Lexicon :: Strong's H7291 - rāḏap̄

For the enemy has pursued me,

crushing me to the ground,

making me live in darkness

like those long dead.

Genuine righteousness leads to life,

but pursuing evil leads to death.

The one who works his land will have plenty of food,

but whoever chases fantasies lacks sense.

Disaster pursues sinners,

but good rewards the righteous.

The LORD detests the way of the wicked,

but he loves the one who pursues righteousness.

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]

The one who pursues righteousness and faithful love

will find life, righteousness, and honor.

The wicked flee when no one is pursuing them,

but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

Whatever is, has already been, and whatever will be, already is. However, God seeks justice for the persecuted.[fn]

Your rulers are rebels,

friends of thieves.

They all love graft

and chase after bribes.

They do not defend the rights of the fatherless,

and the widow’s case never comes before them.

Woe to those who rise early in the morning

in pursuit of beer,

who linger into the evening,

inflamed by wine.

The nations rage like the rumble of a huge torrent.

He rebukes them, and they flee far away,

driven before the wind like chaff on the hills

and like tumbleweeds before a gale.

You say, “No!

We will escape on horses” —

therefore you will escape! —

and, “We will ride on fast horses” —

but those who pursue you will be faster.

“He pursues them, going on safely,

hardly touching the path with his feet.

Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,

you who seek the LORD:

Look to the rock from which you were cut,

and to the quarry from which you were dug.

You know, LORD;

remember me and take note of me.

Avenge me against my persecutors.

In your patience,[fn] don’t take me away.

Know that I suffer disgrace for your honor.

Let my persecutors be put to shame,

but don’t let me be put to shame.

Let them be terrified, but don’t let me be terrified.

Bring on them the day of disaster;

shatter them with total[fn] destruction.

But the LORD is with me like a violent warrior.

Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.

Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed,

an everlasting humiliation that will never be forgotten.

“I will pursue them with sword, famine, and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth ​— ​a curse and a desolation, an object of scorn and a disgrace among all the nations where I have banished them.

However, the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They arrested him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon’s king, at Riblah in the land of Hamath. The king passed sentence on him there.

The Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army left him and scattered.

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.

“You have covered yourself in anger and pursued us;

you have killed without compassion.

Those who chased us were swifter

than eagles in the sky;

they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains

and ambushed us in the wilderness.

We are closely pursued;

we are tired, and no one offers us rest.

“therefore, as I live ​— ​this is the declaration of the Lord GOD ​— ​I will destine you for bloodshed, and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, it will pursue you.

She will pursue her lovers but not catch them;

she will look for them but not find them.

Then she will think,

“I will go back to my former husband,

for then it was better for me than now.”

Let’s strive to know the LORD.

His appearance is as sure as the dawn.

He will come to us like the rain,

like the spring showers that water the land.

Israel has rejected what is good;

an enemy will pursue him.

Ephraim chases[fn] the wind

and pursues the east wind.

He continually multiplies lies and violence.

He makes a covenant with Assyria,

and olive oil is carried to Egypt.

The LORD says:

I will not relent from punishing Edom

for three crimes, even four,

because he pursued his brother with the sword.

He stifled his compassion,

his anger tore at him continually,

and he harbored his rage incessantly.

But he will completely destroy Nineveh[fn]

with an overwhelming flood,

and he will chase his enemies into darkness.