LXX Concordance for αὐτὴν

Then the LORD God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.

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.

“Make yourself an ark of gopher[fn] wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside.

“You are to make a roof,[fn] finishing the sides of the ark to within eighteen inches[fn] of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.

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.

Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh's household.

“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! ”

“for I will give you and your offspring[fn] forever all the land that you see.

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.

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.

“I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

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.

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.

while the man silently watched her to see whether or not the LORD had made his journey a success.

“Whose daughter are you? ” he asked. “Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night? ”

“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.

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.

Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay with me.”

That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her.

So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her.

When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

When Shechem ​— ​son of Hamor the Hivite, who was the region's chieftain ​— ​saw her, he took her and raped her.

Hamor said to Jacob's sons, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your[fn] daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.

Jacob set up a marker at the place where he had spoken to him ​— ​a stone marker. He poured a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.

During her difficult labor, the midwife said to her, “Don't be afraid, for you have another son.”

There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua; he took her as a wife and slept with her.

Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother's wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and produce offspring for your brother.”

So she took off her widow's clothes, veiled her face, covered herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.

Judah recognized them and said, “She is more in the right[fn] than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her intimately again.

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.”

“Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.”

“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).

When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim's head, he thought it was a mistake[fn] and took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's.

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.

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.

“Throw it on the ground,” he said. So Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake, and he ran from it.

“Put your hand back inside your cloak,” he said. So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it had again become like the rest of his skin.

“I will bring you to the land that I swore[fn] to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.”

“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,' tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent.' ”

So they took furnace soot and stood before Pharaoh. Moses threw it toward heaven, and it became festering boils on people and animals.

The locusts went up over the entire land of Egypt and settled on the whole territory of Egypt. Never before had there been such a large number of locusts, and there never will be again.

Then the LORD changed the wind to a strong west[fn] wind, and it carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the territory of Egypt.

“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.

“If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and he sleeps with her, he must certainly pay the bridal price for her to be his wife.

“Overlay it with pure gold; overlay it both inside and out. Also make a gold molding all around it.

“Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel ​— ​you swore to them by yourself and declared, ‘I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and will give your offspring all this land that I have promised, and they will inherit it forever.' ”

He overlaid it with pure gold inside and out and made a gold molding all around it.

He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark for carrying the ark.

“Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it along with all its furnishings so that it will be holy.

Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud rested on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

“You are to put oil and frankincense on it; it is a grain offering.

“Now this is the law of the grain offering: Aaron's sons will present it before the LORD in front of the altar.

“It must not be baked with yeast; I have assigned it as their portion from my food offerings. It is especially holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

“The priest who offers it as a sin offering will eat it. It is to be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

Then he put the breastpiece on him and placed the Urim and Thummim into the breastpiece.

“You must eat it in a holy place because it is your portion[fn] and your sons' from the food offerings to the LORD, for this is what I was commanded.

“He will present them before the LORD and make atonement on her behalf; she will be clean from her discharge of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or female.

“Then Aaron is to enter the tent of meeting, take off the linen garments he wore when he entered the most holy place, and leave them there.

“Anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens who reside among them who eats any blood, I will turn[fn] against that person who eats blood and cut him off from his people.

“Whoever turns to mediums[fn] or spiritists[fn] and prostitutes himself with them, I will turn against that person and cut him off from his people.

“If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you are to kill the woman and the animal. They must be put to death; their death is their own fault.

“And I promised you: You will inherit their land, since I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God who set you apart from the peoples.

“But you are not to slaughter an animal from the herd or flock on the same day as its young.

“You must not eat bread, roasted grain, or any new grain[fn] until this very day, and until you have brought the offering to your God. This is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you live.

“Take fine flour and bake it into twelve loaves; each loaf is to be made with four quarts.[fn]

“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.

“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.

“When a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, the priest will assess its value, whether high or low. The price will stand just as the priest assesses it.

“Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to stop at a campsite, the Levites are to set it up. Any unauthorized person who comes near it is to be put to death.

“They are to place over this a covering made of fine leather,[fn] spread a solid blue cloth on top, and insert its poles.

“Then they are to place it with all its utensils inside a covering made of fine leather and put them on the carrying frame.

“The priest is to bring her forward and have her stand before the LORD.

“The priest will require the woman to take an oath and will say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you, if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband's authority, be unaffected by this bitter water that brings a curse.

“He will require the woman to drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her to cause bitter suffering.

“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.

On the day Moses finished setting up the tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, along with the altar and all its utensils. After he anointed and consecrated these things,

It remained that way continuously: the cloud would cover it,[fn] appearing like fire at night.

So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size.

“If the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us.

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.

“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.

“The cow is to be burned in his sight. Its hide, flesh, and blood are to be burned along with its waste.

“The one who burned the cow must also wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

“For the purification of the unclean person, they are to take some of the ashes of the burnt sin offering, put them in a jar, and add fresh water to them.

After Moses sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its surrounding villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.

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.

“After you have seen it, you will also be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was.

“You are to hold a sacred assembly on the fifteenth day of the seventh month; you do not do any daily work. You are to celebrate a seven-day festival for the LORD.

The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there.

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.

“Joshua son of Nun, who attends you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit it.

“When you get close to the Ammonites, don't show any hostility to them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the Ammonites' land as a possession; I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.' ”

“For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you. When you possess it and settle in it,

“you must strike down the inhabitants of that city with the sword. Completely destroy everyone in it as well as its livestock with the sword.

“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,'

“When the LORD your God hands it over to you, strike down all its males with the sword.

“When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it in order to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can get food from them. Do not cut them down. Are trees of the field human, to come under siege by you?

“if you see a beautiful woman among the captives, desire her, and want to take her as your wife,

“If a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her, and comes to hate her,

“The young woman's father will say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he hates her.

They will also fine him a hundred silver shekels and give them to the young woman's father, because that man gave an Israelite virgin a bad name. She will remain his wife; he cannot divorce her as long as he lives.

they will bring the woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her father's house. You must purge the evil from you.

“If there is a young woman who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her,

“the man who raped her is to give the young woman's father fifty silver shekels, and she will become his wife because he violated her. He cannot divorce her as long as he lives.

“If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.

“and the second man hates her, writes her a divorce certificate, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house or if he dies,

“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.

“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and live in it,

“We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

“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.

“Therefore the LORD's anger burned against this land, and he brought every curse written in this book on it.

“It is not in heaven so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it? '

Moses then summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with[fn] this people into the land the LORD swore to give to their ancestors. You will enable them to take possession of it.

“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.

So Moses wrote down this song on that day and taught it to the Israelites.

Moses came with Joshua[fn] son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the presence of the people.

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.”

“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 completely destroyed everything in the city with the sword ​— ​every man and woman, both young and old, and every ox, sheep, and donkey.

At that time Joshua imposed this curse:

The man who undertakes

the rebuilding of this city, Jericho,

is cursed before the LORD.

He will lay its foundation

at the cost of his firstborn;

he will finish its gates

at the cost of his youngest.

When he held out his hand, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They ran, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.

When Israel had finished killing everyone living in Ai who had pursued them into the open country, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the sword.

Joshua burned Ai and left it a permanent ruin, still desolate today.

On that day Joshua captured Makkedah and struck it down with the sword, including its king. He completely destroyed it[fn] and everyone in it, leaving no survivors. So he treated the king of Makkedah as he had the king of Jericho.

The LORD also handed it and its king over to Israel. He struck it down, putting everyone in it to the sword, and left no survivors in it. He treated Libnah's king as he had the king of Jericho.

Then Joshua crossed from Lachish to Eglon and all Israel with him. They laid siege to it and attacked it.

They captured it and struck down its king, all its villages, and everyone in it with the sword. He left no survivors, just as he had done at Eglon. He completely destroyed Hebron and everyone in it.

Moses the LORD's servant and the Israelites struck them down. And Moses the LORD's servant gave their land as an inheritance to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

“all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, all the Sidonians.

I will drive them out before the Israelites, only distribute the land as an inheritance for Israel, as I have commanded you.

With the other half of the tribe of Manasseh, the Reubenites and Gadites had received the inheritance Moses gave them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the LORD's servant had given them:

So Othniel son of Caleb's brother, Kenaz, captured it, and Caleb gave his daughter Achsah to him as a wife.

However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites still live in Ephraim today, but they are forced laborers.

“Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe, and I will send them out. They are to go and survey the land, write a description of it for the purpose of their inheritance, and return to me.

So the men left, went through the land, and described it by towns in a document of seven sections. They returned to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.

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.

The Israelites gave them:

Shechem, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands,

So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there.

The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to return to their own land of Gilead, which they took possession of according to the LORD's command through Moses.

Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the parcel of land Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of silver.[fn] It was an inheritance for Joseph's descendants.

The men of Judah fought against Jerusalem, captured it, put it to the sword, and set the city on fire.

So Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's youngest brother, captured it, and Caleb gave his daughter Achsah to him as his wife.

Judah went with his brother Simeon, struck the Canaanites who were living in Zephath, and completely destroyed the town. So they named the town Hormah.

Ehud made himself a double-edged sword eighteen inches long.[fn] He strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes

Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon's belly.

She would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to settle disputes.

Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go. But if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Don't be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

That night the LORD said to him, “Get up and attack the camp, for I have handed it over to you.

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.”

So Abimelech fought against the city that entire day, captured it, and killed the people who were in it. Then he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.

Abimelech went to Thebez, camped against it, and captured it.

“Go,” he said. And he sent her away two months. So she left with her friends and mourned her virginity as she wandered through the mountains.

He went back and told his father and his mother, “I have seen a young Philistine woman in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.”

After some time, when he returned to marry her, he left the road to see the lion's carcass, and there was a swarm of bees with honey in the carcass.

“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? ”

Then the Philistines asked, “Who did this? ”

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

He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand, took it, and killed a thousand men with it.

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.”

Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become weak and be like any other man.”

When Delilah realized that he had told her the whole truth, she sent this message to the Philistine leaders: “Come one more time, for he has told me the whole truth.” The Philistine leaders came to her and brought the silver with them.

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

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

“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.”

Then her husband got up and followed her to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had his servant with him and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him to her father's house, and when the girl's father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.

But the men would not listen to him, so the man seized his concubine and took her outside to them. They raped her and abused her all night until morning. At daybreak they let her go.

“Get up,” he told her. “Let's go.” But there was no response. So the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.

“Then I took my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout Israel's territory, because they have committed a wicked outrage in Israel.

“Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will attack it. By lot

When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped talking to her.

Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you will acquire[fn] Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man's name on his property.”[fn]

Year after year, when she went up to the LORD's house, her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat.

Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk

and plunge it into the container, kettle, cauldron, or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh.

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.

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.

After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod,

After they had moved it, the LORD's hand was against the city of Gath, causing a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, from the youngest to the oldest, with an outbreak of tumors.

the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners and pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”

“Take the ark of the LORD, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you're sending him as a guilt offering in a box beside the ark. Send it off and let it go its way.

They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and get it.”[fn]

So the people of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the LORD and took it to Abinadab's house on the hill. They consecrated his son Eleazar to take care of it.

Then Samuel said to the cook, “Get the portion of meat that I gave you and told you to set aside.”

Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingship of Israel away from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.

David took Goliath's[fn] head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath's weapons in his own tent.

“I'll give her to him,” Saul thought. “She'll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You can now be my son-in-law.”

David fled that day from Saul's presence and went to King Achish of Gath.

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD who championed my cause against Nabal's insults and restrained his servant from doing evil. The LORD brought Nabal's evil deeds back on his own head.”

Then David sent messengers to speak to Abigail about marrying him.

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

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

“The LORD has done[fn] exactly what he said through me: The LORD has torn the kingship out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David.

The woman had a fattened calf at her house, and she quickly slaughtered it. She also took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread.

David and his men arrived in Ziklag on the third day. The Amalekites had raided the Negev and attacked and burned Ziklag.

So Ish-bosheth sent someone to take her away from her husband, Paltiel son of Laish.

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 set the ark of God on a new cart and transported it from Abinadab's house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio,[fn] sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart

When they came to Nacon's threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it because the oxen had stumbled.

So he was not willing to bring the ark of the LORD to the city of David; instead, he diverted it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath.

They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the LORD's presence.

the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun their lord, “Just because David has sent men with condolences for you, do you really believe he's showing respect for your father? Instead, hasn't David sent his emissaries in order to scout out the city, spy on it, and demolish it? ”

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.”

When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the LORD considered what David had done to be evil.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for his guest.[fn]

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba; he went to her and slept with her. She gave birth to a son and named[fn] him Solomon.[fn] The LORD loved him,

Some time passed. David's son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar, and David's son Amnon was infatuated with her.

But he refused to listen to her, and because he was stronger than she was, he disgraced her by raping her.

Amnon's servant threw her out and bolted the door behind her. Now Tamar was wearing a long-sleeved[fn] robe, because this is what the king's virgin daughters wore.

Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has your brother Amnon been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister. He is your brother. Don't take this thing to heart.” So Tamar lived as a desolate woman in the house of her brother Absalom.

“What's the matter? ” the king asked her.

“Sadly, I am a widow; my husband died,” she said.

When he shaved his head ​— ​he shaved it at the end of every year because his hair got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off ​— ​he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds[fn] according to the royal standard.

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 the king instructed Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor with the LORD, he will bring me back and allow me to see both it and its[fn] dwelling place.

“If he retreats to some city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag its stones[fn] into the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.”

When he was alive, Absalom had taken a pillar and raised it up for himself in the King's Valley, since he thought, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he named the pillar after himself. It is still called Absalom's Monument today.

“My lord the king,” he replied, “my servant Ziba betrayed me. Actually your servant said, ‘I'll saddle the donkey for myself[fn] so that I may ride it and go with the king' ​— ​for your servant is lame.

but Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field, defended it, and struck down the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory.

They searched for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel; they found Abishag the Shunammite[fn] and brought her to the king.

So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, sat down on his throne, and had a throne placed for the king's mother. So she sat down at his right hand.

Emissaries of all peoples, sent by every king on earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to listen to Solomon's wisdom.

In this way he made the ten water carts using the same casting, dimensions, and shape for all of them.

Then the LORD said to Solomon, “Since you have done this[fn] and did not keep my covenant and my statutes, which I commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

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.

During his reign, Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn, he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest, he finished its gates, according to the word of the LORD he had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.

Then Elijah said to her, “Don't be afraid; go and do as you have said. But first make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterward, you may make some for yourself and your son,

“The LORD also speaks of Jezebel: ‘The dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of land[fn] at Jezreel:

The king of Israel had said to his servants, “Don't you know that Ramoth-gilead is ours, but we're doing nothing to take it from the king of Aram? ”

They would destroy the cities, and each of them would throw a stone to cover every good piece of land. They would stop up every spring and cut down every good tree. This went on until only the buildings of Kir-hareseth were left. Then men with slings surrounded the city and attacked it.

The woman conceived and gave birth to a son at the same time the following year, as Elisha had promised her.

“So we boiled my son and ate him, and I said to her the next day, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him,' but she has hidden her son.”

He looked up toward the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who? ” Two or three eunuchs looked down at him,

But when they went out to bury her, they did not find anything but the skull, the feet, and the hands.

Then the priest Jehoiada ordered the commanders of hundreds in charge of the army, “Take her out between the ranks, and put to death by the sword anyone who follows her,” for the priest had said, “She is not to be put to death in the LORD's temple.”

Then the priest Jehoiada took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the LORD's temple; the priests who guarded the threshold put into the chest all the silver that was brought to the LORD's temple.

After Amaziah the king rested with his ancestors, Azariah rebuilt Elath[fn] and restored it to Judah.

At that time, starting from Tirzah, Menahem attacked Tiphsah, all who were in it, and its territory because they wouldn't surrender. He ripped open all the pregnant women.

So the king of Assyria listened to him and marched up to Damascus and captured it. He deported its people to Kir but put Rezin to death.

Then King Ahaz cut off the frames of the water carts[fn] and removed the bronze basin from each of them. He took the basin[fn] from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pavement.

The king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.

The Assyrians captured it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Israel's King Hoshea, Samaria was captured.

“Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria:

He will not enter this city,

shoot an arrow here,

come before it with a shield,

or build up a siege ramp against it.

David said, “Whoever is the first to kill a Jebusite will become chief commander.” Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became the chief.

But Eleazar and David[fn] took their stand in the middle of the field and defended it. They killed the Philistines, and the LORD gave them a great victory.

“Then let's bring back the ark of our God, for we did not inquire of him[fn] in Saul's days.”

David and all Israel went to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah) to take from there the ark of God, which bears the name of the LORD who is enthroned between the cherubim.

When they came to Chidon's threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to hold the ark because the oxen had stumbled.

So David did not bring the ark of God home[fn] to the city of David; instead, he diverted it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath.

They brought the ark of God and placed it inside the tent David had pitched for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in God's presence.

They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up.

For Solomon had made a bronze platform 7½ feet[fn] long, 7½ feet wide, and 4½ feet[fn] high and put it in the court. He stood on it, knelt down in front of the entire congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.

Are you not our God who drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and who gave it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?

Then the priest Jehoiada sent out the commanders of hundreds, those in charge of the army, saying, “Take her out between the ranks, and put anyone who follows her to death by the sword,” for the priest had said, “Don't put her to death in the LORD's temple.”

After Amaziah the king rested with his ancestors, Uzziah rebuilt Eloth[fn] and restored it to Judah.

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.

The high priest Eliashib and his fellow priests began rebuilding the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated it.

The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They built it with beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah repaired the Old[fn] Gate. They built it with beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and installed its doors, bolts, and bars, and repaired five hundred yards[fn] of the wall to the Dung Gate.

to bring Queen Vashti before him with her royal crown. He wanted to show off her beauty to the people and the officials, because she was very beautiful.

Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousin[fn] Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she had no father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.

Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:

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.

They fought on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar and rested on the fourteenth, and it became a day of feasting and rejoicing.

If only that day had turned to darkness!

May God above not care about it,

or light shine on it.

When he withholds water, everything dries up,

and when he releases it, it destroys the land.

Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth

and he conceals it under his tongue,

No bird of prey knows that path;

no falcon's eye has seen it.

he considered wisdom and evaluated it;

he established it and examined it.

I would give him an account of all my steps;

I would approach him like a prince.

when I made the clouds its garment

and total darkness its blanket,[fn]

for he laid its foundation on the seas

and established it on the rivers.

Just as we heard, so we have seen

in the city of the LORD of Armies,

in the city of our God;

God will establish it forever.Selah

day and night they make the rounds on its walls.

Crime and trouble are within it;

He built his sanctuary like the heights,

like the earth that he established forever.

Why have you broken down its walls

so that all who pass by pick its fruit?

And it will be said of Zion,

“This one and that one were born in her.”

The Most High himself will establish her.

He looks at the earth, and it trembles;

he touches the mountains,

and they pour out smoke.

and confirmed to Jacob as a decree

and to Israel as a permanent covenant:

I fade away like a lengthening shadow;

I am shaken off like a locust.

Teach me, LORD, the meaning[fn] of your statutes,

and I will always keep them.[fn]

Help me stay on the path of your commands,

for I take pleasure in it.

listening closely[fn] to wisdom

and directing your heart to understanding;

if you seek it like silver

and search for it like hidden treasure,

for she is more profitable than silver,

and her revenue is better than gold.

She is a tree of life to those who embrace her,

and those who hold on to her are happy.

Hold on to instruction; don't let go.

Guard it, for it is your life.

The tongue that heals is a tree of life,

but a devious tongue[fn] breaks the spirit.

All the brothers of a poor person hate him;

how much more do his friends

keep their distance from him!

He may pursue them with words,

but they are not there.[fn]

There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it.

But my dove, my virtuous one, is unique;

she is the favorite of her mother,

perfect to the one who gave her birth.

Women see her and declare her fortunate;

queens and concubines also, and they sing her praises:

If she is a wall,

we will build a silver barricade on her.

If she is a door,

we will enclose her with cedar planks.

This took place during the reign of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah: Aram's King Rezin and Israel's King Pekah son of Remaliah went to fight against Jerusalem, but they were not able to conquer it.

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.

It will never be inhabited

or lived in from generation to generation;

a nomad will not pitch his tent there,

and shepherds will not let their flocks rest there.

“I will make her a swampland and a region for herons,[fn] and I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction.”

This is the declaration of the LORD of Armies.

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.

You made a reservoir between the walls for the water of the ancient pool, but you did not look to the one who made it, or consider the one who created it long ago.

Look, the LORD is stripping the earth bare

and making it desolate.

He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants:

All the many nations

going out to battle against Ariel —

all the attackers, the siege works against her,

and those who oppress her —

will then be like a dream, a vision in the night.

Eagle owls[fn] and herons[fn] will possess it,

and long-eared owls and ravens will dwell there.

The LORD will stretch out a measuring line

and a plumb line over her

for her destruction and chaos.

There will be no lion there,

and no vicious beast will go up on it;

they will not be found there.

But the redeemed will walk on it,

“Look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who grabs it and leans on it. This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him.

“Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria:

He will not enter this city,

shoot an arrow here,

come before it with a shield,

or build up a siege ramp against it.

“I will defend this city and rescue it

for my sake

and for the sake of my servant David.”

“Who has stirred up someone from the east?

In righteousness he calls him to serve.[fn][fn]

The LORD hands nations over to him,

and he subdues kings.

He makes them like dust with his sword,

like wind-driven stubble with his bow.

“Who has performed and done this,

calling the generations from the beginning?

I am the LORD, the first

and with the last ​— ​I am he.”

For this is what the LORD says —

the Creator of the heavens,

the God who formed the earth and made it,

the one who established it

(he did not create it to be a wasteland,

but formed it to be inhabited) —

he says, “I am the LORD,

and there is no other.

Be joyful, rejoice together,

you ruins of Jerusalem!

For the LORD has comforted his people;

he has redeemed Jerusalem.

a wild donkey at home[fn] in the wilderness.

She sniffs the wind in the heat of her desire.

Who can control her passion?

All who look for her will not become weary;

they will find her in her mating season.[fn]

“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.

At that time Jerusalem will be called The LORD's Throne, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD in Jerusalem. They will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

They have her surrounded

like those who guard a field,

because she has rebelled against me.

This is the LORD's declaration.

“Shepherds and their flocks will come against her;

they will pitch their tents all around her.

Each will pasture his own portion.

“I made their widows more numerous

than the sand of the seas.

I brought a destroyer at noon

against the mother of young men.

I suddenly released on her

agitation and terrors.

“For I have set my face against this city to bring disaster and not good ​— ​this is the LORD's declaration. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will burn it.'

Among the prophets of Jerusalem also

I saw a horrible thing:

They commit adultery and walk in lies.

They strengthen the hands of evildoers,

and none turns his back on evil.

They are all like Sodom to me;

Jerusalem's residents are like Gomorrah.

“I am going to send for all the families of the north' ​— ​this is the LORD's declaration ​— ​‘and send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them an example of horror and scorn, and ruins forever.

“By my great strength and outstretched arm, I made the earth, and the people, and animals on the face of the earth. I give it to anyone I please.[fn]

“They entered and possessed it, but they did not obey you or live according to your instructions. They failed to perform all you commanded them to do, and so you have brought all this disaster on them.

“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

“The LORD who made the earth,[fn] the LORD who forms it to establish it, the LORD is his name, says this:

“The people coming to fight the Chaldeans will fill the houses with the corpses of their own men that I strike down in my wrath and fury. I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil.

“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.

“I am about to give the command ​— ​this is the LORD's declaration ​— ​and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it. I will make Judah's cities a desolation, without inhabitant.”

“The Chaldeans will then return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it.

“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.' ”

Egypt will hiss like a slithering snake,[fn]

for the enemy will come with an army;

with axes they will come against her

like those who cut trees.

There is no longer praise for Moab;

they plan harm against her in Heshbon:

Come, let's cut her off from nationhood.

Also, Madmen, you will be silenced;

the sword will follow you.

“Edom will become a desolation. Everyone who passes by her will be appalled and scoff because of all her wounds.

“Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets[fn] of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. I will chase Edom away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like me? Who will issue me a summons? Who is the shepherd who can stand against me? ”

For a nation from the north will attack her;

it will make her land desolate.

No one will be living in it —

both people and animals will escape.[fn]

The Chaldeans will become plunder;

all Babylon's plunderers will be fully satisfied.

This is the LORD's declaration.

Attack the land of Merathaim,

and those living in Pekod.

Put them to the sword;

completely destroy them —

this is the LORD's declaration —

do everything I have commanded you.

Come against her from the most distant places.[fn]

Open her granaries;

pile her up like mounds of grain

and completely destroy her.

Leave her no survivors.

Summon the archers to Babylon,

all who string the bow;

camp all around her; let none escape.

Repay her according to her deeds;

just as she has done, do the same to her,

for she has acted arrogantly against the LORD,

against the Holy One of Israel.

“Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets[fn] of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. I will chase Babylon[fn] away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like me? Who will issue me a summons? Who is the shepherd who can stand against me? ”

I will send strangers to Babylon

who will scatter her and strip her land bare,

for they will come against her

from every side in the day of disaster.

We tried to heal Babylon,

but she could not be healed.

Abandon her!

Let each of us go to his own land,

for her judgment extends to the sky

and reaches as far as the clouds.

Raise a signal flag in the land;

blow a ram's horn among the nations;

set apart the nations against her.

Summon kingdoms against her —

Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.

Appoint a marshal against her;

bring up horses like a swarm[fn] of locusts.

I will punish Bel in Babylon.

I will make him vomit what he swallowed.

The nations will no longer stream to him;

even Babylon's wall will fall.

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.

She weeps bitterly during the night,

with tears on her cheeks.

There is no one to offer her comfort,

not one from all her lovers.[fn]

All her friends have betrayed her;

they have become her enemies.

Her adversaries have become her masters;

her enemies are at ease,

for the LORD has made her suffer

because of her many transgressions.

Her children have gone away

as captives before the adversary.

Jerusalem has sinned grievously;

therefore, she has become an object of scorn.[fn]

All who honored her now despise her,

for they have seen her nakedness.

She herself groans and turns away.

When he unrolled it before me, it was written on the front and back; words of lamentation, mourning, and woe were written on it.

“Now you, son of man, take a brick, set it in front of you, and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.

“Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as you would a barber's razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

“This is what the Lord GOD says: I have set this Jerusalem in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.

“But I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he will not see it, and he will die there.

“Son of man, suppose a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its supply of bread, to send famine through it, and to wipe out both people and animals from it.

“Suppose I allow dangerous animals to pass through the land and depopulate it so that it becomes desolate, with no one passing through it for fear of the animals.

“Or suppose I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out both people and animals from it.

“Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from all around for your sexual favors.

“It sprouted and became a spreading vine, low in height with its branches turned toward him, yet its roots stayed under it. So it became a vine, produced branches, and sent out shoots.

“You are to say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: Will it flourish? Will he not tear out its roots and strip off its fruit so that it shrivels? All its fresh leaves will wither! Great strength and many people will not be needed to pull it from its roots.

“Now it is planted in the wilderness,

in a dry and thirsty land.

“When I lead you into the land of Israel, the land I swore to give your ancestors, you will know that I am the LORD.

“The sword is given to be polished,

to be grasped in the hand.

It is sharpened, and it is polished,

to be put in the hand of the slayer.'

“So I have poured out my indignation on them and consumed them with the fire of my fury. I have brought their conduct down on their own heads.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.

“She didn't give up her promiscuity that began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin nipples, and poured out their lust on her.

“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.

“ ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed,

the pot that has corrosion inside it,

and its corrosion has not come out of it!

Empty it piece by piece;

lots should not be cast for its contents.

“therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off both people and animals from it. I will make it a wasteland; they will fall by the sword from Teman to Dedan.

“They will destroy the walls of Tyre and demolish her towers. I will scrape the soil from her and turn her into a bare rock.

“Son of man, face Sidon and prophesy against it.

“The day will be dark[fn] in Tehaphnehes,

when I break the yoke of Egypt there

and its proud strength

comes to an end in the city.

A cloud will cover Tehaphnehes,[fn]

and its surrounding villages will go into captivity.

“I will strengthen the arms of Babylon's king and place my sword in his hand. But I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him as a mortally wounded man.

“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.

“Son of man, take a single stick and write on it: Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him. Then take another stick and write on it: Belonging to Joseph ​— ​the stick of Ephraim ​— ​and all the house of Israel associated with him.

“ ‘They will appoint men on a full-time basis to pass through the land and bury the invaders[fn] who remain on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it. They will make their search at the end of the seven months.

He brought me to the south side, and there was also a gate on the south. He measured its jambs and portico; they had the same measurements as the others.

Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side. When he measured the gate, it had the same measurements as the others.

“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.

“You will allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens residing among you, who have fathered children among you. You will treat them[fn] like native-born Israelites; along with you, they will be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.

“The city's workers from all the tribes of Israel will cultivate it.

King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue, ninety feet high and nine feet wide.[fn] He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

“This word is by decree of the watchers,

and the decision is by command from the holy ones.

This is so that the living will know

that the Most High is ruler

over human kingdoms.

He gives them to anyone he wants

and sets the lowliest of people over them.

“But the holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever, yes, forever and ever.'

“This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, trample it down, and crush it.

“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.

Otherwise, I will strip her naked

and expose her as she was on the day of her birth.

I will make her like a desert

and like a parched land,

and I will let her die of thirst.

Now I will expose her shame

in the sight of her lovers,

and no one will rescue her from my power.

And I will punish her for the days of the Baals,

to which she burned incense.

She put on her rings and her jewelry

and followed her lovers,

but she forgot me.

This is the LORD's declaration.

I will sow her[fn] in the land for myself,

and I will have compassion

on Lo-ruhamah;

I will say to Lo-ammi:

You are my people,

and he will say, “You are my God.”

It has devastated my grapevine

and splintered my fig tree.

It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away;

its branches have turned white.

They trample the heads of the poor

on the dust of the ground

and obstruct the path of the needy.

A man and his father have sexual relations

with the same girl,

profaning my holy name.

Look, the eyes of the Lord GOD

are on the sinful kingdom,

and I will obliterate it

from the face of the earth.

However, I will not totally destroy

the house of Jacob —

this is the LORD's declaration —

In that day

I will restore the fallen shelter of David:

I will repair its gaps,

restore its ruins,

and rebuild it as in the days of old,

The vision of Obadiah.

This is what the Lord GOD has said about Edom:

We have heard a message from the LORD;

an envoy has been sent among the nations:

“Rise up, and let's go to war against her.”[fn]

And the LORD said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night.

“For the wealthy of the city are full of violence,

and its residents speak lies;

the tongues in their mouths are deceitful.

“The statutes of Omri

and all the practices of Ahab's house

have been observed;

you have followed their policies.

Therefore, I will make you a desolate place

and the city's[fn] residents an object of contempt;[fn]

you will bear the scorn of my people.”[fn]

Then the earth will become a wasteland

because of its inhabitants

and as a result of their actions.

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.

I will gather those who have been driven

from the appointed festivals;

they will be a tribute from you[fn]

and a reproach on her.[fn]

“This is Wickedness,” he said. He shoved her down into the basket and pushed the lead weight over its opening.

“Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.

“The crown will reside in the LORD's temple as a memorial to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen[fn] son of Zephaniah.

Listen! The Lord will impoverish her

and cast her wealth into the sea;

she herself will be consumed by fire.

Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, annulling the covenant I had made with all the peoples.

“On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who try to lift it will injure themselves severely when all the nations of the earth gather against her.

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.

We heard of the ark in Ephrathah;[fn]

we found it in the fields of Jaar.[fn]

For the LORD has chosen Zion;

he has desired it for his home: