan. The clan the LORD selects is to come forward family by family. The family the LORD selects is to come forward man by man.
Joshua got up early the next morning. He had Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected.
But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then the whole community grumbled against the leaders.
On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel:
“Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
and moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
And the sun stood still
and the moon stopped
until the nation took vengeance on its enemies.
Isn't this written in the Book of Jashar?[fn]
So the sun stopped
in the middle of the sky
and delayed its setting
almost a full day.
They went out with all their armies — a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore — along with a vast number of horses and chariots.
So Joshua took the entire land, in keeping with all that the LORD had told Moses. Joshua then gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. After this, the land had rest from war.
Joshua was now old, advanced in age, and the LORD said to him, “You have become old, advanced in age, but a great deal of the land remains to be possessed.
“This is the land that remains:
All the districts of the Philistines and the Geshurites:
“Therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”
this as their territory:
From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, the whole plateau as far as[fn] Medeba,
The border of the Reubenites was the Jordan and its plain. This was the inheritance of the Reubenites by their clans, with the cities and their settlements.
This was the inheritance of the Gadites by their clans, with the cities and their settlements.
“On that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land where you have set foot will be an inheritance for you and your descendants forever, because you have followed the LORD my God completely.'
Therefore, Hebron still belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance today because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, completely.
Hebron's name used to be Kiriath-arba; Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. After this, the land had rest from war.
It proceeded to Azmon and to the Brook of Egypt and so the border ended at the Mediterranean Sea. This is your[fn] southern border.
Now the eastern border was along the Dead Sea to the mouth of the Jordan.
The border on the north side was from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan.
Then the border ascended to Debir from the Valley of Achor, turning north to the Gilgal that is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, which is south of the ravine. The border proceeded to the Waters of En-shemesh and ended at En-rogel.
Then the border reached to the slope north of Ekron, curved to Shikkeron, proceeded to Mount Baalah, went to Jabneel, and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.
Now the western border was the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.
This was the boundary of the descendants of Judah around their clans.
Ashdod, with its surrounding villages and settlements; Gaza, with its surrounding villages and settlements, to the Brook of Egypt and the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.
Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah — two cities, with their settlements.
It then descended westward to the border of the Japhletites as far as the border of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.
From Tappuah the border went westward along the Brook of Kanah and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.
This was the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans, together with
because Manasseh's daughters received an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of Manasseh's sons.
From there the border descended to the Brook of Kanah; south of the brook, cities belonged to Ephraim among Manasseh's cities. Manasseh's border was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.
Ephraim's territory was to the south and Manasseh's to the north, with the Sea as its border. They reached Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.
The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land had been subdued before them,
Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, ascended to the slope of Jericho on the north, through the hill country westward, and ended at the wilderness around Beth-aven.
From there the border went toward Luz, to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel); it then went down by Ataroth-addar, over the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.
On the west side, from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south, the border curved, turning southward, and ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the descendants of Judah. This was the west side of their border.
The border continued to the north slope of Beth-hoglah and ended at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.
The Jordan formed the border on the east side.
This was the inheritance of Benjamin's descendants, by their clans, according to its surrounding borders.
The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of his descendants by their clans, but their inheritance was within the inheritance given to Judah's descendants.
and all the settlements surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah in the south[fn]).
This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon's descendants by their clans.
The inheritance of Simeon's descendants was within the territory of Judah's descendants, because the share for Judah's descendants was too large. So Simeon's descendants received an inheritance within Judah's portion.
their border went up westward to Maralah, reached Dabbesheth, and met the brook east of Jokneam.
The border then circled around Neah on the north to Hannathon and ended at Iphtah-el Valley,
This was the inheritance of Zebulun's descendants by their clans, these cities, with their settlements.
The border reached Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and ended at the Jordan — sixteen cities, with their settlements.
This was the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar's descendants by their clans, the cities, with their settlements.
The boundary then turned to Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre; it turned back to Hosah and ended at the Mediterranean Sea, including Mahalab, Achzib,[fn]
This was the inheritance of the tribe of Asher's descendants by their clans, these cities with their settlements.
This was the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali's descendants by their clans, the cities with their settlements.
When the territory of the descendants of Dan slipped out of their control, they went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, and struck it down with the sword. So they took possession of it, lived there, and renamed Leshem after their ancestor Dan.
This was the inheritance of the tribe of Dan's descendants by their clans, these cities with their settlements.
The Israelites gave these cities by name from the tribes of the descendants of Judah and Simeon
“This is what the LORD's entire community says: ‘What is this treachery you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the LORD and building an altar for yourselves, so that you are in rebellion against the LORD today?
“and now would you turn away from the LORD? If you rebel against the LORD today, tomorrow he will be angry with the entire community of Israel.
“But if the land you possess is defiled, cross over to the land the LORD possesses where the LORD's tabernacle stands, and take possession of it among us. But don't rebel against the LORD or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.
“But if it doesn't please you to worship the LORD, choose for yourselves today: Which will you worship — the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living? As for me and my family, we will worship the LORD.”
The Amorites were determined to stay in Har-heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. When the house of Joseph got the upper hand, the Amorites were made to serve as forced labor.
That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them another generation rose up who did not know the LORD or the works he had done for Israel.
The Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he judged Israel. Othniel went out to battle, and the LORD handed over King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram to him, so that Othniel overpowered him.
Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the LORD has handed Sisera over to you. Hasn't the LORD gone before you? ” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.
Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth of the Nations, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.
My heart is with the leaders of Israel,
with the volunteers of the people.
Blessed be the LORD!
Then the survivors came down to the nobles;
the LORD's people came down to me[fn] against the warriors.
Sisera's mother looked through the window;
she peered through the lattice, crying out:
“Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why don't I hear the hoofbeats of his horses? ”[fn]
LORD, may all your enemies perish as Sisera did.[fn]
But may those who love him
be like the rising of the sun in its strength.
And the land had peace for forty years.
He said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's family.”
And that is what happened. When he got up early in the morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of it, filling a bowl with water.
The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say,[fn] ‘I saved myself.'
So Gideon sent all the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred troops, who took the provisions and their rams' horns. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the people of the east had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.
When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling his friend about a dream. He said, “Listen, I had a dream: a loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp, struck a tent, and it fell. The loaf turned the tent upside down so that it collapsed.”
Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army began to run, and they cried out as they fled.
When Gideon's men blew their three hundred rams' horns, the LORD caused the men in the whole army to turn on each other with their swords. They fled to Acacia House[fn] in the direction of Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and with them was their army of about fifteen thousand men, who were all those left of the entire army of the people of the east. Those who had been killed were one hundred twenty thousand armed men.
Gideon traveled on the caravan route[fn] east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked their army while the army felt secure.
Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and strike us down yourself, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they were no longer a threat. The land had peace for forty years during the days of Gideon.
But the olive tree said to them,
“Should I stop giving my oil
that people use to honor both God and men,
and rule[fn] over the trees? ”
But the fig tree said to them,
“Should I stop giving
my sweetness and my good fruit,
and rule over trees? ”
But the grapevine said to them,
“Should I stop giving my wine
that cheers both God and man,
and rule over trees? ”
The bramble said to the trees,
“If you really are anointing me
as king over you,
come and find refuge in my shade.
But if not,
may fire come out from the bramble
and consume the cedars of Lebanon.”
“Then get up early, and at sunrise attack the city. When he and the troops who are with him come out against you, do to him whatever you can.”
God also brought back to the men of Shechem all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came upon them.
Gilead's wife bore him sons, and when they grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You will have no inheritance in our father's family, because you are the son of another woman.”
When Jephthah went to his home in Mizpah, there was his daughter, coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no other son or daughter besides her.
There was a certain man from Zorah, from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoah; his wife was unable to conceive and had no children.
Then the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. He looked like the awe-inspiring angel of God. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name.
The woman ran quickly to her husband and told him, “The man who came to me the other day has just come back! ”
Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD, who did something miraculous[fn] while Manoah and his wife were watching.
When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the LORD went up in its flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown on the ground.
But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us, and he would not have shown us all these things or spoken to us like this.”
So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.
But his father and mother said to him, “Can't you find a young woman among your relatives or among any of our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines for a wife? ”
But Samson told his father, “Get her for me. She's the right one for me.”
Now his father and mother did not know this was from the LORD, who wanted the Philistines to provide an opportunity for a confrontation.[fn] At that time, the Philistines were ruling Israel.
Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Suddenly a young lion came roaring at him,
So Samson's wife came to him, weeping, and said, “You hate me and don't love me! You told my people the riddle, but haven't explained it to me.”
“Look,” he said,[fn] “I haven't even explained it to my father or mother, so why should I explain it to you? ”
“I was sure you hated her,” her father said, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Isn't her younger sister more beautiful than she is? Why not take her instead? ”
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.”
So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me, where does your great strength come from? How could someone tie you up and make you helpless? ”
While the men in ambush were waiting in her room, she called out to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here! ”[fn] But he snapped the bowstrings as a strand of yarn snaps when it touches fire. The secret of his strength remained unknown.
She fastened the braids with a pin and called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here! ” He awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin, with the loom and the web.
“How can you say, ‘I love you,' ” she told him, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and not told me what makes your strength so great! ”
he told her the whole truth and said to her, “My hair has never been cut,[fn] because I am a Nazirite to God from birth. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like any other man.”
Then she let him fall asleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids on his head. In this way, she made him helpless, and his strength left him.
When they were in good spirits,[fn] they said, “Bring Samson here to entertain us.” So they brought Samson from prison, and he entertained them. They had him stand between the pillars.
Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the leaders and all the people in it. And those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed in his life.
He said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver taken from you, and that I heard you place a curse on — here's the silver. I took it.”
Then his mother said, “My son, may you be blessed by the LORD! ”
He returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I personally consecrate the silver to the LORD for my son's benefit to make a carved image and a silver idol.[fn] I will give it back to you.”
So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took five pounds of silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made it into a carved image and a silver idol, and it was in Micah's house.
In those days, there was no king in Israel, and the Danite tribe was looking for territory to occupy. Up to that time no territory had been captured by them among the tribes of Israel.
Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God for us to determine if we will have a successful journey.”
The priest told them, “Go in peace. The LORD is watching over the journey you are going on.”
“When you get there, you will come to an unsuspecting people and a spacious land, for God has handed it over to you. It is a place where nothing on earth is lacking.”
So the priest was pleased and took the ephod, household idols, and carved image, and went with the people.
The Danites said to him, “Don't raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”
But she was unfaithful to[fn] him and left him for her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah. She was there for four months.
So they sat down and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the girl's father said to the man, “Please agree to stay overnight and enjoy yourself.”
He got up early in the morning of the fifth day to leave, but the girl's father said to him, “Please keep up your strength.” So they waited until late afternoon and the two of them ate.
The man got up to go with his concubine and his servant, when his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, “Look, night is coming. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, enjoy yourself, then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey and go home.”
But the man was unwilling to spend the night. He got up, departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). The man had his two saddled donkeys and his concubine with him.
When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Please, why not let us stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night here? ”
“Here, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man's concubine now. Abuse them and do whatever you want to them. But don't commit this outrageous thing against this man.”
Early that morning, the woman made her way back, and as it was getting light, she collapsed at the doorway of the man's house where her master was.
When her master got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and went out to leave on his journey, there was the woman, his concubine, collapsed near the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold.
All the Israelites from Dan to Beer-sheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the community assembled as one body before the LORD at Mizpah.
The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.
The Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this evil act happen? ”
The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered, “I went to Gibeah in Benjamin with my concubine to spend the night.
Then the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this evil act that has happened among you?
Then the Israelites inquired of the LORD. In those days, the ark of the covenant of God was there,
Then ten thousand fit young men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce, but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was about to strike them.
The men of Israel had a prearranged signal with the men in ambush: when they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city,
Then the men of Israel returned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had struck them.
The congregation sent twelve thousand brave warriors there and commanded them, “Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including women and dependents.
The whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock.
During the time[fn] of the judges, there was a famine in the land. A man left Bethlehem in Judah with his wife and two sons to stay in the territory of Moab for a while.
both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two children and without her husband.
Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Follow your sister-in-law.”
The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival[fn] and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi? ”
So Naomi came back from the territory of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor? ”
Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this? ”
The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab.
“My lord,” she said, “I have found favor with you, for you have comforted and encouraged your servant, although I am not like one of your female servants.”
She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave it to her.
Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the LORD bless the man who noticed you.”
Ruth told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”
Ruth's mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, shouldn't I find rest for you, so that you will be taken care of?
She went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had charged her to do.
After Boaz ate, drank, and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the pile of barley, and she came secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
So he asked, “Who are you? ”
“I am Ruth, your servant,” she replied. “Take me under your wing,[fn] for you are a family redeemer.”
She went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked her, “What happened,[fn] my daughter? ”
Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her.
Naomi said, “My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, for he won't rest unless he resolves this today.”
“He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. Indeed, your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
“Hannah, why are you crying? ” her husband, Elkanah, would ask. “Why won't you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons? ”
“May your servant find favor with you,” she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.[fn]
Her husband, Elkanah, replied, “Do what you think is best, and stay here until you've weaned him. May the LORD confirm your[fn] word.” So Hannah stayed there and nursed her son until she weaned him.
“Please, my lord,” she said, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.
Hannah prayed:
My heart rejoices in the LORD;
my horn is lifted up by the LORD.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
because I rejoice in your salvation.
Those who are full hire themselves out for food,
but those who are starving hunger no more.
The woman who is childless gives birth to seven,
but the woman with many sons pines away.
If that person said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,” the servant would reply, “No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don't, I'll take it by force! ”
So the servants' sin was very severe in the presence of the LORD, because the men treated the LORD's offering with contempt.
Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.
Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was located.
The LORD continued to appear in Shiloh, because there he revealed himself to Samuel by his word.
When the ark of the covenant of the LORD entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a loud shout that the ground shook.
The Philistines heard the sound of the war cry and asked, “What's this loud shout in the Hebrews' camp? ” When the Philistines discovered that the ark of the LORD had entered the camp,
When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair beside the road waiting, because he was anxious about the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the entire city cried out.
Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion? ” The man quickly came and reported to Eli.
At that time Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes didn't move[fn] because he couldn't see.
The messenger answered, “Israel has fled from the Philistines, and also there was a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
Eli's daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of God's ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came on her.
As she was dying,[fn] the women taking care of her said, “Don't be afraid. You've given birth to a son! ” But she did not respond or pay attention.
But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. This time, Dagon's head and both of his hands were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only Dagon's torso remained.[fn]
Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
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 cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.
Time went by until twenty years had passed since the ark had been taken to Kiriath-jearim. Then the whole house of Israel longed for the LORD.
Then he would return to Ramah because his home was there, he judged Israel there, and he built an altar to the LORD there.
“When these signs have happened to you, do whatever your circumstances require[fn] because God is with you.
He told the messengers who had come, “Tell this to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Deliverance will be yours tomorrow by the time the sun is hot.' ” So the messengers told the men of Jabesh, and they rejoiced.
The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions. During the morning watch, they invaded the Ammonite camp and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. There were survivors, but they were so scattered that no two of them were left together.
“Isn't the wheat harvest today? I will call on the LORD, and he will send thunder and rain so that you will recognize what an immense evil you committed in the LORD's sight by requesting a king for yourselves.”
“but now your reign will not endure. The LORD has found a man after his own heart,[fn] and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over his people, because you have not done what the LORD commanded.”
Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three divisions. One division headed toward the Ophrah road leading to the land of Shual.
The next division headed toward the Beth-horon road, and the last division headed down the border road that looks out over the Zeboim Valley toward the wilderness.
The price was two-thirds of a shekel[fn] for plows and mattocks, and one-third of a shekel for pitchforks and axes, and for putting a point on a cattle prod.
one stood to the north in front of Michmash and the other to the south in front of Geba.
His armor-bearer responded, “Do what is in your heart. Go ahead! I'm completely with you.”
In that first assault Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck down about twenty men in a half-acre field.
Terror spread through the Philistine camp and the open fields to all the troops. Even the garrison and the raiding parties were terrified. The earth shook, and terror spread from God.[fn]
When Saul's watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, they saw the panicking troops scattering in every direction.
“How much better if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Then the slaughter of the Philistines would have been much greater.”
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.”
Saul said, “All you leaders of the troops, come here. Let's investigate[fn] how this sin has occurred today.
So Saul said to the LORD, “God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant today? If the unrighteousness is in me or in my son Jonathan, LORD God of Israel, give Urim; but if the fault is in your people Israel, give Thummim.”[fn] Jonathan and Saul were selected, and the troops were cleared of the charge.
Then Samuel said:
Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the LORD?
Look: to obey is better than sacrifice,
to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.
Samuel declared:
As your sword has made women childless,
so your mother will be childless among women.
Then he hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
His spear shaft was like a weaver's beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds.[fn] In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him.
David said to Saul, “Don't let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine! ”
David answered Saul, “Your servant has been tending his father's sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,
“Today, the LORD will hand you over to me. Today, I'll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses[fn] of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God,
“and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the LORD saves, for the battle is the LORD's. He will hand you over to us.”
Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David, and when it was reported to Saul, it pleased him.
Saul sent agents to David's house to watch for him and kill him in the morning. But his wife Michal warned David, “If you don't escape tonight, you will be dead tomorrow! ”
Then Michal took the household idol and put it on the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment.
But David said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor with you. He has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or else he will be grieved.' ” David also swore, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
“If he says, ‘Good,' then your servant is safe, but if he becomes angry, you will know he has evil intentions.
“No! ” Jonathan responded. “If I ever find out my father has evil intentions against you, wouldn't I tell you about it? ”
“Then I will send a servant and say, ‘Go and find the arrows! ' Now, if I expressly say to the servant, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you — get them,' then come, because as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no problem.
“But if I say this to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you! ' then go, for the LORD is sending you away.
“Every day Jesse's son lives on earth you and your kingship are not secure. Now send for him and bring him to me — he must die! ”
Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him, so he knew that his father was determined to kill David.
He came to the location of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, but Jonathan called to him and said, “The arrow is beyond you, isn't it? ”
David answered him, “I swear that women are being kept from us, as always when I go out to battle. The young men's bodies[fn] are consecrated even on an ordinary mission, so of course their bodies are consecrated today.”
The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want to take it for yourself, then take it, for there isn't another one here.”
“There's none like it! ” David said. “Give it to me.”
From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God will do for me.”
“That's why all of you have conspired against me! Nobody tells me when my own son makes a covenant with Jesse's son. None of you cares about me or tells me that my son has stirred up my own servant to wait in ambush for me, as is the case today.”
Saul asked him, “Why did you and Jesse's son conspire against me? You gave him bread and a sword and inquired of God for him, so he could rise up against me and wait in ambush, as is the case today.”
Then the king ordered the guards standing by him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD because they sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they didn't tell me.” But the king's servants would not lift a hand to execute the priests of the LORD.
saying, “Don't be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. You yourself will be king over Israel, and I'll be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows it is true.”
So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to engage the Philistines. Therefore, that place was named the Rock of Separation.
so they said to him, “Look, this is the day the LORD told you about: ‘I will hand your enemy over to you so you can do to him whatever you desire.' ” Then David got up and secretly cut off the corner of Saul's robe.
“May the LORD judge between me and you, and may the LORD take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you.
“As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.' My hand will never be against you.
The man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name, Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.
“Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on a feast[fn] day. Please give whatever you have on hand to your servants and to your son David.' ”
“Now consider carefully[fn] what you should do, because there is certain to be trouble for our master and his entire family. He is such a worthless fool nobody can talk to him! ”
She knelt at his feet and said, “The guilt is mine, my lord, but please let your servant speak to you directly. Listen to the words of your servant.
“Now my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live — it is the LORD who kept you from participating in bloodshed and avenging yourself by your own hand—may your enemies and those who intend to harm my lord be like Nabal.
“Let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.
“Someone is pursuing you and intends to take your life. My lord's life is tucked safely in the place[fn] where the LORD your God protects the living, but he is flinging away your enemies' lives like stones from a sling.
“May your discernment be blessed, and may you be blessed. Today you kept me from participating in bloodshed and avenging myself by my own hand.
She stood up, paid homage with her face to the ground, and said, “Here I am, your servant, a slave to wash the feet of my lord's servants.”
David added, “As the LORD lives, the LORD will certainly strike him down: either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.
David crossed to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance; there was a considerable space between them.
“Just as I considered your life valuable today, so may the LORD consider my life valuable and rescue me from all trouble.”
David and his men stayed with Achish in Gath. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow.
David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites,[fn] and the Amalekites. From ancient times they had been the inhabitants of the region through Shur as far as the land of Egypt.
But the woman said to him, “You surely know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you setting a trap for me to get me killed? ”
“Who is it that you want me to bring up for you? ” the woman asked.
“Bring up Samuel for me,” he answered.
When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, and then she asked Saul, “Why did you deceive me? You are Saul! ”
The woman came over to Saul, and she saw that he was terrified and said to him, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do.
He refused, saying, “I won't eat,” but when his servants and the woman urged him, he listened to them. He got up off the ground and sat on the bed.
David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had also been kidnapped.
“Who can agree to your proposal? The share of the one who goes into battle is to be the same as the share of the one who remains with the supplies. They will share equally.”
“Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for I'm mortally wounded,[fn] but my life still lingers.'
I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother.
You were such a friend to me.
Your love for me was more wondrous
than the love of women.
So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
Then Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don't you realize this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers? ”
Abner sent messengers as his representatives to say to David, “Whose land is it? Make your covenant with me, and you can be certain I am on your side to turn all Israel over to you.”
Abner said to David, “Let me now go and I will gather all Israel to my lord the king. They will make a covenant with you, and you will reign over all you desire.” So David dismissed Abner, and he went in peace.
When Joab and his whole army arrived, Joab was informed, “Abner son of Ner came to see the king, the king dismissed him, and he went in peace.”
David heard about it later and said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.
Saul's son Jonathan had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nanny picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.
They entered the interior of the house as if to get wheat and stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped.
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.”
David took up residence in the stronghold, which he named the city of David. He built it up all the way around from the supporting terraces inward.
Then David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
David feared the LORD that day and said, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me? ”
The ark of the LORD remained in his house three months, and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and his whole family.
As the ark of the LORD was entering the city of David, Saul's daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.
When David returned home to bless his household, Saul's daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today! ” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”
the king said to the prophet Nathan, “Look, I am living in a cedar house while the ark of God sits inside tent curtains.”
“I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals.
“Your house and kingdom will endure before me[fn] forever, and your throne will be established forever.' ”
Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. All those living in Ziba's house were Mephibosheth's servants.
One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing — a very beautiful woman.
Uriah answered David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers[fn] are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this! ”
David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don't let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.' Encourage him.”
Then Nathan went home.
The LORD struck the baby that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became deathly ill.
Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend you're sick. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare a meal in my presence so I can watch and eat from her hand.' ”
So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my presence so I can eat from her hand.”
“No,” she cried,[fn] “sending me away is much worse than the great wrong you've already done to me! ”
But he refused to listen to her.
Now Absalom commanded his young men, “Watch Amnon until he is in a good mood from the wine. When I order you to strike Amnon, then kill him. Don't be afraid. Am I not the one who has commanded you? Be strong and valiant! ”
While they were on the way, a report reached David: “Absalom struck down all the king's sons; not even one of them survived! ”
When the woman from Tekoa came[fn] to the king, she fell facedown to the ground, paid homage, and said, “Help me, Your Majesty! ”
“What's the matter? ” the king asked her.
“Sadly, I am a widow; my husband died,” she said.
“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 the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and my father's family, and may the king and his throne be innocent.”
Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king? ”
“Speak,” he replied.
The woman asked, “Why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished one.
“Now therefore, I've come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought: I must speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant's request.
“Your servant thought: May the word of my lord the king bring relief, for my lord the king is able to discern the good and the bad like the angel of God. May the LORD your God be with you.”
Then the king answered the woman, “I'm going to ask you something; don't conceal it from me! ”
“Let my lord the king speak,” the woman replied.
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]
Then an informer came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”
“Besides, you only arrived yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I go wherever I can? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the LORD show you[fn] kindness and faithfulness.”
Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly while all the people were marching out of the city. As the king was crossing the Kidron Valley, all the people were marching past on the road that leads to the wilderness.
Now the advice Ahithophel gave in those days was like someone asking about a word from God — such was the regard that both David and Absalom had for Ahithophel's advice.
“and bring all the people back to you. When everyone returns except the man you're looking for, all[fn] the people will be at peace.”
“Then, even a brave man with the heart of a lion will lose heart[fn] because all Israel knows that your father and the valiant men with him are warriors.
“Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba — as numerous as the sand by the sea — be gathered to you and that you personally go into battle.
“Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. Not even one will be left — neither he nor any of the men with him.
Since the LORD had decreed that Ahithophel's good advice be undermined in order to bring about Absalom's ruin, Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel's advice.”
Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, where a servant girl would come and pass along information to them. They in turn would go and inform King David, because they dared not be seen entering the city.
Then his wife took the cover, placed it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain on it so nobody would know anything.
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.
When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He set his house in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father's tomb.
Israel's army was defeated by David's soldiers, and the slaughter there was vast that day — twenty thousand dead.
The battle spread over the entire area, and that day the forest claimed more people than the sword.
Absalom was riding on his mule when he happened to meet David's soldiers. When the mule went under the tangled branches of a large oak tree, Absalom's head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so he was suspended in midair.[fn]
That day's victory was turned into mourning for all the troops because on that day the troops heard, “The king is grieving over his son.”
They forded the Jordan to bring the king's household across and do whatever the king desired.[fn]
When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan, he fell facedown before the king
They were at the great stone in Gibeon when Amasa joined them. Joab was wearing his uniform and over it was a belt around his waist with a sword in its sheath. As he approached, the sword fell out.
Joab asked Amasa, “Are you well, my brother? ” Then with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.
Amasa was not on guard against the sword in Joab's hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach with it and spilled his intestines out on the ground. Joab did not stab him again, and Amasa died.
Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.
When he had come near her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab? ”
“I am,” he replied.
“Listen to the words of your servant,” she said to him.
He answered, “I'm listening.”
“That is not the case. There is a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, who has rebelled against King David. Deliver this one man, and I will withdraw from the city.”
The woman replied to Joab, “Watch! His head will be thrown over the wall to you.”
The woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the ram's horn, and they dispersed from the city, each to his own tent. Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.
I called to the LORD in my distress;
I called to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry for help reached his ears.
Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the heavens[fn] trembled;
they shook because he burned with anger.
God — his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
but Eleazar stood his ground and attacked the Philistines until his hand was tired and stuck to his sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. Then the troops came back to him, but only to plunder the dead.
So the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and from Dan to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men died.
When David saw the angel striking the people, he said to the LORD, “Look, I am the one who has sinned; I am the one[fn] who has done wrong. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let your hand be against me and my father's family.”
Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant? ”
David replied, “To buy the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to the LORD, so the plague on the people may be halted.”
He built an altar to the LORD there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the LORD was receptive to prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel ended.
The girl was of unsurpassed beauty, and she became the king's caregiver. She attended to him, but he was not intimate with[fn] her.
So Bathsheba went to the king in his bedroom. Since the king was very old, Abishag the Shunammite was attending to him.
She replied, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the LORD your God, ‘Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne.'
All the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing with such a great joy that the earth split open from the sound.[fn]
Adonijah and all the invited guests who were with him heard the noise as they finished eating. Joab heard the sound of the ram's horn and said, “Why is the town in such an uproar? ”
“The priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan have anointed him king in Gihon. They have gone up from there rejoicing. The town has been in an uproar; that's the noise you heard.
Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingship was firmly established.
Now Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She asked, “Do you come peacefully? ”
“Peacefully,” he replied,
“You know the kingship was mine,” he said. “All Israel expected me to be king, but then the kingship was turned over to my brother, for the LORD gave it to him.
So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.”
The news reached Joab. Since he had supported Adonijah but not Absalom, Joab fled to the LORD's tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar.
Then the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab's place over the army, and he appointed the priest Zadok in Abiathar's place.
The king also said, “You yourself know all the evil that you did to my father David. Therefore, the LORD has brought back your evil on your head,
And Solomon replied, “You have shown great and faithful love to your servant, my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, righteousness, and integrity.[fn] You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today.
One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was in the house.
“On the third day after I gave birth, she also had a baby and we were alone. No one else[fn] was with us in the house; just the two of us were there.
“No,” the other woman said. “My son is the living one; your son is the dead one.”
The first woman said, “No, your son is the dead one; my son is the living one.” So they argued before the king.
The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she felt great compassion[fn] for her son. “My lord, give her the living baby,” she said, “but please don't have him killed! ”
But the other one said, “He will not be mine or yours. Cut him in two! ”
The king responded, “Give the living baby to the first woman, and don't kill him. She is his mother.”
God gave Solomon wisdom, very great insight, and understanding as vast as the sand on the seashore.
The two doors were made of cypress wood; the first door had two folding sides, and the second door had two folding panels.
It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The basin was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center.
The wheels' design was similar to that of chariot wheels: their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal.
He set five water carts on the right side of the temple and five on the left side. He put the basin near the right side of the temple toward the southeast.
You have kept what you promised
to your servant, my father David.
You spoke directly to him
and you fulfilled your promise by your power
as it is today.
“Be wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD our God to walk in his statutes and to keep his commands, as it is today.”
The LORD said to him:
I have heard your prayer and petition you have made before me. I have consecrated this temple you have built, to put[fn] my name there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there at all times.
This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon had imposed to build the LORD's temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
In addition, Hiram's fleet that carried gold from Ophir brought from Ophir a large quantity of almug[fn] wood and precious stones.
Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and Kue.[fn] The king's traders bought them from Kue at the going price.
When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.
Tahpenes's sister gave birth to Hadad's son Genubath. Tahpenes herself weaned him in Pharaoh's palace, and Genubath lived there along with Pharaoh's sons.
Rezon was Israel's enemy throughout Solomon's reign, adding to the trouble Hadad had caused. He reigned over Aram[fn] and loathed Israel.
“I will appoint you, and you will reign as king over all you want, and you will be king over Israel.
The young men who had grown up with him told him, “This is what you should say to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us! ' This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's waist!
He gave a sign that day. He said, “This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: ‘The altar will now be ripped apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.' ”
When the king heard the message that the man of God had cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Arrest him! ” But the hand he stretched out against him withered, and he could not pull it back to himself.
The altar was ripped apart, and the ashes poured from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
Then the king responded to the man of God, “Plead for the favor of the LORD your God and pray for me so that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God pleaded for the favor of the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it had been at first.
Now Rehoboam, Solomon's son, reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city where the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put his name. Rehoboam's mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.
Abijam walked in all the sins his father before him had committed, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God as his ancestor David had been.
The high places were not taken away, but Asa was wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his entire life.
The rest of all the events of Asa's reign, along with all his might, all his accomplishments, and the cities he built, are written in the Historical Record of Judah's Kings. But in his old age he developed a disease in his feet.
In the twenty-seventh year of Judah's King Asa, Zimri became king for seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon of the Philistines.
When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he entered the citadel of the royal palace and burned it down over himself. He died
The rest of the events of Omri's reign, along with his accomplishments and the might he exercised, are written in the Historical Record of Israel's Kings.
Omri rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab became king in his place.
But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I don't have anything baked — only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”
“for this is what the LORD God of Israel says, ‘The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the surface of the land.' ”
So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah. Then the woman, Elijah, and her household ate for many days.
The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the LORD he had spoken through[fn] Elijah.
After this, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. His illness got worse until he stopped breathing.
Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times. He cried out to the LORD and said, “LORD my God, please let this boy's life come into him again! ”
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know you are a man of God and the LORD's word from your mouth is true.”
Then the angel of the LORD returned for a second time and touched him. He said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.”
The young men of the provincial leaders and the army behind them marched out from the city,
So they dressed with sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, went to the king of Israel, and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please spare my life.' ”
So he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
As the king was passing by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant marched out into the middle of the battle. Suddenly, a man turned aside and brought someone to me and said, ‘Guard this man! If he is ever missing, it will be your life in place of his life, or you will weigh out seventy-five pounds[fn] of silver.'
The prophet said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you released from your hand the man I had set apart for destruction, it will be your life in place of his life and your people in place of his people.' ”
Then his wife Jezebel came to him and said to him, “Why are you so upset that you refuse to eat? ”
Then his wife Jezebel said to him, “Now, exercise your royal power over Israel. Get up, eat some food, and be happy. For I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
Still, there was no one like Ahab, who devoted himself to do what was evil in the LORD's sight, because his wife Jezebel incited him.
Then Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and the whole heavenly army was standing by him at his right hand and at his left hand.
“Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You will not get up from your sickbed; you will certainly die.' ” Then Elijah left.
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.” ' ”
The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke those words to you? ”
Then the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. The third captain went up and fell on his knees in front of Elijah and begged him, “Man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious to you.
“Already fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains with their companies, but this time let my life be precious to you.”
Then Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron — is it because there is no God in Israel for you to inquire of his will? — you will not get up from your sickbed; you will certainly die.' ”
The rest of the events of Ahaziah's reign, along with his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Israel's Kings.[fn]
and Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD is sending me on to Bethel.”
But Elisha replied, “As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; the LORD is sending me to Jericho.”
But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.
Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the LORD is sending me to the Jordan.”
But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.
The men of the city said to Elisha, “My lord can see that even though the city's location is good, the water is bad and the land unfruitful.”
He did what was evil in the LORD's sight, but not like his father and mother, for he removed the sacred pillar of Baal his father had made.
About the time for the grain offering the next morning, water suddenly came from the direction of Edom and filled the land.
Elisha asked her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house? ”
She said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.”
Then she said to her husband, “I know that the one who often passes by here is a holy man of God,
Then he said to Gehazi, “Say to her, ‘Look, you've gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army? ' ”
She answered, “I am living among my own people.”
Elisha said, “At this time next year you will have a son in your arms.”
Then she said, “No, my lord. Man of God, do not lie to your servant.”
The woman conceived and gave birth to a son at the same time the following year, as Elisha had promised her.
But he said, “Why go to him today? It's not a New Moon or a Sabbath.”
She replied, “It's all right.”
So she came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to his attendant Gehazi, “Look, there's the Shunammite woman.
“Run out to meet her and ask, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your son all right? ' ”
And she answered, “It's all right.”
When she came up to the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone — she is in severe anguish, and the LORD has hidden it from me. He hasn't told me.”
The boy's mother said to Elisha, “As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.
Then he went up and lay on the boy: he put mouth to mouth, eye to eye, hand to hand. While he bent down over him, the boy's flesh became warm.
She said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his skin disease.”
Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your skin will be restored and you will be clean.”
So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the command of the man of God. Then his skin was restored and became like the skin of a small boy, and he was clean.
Then Naaman and his whole company went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, “I know there's no God in the whole world except in Israel. Therefore, please accept a gift from your servant.”
“And my heart didn't go[fn] when the man got down from his chariot to meet you,” Elisha said. “Is this a time to accept silver and clothing, olive orchards and vineyards, flocks and herds, and male and female slaves?
“Therefore, Naaman's skin disease will cling to you and your descendants forever.” So Gehazi went out from his presence diseased, resembling snow.[fn]
The king of Aram was enraged because of this matter, and he called his servants and demanded of them, “Tell me, which one of us is for the king of Israel? ”
Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you're looking for.” And he led them to Samaria.
Then the king asked her, “What's the matter? ”
She said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.'
He announced, “May God punish me and do so severely if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.”
While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger[fn] came down to him. Then he said, “This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer? ”
Then they said to each other, “We're not doing what is right. Today is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until morning light, our punishment will catch up with us. So let's go tell the king's household.”
So they followed them as far as the Jordan. They saw that the whole way was littered with clothes and equipment the Arameans had thrown off in their haste. The messengers returned and told the king.
When the man of God had said to the king, “About this time tomorrow twelve quarts of barley will sell for a half ounce of silver and six quarts of fine flour will sell for a half ounce of silver at Samaria's gate,”
So the woman got ready and did what the man of God said. She and her household lived as resident aliens in the land of the Philistines for seven years.
When the woman returned from the land of the Philistines at the end of seven years, she went to appeal to the king for her house and field.
While he was telling the king how Elisha restored the dead son to life, the woman whose son he had restored to life came to appeal to the king for her house and field. So Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman and this is the son Elisha restored to life.”
But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against Aram's King Hazael. Jehu said, “If you commanders wish to make me king,[fn] then don't let anyone escape from the city to go tell about it in Jezreel.”
Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying:
If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, bring me the heads of your master's sons[fn] at this time tomorrow at Jezreel.
All seventy of the king's sons were being cared for by the city's prominent men.
Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.
Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside, and he warned them, “Whoever allows any of the men I am placing in your hands to escape will forfeit his life for theirs.”
The rest of the events of Jehu's reign, along with all his accomplishments and all his might, are written in the Historical Record of Israel's Kings.
When Athaliah, Ahaziah's mother, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs.
All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death by the sword in the king's palace.
As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah killed his servants who had killed his father the king.
“You have indeed defeated Edom, and you have become overconfident.[fn] Enjoy your glory and stay at home. Why should you stir up such trouble that you fall — you and Judah with you? ”
As for the rest of the events of Shallum's reign, along with the conspiracy that he formed, they are written in the Historical Record of Israel's Kings.
Then the royal spokesman said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: ‘What are you relying on?[fn]
“Don't let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the LORD by saying, “Certainly the LORD will rescue us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” '
They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the LORD that he will do what he has promised: Should the shadow go ahead ten steps or go back ten steps? ”
Then Hezekiah answered, “It's easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. No, let the shadow go back ten steps.”
The rest of the events of Hezekiah's reign, along with all his might and how he made the pool and the tunnel and brought water into the city, are written in the Historical Record of Judah's Kings.
The rest of the events of Manasseh's reign, along with all his accomplishments and the sin that he committed, are written in the Historical Record of Judah's Kings.
“Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah about the words in this book that has been found. For great is the LORD's wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.”
“because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard' — this is the LORD's declaration.
At that time the servants of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.
King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials,[fn] surrendered to the king of Babylon.
So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign.
In the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around.
Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors fled at night by way of the city gate between the two walls near the king's garden, even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah,
the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah's entire army left him and scattered.
As for the two pillars, the one basin, and the water carts that Solomon had made for the LORD's temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.
As for his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, for the rest of his life.
Judah's daughter-in-law Tamar bore Perez and Zerah to him. Judah had five sons in all.
After Hezron's death in Caleb-ephrathah, his wife Abijah bore[fn] Ashhur to him. He was the father of Tekoa.
Caleb's concubine Ephah was the mother of Haran, Moza, and Gazez. Haran fathered Gazez.
Jabez[fn] was more honored than his brothers. His mother named him Jabez and said, “I gave birth to him in pain.”
Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only you would bless me, extend my border, let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm, so that I will not experience pain.”[fn] And God granted his request.
These were the sons of Pharaoh's daughter Bithiah; Mered had married her. His Judean wife gave birth to Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.
and all their surrounding villages as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they kept a genealogical record for themselves.
They found rich, good pasture, and the land was broad, peaceful, and quiet, for some Hamites had lived there previously.
Although Judah became strong among his brothers and a ruler came from him, the birthright was given to Joseph.
Manasseh's sons through his Aramean concubine: Asriel and Machir the father of Gilead.
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.
Since the proposal seemed right to all the people, the whole assembly agreed to do it.
The ark of God remained with Obed-edom's family in his house for three months, and the LORD blessed his family and all that he had.
Then David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been exalted for the sake of his people Israel.
let the whole earth tremble before him.
The world is firmly established;
it cannot be shaken.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice,
and let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! ”
Let the sea and all that fills it resound;
let the fields and everything in them exult.
When David had settled into his palace, he said to the prophet Nathan, “Look! I am living in a cedar house while the ark of the LORD's covenant is under tent curtains.”
When David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, covered in sackcloth, fell facedown.
David said to God, “Wasn't I the one who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted very wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? LORD my God, please let your hand be against me and against my father's family, but don't let the plague be against your people.”
Then David said to Ornan, “Give me this threshing-floor plot so that I may build an altar to the LORD on it. Give it to me for the full price, so the plague on the people may be stopped.”
“The LORD your God is with you, isn't he? And hasn't he given you rest on every side? For he has handed the land's inhabitants over to me, and the land has been subdued before the LORD and his people.
These had their assigned duties for service when they entered the LORD's temple, according to their regulations, which they received from their ancestor Aaron, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.
“I will establish his kingdom forever if he perseveres in keeping my commands and my ordinances as he is doing today.'
Then King David said to all the assembly, “My son Solomon — God has chosen him alone — is young and inexperienced. The task is great because the building will not be built for a human but for the LORD God.
Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to you. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom, and you are exalted as head over all.
Riches and honor come from you, and you are the ruler of everything. Power and might are in your hand, and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all.
Then David said to the whole assembly, “Blessed be the LORD your God.” So the whole assembly praised the LORD God of their ancestors. They knelt low and paid homage to the LORD and the king.
Solomon and the whole assembly with him went to the high place that was in Gibeon because God's tent of meeting, which the LORD's servant Moses had made in the wilderness, was there.
Solomon's horses came from Egypt and Kue.[fn] The king's traders would get them from Kue at the going price.
He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your artisans and the artisans of my lord, your father David.
The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet: the wing of one was 7½ feet,[fn] touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, touching the wing of the other cherub.
The wing of the other[fn] cherub was 7½ feet, touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, reaching the wing of the other cherub.
It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The basin was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center.
He made ten basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left. The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them, but the basin was used by the priests for washing.
the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,[fn] and firepans — of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary — of gold.
So all the work Solomon did for the LORD's temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David — the silver, the gold, and all the utensils — and put them in the treasuries of God's temple.
You have kept what you promised
to your servant, my father David.
You spoke directly to him,
and you fulfilled your promise by your power,
as it is today.
Now therefore:
Arise, LORD God, come to your resting place,
you and your powerful ark.
May your priests, LORD God, be clothed with salvation,
and may your faithful people rejoice in goodness.
All the Israelites were watching when the fire descended and the glory of the LORD came on the temple. They bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground. They worshiped and praised the LORD:
For he is good,
for his faithful love endures forever.
And I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there at all times.
Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh from the city of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the house[fn] of King David of Israel because the places the ark of the LORD has come into are holy.”
All of Solomon's work was carried out from the day the foundation was laid for the LORD's temple until it was finished. So the LORD's temple was completed.
When Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he abandoned the law of the LORD — he and all Israel with him.
King Rehoboam established his royal power in Jerusalem. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put his name. Rehoboam's mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.
“They offer a burnt offering and fragrant incense to the LORD every morning and every evening, and they set the rows of the Bread of the Presence on the ceremonially clean table. They light the lamps of the gold lampstand every evening. We are carrying out the requirements of the LORD our God, while you have abandoned him.
Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David. His son Asa became king in his place. During his reign the land experienced peace for ten years.
Because the land experienced peace, Asa built fortified cities in Judah. No one made war with him in those days because the LORD gave him rest.
and he said, “Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not yours, but God's.
So Jehoram crossed into Edom with his commanders and all his chariots. Then at night he set out to attack the Edomites who had surrounded him and the chariot commanders.
“You yourself will be struck with many illnesses, including a disease of the intestines, until your intestines come out day after day because of the disease.”
This continued day after day until two full years passed. Then his intestines came out because of his disease, and he died from severe[fn] illnesses. But his people did not hold a fire in his honor like the fire in honor of his predecessors.
When Athaliah, Ahaziah's mother, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs[fn] of the house of Judah.
Jehoshabeath,[fn] the king's daughter, rescued Joash son of Ahaziah from the king's sons who were being killed and put him and the one who nursed him in a bedroom. Now Jehoshabeath was the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of the priest Jehoiada. Since she was Ahaziah's sister, she hid Joash from Athaliah so that she did not kill him.
All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death by the sword.
“For the sons of that wicked Athaliah broke into the LORD's temple and even used the sacred things of the LORD's temple for the Baals.”
As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp,[fn] he executed his servants who had killed his father the king.
He made skillfully designed devices in Jerusalem to shoot arrows and catapult large stones for use on the towers and on the corners. So his fame spread even to distant places, for he was wondrously helped until he became strong.
But when he became strong, he grew arrogant, and it led to his own destruction. He acted unfaithfully against the LORD his God by going into the LORD's sanctuary to burn incense on the incense altar.
Uzziah, with a firepan in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But when he became enraged with the priests, in the presence of the priests in the LORD's temple beside the altar of incense, a skin disease broke out on his forehead.
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.”
The priests slaughtered the goats and put their blood on the altar for a sin offering, to make atonement for all Israel, for the king said that the burnt offering and sin offering were for all Israel.
The whole assembly was worshiping, singing the song, and blowing the trumpets — all this continued until the burnt offering was completed.
Hezekiah concluded, “Now you are consecrated[fn] to the LORD. Come near and bring sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings to the LORD's temple.” So the congregation brought sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings, and all those with willing hearts brought burnt offerings.
The number of burnt offerings the congregation brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.
Furthermore, the burnt offerings were abundant, along with the fat of the fellowship offerings and with the drink offerings for the burnt offering.
So the service of the LORD's temple was established.
For the king and his officials and the entire congregation in Jerusalem decided to observe the Passover of the LORD in the second month,
The whole congregation decided to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy,
Then the whole assembly of Judah with the priests and Levites, the whole assembly that came from Israel, the resident aliens who came from the land of Israel, and those who were living in Judah, rejoiced.
Then the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, and their prayer came into his holy dwelling place in heaven.
The chief priest Azariah, of the household of Zadok, answered him, “Since they began bringing the offering to the LORD's temple, we have been eating and are satisfied and there is plenty left over because the LORD has blessed his people; this abundance is what is left over.”
After this, while King Sennacherib of Assyria with all his armed forces besieged[fn] Lachish, he sent his servants to Jerusalem against King Hezekiah of Judah and against all those of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying,
However, because his heart was proud, Hezekiah didn't respond according to the benefit that had come to him. So there was wrath on him, Judah, and Jerusalem.
The rest of the events of Manasseh's reign, along with his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, are written in the Events of Israel's Kings.
“because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before me, and you tore your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard' — this is the LORD's declaration.
So the service was established; the priests stood at their posts and the Levites in their divisions according to the king's command.
So all the service of the LORD was established that day for observing the Passover and for offering burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, according to the command of King Josiah.
The rest of the events of Josiah's reign, along with his deeds of faithful love according to what is written in the law of the LORD,
Then King Neco of Egypt made Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took his brother Jehoahaz and brought him to Egypt.
They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed, and offered burnt offerings each day, based on the number specified by ordinance for each festival day.
The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of the[fn] weeping, because the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.
This is the text of the letter they sent to him:
To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men from the region west of the Euphrates River:
Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, they will not pay tribute, duty, or land tax, and the royal revenue[fn] will suffer.
that a search should be made in your predecessors' record books. In these record books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces. There have been revolts in it since ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed.
We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, you will not have any possession west of the Euphrates.
I issued a decree and a search was conducted. It was discovered that this city has had uprisings against kings since ancient times, and there have been rebellions and revolts in it.
Therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until a further decree has been pronounced by me.
King Darius gave the order, and they searched in the library of Babylon in the archives.[fn]
This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in matters of the LORD's commands and statutes for Israel:[fn]
Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of the heavens:
Greetings.
And you, Ezra, according to[fn] God's wisdom that you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people in the region west of the Euphrates who know the laws of your God and to teach anyone who does not know them.
and who has shown favor to me before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officers. So I took courage because I was strengthened by the hand of the LORD my God,[fn] and I gathered Israelite leaders to return with me.
Our guilt has been terrible from the days of our ancestors until the present. Because of our iniquities we have been handed over, along with our kings and priests, to the surrounding kings, and to the sword, captivity, plundering, and open shame, as it is today.
you gave through your servants the prophets, saying, “The land you are entering to possess is an impure land. The surrounding peoples have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness by their impurity and detestable practices.
LORD God of Israel, you are righteous, for we survive as a remnant today. Here we are before you with our guilt, though no one can stand in your presence because of this.
Whoever did not come within three days would forfeit all his possessions,[fn] according to the decision of the leaders and elders, and would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.
“But if you return to me and carefully observe my commands, even though your exiles were banished to the farthest horizon,[fn] I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have my name dwell.”
and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I[fn] not be sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire? ”
The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return? ” So I gave him a definite time, and it pleased the king to send me.
“And let me have a letter written to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so that he will give me timber to rebuild the gates of the temple's fortress, the city wall, and the home where I will live.”[fn] The king granted my requests, for the gracious hand of my God was on me.
before his colleagues and the powerful men[fn] of Samaria and said, “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble? ”
In Judah, it was said:[fn]
The strength of the laborer fails,
since there is so much rubble.
We will never be able
to rebuild the wall.
At that time, I also said to the people, “Let everyone and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day.”
I also shook the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake from his house and property everyone who doesn't keep this promise. May he be shaken out and have nothing! ”
The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. Then the people did as they had promised.
Each[fn] day, one ox, six choice sheep, and some fowl were prepared for me. An abundance of all kinds of wine was provided every ten days. But I didn't demand the food allotted to the governor, because the burden on the people was so heavy.
I realized that God had not sent him, because of the prophecy he spoke against me. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
The city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and no houses had been built yet.
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.
Then he said to them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the LORD is your strength.”[fn]
And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Don't grieve.”
The whole community that had returned from exile made shelters and lived in them. The Israelites had not celebrated like this from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day. And there was tremendous joy.
You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
all his officials, and all the people of his land,
for you knew how arrogantly they treated our ancestors.
You made a name for yourself
that endures to this day.
Here we are today,
slaves in the land you gave our ancestors
so that they could enjoy its fruit and its goodness.
Here we are — slaves in it!
The second thanksgiving procession went to the left, and I followed it with half the people along the top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall,
On that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy. The women and children also celebrated, and Jerusalem's rejoicing was heard far away.
But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command that was delivered by his eunuchs. The king became furious and his anger burned within him.
Memucan said in the presence of the king and his officials, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king, but all the officials and the peoples who are in every one of King Ahasuerus's provinces.
“If it meets the king's approval, he should personally issue a royal decree. Let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it cannot be revoked: Vashti is not to enter King Ahasuerus's presence, and her royal position is to be given to another woman who is more worthy than she.
“Let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom, so that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem at the fortress of Susa. Put them under the supervision of Hegai, the king's eunuch, keeper of the women, and give them the required beauty treatments.
“Then the young woman who pleases the king will become queen instead of Vashti.” This suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.
Esther still did not reveal her family background or her ethnicity, as Mordecai had directed. She obeyed Mordecai's orders, as she always had while he raised her.
The couriers left, spurred on by royal command, and the law was issued in the fortress of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, while the city of Susa was in confusion.
Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs who attended her, and dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what he was doing and why.[fn]
On the third day, Esther dressed in her royal clothing and stood in the inner courtyard of the palace facing it. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the royal courtroom,[fn] facing its entrance.
As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, she gained favor with him. The king extended the gold scepter in his hand toward Esther, and she approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
“What's more,” Haman added, “Queen Esther invited no one but me to join the king at the banquet she had prepared. I am invited again tomorrow to join her with the king.
His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows seventy-five feet[fn] tall. Ask the king in the morning to hang Mordecai on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” The advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows constructed.
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.”
Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if the king is pleased, spare my life; this is my request. And spare my people; this is my desire.
Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote this second letter with full authority to confirm the letter about Purim.
in order to confirm these days of Purim at their proper time just as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had established them and just as they had committed themselves and their descendants to the practices of fasting and lamentation.
One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan[fn] also came with them.
One day when Job's sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,
“Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you! ”
One day the sons of God came again to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before the LORD.
His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die! ”
If only that day had turned to darkness!
May God above not care about it,
or light shine on it.
You will know that your tent is secure,
and nothing will be missing when you inspect your home.
What strength do I have, that I should continue to hope?
What is my future, that I should be patient?
Isn't each person consigned to forced labor on earth?
Are not his days like those of a hired worker?
But the sight of the wicked will fail.
Their way of escape will be cut off,
and their only hope is their last breath.
If only you would hide me in Sheol
and conceal me until your anger passes.
If only you would appoint a time for me
and then remember me.
If you were in my place I could also talk like you.
I could string words together against you
and shake my head at you.
You who tear yourself in anger[fn] —
should the earth be abandoned on your account,
or a rock be removed from its place?
then be afraid of the sword,
because wrath brings punishment by the sword,
so that you may know there is a judgment.
How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
Does disaster[fn] come on them?
Does he apportion destruction in his anger?
For you say, “Where now is the nobleman's house? ”
and “Where are the tents the wicked lived in? ”
They float[fn] on the surface of the water.
Their section of the land is cursed,
so that they never go to their vineyards.
The womb forgets them;
worms feed on them;
they are remembered no more.
So injustice is broken like a tree.
This is a wicked man's lot from God,
the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
He said to mankind,
“The fear of the Lord — that is wisdom.
And to turn from evil is understanding.”
Terrors are turned loose against me;
they chase my dignity away like the wind,
and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.
If my step has turned from the way,
my heart has followed my eyes,
or impurity has stained my hands,
this would also be an iniquity deserving punishment,
for I would have denied God above.
Have I rejoiced over my enemy's distress,
or become excited when trouble came his way?
No stranger had to spend the night on the street,
for I opened my door to the traveler.
But it is the spirit in a person—
the breath from the Almighty—
that gives anyone understanding.
“He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,
and I will continue to see the light.”
Your wickedness affects a person like yourself,
and your righteousness, a son of man.[fn]
Can you depend on it because its strength is great?
Would you leave it to do your hard work?
For there is nothing reliable in what they say;
destruction is within them;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongues.
His trouble comes back on his own head;
his own violence comes down on top of his head.
LORD, our Lord,
how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!
You have covered the heavens with your majesty.[fn]
For the needy will not always be forgotten;
the hope of the oppressed[fn] will not perish forever.
Break the arm of the wicked, evil person,
until you look for his wickedness,
but it can't be found.
Let him rain burning coals[fn] and sulfur on the wicked;
let a scorching wind be the portion in their cup.
The boundary lines have fallen for me
in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
With your hand, LORD, save me from men,
from men of the world
whose portion is in this life:
You fill their bellies with what you have in store;
their sons are satisfied,
and they leave their surplus to their children.
I called to the LORD in my distress,
and I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the mountains trembled;
they shook because he burned with anger.
God — his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
You have given me the shield of your salvation;
your right hand upholds me,
and your humility exalts me.
It rises from one end of the heavens
and circles to their other end;
nothing is hidden from its heat.
The instruction of the LORD is perfect,
renewing one's life;
the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy,
making the inexperienced wise.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
making the heart glad;
the command of the LORD is radiant,
making the eyes light up.
May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.
Now I know that the LORD gives victory to his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with mighty victories from his right hand.
Your hand will capture all your enemies;
your right hand will seize those who hate you.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are disjointed;
my heart is like wax,
melting within me.
My strength is dried up like baked clay;
my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You put me into the dust of death.
All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down;
all those who go down to the dust
will kneel before him —
even the one who cannot preserve his life.
Even when I go through the darkest valley,[fn]
I fear no danger,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff — they comfort me.
Such is the generation of those who inquire of him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.[fn]Selah
The secret counsel of the LORD
is for those who fear him,
and he reveals his covenant to them.
Though an army deploys against me,
my heart will not be afraid;
though a war breaks out against me,
I will still be confident.
Do not give me over to the will of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing violence.
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
Therefore my heart celebrates,
and I give thanks to him with my song.
Be gracious to me, LORD,
because I am in distress;
my eyes are worn out from frustration —
my whole being[fn] as well.
Indeed, my life is consumed with grief
and my years with groaning;
my strength has failed
because of my iniquity,[fn]
and my bones waste away.
For day and night your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was drained[fn]
as in the summer's heat.Selah
The heavens were made by the word of the LORD,
and all the stars, by the breath of his mouth.
Let the whole earth fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the plans of his heart from generation to generation.
Let ruin come on him unexpectedly,
and let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it — to his ruin.
Yet when they were sick,
my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting,
and my prayer was genuine.[fn]
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your judgments like the deepest sea.
LORD, you preserve people and animals.
The LORD watches over the blameless all their days,
and their inheritance will last forever.
“In fact, you have made my days just inches long,
and my life span is as nothing to you.
Yes, every human being stands as only a vapor.Selah
LORD, you do not[fn] withhold your compassion from me.
Your constant love and truth will always guard me.
For troubles without number have surrounded me;
my iniquities have overtaken me; I am unable to see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my courage leaves me.
When one of them comes to visit, he speaks deceitfully;
he stores up evil in his heart;
he goes out and talks.
I[fn] am deeply depressed;
therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan
and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.
In order to plant them,
you displaced the nations by your hand;
in order to settle them,
you brought disaster on the peoples.
For they did not take the land by their sword —
their arm did not bring them victory —
but by your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face,
because you were favorable toward them.
My heart is moved by a noble theme
as I recite my verses to the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
in your splendor ride triumphantly
in the cause of truth, humility, and justice.
May your right hand show your awe-inspiring acts.
Your throne, God, is[fn] forever and ever;
the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
Kings' daughters are among your honored women;
the queen, adorned with gold from Ophir,
stands at your right hand.
In her chamber, the royal daughter is all glorious,
her clothing embroidered with gold.
rising splendidly,
is the joy of the whole earth.
Mount Zion — the summit of Zaphon —
is the city of the great King.
Like your name, God, so your praise
reaches to the ends of the earth;
your right hand is filled with justice.
This is the way of those who are arrogant,
and of their followers,
who approve of their words.[fn]Selah
Like sheep they are headed for Sheol;
Death will shepherd them.
The upright will rule over them in the morning,
and their form will waste away in Sheol,[fn]
far from their lofty abode.
Do not be afraid when a person gets rich,
when the wealth[fn] of his house increases.
Though he blesses himself during his lifetime —
and you are acclaimed when you do well for yourself —
Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God —
God of my salvation —
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
His buttery words are smooth,
but war is in his heart.
His words are softer than oil,
but they are drawn swords.
Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me,
for I take refuge in you.
I will seek refuge in the shadow of your wings
until danger passes.
I am surrounded by lions;
I lie down among devouring lions —
people whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
For your faithful love is as high as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
Because look, LORD, they set an ambush for me.
Powerful men attack me,
but not because of any sin or rebellion of mine.
God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you.
I thirst for you;
my body faints for you
in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.
You answer us in righteousness,
with awe-inspiring works,
God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the distant seas.
You visit the earth and water it abundantly,
enriching it greatly.
God's stream is filled with water,
for you prepare the earth in this way,
providing people with grain.
“The whole earth will worship you
and sing praise to you.
They will sing praise to your name.”Selah
“so that your foot may wade[fn] in blood
and your dogs' tongues may have their share
from the enemies.”
Rebuke the beast in the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample underfoot those with bars of silver.[fn]
Scatter the peoples who take pleasure in war.
Insults have broken my heart,
and I am in despair.
I waited for sympathy,
but there was none;
for comforters, but found no one.
I have leaned on you from birth;
you took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is always about you.
Therefore, my tongue will proclaim
your righteousness all day long,
for those who intend to harm me
will be disgraced and confounded.
Blessed be his glorious name forever;
the whole earth is filled with his glory.
Amen and amen.
They said in their hearts,
“Let's oppress them relentlessly.”
They burned every place throughout the land
where God met with us.[fn]
Do not forget the clamor of your adversaries,
the tumult of your opponents that goes up constantly.
“When the earth and all its inhabitants shake,
I am the one who steadies its pillars.Selah
I sought the Lord in my day of trouble.
My hands were continually lifted up
all night long;
I refused to be comforted.
The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
lightning lit up the world.
The earth shook and quaked.
Your way went through the sea
and your path through the vast water,
but your footprints were unseen.
Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God? ”
Before our eyes,
let vengeance for the shed blood of your servants
be known among the nations.
The mountains were covered by its shade,
and the mighty cedars[fn] with its branches.
Let your hand be with the man at your right hand,
with the son of man
you have made strong for yourself.
Teach me your way, LORD,
and I will live by your truth.
Give me an undivided mind to fear your name.
Will your wonders be known in the darkness
or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
For I will declare,
“Faithful love is built up forever;
you establish your faithfulness in the heavens.”
The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours.
The world and everything in it — you founded them.
“My faithfulness and love will be with him,
and through my name
his horn will be exalted.
“I will always preserve my faithful love for him,
and my covenant with him will endure.
For in your sight a thousand years
are like yesterday that passes by,
like a few hours of the night.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us;
establish for us the work of our hands —
establish the work of our hands!
He will cover you with his feathers;
you will take refuge under his wings.
His faithfulness will be a protective shield.
The LORD reigns! He is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed, enveloped in strength.
The world is firmly established;
it cannot be shaken.
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness;
let the whole earth tremble before him.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and all that fills it resound.
Sing a new song to the LORD,
for he has performed wonders;
his right hand and holy arm
have won him victory.
The LORD reigns! Let the peoples tremble.
He is enthroned between the cherubim.
Let the earth quake.
For the LORD is good, and his faithful love endures forever;
his faithfulness, through all generations.
But from eternity to eternity
the LORD's faithful love is toward those who fear him,
and his righteousness toward the grandchildren
Bless the LORD, all his works
in all the places where he rules.
My soul, bless the LORD!
My soul, bless the LORD!
LORD my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with majesty and splendor.
He waters the mountains from his palace;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of your labor.
How countless are your works, LORD!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.[fn]
Here is the sea, vast and wide,
teeming with creatures beyond number —
living things both large and small.
May sinners vanish from the earth
and wicked people be no more.
My soul, bless the LORD!
Hallelujah!
They shed innocent blood —
the blood of their sons and daughters
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
so the land became polluted with blood.
He broke their spirits[fn] with hard labor;
they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
Rising up to the sky, sinking down to the depths,
their courage[fn] melting away in anguish,
For your faithful love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Let the iniquity of his fathers
be remembered before the LORD,
and do not let his mother's sin be blotted out.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his instructions[fn] have good insight.
His praise endures forever.
His heart is assured; he will not fear.
In the end he will look in triumph on his foes.
He distributes freely to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.
His horn will be exalted in honor.
For his faithful love to us is great;
the LORD's faithfulness endures forever.
Hallelujah!
May my heart be blameless regarding your statutes
so that I will not be put to shame.
Your faithfulness is for all generations;
you established the earth, and it stands firm.
The revelation of your words brings light
and gives understanding to the inexperienced.
We have escaped like a bird from the hunter's net;
the net is torn, and we have escaped.
Our mouths were filled with laughter then,
and our tongues with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house,
your children, like young olive trees
around your table.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning —
more than watchmen for the morning.
LORD, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not haughty.
I do not get involved with things
too great or too wondrous for me.
“This is my resting place forever;
I will make my home here
because I have desired it.
It is like the dew of Hermon[fn]
falling on the mountains of Zion.
For there the LORD has appointed the blessing —
life forevermore.
May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!
Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is the one who pays you back
what you have done to us.
If I walk into the thick of danger,
you will preserve my life
from the anger of my enemies.
You will extend your hand;
your right hand will save me.
My bones were not hidden from you
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.
When those who surround me rise up,[fn]
may the trouble their lips cause overwhelm them.
May my prayer be set before you as incense,
the raising of my hands as the evening offering.
I cry to you, LORD;
I say, “You are my shelter,
my portion in the land of the living.”
Set me free and rescue me
from foreigners
whose mouths speak lies,
whose right hands are deceptive.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;
your rule is for all generations.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and gracious in all his actions.[fn]
Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted.
His majesty covers heaven and earth.
“when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when trouble and stress overcome you.
Don't say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back later.
I'll give it tomorrow” — when it is there with you.
The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
shining brighter and brighter until midday.
Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly;
he will be shattered instantly, beyond recovery.
As shameful conduct is pleasure for a fool,
so wisdom is for a person of understanding.
A righteous person is careful in dealing with his neighbor,[fn]
but the ways of the wicked lead them astray.
The one who has contempt for instruction will pay the penalty,
but the one who respects a command will be rewarded.
Every wise woman builds her house,
but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
The crown of the wise is their wealth,
but the foolishness of fools produces foolishness.
The wealth of the rich is his fortified city;
in his imagination it is like a high wall.
Even a young man is known by his actions —
by whether his behavior is pure and upright.
I have instructed you today — even you —
so that your confidence may be in the LORD.
Listen to your father who gave you life,
and don't despise your mother when[fn] she is old.
The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly,
and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
realize that wisdom is the same for you.
If you find it, you will have a future,
and your hope will never fade.
The one who hires a fool or who hires those passing by
is like an archer who wounds everyone indiscriminately.
The leech has two daughters: “Give, Give! ”
Three things are never satisfied;
four never say, “Enough! ”:
All the streams flow to the sea,
yet the sea is never full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.
Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe corrupts the mind.
because wisdom is protection as silver is protection;
but the advantage of knowledge
is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and examine wisdom and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness.
“which my soul continually searches for but does not find: I found one person in a thousand, but none of those was a woman.
For the living know that they will die, but the dead don't know anything. There is no longer a reward for them because the memory of them is forgotten.
Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
Because of laziness the roof caves in,
and because of negligent hands the house leaks.
Just as you don't know the path of the wind,
or how bones develop in[fn] the womb of a pregnant woman,
so also you don't know the work of God who makes everything.
In the morning sow your seed,
and at evening do not let your hand rest,
because you don't know which will succeed,
whether one or the other,
or if both of them will be equally good.
Rejoice, young person, while you are young,
and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth.
And walk in the ways of your heart
and in the desire of your eyes;
but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment.
Remove sorrow from your heart,
and put away pain from your flesh,
because youth and the prime of life are fleeting.
before the sun and the light are darkened,
and the moon and the stars,
and the clouds return after[fn] the rain;
Also, they are afraid of heights and dangers on the road;
the almond tree blossoms,
the grasshopper loses its spring,[fn]
and the caper berry has no effect;
for the mere mortal is headed to his eternal home,
and mourners will walk around in the street;
Tell me, you whom I love:
Where do you pasture your sheep?
Where do you let them rest at noon?
Why should I be like one who veils herself[fn]
beside the flocks of your companions?
The fig tree ripens its figs;
the blossoming vines give off their fragrance.
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
My dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crevices of the cliff,
let me see your face,[fn]
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
I will arise now and go about the city,
through the streets and the plazas.
I will seek the one I love.
I sought him, but did not find him.
The guards who go about the city found me.
I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love? ”
I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother's house —
to the chamber of the one who conceived me.
Who is this coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
scented with myrrh and frankincense
from every fragrant powder of the merchant?
Go out, young women of Zion,
and gaze at King Solomon,
wearing the crown his mother placed on him
on the day of his wedding —
the day of his heart's rejoicing.
Until the day breaks[fn]
and the shadows flee,
I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My love was knocking!
Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one.
For my head is drenched with dew,
my hair with droplets of the night.
Who is this who shines like the dawn,
as beautiful as the moon,
bright as the sun,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners?
I came down to the walnut grove
to see the blossoms of the valley,
to see if the vines were budding
and the pomegranates blooming.
Let's go early to the vineyards;
let's see if the vine has budded,
if the blossom has opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my caresses.
Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on the one she loves?
I awakened you under the apricot tree.
There your mother conceived you;
there she conceived and gave you birth.
Your land is desolate,
your cities burned down;
foreigners devour your fields
right in front of you —
a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners.
Daughter Zion is abandoned
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a shack in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.
“I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals.
They have become a burden to me;
I am tired of putting up with them.
The strong one will become tinder,
and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
with no one to extinguish the flames.
For you have abandoned your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are full of divination from the East
and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines.
They are in league[fn] with foreigners.
Their land is full of worthless idols;
they worship the work of their hands,
what their fingers have made.
For Jerusalem has stumbled
and Judah has fallen
because they have spoken and acted against the LORD,
defying his glorious presence.
The look on their faces testifies against them,
and like Sodom, they flaunt their sin;
they do not conceal it.
Woe to them,
for they have brought disaster on themselves.
The LORD brings this charge
against the elders and leaders of his people:
“You have devastated the vineyard.
The plunder from the poor is in your houses.
to those who say,
“Let him hurry up and do his work quickly
so that we can see it!
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take place
so that we can know it! ”
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will become like something rotten
and their blossoms will blow away like dust,
for they have rejected
the instruction of the LORD of Armies,
and they have despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore the LORD's anger burned against his people.
He raised his hand against them and struck them;
the mountains quaked,
and their corpses were like garbage in the streets.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.
And one called to another:
Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Armies;
his glory fills the whole earth.
Make the minds[fn] of these people dull;
deafen their ears and blind their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
understand with their minds,
turn back, and be healed.
Then I said, “Until when, Lord? ” And he replied:
Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants,
houses are without people,
the land is ruined and desolate,
When it became known to the house of David that Aram had occupied Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz[fn] and the hearts of his people trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind.
“Say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Don't be afraid or cowardly because of these two smoldering sticks, the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah.
The chief city of Aram is Damascus,
the chief of Damascus is Rezin
(within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people),
the chief city of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the chief of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
then you will not stand at all.
“For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned.
A man will go there with bow and arrows
because the whole land will be thorns and briers.
It will pour into Judah,
flood over it, and sweep through,
reaching up to the neck;
and its flooded banks[fn]
will fill your entire land, Immanuel!
Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future he will bring honor to the way of the sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.
For you have shattered their oppressive yoke
and the rod on their shoulders,
the staff of their oppressor,
just as you did on the day of Midian.
For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
The dominion will be vast,
and its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this.
Aram from the east and Philistia from the west
have consumed Israel with open mouths.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.
The head is the elder, the honored one;
the tail is the prophet, the one teaching lies.
Therefore the Lord does not rejoice
over[fn] Israel's young men
and has no compassion
on its fatherless and widows,
for everyone is a godless evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.
For wickedness burns like a fire
that consumes thorns and briers
and kindles the forest thickets
so that they go up in a column of smoke.
The land is scorched
by the wrath of the LORD of Armies,
and the people are like fuel for the fire.
No one has compassion on his brother.
Manasseh eats Ephraim,
and Ephraim, Manasseh;
together, both are against Judah.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.
What will you do on the day of punishment
when devastation comes from far away?
Who will you run to for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
There will be nothing to do
except crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.
Israel, even if your people were as numerous
as the sand of the sea,
only a remnant of them will return.
Destruction has been decreed;
justice overflows.
“In just a little while my wrath will be spent and my anger will turn to their destruction.”
They will not harm or destroy each other
on my entire holy mountain,
for the land will be as full
of the knowledge of the LORD
as the sea is filled with water.
On that day the root of Jesse
will stand as a banner for the peoples.
The nations will look to him for guidance,
and his resting place will be glorious.
There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
who will survive from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from the land of Egypt.
“Indeed, God is my salvation;
I will trust him and not be afraid,
for the LORD, the LORD himself,
is my strength and my song.
He has become my salvation.”
Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations[fn]
will not give their light.
The sun will be dark when it rises,
and the moon will not shine.
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will shake from its foundations
at the wrath of the LORD of Armies,
on the day of his burning anger.
Even the cypresses and the cedars of Lebanon
rejoice over you:
“Since you have been laid low,
no lumberjack has come against us.”
“Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol,
along with the music of your harps.
Maggots are spread out under you,
and worms cover you.”
This is the plan prepared
for the whole earth,
and this is the hand stretched out
against all the nations.
A pronouncement concerning Moab:
Ar in Moab is devastated,
destroyed in a night.
Kir in Moab is devastated,
destroyed in a night.
Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.
Therefore the soldiers of Moab cry out,
and they tremble.
My heart cries out over Moab,
whose fugitives flee as far as Zoar,
to Eglath-shelishiyah;
they go up the Ascent of Luhith weeping;
they raise a cry of destruction
on the road to Horonaim.
For their cry echoes
throughout the territory of Moab.
Their wailing reaches Eglaim;
their wailing reaches Beer-elim.
Let my refugees stay with you;
be a refuge for Moab[fn] from the aggressor.
When the oppressor has gone,
destruction has ended,
and marauders have vanished from the land,
We have heard of Moab's pride —
how very proud he is —
his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance,
and his empty boasting.
Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab,
as does my innermost being for Kir-heres.
And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts years, Moab's splendor will become an object of contempt, in spite of a very large population. And those who are left will be few and weak.”
In the evening — sudden terror!
Before morning — it is gone!
This is the fate of those who plunder us
and the lot of those who ravage us.
All you inhabitants of the world
and you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains, look!
When a ram's horn sounds, listen!
A pronouncement concerning Egypt:
Look, the LORD rides on a swift cloud
and is coming to Egypt.
Egypt's worthless idols will tremble before him,
and Egypt will lose heart.
The land of Judah will terrify Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble because of what the LORD of Armies has planned against it.
The LORD of Armies will bless them, saying, “Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance are blessed.”
Therefore I am[fn] filled with anguish.
Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor.
I am too perplexed to hear,
too dismayed to see.
For the Lord said this to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar will be gone.
The noisy city, the jubilant town,
is filled with celebration.
Your dead did not die by the sword;
they were not killed in battle.
The LORD of Armies has directly revealed to me:
“This iniquity will not be wiped out for you people as long as you live.”[fn]
The Lord GOD of Armies has spoken.
“On that day” — the declaration of the LORD of Armies — “the peg that was driven into a firm place will give way, be cut off, and fall, and the load on it will be destroyed.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.
Be ashamed, Sidon, the stronghold of the sea,
for the sea has spoken:
“I have not been in labor or given birth.
I have not raised young men
or brought up young women.”
Is this your jubilant city,
whose origin was in ancient times,
whose feet have taken her
to reside far away?
He stretched out his hand over the sea;
he made kingdoms tremble.
The LORD has commanded
that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.
But her profits and wages will be dedicated to the LORD. They will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live in the LORD's presence, to provide them with ample food and sacred clothing.
people and priest alike,
servant and master,
female servant and mistress,
buyer and seller,
lender and borrower,
creditor and debtor.
The earth will be stripped completely bare
and will be totally plundered,
for the LORD has spoken this message.
The earth mourns and withers;
the world wastes away and withers;
the exalted people of the earth waste away.
The earth is polluted by its inhabitants,
for they have transgressed teachings,
overstepped decrees,
and broken the permanent covenant.
Therefore, in the east honor the LORD!
In the coasts and islands of the west
honor the name of the LORD,
the God of Israel.
The earth is completely devastated;
the earth is split open;
the earth is violently shaken.
The earth staggers like a drunkard
and sways like a hut.
Earth's rebellion weighs it down,
and it falls, never to rise again.
The moon will be put to shame
and the sun disgraced,
because the LORD of Armies will reign as king
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
and he will display his glory
in the presence of his elders.
On this mountain
he will swallow up the burial shroud,
the shroud over all the peoples,
the sheet covering all the nations.
For the LORD's power will rest on this mountain.
But Moab will be trampled in his place[fn]
as straw is trampled in a dung pile.
Yes, LORD, we wait for you
in the path of your judgments.
Our desire is for your name and renown.
I long for you in the night;
yes, my spirit within me diligently seeks you,
for when your judgments are in the land,
the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
LORD, they went to you in their distress;
they poured out whispered prayers
because your discipline fell on them.[fn]
As a pregnant woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pains,
so we were before you, LORD.
Go, my people, enter your rooms
and close your doors behind you.
Hide for a little while until the wrath has passed.
For look, the LORD is coming from his place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.
The earth will reveal the blood shed on it
and will no longer conceal her slain.
In days to come, Jacob will take root.
Israel will blossom and bloom
and fill the whole world with fruit.
Therefore Jacob's iniquity will be atoned for in this way,
and the result of the removal of his sin will be this:
when he makes all the altar stones
like crushed bits of chalk,
no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.
“And I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the mason's level.”
Hail will sweep away the false refuge,
and water will flood your hiding place.
Your covenant with Death will be dissolved,
and your agreement with Sheol will not last.
When the overwhelming catastrophe passes through,
you will be trampled.
For the LORD will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim.
He will rise in wrath, as at the Valley of Gibeon,
to do his work, his unexpected work,
and to perform his task, his unfamiliar task.
I will oppress Ariel,
and there will be mourning and crying,
and she will be to me like an Ariel.
You will be brought down;
you will speak from the ground,
and your words will come from low in the dust.
Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground;
your speech will whisper from the dust.
It will be like a hungry one who dreams he is eating,
then wakes and is still hungry;
and like a thirsty one who dreams he is drinking,
then wakes and is still thirsty, longing for water.
So it will be for all the many nations
who go to battle against Mount Zion.
But Pharaoh's protection will become your shame,
and refuge in Egypt's shadow your humiliation.
A pronouncement concerning the animals of the Negev:[fn]
Through a land of trouble and distress,
of lioness and lion,
of viper and flying serpent,
they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people who will not help them.
“this iniquity of yours will be
like a crumbling gap,
a bulge in a high wall
whose collapse will come in an instant — suddenly!
For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said:
“You will be delivered by returning and resting;
your strength will lie in quiet confidence.
But you are not willing.”
and whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”
Look! The name of the LORD is coming from far away,
his anger burning and heavy with smoke.[fn]
His lips are full of fury,
and his tongue is like a consuming fire.
And every stroke of the appointed[fn] staff
that the LORD brings down on him
will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres;
he will fight against him with brandished weapons.
The reckless mind will gain knowledge,
and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently.
For a fool speaks foolishness
and his mind plots iniquity.
He lives in a godless way
and speaks falsely about the LORD.
He leaves the hungry empty
and deprives the thirsty of drink.
The scoundrel's weapons are destructive;
he hatches plots to destroy the needy with lies,
even when the poor person says what is right.
for the ground of my people
growing thorns and briers,
indeed, for every joyous house in the jubilant city.
The result of righteousness will be peace;
the effect of righteousness
will be quiet confidence forever.
LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for you.
Be our strength every morning
and our salvation in time of trouble.
There will be times of security for you —
a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the LORD is Zion's treasure.
The highways are deserted;
travel has ceased.
An agreement has been broken,
cities[fn] despised,
and human life disregarded.
The land mourns and withers;
Lebanon is ashamed and wilted.
Sharon is like a desert;
Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
“You will conceive chaff;
you will give birth to stubble.
Your breath is fire that will consume you.
Look at Zion, the city of our festival times.
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander;
its tent pegs will not be pulled up
nor will any of its cords be loosened.
and none there will say, “I am sick.”
The people who dwell there
will be forgiven their iniquity.
You nations, come here and listen;
you peoples, pay attention!
Let the earth and all that fills it hear,
the world and all that comes from it.
Their slain will be thrown out,
and the stench of their corpses will rise;
the mountains will flow[fn] with their blood.
When my sword has drunk its fill[fn] in the heavens,
it will then come down on Edom
and on the people I have set apart for destruction.
The LORD's sword is covered with blood.
It drips with fat,
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
Edom's streams will be turned into pitch,
her soil into sulfur;
her land will become burning pitch.
Sand partridges[fn] will make their nests there;
they will lay and hatch their eggs
and will gather their broods under their shadows.
Indeed, the birds of prey will gather there,
each with its mate.
He has cast the lot for them;
his hand allotted their portion with a measuring line.
They will possess it forever;
they will dwell in it from generation to generation.
It will blossom abundantly
and will also rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
the parched ground will become a pool,
and the thirsty land, springs.
In the haunt of jackals, in their lairs,
there will be grass, reeds, and papyrus.
“Don't let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD will certainly rescue us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.' ”
“until I come and take you away to a land like your own land — a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
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.
Because your raging against me
and your arrogance have reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth;
I will make you go back
the way you came.
“I am going to make the sun's shadow that goes down on the stairway of Ahaz go back by ten steps.' ” So the sun's shadow[fn] went back the ten steps it had descended.
“Speak tenderly to[fn] Jerusalem,
and announce to her
that her time of hard service is over,
her iniquity has been pardoned,
and she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.”
Every valley will be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled;
the uneven ground will become smooth
and the rough places, a plain.
And the glory of the LORD will appear,
and all humanity[fn] together will see it,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.
Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?
The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I will answer them.
I am the LORD, the God of Israel. I will not abandon them.
“Look, you are nothing
and your work is worthless.
Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
“This is my servant; I strengthen him,
this is my chosen one; I delight in him.
I have put my Spirit on him;
he will bring justice[fn] to the nations.
Sing a new song to the LORD;
sing his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea with all that fills it,
you coasts and islands with your[fn] inhabitants.
“I have kept silent from ages past;
I have been quiet and restrained myself.
But now, I will groan like a woman in labor,
gasping breathlessly.
But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in holes
or imprisoned in dungeons.
They have become plunder
with no one to rescue them
and loot, with no one saying, “Give it back! ”
He feeds on[fn] ashes.
His deceived mind has led him astray,
and he cannot rescue himself,
or say, “Isn't there a lie in my right hand? ”
“Heavens, sprinkle from above,
and let the skies shower righteousness.
Let the earth open up
so that salvation will sprout
and righteousness will spring up with it.
I, the LORD, have created it.
“I declare the end from the beginning,
and from long ago what is not yet done,
saying: my plan will take place,
and I will do all my will.
“Your nakedness will be uncovered,
and your disgrace will be exposed.
I will take vengeance;
I will spare no one.”[fn]
“So now hear this, lover of luxury,
who sits securely,
who says to herself,
‘I am, and there is no one else.
I will never be a widow
or know the loss of children.'
“You were secure in your wickedness;
you said, ‘No one sees me.'
Your wisdom and knowledge
led you astray.
You said to yourself,
‘I am, and there is no one else.'
“My own hand founded the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summoned them,
they stood up together.
If only you had paid attention to my commands.
Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,
and the offspring of your body like its grains;
their name would not be cut off
or eliminated from my presence.
But I myself said: I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;
yet my vindication is with the LORD,
and my reward is with my God.
saying to the prisoners, “Come out,”
and to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”
They will feed along the pathways,
and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.
Shout for joy, you heavens!
Earth, rejoice!
Mountains break into joyful shouts!
For the LORD has comforted his people,
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
Why was no one there when I came?
Why was there no one to answer when I called?
Is my arm too weak to redeem?
Or do I have no power to rescue?
Look, I dry up the sea by my rebuke;
I turn the rivers into a wilderness;
their fish rot because of lack of water
and die of thirst.
Pay attention to me, my people,
and listen to me, my nation;
for instruction will come from me,
and my justice for a light to the nations.
I will bring it about quickly.
My righteousness is near,
my salvation appears,
and my arms will bring justice to the nations.
The coasts and islands will put their hope in me,
and they will look to my strength.[fn]
Look up to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and its inhabitants will die like gnats.[fn]
But my salvation will last forever,
and my righteousness will never be shattered.
For moths will devour them like a garment,
and worms will eat them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,
and my salvation for all generations.
Wasn't it you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the sea-bed into a road
for the redeemed to pass over?
Wake yourself, wake yourself up!
Stand up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk the cup of his fury
from the LORD's hand;
you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs —
the cup that causes people to stagger.
“Wake up, wake up;
put on your strength, Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments,
Jerusalem, the holy city!
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
will no longer enter you.
“Stand up, shake the dust off yourself!
Take your seat, Jerusalem.
Remove the bonds[fn] from your neck,
captive Daughter Zion.”
Just as many were appalled at you[fn] —
his appearance was so disfigured
that he did not look like a man,
and his form did not resemble a human being —
He was taken away because of oppression and judgment,
and who considered his fate?[fn]
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
he was struck because of my people's rebellion.
“Rejoice, childless one, who did not give birth;
burst into song and shout,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than the children of the married woman,”
says the LORD.
“Though the mountains move
and the hills shake,
my love will not be removed from you
and my covenant of peace will not be shaken,”
says your compassionate LORD.
“Why do you spend silver on what is not food,
and your wages on what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.[fn]
“Pay attention and come to me;
listen, so that you will live.
I will make a permanent covenant with you
on the basis of the faithful kindnesses of David.[fn]
“For as heaven is higher than earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Your portion is among the smooth stones of the wadi;
indeed, they are your lot.
You have even poured out a drink offering to them;
you have offered a grain offering;
should I be satisfied with these?
You have placed your bed
on a high and lofty mountain;
you also went up there to offer sacrifice.
“Then your light will appear like the dawn,
and your recovery will come quickly.
Your righteousness will go before you,
and the LORD's glory will be your rear guard.
“The LORD will always lead you,
satisfy you in a parched land,
and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden
and like a spring whose water never runs dry.
For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers, with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongues mutter injustice.
Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We hope for light, but there is darkness;
for brightness, but we live in the night.
For our transgressions have multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us.
For our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far off.
For truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty cannot enter.
Truth is missing,
and whoever turns from evil is plundered.
The LORD saw that there was no justice,
and he was offended.
They will fear the name of the LORD in the west
and his glory in the east;[fn]
for he will come like a rushing stream
driven by the wind of the LORD.
“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children's children, from now on and forever,” says the LORD.
For look, darkness will cover the earth,
and total darkness the peoples;
but the LORD will shine over you,
and his glory will appear over you.
The glory of Lebanon will come to you —
its pine, elm, and cypress together —
to beautify the place of my sanctuary,
and I will glorify my dwelling place.[fn]
Your sun will no longer set,
and your moon will not fade;
for the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and the days of your sorrow will be over.
I rejoice greatly in the LORD,
I exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation
and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness,
as a groom wears a turban
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
I will not keep silent because of Zion,
and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem,
until her righteousness shines like a bright light
and her salvation, like a flaming torch.
Look down from heaven and see
from your lofty home — holy and beautiful.
Where is your zeal and your might?
Your yearning[fn] and your compassion
are withheld from me.
All of us have become like something unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like a polluted[fn] garment;
all of us wither like a leaf,
and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
Our holy and beautiful[fn] temple,
where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned down,
and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.
“For I will create new heavens and a new earth;
the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.
This is what the LORD says:
Heaven is my throne,
and earth is my footstool.
Where could you possibly build a house for me?
And where would my resting place be?
My hand made all these things,
and so they all came into being.
This is the LORD's declaration.
I will look favorably on this kind of person:
one who is humble, submissive[fn] in spirit,
and trembles at my word.
One person slaughters an ox, another kills a person;
one person sacrifices a lamb, another breaks a dog's neck;
one person offers a grain offering, another offers pig's blood;
one person offers incense, another praises an idol —
all these have chosen their ways
and delight in their abhorrent practices.
You will see, you will rejoice,
and you[fn] will flourish like grass;
then the LORD's power will be revealed to his servants,
but he will show his wrath against his enemies.
For the LORD will execute judgment
on all humanity with his fiery sword,
and many will be slain by the LORD.
“For just as the new heavens and the new earth,
which I will make,
will remain before me” —
this is the LORD's declaration —
“so your offspring and your name will remain.
Your own evil will discipline you;
your own apostasies will reprimand you.
Recognize[fn] how evil and bitter it is
for you to abandon the LORD your God
and to have no fear of me.
This is the declaration
of the Lord GOD of Armies.
I planted you, a choice vine
from the very best seed.
How then could you turn into
a degenerate, foreign vine?
Keep your feet from going bare
and your throat from thirst.
But you say, “It's hopeless;
I love strangers,
and I will continue to follow them.”
In the days of King Josiah the LORD asked me, “Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has ascended every high hill and gone under every green tree to prostitute herself there.
“I thought, ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to me.' But she didn't return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
“I[fn] observed that it was because unfaithful Israel had committed adultery that I had sent her away and had given her a certificate of divorce. Nevertheless, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid but also went and prostituted herself.
“Indifferent to[fn] her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
“Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn't return to me with all her heart — only in pretense.”
This is the LORD's declaration.
“Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say,
‘Return, unfaithful Israel.
This is the LORD's declaration.
I will not look on you with anger,[fn]
for I am unfailing in my love.
This is the LORD's declaration.
I will not be angry forever.
“Surely, falsehood comes from the hills,
commotion from the mountains,
but the salvation of Israel
is only in the LORD our God.
“From the time of our youth
the shameful one[fn] has consumed
what our ancestors have worked for —
their flocks and their herds,
their sons and their daughters.
“Let us lie down in our shame;
let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinned against the LORD our God,
both we and our ancestors,
from the time of our youth even to this day.
We have not obeyed the LORD our God.”
“On that day” — this is the LORD's declaration — “the king and the officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be scared speechless.”
I said, “Oh no, Lord GOD, you have certainly deceived this people and Jerusalem, by announcing, ‘You will have peace,' while a sword is at[fn] our throats.”
Your way and your actions
have brought this on you.
This is your punishment. It is very bitter,
because it has reached your heart!
Disaster after disaster is reported
because the whole land is destroyed.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my tent curtains, in a moment.
For this is what the LORD says:
“The whole land will be a desolation,
but I will not finish it off.
“Because of this, the earth will mourn;
the skies above will grow dark.
I have spoken; I have planned,
and I will not relent or turn back from it.”
I hear a cry like a woman in labor,
a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.
The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands:
“Woe is me, for my life is weary
because of the murderers! ”
Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the LORD's declaration.
Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?
“Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the LORD's declaration.
Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?
“Set them apart for war against her;
rise up, let's attack at noon.
Woe to us, for the day is passing;
the evening shadows grow long.
Be warned, Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you;
I will make you a desolation,
a land without inhabitants.
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! ”
“Stand in the gate of the house of the LORD and there call out this word: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the LORD.
“When you speak all these things to them, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer you.
“I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and gladness and the voices of the groom and the bride, for the land will become a desolate waste.
“Even storks in the sky
know their seasons.
Turtledoves, swallows, and cranes[fn]
are aware of their migration,
but my people do not know
the requirements of the LORD.
From Dan, the snorting of horses is heard.
At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds,
the whole land quakes.
They come to devour the land and everything in it,
the city and all its residents.
Each one betrays his friend;
no one tells the truth.
They have taught their tongues to speak lies;
they wear themselves out doing wrong.
Their tongues are deadly arrows —
they speak deception.
With his mouth
one speaks peaceably with his friend,
but inwardly he sets up an ambush.
Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the LORD's declaration.
Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?
Who is the person wise enough to understand this? Who has the LORD spoken to, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a wilderness, so no one can pass through?
For this is what the LORD says:
Look, I am flinging away
the land's residents at this time
and bringing them such distress
that they will feel it.
Woe to me because of my brokenness —
I am severely wounded!
I exclaimed, “This is my intense suffering,
but I must bear it.”
My tent is destroyed;
all my tent cords are snapped.
My sons have departed from me and are no more.
I have no one to pitch my tent again
or to hang up my curtains.
For the shepherds are stupid:
They don't seek the LORD.
Therefore they have not prospered,
and their whole flock is scattered.
I know, LORD,
that a person's way of life is not his own;
no one who walks determines his own steps.
in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today.' ”
I answered, “Amen, LORD.”
“The LORD named you
a flourishing olive tree,
beautiful with well-formed fruit.
He has set fire to it,
and its branches are consumed[fn]
with the sound of a mighty tumult.
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]
My inheritance has behaved toward me
like a lion in the forest.
She has roared against me.
Therefore, I hate her.
Is my inheritance like a hyena[fn] to me?
Are birds of prey circling her?
Go, gather all the wild animals;
bring them to devour her.
They have made it a desolation.
It mourns, desolate, before me.
All the land is desolate,
but no one takes it to heart.
But if you will not listen,
my innermost being will weep in secret
because of your pride.
My eyes will overflow with tears,
for the LORD's flock has been taken captive.
Your adulteries and your lustful neighing,
your depraved prostitution
on the hills, in the fields —
I have seen your abhorrent acts.
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
You are unclean —
for how long yet?
Judah mourns;
her city gates languish.
Her people are on the ground in mourning;
Jerusalem's cry rises up.
Have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you detest Zion?
Why do you strike us
with no hope of healing for us?
We hoped for peace,
but there was nothing good;
for a time of healing,
but there was only terror.
Then the LORD said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before me, my compassions would not reach out to these people. Send them from my presence, and let them go.
“The mother of seven grew faint;
she breathed her last breath.
Her sun set while it was still day;
she was ashamed and humiliated.
The rest of them I will give over to the sword
in the presence of their enemies.”
This is the LORD's declaration.
Woe is me, my mother,
that you gave birth to me,
a man who incites dispute and conflict
in all the land.
I did not lend or borrow,
yet everyone curses me.
I will give up your wealth
and your treasures as plunder,
without cost, for all your sins
in all your borders.
Why has my pain become unending,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
You truly have become like a mirage to me —
water that is not reliable.
“When you tell these people all these things, they will say to you, ‘Why has the LORD declared all this terrible disaster against us? What is our iniquity? What is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God? '
This is what the LORD says:
Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind.
He makes human flesh his strength,
and his heart turns from the LORD.
He will be like a juniper in the Arabah;
he cannot see when good comes
but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness,
in a salt land where no one lives.
The heart is more deceitful than anything else,
and incurable — who can understand it?
“kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David; they will ride in chariots and on horses with their officials, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. This city will be inhabited forever.
But you, LORD, know
all their deadly plots against me.
Do not wipe out their iniquity;
do not blot out their sin before you.
Let them be forced to stumble before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.
because he didn't kill me in the womb
so that my mother might have been my grave,
her womb eternally pregnant.
“Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils of war.
“House of David, this is what the LORD says:
Administer justice every morning,
and rescue the victim of robbery
from his oppressor,
or my anger will flare up like fire
and burn unquenchably
because of your evil deeds.
But you have eyes and a heart for nothing
except your own dishonest profit,
shedding innocent blood
and committing extortion and oppression.
I spoke to you when you were secure.
You said, “I will not listen.”
This has been your way since youth;
indeed, you have never listened to me.
Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me,
and all my bones tremble.
I have become like a drunkard,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the LORD,
because of his holy words.
For the land is full of adulterers;
the land mourns because of the curse,
and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.
Their way of life[fn] has become evil,
and their power is not rightly used
Therefore, their way will seem
like slippery paths in the gloom.
They will be driven away and fall down there,
for I will bring disaster on them,
the year of their punishment.
This is the LORD's declaration.
“This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
He has left his den like a lion,
for their land has become a desolation
because of the sword[fn] of the oppressor,
because of his burning anger.
“How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD, ‘This temple will become like Shiloh and this city will become an uninhabited ruin'! ” Then all the people crowded around Jeremiah at the LORD's temple.
“ ‘ “As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and does not place its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish by sword, famine, and plague — this is the LORD's declaration — until through him I have destroyed it.
How awful that day will be!
There will be no other like it!
It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
but he will be saved out of it.
They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;
they will be radiant with joy
because of the LORD's goodness,
because of the grain, the new wine, the fresh oil,
and because of the young of the flocks and herds.
Their life will be like an irrigated garden,
and they will no longer grow weak from hunger.
This is what the LORD says:
Keep your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for the reward for your work will come —
this is the LORD's declaration —
and your children will return from the enemy's land.
“Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” — the LORD's declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
“A measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah.
“You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and still do today, both in Israel and among all mankind. You made a name for yourself, as is the case today.
“Look! Siege ramps have come against the city to capture it, and the city, as a result of the sword, famine, and plague, has been handed over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you have spoken has happened. Look, you can see it!
“Yet you, Lord GOD, have said to me, ‘Purchase the field and call in witnesses' — even though the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans! ”
“Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans, to Babylon's king Nebuchadnezzar, and he will capture it.
“for this city has caused my wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. I will therefore remove it from my presence
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, his whole army, all the kingdoms of the lands under his control, and all other peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding cities:
“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Go, speak to King Zedekiah of Judah, and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it.
while the king of Babylon's army was attacking Jerusalem and all of Judah's remaining cities — that is, Lachish and Azekah, for they were the only ones left of Judah's fortified cities.
“Perhaps their petition will come before the LORD, and each one will turn from his evil way, for the anger and fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people are intense.”
“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: This is what you will say to Judah's king, who is sending you to inquire of me: ‘Watch: Pharaoh's army, which has come out to help you, is going to return to its own land of Egypt.
“This is what the LORD says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live. He will retain his life like the spoils of war and will live.'
“This is what the LORD says: ‘This city will most certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon's army, and he will capture it.' ”
Jeremiah therefore said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If indeed you surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned, and you and your household will survive.
“But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans. They will burn it, and you yourself will not escape from them.' ”
“They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the LORD in what I am telling you, so it may go well for you and you can live.
All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans. You yourself will not escape from them, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon and this city will burn.' ”
In the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to it.
In the fourth month of Zedekiah's eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken into.
“Indeed, I will certainly deliver you so that you do not fall by the sword. Because you have trusted in me, you will retain your life like the spoils of war. This is the LORD's declaration.' ”
“then the sword you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine you are worried about will follow on your heels[fn] there to Egypt, and you will die there.
“So my fierce wrath poured out and burned in Judah's cities and Jerusalem's streets so that they became the desolate ruin they are today.
“The LORD can no longer bear your evil deeds and the detestable acts you have committed, so your land has become a waste, a desolation, and an example for cursing, without inhabitant, as you see today.
That day belongs to the Lord, the GOD of Armies,
a day of vengeance to avenge himself
against his adversaries.
The sword will devour and be satisfied;
it will drink its fill of their blood,
because it will be a sacrifice to the Lord, the GOD of Armies,
in the northern land by the Euphrates River.
The nations have heard of your dishonor,
and your cries fill the earth,
because warrior stumbles against warrior
and together both of them have fallen.
Oh, sword of the LORD!
How long will you be restless?
Go back to your sheath;
be still; be silent!
The destroyer will move against every town;
not one town will escape.
The valley will perish,
and the plain will be annihilated,
as the LORD has said.
We have heard of Moab's pride,
great pride, indeed —
his insolence, arrogance, pride,
and haughty heart.
Why do you boast about your valleys,
your flowing valley,[fn]
you faithless daughter —
you who trust in your treasures
and say, “Who can attack me? ”
“Edom will become a desolation. Everyone who passes by her will be appalled and scoff because of all her wounds.
At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; the sound of her cry will be heard at the Red Sea.
Look! It will be like an eagle soaring upward, then swooping down and spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom's warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.
Hazor will become a jackals' den,
a desolation forever.
No one will live there;
no human being will stay in it even temporarily.
Announce to the nations;
proclaim and raise up a signal flag;
proclaim, and hide nothing.
Say, “Babylon is captured;
Bel is put to shame;
Marduk is terrified.”
Her idols are put to shame;
her false gods, devastated.
The Chaldeans will become plunder;
all Babylon's plunderers will be fully satisfied.
This is the LORD's declaration.
your mother will be utterly humiliated;
she who bore you will be put to shame.
Look! She will lag behind all[fn] the nations —
an arid wilderness, a desert.
I will return Israel to his grazing land,
and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan;
he will be satisfied
in the hill country of Ephraim and of Gilead.
How the hammer of the whole earth
is cut down and smashed!
What a horror Babylon has become
among the nations!
Put all her young bulls to the sword;
let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them because their day has come,
the time of their punishment.
Look, I am against you, you arrogant one —
this is the declaration of
the Lord GOD of Armies —
for your day has come,
the time when I will punish you.
The arrogant will stumble and fall
with no one to pick him up.
I will set fire to his cities,
and it will consume everything around him.
At the sound of Babylon's conquest the earth will quake; a cry will be heard among the nations.
For Israel and Judah are not left widowed
by their God, the LORD of Armies,
though their land is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.
Sharpen the arrows!
Fill the quivers![fn]
The LORD has roused the spirit
of the kings of the Medes
because his plan is aimed at Babylon
to destroy her,
for it is the LORD's vengeance,
vengeance for his temple.
The earth quakes and trembles
because the LORD's intentions against Babylon stand:
to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
Babylon's warriors have stopped fighting;
they sit in their strongholds.
Their might is exhausted;
they have become like women.
Babylon's homes have been set ablaze,
her gate bars are shattered.
Messenger races to meet messenger,
and herald to meet herald,
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his city has been captured
from end to end.
In the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around.
Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors fled. They left the city at night by way of the city gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. They made their way along the route to the Arabah.
The Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah's entire army left him and scattered.
The whole Chaldean army with the captain of the guards tore down all the walls surrounding Jerusalem.
As for the two pillars, the one basin, with the twelve bronze oxen under it, and the water carts[fn] that King Solomon had made for the LORD's temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.
As for his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day until the day of his death, for the rest of his life.
How[fn] she sits alone,
the city once crowded with people!
She who was great among the nations
has become like a widow.
The princess among the provinces
has been put to forced labor.
Judah has gone into exile
following[fn] affliction and harsh slavery;
she lives among the nations
but finds no place to rest.
All her pursuers have overtaken her
in narrow places.
All the splendor has vanished
from Daughter Zion.
Her leaders are like stags
that find no pasture;
they stumble away exhausted
before the hunter.
LORD, see how I am in distress.
I am churning within;
my heart is broken,[fn]
for I have been very rebellious.
Outside, the sword takes the children;
inside, there is death.
Let all their wickedness come before you,
and deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions.
For my groans are many,
and I am sick at heart.
My eyes are worn out from weeping;
I am churning within.
My heart is poured out in grief[fn]
because of the destruction of my dear people,
because infants and nursing babies faint
in the streets of the city.
All who pass by
scornfully clap their hands at you.
They hiss and shake their heads
at Daughter Jerusalem:
Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth?
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.”
The nursing baby's tongue
clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst.
Infants beg for food,
but no one gives them any.
So rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,
you resident of the land of Uz!
Yet the cup will pass to you as well;
you will get drunk and expose yourself.
Daughter Zion, your punishment is complete;
he will not lengthen your exile.[fn]
But he will punish your iniquity, Daughter Edom,
and will expose your sins.
The likeness of four living creatures came from it, and this was their appearance: They looked something like a human,
Wherever the Spirit wanted to go, the creatures went in the direction the Spirit was moving. The wheels rose alongside them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
The appearance of the brilliant light all around was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the LORD's glory. When I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.
“Son of man,” he said to me, “feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
The Spirit then lifted me up, and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me — bless the glory of the LORD in his place! —
So I got up and went out to the plain. The LORD's glory was present there, like the glory I had seen by the Chebar Canal, and I fell facedown.
But I said, “Oh, Lord GOD, I have never been defiled. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts. And impure meat has never entered my mouth.”
“This is what the Lord GOD says: I have set this Jerusalem in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.
“Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have been more insubordinate than the nations around you — you have not walked in my statutes or kept my ordinances; you have not even kept the ordinances of the nations around you —
“When my anger is spent and I have vented my wrath on them, I will be appeased. Then after I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken in my jealousy.
Doom[fn] has come on you,
inhabitants of the land.
The time has come; the day is near.
There will be panic on the mountains
and not celebration.
Here is the day! Here it comes!
Doom is on its way.
The rod has blossomed;
arrogance has bloomed.
The time has come; the day has arrived.
Let the buyer not rejoice
and the seller not mourn,
for wrath is on her whole crowd.
Forge the chain,
for the land is filled with crimes of bloodshed,
and the city is filled with violence.
He stretched out what appeared to be a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the inner gate that faces north, where the offensive statue that provokes jealousy was located.
Seventy elders from the house of Israel were standing before them, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a firepan in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising up.
Then he called loudly in my hearing, “Come near, executioners of the city, each of you with a destructive weapon in his hand.”
Then the glory of the God of Israel rose from above the cherub where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man clothed in linen and carrying writing equipment.
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.'
Now the cherubim were standing to the south of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court.
Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherub to the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the LORD's glory.
I looked, and there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub. The luster of the wheels was like the gleam of beryl.
When they moved, they would go in any of the four directions, without pivoting as they moved. But wherever the head faced, they would go in that direction, without pivoting as they went.
“But as for those whose hearts pursue their desire for abhorrent acts and detestable practices, I will bring their conduct down on their own heads.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.
Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, lifted their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
The glory of the LORD rose up from within the city and stopped on the mountain east of the city.[fn]
“Then say to the people of the land, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says about the residents of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in dread, for their[fn][fn] land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there.
“The inhabited cities will be destroyed, and the land will become dreadful. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' ”
“Son of man, what is this proverb you people have about the land of Israel, which goes, ‘The days keep passing by, and every vision fails'?
“Son of man, notice that the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees concerns many years from now; he prophesies about distant times.'
When the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, “Where's the whitewash you plastered on it? ”
“Therefore, speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: When anyone from the house of Israel sets up idols in his heart and puts his sinful stumbling block in front of himself, and then comes to the prophet, I, the LORD, will answer him appropriately.[fn] I will answer him according to his many idols,
“Even if these three men were in it, as I live” — the declaration of the Lord GOD — “they could not rescue their sons or daughters. They alone would be rescued, but the land would be desolate.
“You are to say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hethite.
“As for your birth, your umbilical cord wasn't cut on the day you were born, and you weren't washed clean[fn] with water. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.
“This is what the Lord GOD says: Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness exposed by your acts of prostitution with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols and the blood of your children that you gave to them,
“ ‘Look, everyone who uses proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.”
You are the daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and children. You are the sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hethite and your father an Amorite.
Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you, and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to the south of you.
“ ‘As I live — the declaration of the Lord GOD — your sister Sodom and her daughters have not behaved as you and your daughters have.
“As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters and Samaria and her daughters will return to their former state. You and your daughters will also return to your former state.
“ ‘But there was another huge eagle with powerful wings and thick plumage. And this vine bent its roots toward him! It stretched out its branches to him from the plot where it was planted, so that he might water it.
“What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel:
‘The fathers eat sour grapes,
and the children's teeth are set on edge'?
“As I live” — this is the declaration of the Lord GOD — “you will no longer use this proverb in Israel.
“Look, every life belongs to me. The life of the father is like the life of the son — both belong to me. The person who sins is the one who will die.
“The person who sins is the one who will die. A son won't suffer punishment for the father's iniquity, and a father won't suffer punishment for the son's iniquity. The righteousness of the righteous person will be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked person will be on him.
“But you say, ‘The Lord's way isn't fair.' Now listen, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair? Instead, isn't it your ways that are unfair?
“But the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord's way isn't fair.' Is it my ways that are unfair, house of Israel? Instead, isn't it your ways that are unfair?
“and say:
What was your mother? A lioness!
She lay down among the lions;
she reared her cubs among the young lions.
“When she saw that she waited in vain,
that her hope was lost,
she took another of her cubs
and made him a young lion.
“They put a wooden yoke on him[fn] with hooks
and led him away to the king of Babylon.
They brought him into the fortresses
so his roar could no longer be heard
on the mountains of Israel.
“Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,[fn]
planted by the water;
it was fruitful and full of branches
because of abundant water.
“But it was uprooted in fury,
thrown to the ground,
and the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branches were torn off and dried up;
fire consumed them.
“and say to the forest there, ‘Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite a fire in you, and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The blazing flame will not be extinguished, and every face from the south to the north will be scorched by it.
“So you, son of man, prophesy and clap your hands together:
Let the sword strike two times, even three.
It is a sword for massacre,
a sword for great massacre —
it surrounds[fn] them!
“While they offer false visions
and lying divinations about you,
the time has come to put you
to the necks of the profane wicked ones;
the day has come
for final punishment.
“Those who are near and those far away from you will mock you, you infamous one full of turmoil.
“Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the days when I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.
“I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you among the countries; I will purge your uncleanness.
“Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed, that has not received rain in the day of indignation.'
“Oholah acted like a prostitute even though she was mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians: warriors
“Now her sister Oholibah saw this, but she was even more depraved in her lust than Oholah, and made her promiscuous acts worse than those of her sister.
“Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and defiled her with their lust. But after she was defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust.
“When she flaunted her promiscuity and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust just as I turned away from her sister.
“Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: I am going to incite your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust. I will bring them against you from every side:
“For this is what the Lord GOD says: I am going to hand you over to those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust.
“They will treat you with hatred, take all you have worked for, and leave you stark naked, so that the shame of your debauchery will be exposed, both your depravity and promiscuity.
“They will punish you for your depravity, and you will bear the consequences for your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.”
“I, the LORD, have spoken.
It is coming, and I will do it!
I will not refrain, I will not show pity,
and I will not relent.
I[fn] will judge you
according to your ways and deeds.
This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.' ”
I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. The next morning I did just as I was commanded.
“ ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: Because Edom acted vengefully against the house of Judah and incurred grievous guilt by taking revenge on them,
“Son of man, because Tyre said about Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gateway to the peoples is shattered. She has been turned over to me.[fn] I will be filled now that she lies in ruins,'
“therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I am against you, Tyre! I will raise up many nations against you, just as the sea raises its waves.
“I will put an end to the noise of your songs, and the sound of your lyres will no longer be heard.
“Men of Arvad and Helech
were stationed on your walls all around,
and Gammadites were in your towers.
They hung their shields[fn] all around your walls;
they perfected your beauty.
“Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your merchants. They exchanged slaves[fn] and bronze utensils for your goods.
“Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your business partners, trading with you in lambs, rams, and goats.
“Your wealth, merchandise, and goods,
your sailors and captains,
those who repair your leaks,
those who barter for your goods,
and all the warriors on board,
with all the other people within you,
sink into the heart of the sea
on the day of your downfall.
“Now you are wrecked by the sea
in the depths of the waters;
your goods and the people within you
have gone down.
“Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: Your[fn] heart is proud, and you have said, “I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.” Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.
By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, but your heart has become proud because of your wealth.
“Your heart became proud because of your beauty;
For the sake of your splendor
you corrupted your wisdom.
So I threw you down to the ground;[fn]
I made you a spectacle before kings.
“The land of Egypt will be a desolate ruin. Then they will know that I am the LORD. Because you[fn] said, “The Nile is my own; I made it,”
“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says:
Wail, “Woe because of that day! ”
For a day is near;
a day belonging to the LORD is near.
It will be a day of clouds,
a time of doom[fn] for the nations.
This is what the LORD says:
Those who support Egypt will fall,
and its proud strength will collapse.
From Migdol to Syene
they will fall within it by the sword.
This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.
“He along with his people,
ruthless men from the nations,
will be brought in to destroy the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
“Think of Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon,
with beautiful branches and shady foliage
and of lofty height.
Its top was among the clouds.[fn]
“The waters caused it to grow;
the underground springs made it tall,
directing their rivers all around
the place where the tree was planted
and sending their channels
to all the trees of the field.
“ ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: I caused grieving on the day the cedar went down to Sheol. I closed off the underground deep because of it:[fn] I held back the rivers of the deep, and its abundant water was restrained. I made Lebanon mourn on account of it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it.
“I will drench the land
with the flow of your blood,
even to the mountains;
the ravines will be filled with your gore.
“I will make your hordes fall
by the swords of warriors,
all of them ruthless men from the nations.
They will ravage Egypt's pride,
and all its hordes will be destroyed.
“When I make the land of Egypt a desolation,
so that it is emptied of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
then they will know that I am the LORD.
“They will fall among those slain by the sword.
A sword is appointed!
They drag her and all her hordes away.
“Assyria is there with her whole assembly;
her graves are all around her.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword.
“Elam is there
with all her hordes around her grave.
All of them are slain, fallen by the sword —
those who went down to the underworld uncircumcised,
who once spread their terror
in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace
with those who descend to the Pit.
“Meshech and Tubal[fn] are there,
with all their hordes.
Their graves are all around them.
All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
although their terror was once spread
in the land of the living.
“Then, if anyone hears the sound of the ram's horn but ignores the warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his death will be his own fault.[fn]
“However, suppose the watchman sees the sword coming but doesn't blow the ram's horn, so that the people aren't warned, and the sword comes and takes away their lives. Then they have been taken away because of their iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.'
“ ‘But your people say, “The Lord's way isn't fair,” even though it is their own way that isn't fair.
Yet you say, “The Lord's way isn't fair.” I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel.' ”
In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken! ”
“Son of man, those who live in the[fn] ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one person, yet he received possession of the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.'
“I will make the land a desolate waste, and its proud strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, with no one passing through.
“So my people come to you in crowds,[fn] sit in front of you, and hear your words, but they don't obey them. Their mouths go on passionately, but their hearts pursue dishonest profit.
“The trees of the field will yield their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; my flock will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the power of those who enslave them.
“Just as you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it became a desolation, I will deal the same way with you: you will become a desolation, Mount Seir, and so will all Edom in its entirety. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'
“I will fill you with people, with the whole house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.
“Son of man, while the house of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it with their conduct and actions. Their behavior before me was like menstrual impurity.
“The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by.
“They will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and demolished are now fortified and inhabited.”
Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.'
“My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.
“ ‘Be prepared and get yourself ready, you and your whole assembly that has been mobilized around you; you will be their guard.
“Yes, it is coming, and it will happen. This is the declaration of the Lord GOD. This is the day I have spoken about.
“The house of Israel will spend seven months burying them in order to cleanse the land.
He brought me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. He was standing by the city gate.
Its windows, portico, and palm trees had the same measurements as those of the gate that faced east. Seven steps led up to the gate, and its portico was ahead of them.
Then the man said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple.
“The chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the ones from the sons of Levi who may approach the LORD to serve him.”
The side rooms opened into the free space, one entrance toward the north and another to the south. The area of free space was 8¾ feet wide all around.
When he finished measuring inside the temple complex, he led me out by way of the gate that faced east and measured all around the complex.
and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice sounded like the roar of a huge torrent, and the earth shone with his glory.
The vision I saw was like the one I had seen when he[fn] came to destroy the city, and like the ones I had seen by the Chebar Canal. I fell facedown.
The LORD said to me, “This gate will remain closed. It will not be opened, and no one will enter through it, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore it will remain closed.
“As the property of the city, set aside an area 1⅔ miles[fn] wide and 8⅓ miles long, adjacent to the holy donation of land. It will be for the whole house of Israel.
“This is what the Lord GOD says: The gate of the inner court that faces east is to be closed during the six days of work, but it will be opened on the Sabbath day and opened on the day of the New Moon.
“The prince should enter from the outside by way of the gate's portico and stand at the gate's doorpost while the priests sacrifice his burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He will bow in worship at the gate's threshold and then depart, but the gate is not to be closed until evening.
“He will provide a grain offering of half a bushel with the bull, half a bushel with the ram, and whatever he can afford with the lambs, together with a gallon of oil for every half bushel.
“At the festivals and appointed times, the grain offering will be half a bushel with the bull, half a bushel with the ram, and whatever he wants to give with the lambs, along with a gallon of oil for every half bushel.
“You will inherit it in equal portions, since I swore[fn] to give it to your ancestors. So this land will fall to you as an inheritance.
“Next to the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, will be the portion you donate to the LORD, 8⅓ miles[fn] wide, and as long as one of the tribal portions from the east side to the west. The sanctuary will be in the middle of it.
“This holy donation will be set apart for the priests alone. It will be 8⅓ miles long on the northern side, 3⅓ miles wide on the western side, 3⅓ miles wide on the eastern side, and 8⅓ miles long on the southern side. The LORD's sanctuary will be in the middle of it.
“It will be a special donation for them out of the holy donation of the land, a most holy place adjacent to the territory of the Levites.
“The remaining area, 1⅔ miles[fn] wide and 8⅓ miles long, will be for common use by the city, for both residential and open space. The city will be in the middle of it.
“The entire donation will be 8⅓ miles by 8⅓ miles; you are to set apart the holy donation along with the city property as a square area.
“The remaining area on both sides of the holy donation and the city property will belong to the prince. He will own the land adjacent to the tribal portions, next to the 8⅓ miles of the donation as far as the eastern border and[fn] next to the 8⅓ miles of the donation as far as the western border. The holy donation and the sanctuary of the temple will be in the middle of it.
“This is the land you are to allot as an inheritance to Israel's tribes, and these will be their portions.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.
“What the king is asking is so difficult that no one can make it known to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”
He asked Arioch, the king's officer, “Why is the decree from the king so harsh? ”[fn] Then Arioch explained the situation to Daniel.
and declared:
May the name of God
be praised forever and ever,
for wisdom and power belong to him.
“Your Majesty, as you were watching, suddenly a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying.
“The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach and thighs were bronze,
“Wherever people live — or wild animals, or birds of the sky — he has handed them over to you and made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
“In the days of those kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.
“You saw a stone break off from the mountain without a hand touching it,[fn] and it crushed the iron, bronze, fired clay, silver, and gold. The great God has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is certain, and its interpretation reliable.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times more than was customary,
He exclaimed, “Look! I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”[fn]
When the satraps, prefects, governors, and the king's advisers gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on[fn] the bodies of these men: not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected, and there was no smell of fire on them.
How great are his miracles,
and how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an eternal kingdom,
and his dominion is from generation to generation.
“But leave the stump with its roots in the ground
and with a band of iron and bronze around it
in the tender grass of the field.
Let him be drenched with dew from the sky
and share the plants of the earth
with the animals.
Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was stunned for a moment, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don't let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.”
Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your enemies!
“that tree is you, Your Majesty. For you have become great and strong: your greatness has grown and even reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.
“The king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground and with a band of iron and bronze around it in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with dew from the sky and share food with the wild animals for seven periods of time.'
“This is the interpretation, Your Majesty, and this is the decree of the Most High that has been issued against my lord the king:
“You will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals. You will feed on grass like cattle and be drenched with dew from the sky for seven periods of time, until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms, and he gives them to anyone he wants.
“Therefore, may my advice seem good to you my king. Separate yourself from your sins by doing what is right, and from your injustices by showing mercy to the needy. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”
the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic glory? ”
While the words were still in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared that the kingdom has departed from you.
“You will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals, and you will feed on grass like cattle for seven periods of time, until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms, and he gives them to anyone he wants.”
But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity returned to me. Then I praised the Most High and honored and glorified him who lives forever:
For his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom is from generation to generation.
At that time my sanity returned to me, and my majesty and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and my nobles sought me out, I was reestablished over my kingdom, and even more greatness came to me.
Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified, his face turned pale,[fn] and his nobles were bewildered.
“But when his heart was exalted and his spirit became arrogant, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken from him.
“He was driven away from people, his mind was like an animal's, he lived with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky until he acknowledged that the Most High God is ruler over human kingdoms and sets anyone he wants over them.
“Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of the heavens. The vessels from his house were brought to you, and as you and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them, you praised the gods made of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But you have not glorified the God who holds your life-breath in his hand and who controls the whole course of your life.[fn]
“I issue a decree that in all my royal dominion, people must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel:
For he is the living God,
and he endures forever;
his kingdom will never be destroyed,
and his dominion has no end.
“As I kept watching,
thrones were set in place,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was white like snow,
and the hair of his head like whitest wool.
His throne was flaming fire;
its wheels were blazing fire.
“As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was removed, but an extension of life was granted to them for a certain period of time.
“He was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
so that those of every people,
nation, and language
should serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that will not pass away,
and his kingdom is one
that will not be destroyed.
“I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three fell — the horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke arrogantly, and that looked bigger than the others.
“The kingdom, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the holy ones of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey him.'
“This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts terrified me greatly, and my face turned pale,[fn] but I kept the matter to myself.”
In the rebellion, the army was given up, together with the regular sacrifice. The horn threw truth to the ground and was successful in what it did.
Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the speaker, “How long will the events of this vision last — the regular sacrifice, the rebellion that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and of the army to be trampled? ”
So he approached where I was standing; when he came near, I was terrified and fell facedown. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision refers to the time of the end.”
and said, “I am here to tell you what will happen at the conclusion of the time of wrath, because it refers to the appointed time of the end.
“His power will be great,
but it will not be his own.
He will cause outrageous destruction
and succeed in whatever he does.
He will destroy the powerful
along with the holy people.
“The vision of the evenings and the mornings
that has been told is true.
Now you are to seal up the vision
because it refers to many days in the future.”
Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel — those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where you have banished them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward you.
LORD, public shame belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, because we have sinned against you.
All Israel has broken your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. The promised curse[fn] written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against him.
Now, Lord our God — who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and made your name renowned as it is this day — we have sinned, we have acted wickedly.
Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, may your anger and wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become an object of ridicule to all those around us.
I looked up, and there was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of gold from Uphaz[fn] around his waist.
His body was like beryl,[fn] his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.
I was left alone, looking at this great vision. No strength was left in me; my face grew deathly pale,[fn] and I was powerless.
“Now I have come to help you understand what will happen to your people in the last days, for the vision refers to those days.”
“But as soon as he is established, his kingdom will be broken up and divided to the four winds of heaven, but not to his descendants; it will not be the same kingdom that he ruled, because his kingdom will be uprooted and will go to others besides them.
“After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to seal the agreement. She will not retain power, and his strength will not endure. She will be given up, together with her entourage, her father,[fn] and the one who supported her during those times.
“When the army is carried off, he will become arrogant and cause tens of thousands to fall, but he will not triumph.
“With a large army he will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South. The king of the South will prepare for battle with an extremely large and powerful army, but he will not succeed, because plots will be made against him.
“The king of the North will return to his land with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant;[fn] he will take action, then return to his own land.
“At the appointed time he will come again to the South, but this time[fn] will not be like the first.
“Then the king will do whatever he wants. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will say outrageous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, because what has been decreed will be accomplished.
Those who have insight will shine
like the bright expanse of the heavens,
and those who lead many to righteousness,
like the stars forever and ever.
“But you, Daniel, keep these words secret and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam about, and knowledge will increase.”[fn]
When the LORD first spoke to Hosea, he said this to him:
Go and marry a woman of promiscuity,
and have children of promiscuity,
for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity
by abandoning the LORD.
Yet the number of the Israelites
will be like the sand of the sea,
which cannot be measured or counted.
And in the place where they were told:
You are not my people,
they will be called: Sons of the living God.
And the Judeans and the Israelites
will be gathered together.
They will appoint for themselves a single ruler
and go up from[fn] the land.
For the day of Jezreel will be great.
Yes, their mother is promiscuous;
she conceived them and acted shamefully.
For she thought, “I will follow my lovers,
the men who give me my food and water,
my wool and flax, my oil and drink.”
The earth will respond to the grain,
the new wine, and the fresh oil,
and they will respond to Jezreel.
For this reason the land mourns,
and everyone who lives in it languishes,
along with the wild animals and the birds of the sky;
even the fish of the sea disappear.
Israel's arrogance testifies against them.[fn]
Both Israel and Ephraim stumble
because of their iniquity;
even Judah will stumble with them.
They betrayed the LORD;
indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children.
Now the New Moon will devour them
along with their fields.
Like raiders who wait in ambush for someone,
a band of priests murders on the road to Shechem.
They commit atrocities.
when I heal Israel,
the iniquity of Ephraim and the crimes of Samaria
will be exposed.
For they practice fraud;
a thief breaks in;
a raiding party pillages outside.
Israel's arrogance testifies against them,[fn]
yet they do not return to the LORD their God,
and for all this, they do not seek him.
Indeed, they sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.
There is no standing grain;
what sprouts fails to yield flour.
Even if they did,
foreigners would swallow it up.
How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
I have had a change of heart;
my compassion is stirred!
I will ransom them from the power of Sheol.
I will redeem[fn] them from death.
Death, where are your barbs?
Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
I will heal their apostasy;
I will freely love them,
for my anger will have turned from him.
His new branches will spread,
and his splendor will be like the olive tree,
his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon.
What the devouring locust has left,
the swarming locust has eaten;
what the swarming locust has left,
the young locust has eaten;
and what the young locust has left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
The fields are destroyed;
the land grieves;
indeed, the grain is destroyed;
the new wine is dried up;
and the fresh oil fails.
The grapevine is dried up,
and the fig tree is withered;
the pomegranate, the date palm, and the apple —
all the trees of the orchard — have withered.
Indeed, human joy has dried up.
A fire devours in front of them,
and behind them a flame blazes.
The land in front of them
is like the garden of Eden,
but behind them,
it is like a desert wasteland;
there is no escape from them.
The earth quakes before them;
the sky shakes.
The sun and moon grow dark,
and the stars cease their shining.
The LORD makes his voice heard
in the presence of his army.
His camp is very large;
those who carry out his command are powerful.
Indeed, the day of the LORD is terrible and dreadful —
who can endure it?
I will drive the northerner far from you
and banish him to a dry and desolate land,
his front ranks into the Dead Sea,
and his rear guard into the Mediterranean Sea.
His stench will rise;
yes, his rotten smell will rise,
for he has done astonishing things.
I will repay you for the years
that the swarming locust ate,
the young locust, the destroying locust,
and the devouring locust —
my great army that I sent against you.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.
Swing the sickle
because the harvest is ripe.
Come and trample the grapes
because the winepress is full;
the wine vats overflow
because the wickedness of the nations is extreme.
The LORD will roar from Zion
and make his voice heard from Jerusalem;
heaven and earth will shake.
But the LORD will be a refuge for his people,
a stronghold for the Israelites.
Egypt will become desolate,
and Edom a desert wasteland,
because of the violence done to the people of Judah
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
He said:
The LORD roars from Zion
and makes his voice heard from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds mourn,[fn]
and the summit of Carmel withers.
Look, I am about to crush[fn] you in your place
as a wagon crushes when full of grain.
Therefore, the Lord GOD says:
An enemy will surround the land;
he will destroy your strongholds
and plunder your citadels.
I struck you with blight and mildew;
the locust devoured
your many gardens and vineyards,
your fig trees and olive trees,
yet you did not return to me.
This is the LORD's declaration.
For the Lord GOD says:
The city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left,
and the one that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left in the house of Israel.
Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD!
What will the day of the LORD be for you?
It will be darkness and not light.
It will be like a man who flees from a lion
only to have a bear confront him.
He goes home and rests his hand against the wall
only to have a snake bite him.
Won't the day of the LORD
be darkness rather than light,
even gloom without any brightness in it?
Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words,
Therefore, this is what the LORD says:
Your wife will be a prostitute in the city,
your sons and daughters will fall by the sword,
and your land will be divided up
with a measuring line.
You yourself will die on pagan[fn] soil,
and Israel will certainly go into exile
from its homeland.
Because of this, won't the land quake
and all who dwell in it mourn?
All of it will rise like the Nile;
it will surge and then subside
like the Nile in Egypt.
If they dig down to Sheol,
from there my hand will take them;
if they climb up to heaven,
from there I will bring them down.
Look, the days are coming —
this is the LORD's declaration —
when the plowman will overtake the reaper
and the one who treads grapes,
the sower of seed.
The mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and all the hills will flow with it.
But there will be a deliverance on Mount Zion,
and it will be holy;
the house of Jacob will dispossess
those who dispossessed them.[fn]
The exiles of the Israelites who are in Halah[fn]
and who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath
as well as the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will possess the cities of the Negev.
Saviors[fn] will ascend Mount Zion
to rule over the hill country of Esau,
and the kingdom will be the LORD's.
“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because their evil has come up before me.”
“Come on! ” the sailors said to each other. “Let's cast lots. Then we'll know who is to blame for this trouble we're in.” So they cast lots, and the lot singled out Jonah.
Then they said to him, “Tell us who is to blame for this trouble we're in. What is your business, and where are you from? What is your country, and what people are you from? ”
So they said to him, “What should we do to you so that the sea will calm down for us? ” For the sea was getting worse and worse.
He answered them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea so that it will calm down for you, for I know that I'm to blame for this great storm that is against you.”
Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they couldn't because the sea was raging against them more and more.
Then they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.
The water engulfed me up to the neck;[fn]
the watery depths overcame me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
As my life was fading away,
I remembered the LORD,
and my prayer came to you,
to your holy temple.
Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the LORD's command.
Now Nineveh was an extremely great city,[fn] a three-day walk.
Listen, all you peoples;
pay attention, earth[fn] and everyone in it!
The Lord GOD will be a witness against you,
the Lord, from his holy temple.
All this will happen because of Jacob's rebellion
and the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the rebellion of Jacob?
Isn't it Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
Isn't it Jerusalem?
For her wound is incurable
and has reached even Judah;
it has approached my people's city gate,
as far as Jerusalem.
I will again bring a conqueror
against you who live in Mareshah.
The nobility[fn] of Israel will come to Adullam.
Get up and leave,
for this is not your place of rest
because defilement brings destruction —
a grievous destruction!
Therefore, it will be night for you —
without visions;
it will grow dark for you —
without divination.
The sun will set on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn black over them.
And you, watchtower for the flock,
fortified hill[fn] of Daughter Zion,
the former rule will come to you;
sovereignty will come to Daughter Jerusalem.
Now, why are you shouting loudly?
Is there no king with you?
Has your counselor perished
so that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?
Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries,
and all your enemies will be destroyed.
My people,
remember what King Balak of Moab proposed,
what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from the Acacia Grove[fn] to Gilgal
so that you may acknowledge
the LORD's righteous acts.
“For the wealthy of the city are full of violence,
and its residents speak lies;
the tongues in their mouths are deceitful.
Do not rejoice over me, my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will stand up;
though I sit in darkness,
the LORD will be my light.
Then my enemy will see,
and she will be covered with shame,
the one who said to me,
“Where is the LORD your God? ”
My eyes will look at her in triumph;
at that time she will be trampled
like mud in the streets.
A day will come for rebuilding your walls;
on that day your boundary will be extended.
On that day people will come to you
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
even from Egypt to the Euphrates River
and from sea to sea
and mountain to mountain.
Then the earth will become a wasteland
because of its inhabitants
and as a result of their actions.
The LORD is slow to anger but great in power;
the LORD will never leave the guilty unpunished.
His path is in the whirlwind and storm,
and clouds are the dust beneath his feet.
He rebukes the sea and dries it up,
and he makes all the rivers run dry.
Bashan and Carmel wither;
even the flower of Lebanon withers.
The chariots dash madly through the streets;
they rush around in the plazas.
They look like torches;
they dart back and forth like lightning.
Where is the lions' lair,
or the feeding ground of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness prowled,
and the lion's cub,
with nothing to frighten them away?
Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute,
the attractive mistress of sorcery,
who treats nations and clans like merchandise
by her prostitution and sorcery,
Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;
Put and Libya were among her[fn] allies.
There is no remedy for your injury;
your wound is severe.
All who hear the news about you
will clap their hands because of you,
for who has not experienced
your constant cruelty?
The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,
catch them in their dragnet,
and gather them in their fishing net;
that is why they are glad and rejoice.
You have planned shame for your house
by wiping out many peoples
and sinning against your own self.
For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the LORD's glory,
as the water covers the sea.
God comes from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.Selah
His splendor covers the heavens,
and the earth is full of his praise.
He stands and shakes[fn] the earth;
he looks and startles the nations.
The age-old mountains break apart;
the ancient hills sink down.
His pathways are ancient.
Are you angry at the rivers, LORD?
Is your wrath against the rivers?
Or is your fury against the sea
when you ride on your horses,
your victorious chariot?
The mountains see you and shudder;
a downpour of water sweeps by.
The deep roars with its voice
and lifts its waves[fn] high.
Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence,
at the flash of your flying arrows,
at the brightness of your shining spear.
I heard, and I trembled within;
my lips quivered at the sound.
Rottenness entered my bones;
I trembled where I stood.
Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress
to come against the people invading us.
Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD,
for the day of the LORD is near.
Indeed, the LORD has prepared a sacrifice;
he has consecrated his guests.
Their wealth will become plunder
and their houses a ruin.
They will build houses but never live in them,
plant vineyards but never drink their wine.
The great day of the LORD is near,
near and rapidly approaching.
Listen, the day of the LORD —
then the warrior's cry is bitter.
That day is a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of destruction and desolation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and total darkness,
Their silver and their gold
will be unable to rescue them
on the day of the LORD's wrath.
The whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of his jealousy,
for he will make a complete,
yes, a horrifying end
of all the inhabitants of the earth.
This is the jubilant city
that lives in security,
that says to herself:
I exist, and there is no one else.
What a desolation she has become,
a place for wild animals to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
scoffs[fn] and shakes his fist.
I said: You will certainly fear me
and accept correction.
Then her dwelling place[fn]
would not be cut off
based on all that I had allocated to her.
However, they became more corrupt
in all their actions.
Therefore, wait for me —
this is the LORD's declaration —
until the day I rise up for plunder.[fn]
For my decision is to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
in order to pour out my indignation on them,
all my burning anger;
for the whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of my jealousy.
“I have summoned a drought
on the fields and the hills,
on the grain, new wine, fresh oil,
and whatever the ground yields,
on people and animals,
and on all that your hands produce.”
“The final glory of this house[fn] will be greater than the first,” says the LORD of Armies. “I will provide peace in this place” — this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies.
“Is there still seed left in the granary? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet produced. But from this day on I will bless you.”
They reported to the angel of the LORD standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and right now the whole earth is calm and quiet.”
Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land, for everyone who is a thief, contrary to what is written on one side, has gone unpunished,[fn] and everyone who swears falsely, contrary to what is written on the other side, has gone unpunished.
“This is Wickedness,” he said. He shoved her down into the basket and pushed the lead weight over its opening.
“Aren't these the words that the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and secure,[fn] along with its surrounding cities, and when the southern region and the Judean foothills were inhabited? ”
“I scattered them with a windstorm over all the nations that had not known them, and the land was left desolate behind them, with no one coming or going. They turned a pleasant land into a desolation.”
The LORD says this: “I will return to Zion and live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City; the mountain of the LORD of Armies will be called the Holy Mountain.”
“For they will sow in peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the skies will yield their dew. I will give the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance.
The LORD of Armies says this: “The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will become times of joy, gladness, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah. Therefore, love truth and peace.”
Ephraim will be like a warrior,
and their hearts will be glad as if with wine.
Their children will see it and be glad;
their hearts will rejoice in the LORD.
Listen to the wail of the shepherds,
for their glory is destroyed.
Listen to the roar of young lions,
for the thickets of the Jordan are[fn] destroyed.
In one month I got rid of three shepherds. I became impatient with them, and they also detested me.
“The land will mourn, every family by itself: the family of David's house by itself and their women by themselves; the family of Nathan's[fn] house by itself and their women by themselves;
“If a man still prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You cannot remain alive because you have spoken a lie in the name of the LORD.' When he prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through.
I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.
It will be a unique day known only to the LORD, without day or night, but there will be light at evening.
This will be the plague with which the LORD strikes all the people who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
On that day a great panic from the LORD will be among them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other.
The same plague as the previous one will strike[fn] the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the animals that are in those camps.
And if the people[fn] of Egypt will not go up and enter, then rain will not fall on them; this will be the plague the LORD inflicts on the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Shelters.
This will be the punishment of Egypt and all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Shelters.
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of me? says the LORD of Armies to you priests, who despise my name.”
Yet you ask, “How have we despised your name? ”
“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave these to him; it called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.
“Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way,” says the LORD of Armies. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.
“I will rebuke the devourer[fn] for you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your land and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the LORD of Armies.
If you do not know,
most beautiful of women,
follow[fn] the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
near the shepherds' tents.
The fig tree ripens its figs;
the blossoming vines give off their fragrance.
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Behind your veil,
your eyes are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gilead.
I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My love was knocking!
Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one.
For my head is drenched with dew,
my hair with droplets of the night.
What makes the one you love better than another,
most beautiful of women?
What makes him better than another,
that you would give us this charge?
Where has your love gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way has he[fn] turned?
We will seek him with you.
You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners.
Translations available: King James Version, New King James Version, New Living Translation, New International Version, English Standard Version, Christian Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible 2020, New American Standard Bible 1995, Legacy Standard Bible 2021, New English Translation, Revised Standard Version, American Standard Version, Young's Literal Translation, Darby Translation, Webster's Bible, Hebrew Names Version, Reina-Valera 1960, Latin Vulgate, Westminster Leningrad Codex, Septuagint, Morphological Greek New Testament, and Textus Receptus.
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