genesis:1:1:The Creation
In the beginning God (Elohim) created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth.
1:2:The earth was formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.
1:3:And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
1:4:God saw that the light was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it; and God separated the light [distinguishing it] from the darkness.
1:5:And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
1:6:And God said, “Let there be an expanse [of the sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters [below the expanse] from the waters [above the expanse].”
1:7:And God made the expanse [of sky] and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so [just as He commanded].
1:8:God called the expanse [of sky] heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
1:9:Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place [of standing, pooling together], and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
1:10:God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that this was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it.
1:11:So God said, “Let the earth sprout [tender] vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind, whose seed is in them upon the earth”; and it was so.
1:12:The earth sprouted and abundantly produced vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, according to their kind; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it.
1:13:And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
1:14:Then God said, “Let there be light-bearers (sun, moon, stars) in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be useful for signs (tokens) [of God’s provident care], and for marking seasons, days, and years;
1:15:and let them be useful as lights in the expanse of the heavens to provide light on the earth”; and it was so, [just as He commanded].
1:16:God made the two great lights—the greater light (the sun) to rule the day, and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night; He made the [galaxies of] stars also [that is, all the amazing wonders in the heavens].
1:17:God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to provide light upon the earth,
1:18:to rule over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it.
1:19:And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
1:20:Then God said, “Let the waters swarm and abundantly produce living creatures, and let birds soar above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”
1:21:God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it.
1:22:And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
1:23:And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
1:24:Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind: livestock, crawling things, and wild animals of the earth according to their kinds”; and it was so [because He had spoken them into creation].
1:25:So God made the wild animals of the earth according to their kind, and the cattle according to their kind, and everything that creeps and crawls on the earth according to its kind; and God saw that it was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it.
1:26:Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”
1:27:So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.
1:28:And God blessed them [granting them certain authority] and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subjugate it [putting it under your power]; and rule over (dominate) the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
1:29:So God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
1:30:and to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that moves on the ground—to everything in which there is the breath of life—I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so [because He commanded it].
1:31:God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good and He validated it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
2:1:The Creation of Man and Woman
So the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts (inhabitants).
2:2:And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
2:3:So God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it [as His own, that is, set it apart as holy from other days], because in it He rested from all His work which He had created and done.
2:4:This is the history of [the origin of] the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day [that is, days of creation] that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens—
2:5:no shrub or plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground,
2:6:but a mist (fog, dew, vapor) used to rise from the land and water the entire surface of the ground—
2:7:then the Lord God formed [that is, created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit].
2:8:And the Lord God planted a garden (oasis) in the east, in Eden (delight, land of happiness); and He put the man whom He had formed (created) there.
2:9:And [in that garden] the Lord God caused to grow from the ground every tree that is desirable and pleasing to the sight and good (suitable, pleasant) for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the [experiential] knowledge (recognition) of [the difference between] good and evil.
2:10:Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four [branching] rivers.
2:11:The first [river] is named Pishon; it flows around the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.
2:12:The gold of that land is good; bdellium (a fragrant, valuable resin) and the onyx stone are found there.
2:13:The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the entire land of Cush [in Mesopotamia].
2:14:The third river is named Hiddekel (Tigris); it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
2:15:So the Lord God took the man [He had made] and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
2:16:And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely (unconditionally) eat [the fruit] from every tree of the garden;
2:17:but [only] from the tree of the knowledge (recognition) of good and evil you shall not eat, otherwise on the day that you eat from it, you shall most certainly die [because of your disobedience].”
2:18:Now the Lord God said, “It is not good (beneficial) for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him—a counterpart who is] suitable and complementary for him.”
2:19:So the Lord God formed out of the ground every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
2:20:And the man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper [that was] suitable (a companion) for him.
2:21:So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
2:22:And the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man He made (fashioned, formed) into a woman, and He brought her and presented her to the man.
2:23:Then Adam said,
“This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”
2:24:For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
2:25:And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed or embarrassed.
3:1:The Fall of Man
Now the serpent was more crafty (subtle, skilled in deceit) than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And the serpent (Satan) said to the woman, “Can it really be that God has said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
3:2:And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden,
3:3:except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God said, ‘You shall not eat from it nor touch it, otherwise you will die.’”
3:4:But the serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die!
3:5:For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened [that is, you will have greater awareness], and you will be like God, knowing [the difference between] good and evil.”
3:6:And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.
3:7:Then the eyes of the two of them were opened [that is, their awareness increased], and they knew that they were naked; and they fastened fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
3:8:And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves hidden from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
3:9:But the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, “Where are you?”
3:10:He said, “I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
3:11:God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten [fruit] from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
3:12:And the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me—she gave me [fruit] from the tree, and I ate it.”
3:13:Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent beguiled and deceived me, and I ate [from the forbidden tree].”
3:14:The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all the cattle,
And more than any animal of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And dust you shall eat
All the days of your life.
3:15:“And I will put enmity (open hostility)
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed (offspring) and her Seed;
He shall [fatally] bruise your head,
And you shall [only] bruise His heel.”
3:16:To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth;
In pain you will give birth to children;
Yet your desire and longing will be for your husband,
And he will rule [with authority] over you and be responsible for you.”
3:17:Then to Adam the Lord God said, “Because you have listened [attentively] to the voice of your wife, and have eaten [fruit] from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’;
The ground is [now] under a curse because of you;
In sorrow and toil you shall eat [the fruit] of it
All the days of your life.
3:18:“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you shall eat the plants of the field.
3:19:“By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread
Until you return to the ground,
For from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
3:20:The man named his wife Eve (life spring, life giver), because she was the mother of all the living.
3:21:The Lord God made tunics of [animal] skins for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
3:22:And the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), knowing [how to distinguish between] good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take from the tree of life as well, and eat [its fruit], and live [in this fallen, sinful condition] forever”—
3:23:therefore the Lord God sent Adam away from the Garden of Eden, to till and cultivate the ground from which he was taken.
3:24:So God drove the man out; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He [permanently] stationed the cherubim and the sword with the flashing blade which turned round and round [in every direction] to protect and guard the way (entrance, access) to the tree of life.
4:1:Cain and Abel
Now the man Adam knew Eve as his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a man (baby boy, son) with the help of the Lord.”
4:2:And [later] she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept the flocks [of sheep and goats], but Cain cultivated the ground.
4:3:And in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground.
4:4:But Abel brought [an offering of] the [finest] firstborn of his flock and the fat portions. And the Lord had respect (regard) for Abel and for his offering;
4:5:but for Cain and his offering He had no respect. So Cain became extremely angry (indignant), and he looked annoyed and hostile.
4:6:And the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you so angry? And why do you look annoyed?
4:7:If you do well [believing Me and doing what is acceptable and pleasing to Me], will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well [but ignore My instruction], sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you [to overpower you], but you must master it.”
4:8:Cain talked with Abel his brother [about what God had said]. And when they were [alone, working] in the field, Cain attacked Abel his brother and killed him.
4:9:Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he [lied and] said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
4:10:The Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s [innocent] blood is crying out to Me from the ground [for justice].
4:11:And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s [shed] blood from your hand.
4:12:When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength [it will resist producing good crops] for you; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond [roaming aimlessly] on the earth [in perpetual exile without a home, a degraded outcast].”
4:13:Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
4:14:Behold, You have driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Your face (presence) I will be hidden, and I will be a fugitive and an [aimless] vagabond on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
4:15:And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, a sevenfold vengeance [that is, punishment seven times worse] shall be taken on him [by Me].” And the Lord set a [protective] mark (sign) on Cain, so that no one who found (met) him would kill him.
4:16:So Cain went away from the [manifested] presence of the Lord, and lived in the land of Nod [wandering in exile], east of Eden.
4:17:Cain knew his wife [one of Adam’s descendants] and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city and named it Enoch, after the name of his son.
4:18:Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech.
4:19:And Lamech took for himself two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.
4:20:Adah gave birth to Jabal; he became the father of those [nomadic herdsmen] who live in tents and have cattle and raise livestock.
4:21:His brother’s name was Jubal; he became the father of all those [musicians] who play the lyre and flute.
4:22:Zillah gave birth to Tubal-cain, the smith (craftsman) and teacher of every artisan in instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
4:23:Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah,
Hear my voice;
You wives of Lamech,
Listen to what I say;
For I have killed a man [merely] for wounding me,
And a boy [only] for striking (bruising) me.
4:24:“If Cain is avenged sevenfold [as the Lord said he would be],
Then Lamech [will be avenged] seventy-sevenfold.”
4:25:Adam knew [Eve as] his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for [she said], “God has granted another child for me in place of Abel, because Cain killed him.”
4:26:To Seth, also, a son was born, whom he named Enosh (mortal man, mankind). At that [same] time men began to call on the name of the Lord [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving].
5:1:Descendants of Adam
This is the book (the written record, the history) of the generations of [the descendants of] Adam. When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness].
5:2:He created them male and female, and blessed them and named them Mankind at the time they were created.
5:3:When Adam had lived a hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.
5:4:After he became the father of Seth, Adam lived eight hundred years and had other sons and daughters.
5:5:So Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years in all, and he died.
5:6:When Seth was a hundred and five years old, he became the father of Enosh.
5:7:Seth lived eight hundred and seven years after the birth of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters.
5:8:So Seth lived nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.
5:9:When Enosh was ninety years old, he became the father of Kenan.
5:10:Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years after the birth of Kenan and had other sons and daughters.
5:11:So Enosh lived nine hundred and five years, and he died.
5:12:When Kenan was seventy years old, he became the father of Mahalalel.
5:13:Kenan lived eight hundred and forty years after the birth of Mahalalel and had other sons and daughters.
5:14:So Kenan lived nine hundred and ten years, and he died.
5:15:When Mahalalel was sixty-five years old, he became the father of Jared.
5:16:Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years after the birth of Jared and had other sons and daughters.
5:17:So Mahalalel lived eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.
5:18:When Jared was a hundred and sixty-two years old, he became the father of Enoch.
5:19:Jared lived eight hundred years after the birth of Enoch and had other sons and daughters.
5:20:So Jared lived nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.
5:21:When Enoch was sixty-five years old, he became the father of Methuselah.
5:22:Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God three hundred years after the birth of Methuselah and had other sons and daughters.
5:23:So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.
5:24:And [in reverent fear and obedience] Enoch walked with God; and he was not [found among men], because God took him [away to be home with Him].
5:25:When Methuselah was a hundred and eighty-seven years old, he became the father of Lamech.
5:26:Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years after the birth of Lamech and had other sons and daughters.
5:27:So Methuselah lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.
5:28:When Lamech was a hundred and eighty-two years old, he became the father of a son.
5:29:He named him Noah, saying, “This one shall bring us rest and comfort from our work and from the [dreadful] toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord cursed.”
5:30:Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years after the birth of Noah and had other sons and daughters.
5:31:So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.
5:32:After Noah was five hundred years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6:1:The Corruption of Mankind
Now it happened, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,
6:2:that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and desirable; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose and desired.
6:3:Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive and remain with man forever, because he is indeed flesh [sinful, corrupt—given over to sensual appetites]; nevertheless his days shall yet be a hundred and twenty years.”
6:4:There were Nephilim (men of stature, notorious men) on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men, and they gave birth to their children. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown (great reputation, fame).
6:5:The Lord saw that the wickedness (depravity) of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination or intent of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually.
6:6:The Lord regretted that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was [deeply] grieved in His heart.
6:7:So the Lord said, “I will destroy (annihilate) mankind whom I have created from the surface of the earth—not only man, but the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air—because it [deeply] grieves Me [to see mankind’s sin] and I regret that I have made them.”
6:8:But Noah found favor and grace in the eyes of the Lord.
6:9:These are the records of the generations (family history) of Noah. Noah was a righteous man [one who was just and had right standing with God], blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked (lived) [in habitual fellowship] with God.
6:10:Now Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6:11:The [population of the] earth was corrupt [absolutely depraved—spiritually and morally putrid] in God’s sight, and the land was filled with violence [desecration, infringement, outrage, assault, and lust for power].
6:12:God looked on the earth and saw how debased and degenerate it was, for all humanity had corrupted their way on the earth and lost their true direction.
6:13:God said to Noah, “I intend to make an end of all that lives, for through men the land is filled with violence; and behold, I am about to destroy them together with the land.
6:14:Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make in it rooms (stalls, pens, coops, nests, cages, compartments) and coat it inside and out with pitch (bitumen).
6:15:This is the way you are to make it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits (450’ x 75’ x 45’).
6:16:You shall make a window [for light and ventilation] for the ark, and finish it to at least a cubit (eighteen inches) from the top—and set the [entry] door of the ark in its side; and you shall make it with lower, second and third decks.
6:17:For behold, I, even I, will bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy all life under the heavens in which there is the breath and spirit of life; everything that is on the land shall die.
6:18:But I will establish My covenant (solemn promise, formal agreement) with you; and you shall come into the ark—you and your [three] sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
6:19:And of every living thing [found on land], you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
6:20:Of fowls and birds according to their kind, of animals according to their kind, of every crawling thing of the ground according to its kind—two of every kind shall come to you to keep them alive.
6:21:Also take with you every kind of food that is edible, and you shall collect and store it; and it shall be food for you and for them.”
6:22:So Noah did this; according to all that God commanded him, that is what he did.
7:1:The Flood
Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you with all your household, for you [alone] I have seen as righteous (doing what is right) before Me in this generation.
7:2:Of every clean animal you shall take with you seven pair, the male and his female, and of animals that are not clean, two each the male and his female;
7:3:also of the birds of the air, seven pair, the male and the female, to keep the offspring alive on the surface of the earth.
7:4:For in seven days I am going to cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and I will destroy (blot out, wipe away) every living thing that I have made from the surface of the earth.”
7:5:So Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.
7:6:Noah was six hundred years old when the flood (deluge) of water came on the earth [covering all of the land].
7:7:Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark to escape the flood waters.
7:8:Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and fowls and everything that crawls on the ground,
7:9:they came [motivated by God] into the ark with Noah two by two, the male and the female, just as God had commanded Noah.
7:10:And after the seven days [God released the rain and] the floodwaters came on the earth.
7:11:In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, on that same day all the fountains of the great deep [subterranean waters] burst open, and the windows and floodgates of the heavens were opened.
7:12:It rained on the earth for forty days and forty nights.
7:13:On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark,
7:14:they and every animal according to its kind, all the livestock according to their kinds, every moving thing that crawls on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every winged thing of every sort.
7:15:So they went into the ark with Noah, two by two of all living beings in which there was the breath and spirit of life.
7:16:Those which entered, male and female of all flesh (creatures), entered as God had commanded Noah; and the Lord closed the door behind him.
7:17:The flood [the great downpour of rain] was forty days and nights on the earth; and the waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it floated [high] above the land.
7:18:The waters became mighty and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters.
7:19:The waters prevailed so greatly and were so mighty and overwhelming on the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.
7:20:[In fact] the waters became fifteen cubits higher [than the highest ground], and the mountains were covered.
7:21:All living beings that moved on the earth perished—birds and cattle (domestic animals), [wild] animals, all things that swarm and crawl on the earth, and all mankind.
7:22:Everything on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath and spirit of life, died.
7:23:God destroyed (blotted out, wiped away) every living thing that was on the surface of the earth; man and animals and the crawling things and the birds of the heavens were destroyed from the land. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.
7:24:The waters covered [all of] the earth for a hundred and fifty days (five months).
8:1:The Flood Abates
And God remembered and thought kindly of Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind blow over the land, and the waters receded.
8:2:Also the fountains of the deep [subterranean waters] and the windows of the heavens were closed, the [pouring] rain from the sky was restrained,
8:3:and the waters receded steadily from the earth. At the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters had diminished.
8:4:On the seventeenth day of the seventh month [five months after the rain began], the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat [in Turkey].
8:5:The waters continued to decrease until the tenth month; on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen.
8:6:At the end of [another] forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;
8:7:and he sent out a raven, which flew here and there until the waters were dried up from the earth.
8:8:Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the water level had fallen below the surface of the land.
8:9:But the dove found no place on which to rest the sole of her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were [still] on the face of the entire earth. So he reached out his hand and took the dove, and brought her into the ark.
8:10:He waited another seven days and again sent the dove out from the ark.
8:11:The dove came back to him in the evening, and there, in her beak, was a fresh olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water level had subsided from the earth.
8:12:Then he waited another seven days and sent out the dove, but she did not return to him again.
8:13:Now in the six hundred and first year [of Noah’s life], on the first day of the first month, the waters were drying up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and the surface of the ground was drying.
8:14:On the twenty-seventh day of the second month the land was [entirely] dry.
8:15:And God spoke to Noah, saying,
8:16:“Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives with you.
8:17:Bring out with you every living thing from all flesh—birds and animals and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth—that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
8:18:So Noah went out, and his wife and his sons and their wives with him [after being in the ark one year and ten days].
8:19:Every animal, every crawling thing, every bird—and whatever moves on the land—went out by families (types, groupings) from the ark.
8:20:And Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every [ceremonially] clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
8:21:The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma [a soothing, satisfying scent] and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intent (strong inclination, desire) of man’s heart is wicked from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
8:22:“While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”
9:1:Covenant of the Rainbow
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
9:2:The fear and the terror of you shall be [instinctive] in every animal of the land and in every bird of the air; and together with everything that moves on the ground, and with all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hand.
9:3:Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; I give you everything, as I gave you the green plants and vegetables.
9:4:But you shall not eat meat along with its life, that is, its blood.
9:5:For your lifeblood I will most certainly require an accounting; from every animal [that kills a person] I will require it. And from man, from every man’s brother [that is, anyone who murders] I will require the life of man.
9:6:“Whoever sheds man’s blood [unlawfully],
By man (judicial government) shall his blood be shed,
For in the image of God
He made man.
9:7:“As for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”
9:8:Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
9:9:“Now behold, I am establishing My covenant (binding agreement, solemn promise) with you and with your descendants after you
9:10:and with every living creature that is with you—the birds, the livestock, and the wild animals of the earth along with you, of everything that comes out of the ark—every living creature of the earth.
9:11:I will establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the water of a flood, nor shall there ever again be a flood to destroy and ruin the earth.”
9:12:And God said, “This is the token (visible symbol, memorial) of the [solemn] covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations;
9:13:I set My rainbow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
9:14:It shall come about, when I bring clouds over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the clouds,
9:15:and I will [compassionately] remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again will the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
9:16:When the rainbow is in the clouds and I look at it, I will [solemnly] remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
9:17:And God said to Noah, “This [rainbow] is the sign of the covenant (solemn pledge, binding agreement) which I have established between Me and all living things on the earth.”
9:18:The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth. Ham would become the father of Canaan.
9:19:These are the three sons of Noah, and from these [men] the whole earth was populated and scattered with inhabitants.
9:20:And Noah began to farm and cultivate the ground and he planted a vineyard.
9:21:He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he was uncovered and lay exposed inside his tent.
9:22:Ham, the father of Canaan, saw [by accident] the nakedness of his father, and [to his father’s shame] told his two brothers outside.
9:23:So Shem and Japheth took a robe and put it on both their shoulders, and walked backwards and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.
9:24:When Noah awoke from his wine [induced stupor], he knew what his younger son [Ham] had done to him.
9:25:So he said,
“Cursed be Canaan [the son of Ham];
A servant of servants
He shall be to his brothers.”
9:26:He also said,
“Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant.
9:27:“May God enlarge [the land of] Japheth,
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant.”
9:28:Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.
9:29:So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.
10:1:Descendants of Noah
These are the records of the generations (descendants) of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and the sons born to them after the flood:
10:2:the sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras;
10:3:the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah;
10:4:the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
10:5:From these, [the people of] the coastlands of the nations were separated and spread into their lands, every one according to his own language, according to their constituent groups (families), and into their nations:
10:6:the sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim [from whom descended the Egyptians], Put, and Canaan;
10:7:the sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah; Sheba and Dedan.
10:8:Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth.
10:9:He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.”
10:10:The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar [in Babylonia].
10:11:From that land Nimrod went to Assyria, and built Nineveh, and Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah,
10:12:and [Nimrod built] Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; all these [combined to form] the great city [Nineveh].
10:13:Mizraim [the ancestor of the Egyptians] became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim
10:14:and Pathrusim and Casluhim—from whom came the Philistines—and Caphtorim.
10:15:Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth
10:16:and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite
10:17:and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite
10:18:and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad.
10:19:The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as one goes to Gerar, as far as Gaza; and as one goes to Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
10:20:These are the descendants of Ham according to their constituent groups, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.
10:21:Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber [including the Hebrews], the older brother of Japheth, children were born.
10:22:The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud and Aram;
10:23:the sons of Aram [ancestor of the Syrians]: Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash.
10:24:Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber.
10:25:Two sons were born to Eber; the name of one was Peleg (division), for [the inhabitants of] the earth were divided in his days; and his brother’s name was Joktan.
10:26:Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
10:27:and Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
10:28:and Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
10:29:and Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.
10:30:Now their territory extended from Mesha as one goes toward Sephar, to the hill country of the east.
10:31:These are Shem’s descendants according to their constituent groups (families), according to their languages, by their lands, according to their nations.
10:32:These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their descendants, by their nations; and from these [people] the nations were separated and spread abroad on the earth after the flood.
11:1:Universal Language, Babel, Confusion
Now the whole earth spoke one language and used the same words (vocabulary).
11:2:And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and they settled there.
11:3:They said one to another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly [in a kiln, to harden and strengthen them].” So they used brick for stone [as building material], and they used tar (bitumen, asphalt) for mortar.
11:4:They said, “Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a [famous] name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered [into separate groups] and be dispersed over the surface of the entire earth [as the Lord instructed].”
11:5:Now the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
11:6:And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one [unified] people, and they all have the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do [in rebellion against Me], and now no evil thing they imagine they can do will be impossible for them.
11:7:Come, let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) go down and there confuse and mix up their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
11:8:So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the surface of the entire earth; and they stopped building the city.
11:9:Therefore the name of the city was Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire earth; and from that place the Lord scattered and dispersed them over the surface of all the earth.
11:10:Descendants of Shem
These are the records of the generations of Shem [from whom Abraham descended]. Shem was a hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood.
11:11:And Shem lived five hundred years after Arpachshad was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
11:12:When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah.
11:13:Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after Shelah was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
11:14:When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of Eber.
11:15:Shelah lived four hundred and three years after Eber was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
11:16:When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg.
11:17:And Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after Peleg was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
11:18:When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Reu.
11:19:And Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after Reu was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
11:20:When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug.
11:21:And Reu lived two hundred and seven years after Serug was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
11:22:When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of Nahor.
11:23:And Serug lived two hundred years after Nahor was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
11:24:When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah.
11:25:And Nahor lived a hundred and nineteen years after Terah was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
11:26:After Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of Abram and Nahor and Haran [his firstborn].
11:27:Now these are the records of the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram (Abraham), Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.
11:28:Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
11:29:Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai (later called Sarah), and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.
11:30:But Sarai was barren; she did not have a child.
11:31:Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together to go from Ur of the Chaldeans into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran [about five hundred and fifty miles northwest of Ur], they settled there.
11:32:Terah lived two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.
12:1:Abram Journeys to Egypt
Now [in Haran] the Lord had said to Abram,
“Go away from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
12:2:And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you [abundantly],
And make your name great (exalted, distinguished);
And you shall be a blessing [a source of great good to others];
12:3:And I will bless (do good for, benefit) those who bless you,
And I will curse [that is, subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has contempt for) you.
And in you all the families (nations) of the earth will be blessed.”
12:4:So Abram departed [in faithful obedience] as the Lord had directed him; and Lot [his nephew] left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
12:5:Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had acquired, and the people (servants) which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,
12:6:Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the [great] terebinth (oak) tree of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time.
12:7:Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” So Abram built an altar there to [honor] the Lord who had appeared to him.
12:8:Then he moved on from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving].
12:9:Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev (the South country of Judah).
12:10:Now there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to live temporarily, for the famine in the land was oppressive and severe.
12:11:And when he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Listen: I know that you are a beautiful woman;
12:12:so when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me [to acquire you], but they will let you live.
12:13:Please tell them that you are my sister so that things will go well for me for your sake, and my life will be spared because of you.”
12:14:And when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful.
12:15:Pharaoh’s princes (officials) also saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken [for the purpose of marriage] into Pharaoh’s house (harem).
12:16:Therefore Pharaoh treated Abram well for her sake; he acquired sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
12:17:But the Lord punished Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
12:18:Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
12:19:Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her and go!”
12:20:So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him on his way, with his wife and all that he had.
13:1:Abram and Lot
So Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot [his nephew] with him, into the Negev (the South country of Judah).
13:2:Now Abram was extremely rich in livestock and in silver and in gold.
13:3:He journeyed on from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
13:4:where he had first built an altar; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord [in prayer].
13:5:But Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
13:6:Now the land was not able to support them [that is, sustain all their grazing and water needs] while they lived near one another, for their possessions were too great for them to stay together.
13:7:And there was strife and quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were living in the land at that same time [making grazing of the livestock difficult].
13:8:So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife and disagreement between you and me, nor between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, because we are relatives.
13:9:Is not the entire land before you? Please separate [yourself] from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right, then I will go to the left.”
13:10:So Lot looked and saw that the valley of the Jordan was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; [it was all] like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar [at the south end of the Dead Sea].
13:11:Then Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and he traveled east. So they separated from each other.
13:12:Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled in the cities of the valley and camped as far as Sodom and lived there.
13:13:But the men of Sodom were extremely wicked and sinful against the Lord [unashamed in their open sin before Him].
13:14:The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had left him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are standing, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
13:15:for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your descendants forever.
13:16:I will make your descendants [as numerous] as the dust of the earth, so that if a man could count the [grains of] dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be counted.
13:17:Arise, walk (make a thorough reconnaissance) around in the land, through its length and its width, for I will give it to you.”
13:18:Then Abram broke camp and moved his tent, and came and settled by the [grove of the great] terebinths (oak trees) of Mamre [the Amorite], which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to [honor] the Lord.
14:1:War of the Kings
In the days of the [Eastern] kings Amraphel of Shinar, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim,
14:2:they [invaded the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea, and] made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
14:3:All of these [kings] joined together [as allies] in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Sea of Salt).
14:4:Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer [the most powerful king in the invading confederacy], but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
14:5:In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the [three] kings who were with him attacked and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
14:6:and the Horites in their mountainous country of Seir, as far as El-paran, which is on the border of the wilderness.
14:7:Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and subdued all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.
14:8:Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they joined together for battle with the invading kings in the Valley of Siddim,
14:9:against Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.
14:10:Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar (bitumen) pits; and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them. But the remainder [of the kings] who survived fled to the hill country.
14:11:Then the victors took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply and provisions and left.
14:12:And they also took [captive] Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and left, for he was living in Sodom.
14:13:Then a survivor who had escaped [from the invading forces on the other side of the Jordan] came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was living by the terebinths (oaks) of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner—they were allies of Abram.
14:14:When Abram heard that his nephew [Lot] had been captured, he armed and led out his trained men, born in his own house, [numbering] three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far [north] as Dan.
14:15:He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and attacked and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
14:16:And he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, and also the women, and the people.
14:17:Abram and Melchizedek
Then after Abram’s return from the defeat (slaughter) of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
14:18:Melchizedek king of Salem (ancient Jerusalem) brought out bread and wine [for them]; he was the priest of God Most High.
14:19:And Melchizedek blessed Abram and said,
“Blessed (joyful, favored) be Abram by God Most High,
Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth;
14:20:And blessed, praised, and glorified be God Most High,
Who has given your enemies into your hand.”
And Abram gave him a tenth of all [the treasure he had taken in battle].
14:21:The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods (spoils of battle) for yourself.”
14:22:But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand and sworn an oath to the Lord God Most High, the Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth,
14:23:that I would not take anything that is yours, from a thread to a sandal strap, so you could not say, ‘I [the King of Sodom] have made Abram rich.’
14:24:I will take nothing except what my young men have eaten, and the share of the spoils belonging to the men [my allies] who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share of the spoils.”
15:1:Abram Promised a Son
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
“Do not be afraid, Abram,
I am your shield;
Your reward [for obedience] shall be very great.”
15:2:Abram said, “Lord God, what reward will You give me, since I am [leaving this world] childless, and he who will be the owner and heir of my house is this [servant] Eliezer from Damascus?”
15:3:And Abram continued, “Since You have given no child to me, one (a servant) born in my house is my heir.”
15:4:Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man [Eliezer] will not be your heir but he who shall come from your own body shall be your heir.”
15:5:And the Lord brought Abram outside [his tent into the night] and said, “Look now toward the heavens and count the stars—if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “So [numerous] shall your descendants be.”
15:6:Then Abram believed in (affirmed, trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord; and He counted (credited) it to him as righteousness (doing right in regard to God and man).
15:7:And He said to him, “I am the [same] Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land as an inheritance.”
15:8:But Abram said, “Lord God, by what [proof] will I know that I will inherit it?”
15:9:So God said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
15:10:So Abram brought all these to Him and cut them down the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.
15:11:The birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
15:12:When the sun was setting, a deep sleep overcame Abram; and a horror (terror, shuddering fear, nightmare) of great darkness overcame him.
15:13:God said to Abram, “Know for sure that your descendants will be strangers [living temporarily] in a land (Egypt) that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.
15:14:But on that nation whom your descendants will serve I will bring judgment, and afterward they will come out [of that land] with great possessions.
15:15:As for you, you shall [die and] go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
15:16:Then in the fourth generation your descendants shall return here [to Canaan, the land of promise], for the wickedness and guilt of the Amorites is not yet complete (finished).”
15:17:When the sun had gone down and a [deep] darkness had come, there appeared a smoking brazier and a flaming torch which passed between the [divided] pieces [of the animals].
15:18:On the same day the Lord made a covenant (promise, pledge) with Abram, saying,
“To your descendants I have given this land,
From the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates—
15:19:[the land of] the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites
15:20:and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaim,
15:21:the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
16:1:Sarai and Hagar
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him any children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.
16:2:So Sarai said to Abram, “See here, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. I am asking you to go in to [the bed of] my maid [so that she may bear you a child]; perhaps I will obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to Sarai and did as she said.
16:3:After Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian [maid], and gave her to her husband Abram to be his [secondary] wife.
16:4:He went in to [the bed of] Hagar, and she conceived; and when she realized that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress [regarding Sarai as insignificant because of her infertility].
16:5:Then Sarai said to Abram, “May [the responsibility for] the wrong done to me [by the arrogant behavior of Hagar] be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, and when she realized that she had conceived, I was despised and looked on with disrespect. May the Lord judge [who has done right] between you and me.”
16:6:But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your maid is entirely in your hands and subject to your authority; do as you please with her.” So Sarai treated her harshly and humiliated her, and Hagar fled from her.
16:7:But the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, on the road to [Egypt by way of] Shur.
16:8:And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.”
16:9:The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit humbly to her authority.”
16:10:Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.”
16:11:The Angel of the Lord continued,
“Behold, you are with child,
And you will bear a son;
And you shall name him Ishmael (God hears),
Because the Lord has heard and paid attention to your persecution (suffering).
16:12:“He (Ishmael) will be a wild donkey of a man;
His hand will be against every man [continually fighting]
And every man’s hand against him;
And he will dwell in defiance of all his brothers.”
16:13:Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are God Who Sees”; for she said, “Have I not even here [in the wilderness] remained alive after seeing Him [who sees me with understanding and compassion]?”
16:14:Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me); it is between Kadesh and Bered.
16:15:So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son; and Abram named his son, to whom Hagar gave birth, Ishmael (God hears).
16:16:Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.
17:1:Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said,
“I am God Almighty;
Walk [habitually] before Me [with integrity, knowing that you are always in My presence], and be blameless and complete [in obedience to Me].
17:2:“I will establish My covenant (everlasting promise) between Me and you,
And I will multiply you exceedingly [through your descendants].”
17:3:Then Abram fell on his face [in worship], and God spoke with him, saying,
17:4:“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And [as a result] you shall be the father of many nations.
17:5:“No longer shall your name be Abram (exalted father),
But your name shall be Abraham (father of a multitude);
For I will make you the father of many nations.
17:6:I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.
17:7:I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
17:8:I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger [moving from place to place], all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession [of property]; and I will be their God.”
17:9:Further, God said to Abraham, “As for you [your part of the agreement], you shall keep and faithfully obey [the terms of] My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
17:10:This is [the sign of] My covenant, which you shall keep and faithfully obey, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
17:11:And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be the sign (symbol, memorial) of the covenant between Me and you.
17:12:Every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, [including] a servant whether born in the house or one who is purchased with [your] money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.
17:13:A servant who is born in your house or one who is purchased with your money must be circumcised; and [the sign of] My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
17:14:And the male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
17:15:Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai (my princess), but her name will be Sarah (Princess).
17:16:I will bless her, and indeed I will also give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
17:17:Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
17:18:And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael [my firstborn] might live before You!”
17:19:But God said, “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed, and you shall name him Isaac (laughter); and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him.
17:20:As for Ishmael, I have heard and listened to you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will greatly multiply him [through his descendants]. He will be the father of twelve princes (chieftains, sheiks), and I will make him a great nation.
17:21:But My covenant [My promise, My solemn pledge], I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”
17:22:And God finished speaking with him and went up from Abraham.
17:23:Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were purchased with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin the very same day, as God had said to him.
17:24:So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised.
17:25:And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised.
17:26:On the very same day Abraham was circumcised, as well as Ishmael his son.
17:27:All the men [servants] of his household, both those born in the house and those purchased with money from a foreigner, were circumcised along with him [as the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham].
18:1:Birth of Isaac Promised
Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the terebinth trees of Mamre [in Hebron], while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.
18:2:When he raised his eyes and looked up, behold, three men were standing [a little distance] from him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down [with his face] to the ground,
18:3:and Abraham said, “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass by your servant [without stopping to visit].
18:4:Please let a little water be brought [by one of my servants] and [you may] wash your feet, and recline and rest comfortably under the tree.
18:5:And I will bring a piece of bread to refresh and sustain you; after that you may go on, since you have come to your servant.” And they replied, “Do as you have said.”
18:6:So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, get ready three measures of fine meal, knead it and bake cakes.”
18:7:Abraham also ran to the herd and brought a calf, tender and choice, and he gave it to the servant [to butcher], and he hurried to prepare it.
18:8:Then he took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before the men; and he stood beside them under the tree while they ate.
18:9:Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.”
18:10:He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.
18:11:Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in years; she was past [the age of] childbearing.
18:12:So Sarah laughed to herself [when she heard the Lord’s words], saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure and delight, my lord (husband) being also old?”
18:13:And the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh [to herself], saying, ‘Shall I really give birth [to a child] when I am so old?’
18:14:Is anything too difficult or too wonderful for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season [for her delivery] comes, I will return to you and Sarah will have a son.”
18:15:Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh”; because she was afraid. And He (the Lord) said, “No, but you did laugh.”
18:16:Then the men got up from there, and looked toward Sodom; and Abraham walked with them to send them on the way.
18:17:The Lord said, “Shall I keep secret from Abraham [My friend and servant] what I am going to do,
18:18:since Abraham is destined to become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him?
18:19:For I have known (chosen, acknowledged) him [as My own], so that he may teach and command his children and [the sons of] his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is righteous and just, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has promised him.”
18:20:And the Lord said, “The outcry [of the sin] of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.
18:21:I will go down now, and see whether they have acted [as vilely and wickedly] as the outcry which has come to Me [indicates]; and if not, I will know.”
18:22:Now the [two] men (angelic beings) turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.
18:23:Abraham approached [the Lord] and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous (those who do right) with the wicked (those who do evil)?
18:24:Suppose there are fifty righteous [people] within the city; will You really sweep it away and not spare it for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?
18:25:Far be it from You to do such a thing—to strike the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right [by executing just and righteous judgment]?”
18:26:So the Lord said, “If I find within the city of Sodom fifty righteous [people], then I will spare the entire place for their sake.”
18:27:Abraham answered, “Now behold, I who am but dust [in origin] and ashes have decided to speak to the Lord.
18:28:If five of the fifty righteous are lacking, will You destroy the entire city for lack of five?” And He said, “If I find [at least] forty-five [righteous people] there, I will not destroy it.”
18:29:Abraham spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose [only] forty are found there.” And He said, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty [who are righteous].”
18:30:Then Abraham said [to Him], “Oh, may the Lord not be angry, and I will speak; suppose thirty [righteous people] are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
18:31:And he said, “Now behold, I have decided to speak to the Lord [again]. Suppose [only] twenty [righteous people] are found there?” And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
18:32:Then Abraham said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry [with me], and I will speak only this once; suppose ten [righteous people] are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
18:33:As soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his own place.
19:1:The Doom of Sodom
It was evening when the two angels came to Sodom. Lot was sitting at Sodom’s [city] gate. Seeing them, Lot got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.
19:2:And he said, “See here, my lords, please turn aside and come into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may get up early and go on your way.” But they said, “No, we shall spend the night in the open plaza [of the city].”
19:3:However, Lot strongly urged them, so they turned aside and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them [with wine], and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
19:4:But before they lay down [to sleep], the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house, all the men from every quarter;
19:5:and they called out to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may know them [intimately].”
19:6:But Lot went out of the doorway to the men, and shut the door after him,
19:7:and said, “Please, my brothers, do not do something so wicked.
19:8:See here, I have two daughters who have not known a man [intimately]; please let me bring them out to you [instead], and you can do as you please with them; only do nothing to these men, because they have in fact come under the shelter of my roof [for protection].”
19:9:But they said, “Get out of the way!” And they said, “This man (Lot) came [as an outsider] to live here temporarily, and now he is acting like a judge. Now we will treat you worse than your visitors!” So they rushed forward and pressed violently against Lot and came close to breaking down the door [of his house].
19:10:But the men (angels) reached out with their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door [after him].
19:11:They struck (punished) the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the young men to the old men, so that they exhausted themselves trying to find the doorway.
19:12:And the [two] men (angels) asked Lot, “Have you any others here [in Sodom]—a son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters? Whomever you have in the city, take them out of here;
19:13:for we are destroying this place, because the outcry [for judgment] against them has grown so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy and ruin it.”
19:14:So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were [betrothed, and legally promised] to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he appeared to be joking.
19:15:When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot [to hurry], saying, “Get up! Take your wife and two daughters who are here [and go], or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”
19:16:But Lot hesitated and lingered. The men took hold of his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, because the Lord was merciful to him [for Abraham’s sake]; and they brought him out, and left him outside the city [with his family].
19:17:When they had brought them outside, one [of the angels] said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, or stop anywhere in the entire valley; escape to the mountains [of Moab], or you will be consumed and swept away.”
19:18:But Lot said to them, “Oh no, [not that place] my lords!
19:19:Please listen, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness (mercy) to me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, because the disaster will overtake me and I will be killed.
19:20:Now look, this town [in the distance] is near enough for us to flee to, and it is small [with only a few people]. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) so that my life will be saved.”
19:21:And the angel said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also; I will not destroy this town of which you have spoken.
19:22:Hurry and take refuge there, for I cannot do anything [to punish Sodom] until you arrive there.” For this reason the town was named Zoar (few, small).
19:23:The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
19:24:Then the Lord rained down brimstone (flaming sulfur) and fire on Sodom and on Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven,
19:25:and He overthrew (demolished, ended) those cities, and the entire valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground.
19:26:But Lot’s wife, from behind him, [foolishly, longingly] looked [back toward Sodom in an act of disobedience], and she became a pillar of salt.
19:27:Abraham started out early the next morning to the place where he [only the day before] had stood before the Lord;
19:28:and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley [of the Dead Sea]; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a kiln (pottery furnace).
19:29:Now when God ravaged and destroyed the cities of the plain [of Siddim], He remembered Abraham [and for that reason], and He sent [Abraham’s nephew] Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He destroyed the cities in which Lot had lived.
19:30:Lot Is Debased
Now Lot went up from Zoar, and lived in the mountain together with his two daughters, for he was afraid to stay [any longer] in Zoar; and he lived in a cave with his two daughters.
19:31:The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is aging, and there is not a man on earth [available] to be intimate with us in the customary way [so that we may have children].
19:32:Come, let us make our father drunk with wine, and we will lie with him so that we may preserve our family through our father.”
19:33:So they gave their father wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she got up [because he was completely intoxicated].
19:34:Then the next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay with my father last night; let us make him drunk with wine tonight also, and then you go in and lie with him, so that we may preserve our family through our father.”
19:35:So they gave their father wine that night also, and the younger got up and lay with him; and again he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.
19:36:Thus both the daughters of Lot conceived by their father.
19:37:The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him Moab (from father); he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
19:38:The younger also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-ammi (son of my people); he is the father of the Ammonites to this day.
20:1:Abraham’s Deception
Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the Negev (the South country), and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he lived temporarily in Gerar.
20:2:Abraham said [again] of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah [into his harem].
20:3:But God came to Abimelech in a dream during the night, and said, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken [as your wife], for she is another man’s wife.”
20:4:Now Abimelech had not yet come near her; so he said, “Lord, will you kill a people who are righteous and innocent and blameless [regarding Sarah]?
20:5:Did Abraham not tell me, ‘She is my sister?’ And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”
20:6:Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this in the integrity of your heart, for it was I who kept you back and spared you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not give you an opportunity to touch her.
20:7:So now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her [to him], know that you shall die, you and all who are yours (your household).”
20:8:So Abimelech got up early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things; and the men were terrified.
20:9:Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I offended you that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me what ought not to be done [to anyone].”
20:10:And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What have you encountered or seen [in us or our customs], that you have done this [unjust] thing?”
20:11:Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely there is no fear or reverence of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’
20:12:Besides, she actually is my [half] sister; she is the daughter of my father [Terah], but not of my mother; and she became my wife.
20:13:When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This kindness and loyalty you can show me: at every place we stop, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
20:14:Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen and male and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him [as God commanded].
20:15:So Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; settle wherever you please.”
20:16:Then to Sarah he said, “Look, I have given this brother of yours a thousand pieces of silver; it is to compensate you [for all that has happened] and to vindicate your honor before all who are with you; before all men you are cleared and compensated.”
20:17:So Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, and they again gave birth to children,
20:18:for the Lord had securely closed the wombs of all [the women] in Abimelech’s household because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
21:1:Isaac Is Born
The Lord graciously remembered and visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for her as He had promised.
21:2:So Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.
21:3:Abraham named his son Isaac (laughter), the son to whom Sarah gave birth.
21:4:So Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, just as God had commanded him.
21:5:Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.
21:6:Sarah said, “God has made me laugh; all who hear [about our good news] will laugh with me.”
21:7:And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have given birth to a son by him in his old age.”
21:8:The child [Isaac] grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
21:9:Sarah Turns against Hagar
Now [as time went on] Sarah saw [Ishmael] the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking [Isaac].
21:10:Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.”
21:11:The situation distressed Abraham greatly because of his son [Ishmael].
21:12:God said to Abraham, “Do not let it distress you because of Ishmael and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her and do what she asks, for your descendants will be named through Isaac.
21:13:And I will also make a nation of [Ishmael] the son of the maid, because he is your descendant.”
21:14:So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she left [but lost her way] and wandered [aimlessly] in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
21:15:When the water in the skin was all gone, Hagar abandoned the boy under one of the bushes.
21:16:Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me see the boy die.” And as she sat down opposite him, she raised her voice and wept.
21:17:God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from where he is [resting].
21:18:Get up, help the boy up, and hold him by the hand, for I will make him a great nation.”
21:19:Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the [empty] skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
21:20:God was with Ishmael, and he grew and developed; and he lived in the wilderness and became an [expert] archer.
21:21:He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
21:22:Covenant with Abimelech
Now at that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do;
21:23:so now, swear to me here by God that you will not deal unfairly with me [by breaking any agreements we have] or with my son or with my descendants, but as I have treated you with kindness, you shall do the same to me and to the land in which you have sojourned (temporarily lived).”
21:24:And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
21:25:Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water which the servants of Abimelech had [violently] seized [from him],
21:26:Abimelech said, “I do not know who did this thing. Indeed, you did not tell me, and I did not hear of it until today.”
21:27:So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant (binding agreement).
21:28:Then Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock,
21:29:and Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set apart?”
21:30:Abraham said, “You are to accept these seven ewe lambs from me as a witness for me, that I dug this well.”
21:31:Therefore that place was called Beersheba (Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), because there the two of them swore an oath.
21:32:So they made a covenant at Beersheba; then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
21:33:Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord [in prayer], the Eternal God.
21:34:And Abraham lived [as a resident alien] in the land of the Philistines for many days.
22:1:The Offering of Isaac
Now after these things, God tested [the faith and commitment of] Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.”
22:2:God said, “Take now your son, your only son [of promise], whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
22:3:So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and then he got up and went to the place of which God had told him.
22:4:On the third day [of travel] Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
22:5:Abraham said to his servants, “Settle down and stay here with the donkey; the young man and I will go over there and worship [God], and we will come back to you.”
22:6:Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on [the shoulders of] Isaac his son, and he took the fire (firepot) in his own hand and the [sacrificial] knife; and the two of them walked on together.
22:7:And Isaac said to Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
22:8:Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself a lamb for the burnt offering.” So the two walked on together.
22:9:When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood, and bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood.
22:10:Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.
22:11:But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He answered, “Here I am.”
22:12:The Lord said, “Do not reach out [with the knife in] your hand against the boy, and do nothing to [harm] him; for now I know that you fear God [with reverence and profound respect], since you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son [of promise].”
22:13:Then Abraham looked up and glanced around, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering (ascending sacrifice) instead of his son.
22:14:So Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide. And it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be seen and provided.”
22:15:The Angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time
22:16:and said, “By Myself (on the basis of Who I Am) I have sworn [an oath], declares the Lord, that since you have done this thing and have not withheld [from Me] your son, your only son [of promise],
22:17:indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies [as conquerors].
22:18:Through your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have heard and obeyed My voice.”
22:19:So Abraham returned to his servants, and they got up and went with him to Beersheba; and Abraham settled in Beersheba.
22:20:Now after these things Abraham was told, “Milcah has borne children to your brother Nahor:
22:21:Uz the firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram,
22:22:Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.”
22:23:Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight [children] Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
22:24:Nahor’s concubine, whose name was Reumah, gave birth to Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.
23:1:Death and Burial of Sarah
Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; this was the length of the life of Sarah.
23:2:Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
23:3:Then Abraham stood up before his dead [wife’s body], and spoke to the sons of Heth (Hittites), saying,
23:4:“I am a stranger and a sojourner (resident alien) among you; give (sell) me property for a burial place among you so that I may bury my dead [in the proper manner].”
23:5:The Hittites replied to Abraham,
23:6:“Listen to us, my lord; you are a prince of God [a mighty prince] among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave or hinder you from burying your dead [wife].”
23:7:So Abraham stood up and bowed to the people of the land, the Hittites.
23:8:And Abraham said to them, “If you are willing to grant my dead a [proper] burial, listen to me, and plead with Ephron the son of Zohar for me,
23:9:so that he may give (sell) me the cave of Machpelah which he owns—it is at the end of his field; let him give it to me here in your presence for the full price as a burial site [which I may keep forever among you].”
23:10:Now Ephron was present there among the sons of Heth; so within the hearing of all the sons of Heth and all who were entering the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, saying,
23:11:“No, my lord, hear me; I give you the [entire] field, and I also give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the men of my people I give (sell) it to you; bury your dead [there].”
23:12:Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.
23:13:He said to Ephron in the presence of the people of the land, “If you will only please listen to me and accept my offer. I will give you the price of the field; accept it from me and I will bury my dead there.”
23:14:Ephron replied to Abraham,
23:15:“My lord, listen to me. The land [you seek] is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that between you and me? So bury your dead.”
23:16:So Abraham listened to Ephron [and agreed to his terms]; and he weighed out for Ephron the [amount of] silver which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.
23:17:So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre (Hebron)—the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and in all its borders around it—were deeded over [legally]
23:18:to Abraham as his possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who were entering at the gate of his city.
23:19:After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah to the east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
23:20:The field and the cave in it were deeded over to Abraham by the Hittites as a [permanent] possession and burial place.
24:1:A Bride for Isaac
Now Abraham was old, [well] advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.
24:2:Abraham said to his servant [Eliezer of Damascus], the oldest of his household, who had charge over all that Abraham owned, “Please, put your hand under my thigh [as is customary for affirming a solemn oath],
24:3:and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live,
24:4:but you will [instead] go to my [former] country (Mesopotamia) and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac [the heir of the covenant promise].”
24:5:The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman will not be willing to follow me back to this country; should I take your son back to the country from which you came?”
24:6:Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there!
24:7:The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, from the land of my family and my birth, who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you [to guide you], and you will take a wife from there for my son [and bring her here].
24:8:If the woman is not willing to follow you [to this land], then you will be free from this my oath and blameless; only you must never take my son back there.”
24:9:So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
24:10:Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels, and set out, taking some of his master’s good things with him; so he got up and journeyed to Mesopotamia [between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers], to the city of Nahor [the home of Abraham’s brother].
24:11:He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of the evening when women go out to draw water.
24:12:And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master Abraham.
24:13:Behold, I stand here at the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;
24:14:now let it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please, let down your jar so that I may [have a] drink,’ and she replies, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels water to drink’—may she be the one whom You have selected [as a wife] for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master.”
24:15:Rebekah Is Chosen
Before Eliezer had finished speaking (praying), Rebekah came out with her [water] jar on her shoulder. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.
24:16:The girl was very beautiful, a virgin and unmarried; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.
24:17:Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.”
24:18:And she said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.
24:19:When she had given Eliezer a drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels until they have finished drinking.”
24:20:So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran again to the well and drew water for all his camels.
24:21:Meanwhile, the man stood gazing at Rebekah in [reverent] silence, [waiting] to know if the Lord had made his trip successful or not.
24:22:When the camels had finished drinking, Eliezer took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her hands weighing ten shekels in gold,
24:23:and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”
24:24:And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to [her husband] Nahor.”
24:25:Again she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and also room to lodge.”
24:26:The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord.
24:27:He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not denied His lovingkindness and His truth to my master. As for me, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brothers.”
24:28:Then the girl ran and told her mother’s household what had happened.
24:29:Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran out to the man at the well.
24:30:When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he heard Rebekah his sister, saying, “The man said this to me,” he went to Eliezer and found him standing by the camels at the spring.
24:31:And Laban said, “Come in, blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside since I have made the house ready and have prepared a place for the camels?”
24:32:So the man came into the house, and Laban unloaded his camels and gave them straw and feed, and [he gave] water to [Eliezer to] wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.
24:33:But when food was set before him, he said, “I will not eat until I have stated my business.” And Laban said, “Speak on.”
24:34:So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.
24:35:The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great (wealthy, powerful); He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.
24:36:Now Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was in her old age, and he has given everything that he has to him.
24:37:My master made me swear [an oath], saying, ‘You must not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live;
24:38:but you shall [instead] go to my father’s house and to my family and take a wife for my son [Isaac].’
24:39:Then I said to my master, ‘But suppose the woman will not follow me [back to this land].’
24:40:He said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk [habitually and obediently], will send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house;
24:41:then you will be free of my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will [also] be free of my oath.’
24:42:“I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful;
24:43:please look, I am standing by the spring of water; now let it be that when the maiden [whom You have chosen for Isaac] comes out to draw [water], and to whom I say, “Please, give me a little water to drink from your jar”;
24:44:and if she says to me, “You drink, and I will also draw [water] for your camels”; let that woman be the one whom the Lord has selected and chosen [as a wife] for my master’s son.’
24:45:“Before I had finished praying in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her [water] jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please, let me have a drink.’
24:46:And she quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels’; so I drank, and she also watered the camels.
24:47:Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and I put the ring in her nose, and the bracelets on her arms.
24:48:And I bowed down my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s brother to his son [as a wife].
24:49:So now if you are going to show kindness and truth to my master [being faithful to him], tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left [and go on my way].”
24:50:Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The matter has come from the Lord; so we dare not speak bad or good [to you about it—we cannot interfere].
24:51:Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”
24:52:When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground [in worship] before the Lord.
24:53:Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and articles of clothing, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and her mother.
24:54:Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night [there]. In the morning when they got up, he said, “Now send me back to my master.”
24:55:But Rebekah’s brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a few days—at least ten; then she may go.”
24:56:But Eliezer said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away, so that I may go back to my master.”
24:57:And they said, “We will call the girl and ask her what she prefers.”
24:58:So they called Rebekah and said, “Will you go with this man?” And she answered, “I will go.”
24:59:So they sent off their sister Rebekah and her nurse [Deborah, as her attendant] and Abraham’s servant [Eliezer] and his men.
24:60:They blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“May you, our sister,
Become [the mother of] thousands of ten thousands,
And may your descendants possess (conquer)
The [city] gate of those who hate them.”
24:61:Then Rebekah and her attendants stood, and they mounted camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and went on his way.
24:62:Isaac Marries Rebekah
Now Isaac had returned from going to Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me), for he was living in the Negev.
24:63:Isaac went out to bow down [in prayer] in the field in the [early] evening; he raised his eyes and looked, and camels were coming.
24:64:Rebekah also raised her eyes and looked, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel.
24:65:She said to the servant, “Who is that man there walking across the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master [Isaac].” So she took a veil and covered herself [as was customary].
24:66:The servant told Isaac everything that he had done.
24:67:Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah [in marriage], and she became his wife, and he loved her; therefore Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
25:1:Abraham’s Death
Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.
25:2:She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
25:3:Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.
25:4:The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.
25:5:Now Abraham gave everything that he had to Isaac;
25:6:but to the sons of his concubines [Hagar and Keturah], Abraham gave gifts while he was still living and he sent them to the east country, away from Isaac his son [of promise].
25:7:The days of Abraham’s life were a hundred and seventy-five years.
25:8:Then Abraham breathed his last and he died at a good old age, an old man who was satisfied [with life]; and he was gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death].
25:9:So his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is east of Mamre,
25:10:the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife.
25:11:Now after the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived at Beer-lahai-roi.
25:12:Descendants of Ishmael
Now these are the records of the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham;
25:13:and these are the names of the [twelve] sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their births: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
25:14:Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
25:15:Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
25:16:These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their settlements, and by their encampments (sheepfolds); twelve princes (sheiks) according to their tribes.
25:17:Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years; then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death].
25:18:Ishmael’s sons (descendants) settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he settled opposite (east) of all his relatives.
25:19:Isaac’s Sons
Now these are the records of the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac.
25:20:Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean (Syrian) of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean.
25:21:Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was unable to conceive children; and the Lord granted his prayer and Rebekah his wife conceived [twins].
25:22:But the children struggled together within her [kicking and shoving one another]; and she said, “If it is so [that the Lord has heard our prayer], why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the Lord [praying for an answer].
25:23:The Lord said to her,
“[The founders of] two nations are in your womb;
And the separation of two nations has begun in your body;
The one people shall be stronger than the other;
And the older shall serve the younger.”
25:24:When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25:25:The first came out reddish all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau (hairy).
25:26:Afterward his brother came out, and his hand grasped Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob (one who grabs by the heel, supplanter). Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
25:27:When the boys grew up, Esau was an able and skilled hunter, a man of the outdoors, but Jacob was a quiet and peaceful man, living in tents.
25:28:Now Isaac loved [and favored] Esau, because he enjoyed eating his game, but Rebekah loved [and favored] Jacob.
25:29:Jacob had cooked [reddish-brown lentil] stew [one day], when Esau came from the field and was famished;
25:30:and Esau said to Jacob, “Please, let me have a quick swallow of that red stuff there, because I am exhausted and famished.” For that reason Esau was [also] called Edom (Red).
25:31:Jacob answered, “First sell me your birthright (the rights of a firstborn).”
25:32:Esau said, “Look, I am about to die [if I do not eat soon]; so of what use is this birthright to me?”
25:33:Jacob said, “Swear [an oath] to me today [that you are selling it to me for this food]”; so he swore [an oath] to him, and sold him his birthright.
25:34:Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and got up and went on his way. In this way Esau scorned his birthright.
26:1:Isaac Settles in Gerar
Now there was a famine in the land [of Canaan], besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
26:2:The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I will tell you.
26:3:Live temporarily [as a resident] in this land and I will be with you and will bless and favor you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish and carry out the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
26:4:I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,
26:5:because Abraham listened to and obeyed My voice and [consistently] kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
26:6:So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
26:7:The men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife”—thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is very beautiful.”
26:8:It happened when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah his wife.
26:9:Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “See here, Rebekah is in fact your wife! How did you [dare to] say to me, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I might be killed because of her [desirability].”
26:10:Abimelech said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the men [among our people] might easily have been intimate with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us [before God].”
26:11:Then Abimelech commanded all his people, “Whoever touches this man [Isaac] or his wife [Rebekah] shall without exception be put to death.”
26:12:Then Isaac planted [seed] in that land [as a farmer] and reaped in the same year a hundred times [as much as he had planted], and the Lord blessed and favored him.
26:13:And the man [Isaac] became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy and extremely distinguished;
26:14:he owned flocks and herds and a great household [with a number of servants], and the Philistines envied him.
26:15:Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with dirt.
26:16:Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from here, because you are far too powerful for us.”
26:17:So Isaac left that region and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and settled there.
26:18:Quarrel over the Wells
Now Isaac again dug [and reopened] the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, because the Philistines had filled them up [with dirt] after the death of Abraham; and he gave the wells the same names that his father had given them.
26:19:But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing [spring] water,
26:20:the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours!” So Isaac named the well Esek (quarreling), because they quarreled with him.
26:21:Then his servants dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so Isaac named it Sitnah (enmity).
26:22:He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over that one; so he named it Rehoboth (broad places), saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be prosperous in the land.”
26:23:Then he went up from there to Beersheba.
26:24:The Lord appeared to him the same night and said,
“I am the God of Abraham your father;
Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will bless and favor you, and multiply your descendants,
For the sake of My servant Abraham.”
26:25:So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord [in prayer]. He pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
26:26:Covenant with Abimelech
Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, his [close friend and confidential] adviser, and Phicol, the commander of his army.
26:27:Isaac said to them, “Why have you [people] come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”
26:28:They said, “We see clearly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘There should now be an oath between us [with a curse for the one who breaks it], that is, between you and us, and let us make a covenant (binding agreement, solemn promise) with you,
26:29:that you will not harm us, just as we have not touched you and have done nothing but good to you and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed and favored of the Lord!’”
26:30:Then Isaac held a [formal] banquet (covenant feast) for them, and they ate and drank.
26:31:They got up early in the morning and swore oaths [pledging to do nothing but good to each other]; and Isaac sent them on their way and they left him in peace.
26:32:Now on the same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, “We have found water.”
26:33:So he named the well Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
26:34:When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite as his wives;
26:35:and they were a source of grief to [Esau’s parents] Isaac and Rebekah.
27:1:Jacob’s Deception
Now when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, he called his elder [and favorite] son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And Esau answered him, “Here I am.”
27:2:Isaac said, “See here, I am old; I do not know when I may die.
27:3:So now, please take your [hunting] gear, your quiver [of arrows] and your bow, and go out into the open country and hunt game for me;
27:4:and make me a savory and delicious dish [of meat], the kind I love, and bring it to me to eat, so that my soul may bless you [as my firstborn son] before I die.”
27:5:But Rebekah overheard what Isaac said to Esau his son; and when Esau had gone to the open country to hunt for game that he might bring back,
27:6:Rebekah said to Jacob her [younger and favorite] son, “Listen carefully: I heard your father saying to Esau your brother,
27:7:‘Bring me some game and make me a savory and delicious dish [of meat], so that I may eat it, and declare my blessing on you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’
27:8:So now, my son, listen [carefully] to me [and do exactly] as I command you.
27:9:Go now to the flock and bring me two good and suitable young goats, and I will make them into a savory dish [of meat] for your father, the kind he loves [to eat].
27:10:Then you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”
27:11:Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Listen, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth [skinned] man.
27:12:Suppose my father touches me and feels my skin; then I will be seen by him as a cheat (imposter), and I will bring his curse on me and not a blessing.”
27:13:But his mother said to him, “May your curse be on me, my son; only listen and obey me, and go, bring the young goats to me.”
27:14:So Jacob went and got the two young goats, and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared a delicious dish of food [with a delightful aroma], the kind his father loved [to eat].
27:15:Then Rebekah took her elder son Esau’s best clothes, which were with her in her house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
27:16:And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
27:17:Then she gave her son Jacob the delicious meat and the bread which she had prepared.
27:18:So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And Isaac said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
27:19:Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done what you told me to do. Now please, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.”
27:20:Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found the game so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God caused it to come to me.”
27:21:But Isaac [wondered and] said to Jacob, “Please come close [to me] so that I may touch you, my son, and determine if you are really my son Esau or not.”
27:22:So Jacob approached Isaac, and his father touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
27:23:He could not recognize him [as Jacob], because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.
27:24:But he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” Jacob answered, “I am.”
27:25:Then Isaac said, “Bring the food to me, and I will eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.” He brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine and he drank.
27:26:Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come, my son, and kiss me.”
27:27:So he came and kissed him; and Isaac smelled his clothing and blessed him and said,
“The scent of my son [Esau]
Is like the aroma of a field which the Lord has blessed;
27:28:Now may God give you of the dew of heaven [to water your land],
And of the fatness (fertility) of the earth,
And an abundance of grain and new wine;
27:29:May peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you;
Be lord and master over your brothers,
And may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed,
And may those who bless you be blessed.”
27:30:The Stolen Blessing
Now as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
27:31:Esau also made a delicious dish [of meat] and brought it to his father and said to him, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”
27:32:Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he replied, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
27:33:Then Isaac trembled violently, and he said, “Then who was the one [who was just here] who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I blessed him. Yes, and he [in fact] shall be (shall remain) blessed.”
27:34:When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with a great and extremely bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”
27:35:Isaac said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has [fraudulently] taken away your blessing [for himself].”
27:36:Esau replied, “Is he not rightly named Jacob (the supplanter)? For he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”
27:37:But Isaac replied to Esau, “Listen carefully: I have made Jacob your lord and master; I have given him all his brothers and relatives as servants; and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then, can I do for you, my son?”
27:38:Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” Then Esau [no longer able to restrain himself] raised his voice and wept [loudly].
27:39:Then Isaac his father answered and [prophesied and] said to him,
“Your dwelling shall be away from the fertility of the earth
And away from the dew of heaven above;
27:40:But you shall live by your sword,
And serve your brother;
However it shall come to pass when you break loose [from your anger and hatred],
That you will tear his yoke off your neck [and you will be free of him].”
27:41:So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are very near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
27:42:When these words of her elder son Esau were repeated to Rebekah, she sent for Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Listen carefully, your brother Esau is comforting himself concerning you by planning to kill you.
27:43:So now, my son, listen and do what I say; go, escape to my brother Laban in Haran!
27:44:Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s anger subsides.
27:45:When your brother’s anger toward you subsides and he forgets what you did to him, then I will send and bring you back from there. Why should I be deprived of you both in a single day?”
27:46:Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth [these insolent wives of Esau]. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
28:1:Jacob Is Sent Away
So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not marry one of the women of Canaan.
28:2:Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take from there as a wife for yourself one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.
28:3:May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a [great] company of peoples.
28:4:May He also give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the [promised] land of your sojournings, which He gave to Abraham.”
28:5:Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
28:6:Now Esau noticed that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife for himself from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a prohibition, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,”
28:7:and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram.
28:8:So Esau realized that [his two wives] the daughters of Canaan displeased Isaac his father;
28:9:and [to appease his parents] Esau went to [the family of] Ishmael and took as his wife, in addition to the wives he [already] had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth [Ishmael’s firstborn son].
28:10:Jacob’s Dream
Now Jacob left Beersheba [never to see his mother again] and traveled toward Haran.
28:11:And he came to a certain place and stayed overnight there because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down there [to sleep].
28:12:He dreamed that there was a ladder (stairway) placed on the earth, and the top of it reached [out of sight] toward heaven; and [he saw] the angels of God ascending and descending on it [going to and from heaven].
28:13:And behold, the Lord stood above and around him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your [father’s] father and the God of Isaac; I will give to you and to your descendants the land [of promise] on which you are lying.
28:14:Your descendants shall be as [countless as] the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and all the families (nations) of the earth shall be blessed through you and your descendants.
28:15:Behold, I am with you and will keep [careful watch over you and guard] you wherever you may go, and I will bring you back to this [promised] land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
28:16:Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and he said, “Without any doubt the Lord is in this place, and I did not realize it.”
28:17:So he was afraid and said, “How fearful and awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gateway to heaven.”
28:18:So Jacob got up early in the morning, and took the stone he had put under his head and he set it up as a pillar [that is, a monument to the vision in his dream], and he poured [olive] oil on the top of it [to consecrate it].
28:19:He named that place Bethel (the house of God); the previous name of that city was Luz (Almond Tree).
28:20:Then Jacob made a vow (promise), saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and clothing to wear,
28:21:and if [He grants that] I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God.
28:22:This stone which I have set up as a pillar (monument, memorial) will be God’s house [a sacred place to me], and of everything that You give me I will give the tenth to You [as an offering to signify my gratitude and dependence on You].”
29:1:Jacob Meets Rachel
Then Jacob went on his way and came to the land of the people of the East [near Haran].
29:2:As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and three flocks of sheep lying there [resting] beside it because the flocks were watered from that well. Now the stone on the mouth of the well [that covered and protected it] was large,
29:3:and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well, water the sheep, and [afterward] replace the stone on the mouth of the well.
29:4:Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.”
29:5:So he said to them, “Do you know Laban the grandson of Nahor [Abraham’s brother]?” And they replied, “We know him.”
29:6:And he asked them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “He is doing well; look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep!”
29:7:Jacob said, “Look, the sun is still high [overhead]; it is a long time before the flocks need to be gathered [in their folds for the night]. Water the sheep, and go, and return them to their pasture.”
29:8:But they said, “We cannot [leave] until all the flocks are gathered together, and the shepherds roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we will water the sheep.”
29:9:While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
29:10:When Jacob saw [his cousin] Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and Laban’s sheep, he came up and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban, his uncle.
29:11:Then Jacob kissed Rachel [in greeting], and he raised his voice and wept.
29:12:Jacob told Rachel he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father.
29:13:When Laban heard of the arrival of Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he told Laban all these things.
29:14:Then Laban said to him, “You are my bone and my flesh.” And Jacob stayed with him a month.
29:15:Then Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?”
29:16:Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
29:17:Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.
29:18:Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you [as a hired workman] for seven years [in return] for [the privilege of marrying] Rachel your younger daughter.”
29:19:Laban said, “It is better that I give her [in marriage] to you than give her to another man. Stay and work with me.”
29:20:So Jacob served [Laban] for seven years for [the right to marry] Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
29:21:Laban’s Treachery
Finally, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time [of service] is completed, so that I may take her to me [as my wife].”
29:22:So Laban gathered together all the men of the place and prepared a [wedding] feast [with wine].
29:23:But in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob went in to [consummate the marriage with] her.
29:24:Laban also gave Zilpah his maid to his daughter Leah as a maid.
29:25:But in the morning [when Jacob awoke], it was Leah [who was with him]! And he said to Laban, “What is this that you have done to me? Did I not work for you [for seven years] for Rachel? Why have you deceived and betrayed me [like this]?”
29:26:But Laban only said, “It is not the tradition here to give the younger [daughter in marriage] before the older.
29:27:Finish the week [of the wedding feast] for Leah; then we will give you Rachel also, and in return you shall work for me for seven more years.”
29:28:So Jacob complied and fulfilled Leah’s week [of celebration]; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his [second] wife.
29:29:Laban also gave Bilhah his maid to his daughter Rachel as a maid.
29:30:So Jacob consummated his marriage and lived with Rachel [as his wife], and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.
29:31:Now when the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He made her able to bear children, but Rachel was barren.
29:32:Leah conceived and gave birth to a son and named him Reuben (See, a son!), for she said, “Because the Lord has seen my humiliation and suffering; now my husband will love me [since I have given him a son].”
29:33:Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Because the Lord heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon (God hears).
29:34:She conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me [as a companion], for I have given him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi.
29:35:Again she conceived and gave birth to a [fourth] son, and she said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah; then [for a time] she stopped bearing [children].
30:1:The Sons of Jacob
When Rachel saw that she conceived no children for Jacob, she envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.”
30:2:Then Jacob became furious with Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has denied you children?”
30:3:She said, “Here, take my maid Bilhah and go in to her; and [when the baby comes] she shall deliver it [while sitting] on my knees, so that by her I may also have children [to count as my own].”
30:4:So she gave him Bilhah her maid as a [secondary] wife, and Jacob went in to her.
30:5:Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob.
30:6:Then Rachel said, “God has judged and vindicated me, and has heard my plea and has given me a son [through my maid].” So she named him Dan (He judged).
30:7:Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, conceived again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob.
30:8:So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings [in prayer to God] I have struggled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she named him Naphtali (my wrestlings).
30:9:When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing [children], she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as a [secondary] wife.
30:10:Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave birth to a son for Jacob.
30:11:Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad (good fortune).
30:12:Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave birth to a second son for Jacob.
30:13:Then Leah said, “I am happy! For women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher (happy).
30:14:Now at the time of wheat harvest Reuben [the eldest child] went and found some mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
30:15:But Leah answered, “Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Jacob shall sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
30:16:When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me [tonight], for I have in fact hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.
30:17:God listened and answered [the prayer of] Leah, and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.
30:18:Then Leah said, “God has given me my reward because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.
30:19:Leah conceived again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob.
30:20:Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good [marriage] gift [for my husband]; now he will live with me [regarding me with honor as his wife], because I have given birth to six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.
30:21:Afterward she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
30:22:Then God remembered [the prayers of] Rachel, and God thought of her and opened her womb [so that she would conceive].
30:23:So she conceived and gave birth to a son; and she said, “God has taken away my disgrace and humiliation.”
30:24:She named him Joseph (may He add) and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”
30:25:Jacob Prospers
Now when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go back to my own place and to my own country.
30:26:Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the work which I have done for you.”
30:27:But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, stay with me; for I have learned [from the omens in divination and by experience] that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”
30:28:He said, “Name your wages, and I will give it [to you].”
30:29:Jacob answered him, “You know how I have served you and how your possessions, your cattle and sheep and goats, have fared with me.
30:30:For you had little before I came and it has increased and multiplied abundantly, and the Lord has favored you with blessings wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household?”
30:31:Laban asked, “What shall I give you?” Jacob replied, “You shall not give me anything. But if you will do this one thing for me [which I now propose], I will again pasture and keep your flock:
30:32:Let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every dark or black one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and those shall be my wages.
30:33:So my honesty will be evident for me later, when you come [for an accounting] concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and dark among the young lambs, if found with me, shall be considered stolen.”
30:34:And Laban said, “Good! Let it be done as you say.”
30:35:So on that same day Laban [secretly] removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one with white on it, and all the dark ones among the sheep, and put them in the care of his sons.
30:36:And he put [a distance of] three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob was then left in care of the rest of Laban’s flock.
30:37:Then Jacob took branches of fresh poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white in the branches.
30:38:Then he set the branches which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated and conceived when they came to drink.
30:39:So the flocks mated and conceived by the branches, and the flocks gave birth to streaked, speckled, and spotted offspring.
30:40:Jacob separated the lambs, and [as he had done with the peeled branches] he made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the dark or black in the [new] flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart by themselves and did not put them [where they could breed] with Laban’s flock.
30:41:Furthermore, whenever the stronger [animals] of the flocks were breeding, Jacob would place the branches in the sight of the flock in the watering troughs, so that they would mate and conceive among the branches;
30:42:but when the flock was sickly, he did not put the branches there; so the sicker [animals] were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.
30:43:So Jacob became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks [of sheep and goats], and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
31:1:Jacob Leaves Secretly for Canaan
Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying: “Jacob has taken away everything that was our father’s, and from what belonged to our father he has acquired all this wealth and honor.”
31:2:Jacob noticed [a change in] the attitude of Laban, and saw that it was not friendly toward him as before.
31:3:Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your people, and I will be with you.”
31:4:So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field,
31:5:and he said to them, “I see [a change in] your father’s attitude, that he is not friendly toward me as [he was] before; but the God of my father [Isaac] has been with me.
31:6:You know that I have served your father with all my strength.
31:7:Yet your father has cheated me [as often as possible] and changed my wages ten times; but God did not allow him to hurt me.
31:8:If he said, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then the entire flock gave birth to speckled [young]; and if he said, ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then the entire flock gave birth to streaked [young].
31:9:Thus God has taken away the flocks of your father and given them to me.
31:10:And it happened at the time when the flock conceived that I looked up and saw in a dream that the rams which mated [with the female goats] were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
31:11:And the Angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’
31:12:He said, ‘Look up and see, all the rams which are mating [with the flock] are streaked, speckled, and spotted; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.
31:13:I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar, and where you made a vow to Me; now stand up, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.’”
31:14:Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?
31:15:Are we not counted by him as foreigners? For he sold us [to you in marriage], and has also entirely used up our purchase price.
31:16:Surely all the riches which God has taken from our father are ours and our children’s. Now then, whatever God has told you to do, do it.”
31:17:Then Jacob stood [and took action] and put his children and his wives on camels;
31:18:and he drove away all his livestock and [took along] all his property which he had acquired, the livestock he had obtained and accumulated in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
31:19:When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel [went inside the house and] stole her father’s household gods.
31:20:And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean (Syrian) by not telling him that he intended to leave and he slipped away secretly.
31:21:So he fled with everything that he had, and got up and crossed the river [Euphrates], and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead [east of the Jordan River].
31:22:Laban Pursues Jacob
On the third day [after his departure] Laban was told that Jacob had fled.
31:23:So he took his relatives with him and pursued him for seven days, and they overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.
31:24:God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob, either good or bad.”
31:25:Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent on the hill, and Laban with his relatives camped on the same hill of Gilead.
31:26:Then Laban said to Jacob, “What do you mean by deceiving me and leaving without my knowledge, and carrying off my daughters as if [they were] captives of the sword?
31:27:Why did you run away secretly and deceive me and not tell me, so that [otherwise] I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with [music on the] tambourine and lyre?
31:28:And why did you not allow me to kiss my grandchildren and my daughters [goodbye]? Now you have done a foolish thing [in behaving like this].
31:29:It is in my power to harm you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to speak to Jacob, either good or bad.’
31:30:Now [I suppose] you felt you must go because you were homesick for your father’s house and family; but why did you steal my [household] gods?”
31:31:Jacob answered Laban, “[I left secretly] because I was afraid, for I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.
31:32:The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our relatives [search my possessions and] point out whatever you find that belongs to you and take it.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.
31:33:So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he came out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.
31:34:Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel’s saddlebag and sat on them. Laban searched through all her tent, but did not find them.
31:35:So Rachel said to her father, “Do not be displeased, my lord, that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is on me and I am unwell.” He searched [further] but did not find the household idols.
31:36:Then Jacob became angry and argued with Laban. And he said to Laban, “What is my fault? What is my sin that you pursued me like this?
31:37:Although you have searched through all my possessions, what have you found of your household goods? Put it here before my relatives and your relatives, so that they may decide [who has done right] between the two of us.
31:38:These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not lost their young, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks.
31:39:I did not bring you the torn carcasses [of the animals attacked by predators]; I [personally] took the loss. You required of me [to make good] everything that was stolen, whether it occurred by day or night.
31:40:This was my situation: by day the heat consumed me and by night the cold, and I could not sleep.
31:41:These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for [my share of] your flocks, and you have changed my wages ten times.
31:42:If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and [the Feared One] of Isaac, had not been with me, most certainly you would have sent me away now empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and humiliation and the [exhausting] labor of my hands, so He rendered judgment and rebuked you last night.”
31:43:The Covenant of Mizpah
Laban answered Jacob, “These women [that you married] are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, these flocks are [from] my flocks, and all that you see [here] is mine. But what can I do today to these my daughters or to their children to whom they have given birth?
31:44:So come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.”
31:45:So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a [memorial] pillar.
31:46:Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a mound [of stones], and they ate [a ceremonial meal together] there on the mound [of stones].
31:47:Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha (stone monument of testimony in Aramaic), but Jacob called it Galeed.
31:48:Laban said, “This mound [of stones] is a witness [a reminder of the oath taken] today between you and me.” Therefore he [also] called the name Galeed,
31:49:and Mizpah (watchtower), for Laban said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent from one another.
31:50:If you should mistreat (humiliate, oppress) my daughters, or if you should take other wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us [as a witness], see and remember, God is witness between you and me.”
31:51:Laban said to Jacob, “Look at this mound [of stones] and look at this pillar which I have set up between you and me.
31:52:This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass by this mound to harm you, and that you will not pass by this mound and this pillar to harm me.
31:53:The God of Abraham [your father] and the God of Nahor [my father], and the god [the image of worship] of their father [Terah, an idolater], judge between us.” But Jacob swore [only] by [the one true God] the Fear of his father Isaac.
31:54:Then Jacob offered a sacrifice [to the Lord] on the mountain, and called his relatives to the meal; and they ate food and spent the night on the mountain.
31:55:Early in the morning Laban got up and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters [goodbye] and pronounced a blessing [asking God’s favor] on them. Then Laban left and returned home.
32:1:Jacob’s Fear of Esau
Then as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him [to reassure and protect him].
32:2:When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” So he named that place Mahanaim (double camps).
32:3:Then Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
32:4:He commanded them, saying, “This is what to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says this, “I have been living temporarily with Laban, and have stayed there until now;
32:5:I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants; and I have sent [this message] to tell my lord, so that I may find grace and kindness in your sight.”’”
32:6:The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.”
32:7:Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps;
32:8:and he said, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the other camp which is left will escape.”
32:9:Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your people, and I will make you prosper,’
32:10:I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and compassion and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant. With only my staff [long ago] I crossed over this Jordan, and now I have become [blessed and increased into these] two groups [of people].
32:11:Save me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children.
32:12:And You [Lord] said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper and make your descendants as [numerous as] the sand of the sea, which is too great to be counted.’”
32:13:So Jacob spent the night there. Then he selected a present for his brother Esau from the livestock he had acquired:
32:14:two hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams,
32:15:thirty milking camels with their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten [donkey] colts.
32:16:He put them into the care of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go on ahead of me, and put an interval [of space] between the individual herds.”
32:17:Then he commanded the one in front, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks to whom you belong, and where you are going, and whose are the animals in front of you?
32:18:then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s; they are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And he also is behind us.’”
32:19:And so Jacob commanded the second and the third as well, and all that followed the herds, saying, “This is what you shall say to Esau when you meet him;
32:20:and you shall say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he said [to himself], “I will try to appease him with the gift that is going ahead of me. Then afterward I will see him; perhaps he will accept and forgive me.”
32:21:So the gift [of the herds of livestock] went on ahead of him, and he himself spent that night back in the camp.
32:22:But he got up that same night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and waded over the ford of the Jabbok.
32:23:Then he took them and sent them across the brook. And he also sent across whatever he had.
32:24:Jacob Wrestles
So Jacob was left alone, and a Man [came and] wrestled with him until daybreak.
32:25:When the Man saw that He had not prevailed against Jacob, He touched his hip joint; and Jacob’s hip was dislocated as he wrestled with Him.
32:26:Then He said, “Let Me go, for day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let You go unless You declare a blessing on me.”
32:27:So He asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
32:28:And He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.”
32:29:Then Jacob asked Him, “Please tell me Your name.” But He said, “Why is it that you ask My name?” And He declared a blessing [of the covenant promises] on Jacob there.
32:30:So Jacob named the place Peniel (the face of God), saying, “For I have seen God face to face, yet my life has not been snatched away.”
32:31:Now the sun rose on him as he passed Penuel (Peniel), and he was limping because of his hip.
32:32:Therefore, to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh by the tendon of the hip.
33:1:Jacob Meets Esau
Then Jacob looked up, and saw Esau coming with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids.
33:2:He put the maids and their children in front, Leah and her children after them, and Rachel and Joseph last of all.
33:3:Then Jacob crossed over [the stream] ahead of them and bowed himself to the ground seven times [bowing and moving forward each time], until he approached his brother.
33:4:But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and hugged his neck and kissed him, and they wept [for joy].
33:5:Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you?” So Jacob replied, “They are the children whom God has graciously given your servant.”
33:6:Then the maids approached with their children, and they bowed down.
33:7:Leah also approached with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel approached, and they bowed down.
33:8:Esau asked, “What do you mean by all this company which I have met?” And he answered, “[These are] to find favor in the sight of my lord.”
33:9:But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”
33:10:Jacob replied, “No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then accept my gift [as a blessing] from my hand, for I see your face as if I had seen the face of God, and you have received me favorably.
33:11:Please accept my blessing (gift) which has been brought to you, for God has dealt graciously with me and I have everything [that I could possibly want].” So Jacob kept urging him and Esau accepted it.
33:12:Then Esau said, “Let us get started on our journey and I will go in front of you [to lead the way].”
33:13:But Jacob replied, “You know, my lord, that the children are frail and need gentle care, and the nursing flocks and herds [with young] are of concern to me; for if the men should drive them hard for a single day, all the flocks will die.
33:14:Please let my lord go on ahead of his servant, and I will move on slowly, governed by the pace of the livestock that are in front of me and according to the endurance of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir [in Edom].”
33:15:Then Esau said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But Jacob said, “What need is there [for it]? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”
33:16:So Esau turned back [toward the south] that day on his way to Seir.
33:17:But Jacob journeyed [north] to Succoth, and built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock; so the name of the place is Succoth (huts, shelters).
33:18:Jacob Settles in Shechem
When Jacob came from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely and in peace at the city of Shechem, in the land of Canaan, and camped in front of the [walled] city.
33:19:Then he bought the piece of land on which he had pitched his tents from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money.
33:20:There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
34:1:The Treachery of Jacob’s Sons
Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out [unescorted] to visit the girls of the land.
34:2:When Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince (sheik) of the land, saw her, he kidnapped her and lay [intimately] with her by force [humbling and offending her].
34:3:But his soul longed for and clung to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke comfortingly to her young heart’s wishes.
34:4:So Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”
34:5:Now Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled (violated) Dinah his daughter; but his sons were in the field with his livestock, so Jacob said nothing until they came in.
34:6:But Shechem’s father Hamor went to Jacob to talk with him.
34:7:Now when Jacob’s sons heard of it they came in from the field; they were deeply grieved, and they were very angry, for Shechem had done a disgraceful thing to Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing is not to be done.
34:8:But Hamor conferred with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem [deeply] longs for your daughter [and sister]. Please give her to him as his wife.
34:9:And [beyond that] intermarry with us; give your daughters to us [as wives] and take our daughters for yourselves.
34:10:In this way you shall live with us; the country will be open to you; live and do business in it and acquire property and possessions in it.”
34:11:Shechem also said to Dinah’s father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and I will give you whatever you ask of me.
34:12:Demand of me a very large bridal payment and gift [as compensation for giving up your daughter and sister], and I will give you whatever you tell me; only give me the girl to be my wife.”
34:13:Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, because Shechem had defiled and disgraced their sister Dinah.
34:14:They said to them, “We cannot do this thing and give our sister [in marriage] to one who is not circumcised, because that would be a disgrace to us.
34:15:But we will consent to you only on this condition: if you will become like us, in that every male among you consents to be circumcised,
34:16:then we will give our daughters to you [in marriage], and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live with you and become one people.
34:17:But if you do not listen to us and refuse to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter [Dinah] and go.”
34:18:Their words seemed reasonable to Hamor and his son Shechem,
34:19:and the young man did not hesitate to do the [required] thing, for he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more respected and honored than all [others] in the household of his father.
34:20:Then Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their [walled] city [where the leading men would meet] and spoke with the men of the city, saying,
34:21:“These men are peaceful and friendly with us; so let them live in the land and do business in it, for the land is large enough [for us and] for them; let us take their daughters for wives and let us give them our daughters [in marriage].
34:22:But only on this condition will the men consent to our request that they live among us and become one people: that every male among us become circumcised just as they are circumcised.
34:23:Will not their cattle and their possessions and all their animals be ours [if we do this]? Let us consent [to do as they ask], and they will live here with us.”
34:24:And every [Canaanite] man who went out of the city gate listened and considered what Hamor and Shechem said; and every male who was a resident of that city was circumcised.
34:25:Now on the third day [after the circumcision], when all the men were [terribly] sore and in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s [full] brothers, took their swords, boldly entered the city [without anyone suspecting them of evil intent], and they killed every male.
34:26:They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house [where she was staying], and left.
34:27:Then Jacob’s [other] sons came upon those who were killed and looted the town, because their sister had been defiled and disgraced.
34:28:They took the Canaanites’ flocks and their herds and their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field;
34:29:they looted all their wealth, and [took captive] all their children and their wives, even everything that was in the houses.
34:30:Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have ruined me, making me a stench to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites! My men are few in number, and the men of the land will band together against me and attack me; I shall be destroyed, I and my household.”
34:31:But they said, “Should he [be permitted to] treat our sister as a prostitute?”
35:1:Jacob Moves to Bethel
Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you [in a distinct manifestation] when you fled [years ago] from Esau your brother.”
35:2:Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the [idols and images of] foreign gods that are among you, and ceremonially purify yourselves and change [into fresh] clothes;
35:3:then let us get up and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”
35:4:So they gave Jacob all the [idols and images of the] foreign gods they had and the rings which were in their ears [worn as charms against evil], and Jacob buried them under the oak tree near Shechem.
35:5:As they journeyed, there was a great [supernatural] terror [sent from God] on the cities around them, and [for that reason] the Canaanites did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
35:6:So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.
35:7:There he built an altar [to worship the Lord], and called the place El-bethel (God of the House of God), because there God had revealed Himself to him when he escaped from his brother.
35:8:Now Deborah, [who once was] Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried below Bethel under the oak; and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth (Oak of Weeping).
35:9:Jacob Is Named Israel
Then God [in a visible manifestation] appeared to Jacob again when he came out of Paddan-aram, and declared a blessing on him.
35:10:Again God said to him,
“Your name is Jacob;
You shall no longer be called Jacob,
But Israel shall be your name.”
So he was called Israel.
35:11:And God said to him,
“I am God Almighty.
Be fruitful and multiply;
A nation and a company of nations shall come from you,
And kings shall be born of your loins.
35:12:“The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac
I will give to you,
and to your descendants after you I will give the land.”
35:13:Then God ascended from Jacob in the place where He had spoken with him.
35:14:Jacob set up a pillar (memorial, monument) in the place where he had talked with God, a pillar of stone, and he poured a drink offering [of wine] on it; he also poured oil on it [to declare it sacred for God’s purpose].
35:15:So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel (the House of God).
35:16:Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath (Bethlehem), Rachel began to give birth and had difficulty and suffered severely.
35:17:When she was in hard labor the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid; you now have another son.”
35:18:And as her soul was departing, (for she died), she named him Ben-oni (son of my sorrow); but his father called him Benjamin (son of the right hand).
35:19:So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
35:20:Jacob set a pillar (memorial, monument) on her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.
35:21:Then Israel (Jacob) journeyed on and pitched his tent on the other side of the tower of Eder [the lookout point used by shepherds].
35:22:While Israel was living in that land, Reuben [his eldest son] went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.
The Sons of Israel
Now Jacob had twelve sons—
35:23:The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun;
35:24:and the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin;
35:25:and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali;
35:26:and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob born to him in Paddan-aram.
35:27:Jacob came to Isaac his father at Mamre of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had lived temporarily.
35:28:Now the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.
35:29:Isaac’s spirit departed and he died and was gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death], an old man full of days (satisfied, fulfilled); his sons Esau and Jacob buried him [in the cave of Machpelah with his parents Abraham and Sarah].
36:1:Esau Moves
Now these are the records of the descendants of Esau, (that is, Edom).
36:2:Esau took his [three] wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon the Hivite,
36:3:and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth.
36:4:Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel,
36:5:and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau born to him in Canaan.
36:6:Now Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all the members of his household, and his livestock and all his cattle and all his possessions which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and he went to a land away from his brother Jacob.
36:7:For their [great flocks and herds and] possessions made it impossible for them to live together [in the same region]; the land in which they lived temporarily could not support them because of their livestock.
36:8:So Esau lived in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.
36:9:Descendants of Esau
These are the records of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.
36:10:These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, Esau’s wife, and Reuel, the son of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
36:11:And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
36:12:And Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son; and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife.
36:13:These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
36:14:And these are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon. She bore to Esau: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
36:15:These are the tribal chiefs of the sons of Esau: The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau: Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
36:16:Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Adah.
36:17:These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, Mizzah. These are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
36:18:These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: Chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the chiefs born of Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife.
36:19:These are the sons of Esau, (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.
36:20:These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
36:21:Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom.
36:22:The sons of Lotan are Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister is Timna.
36:23:The sons of Shobal are these: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
36:24:These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father.
36:25:The children of Anah are these: Dishon and Oholibamah [Esau’s wife], the daughter of Anah.
36:26:These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
36:27:Ezer’s sons are these: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
36:28:The sons of Dishan are these: Uz and Aran.
36:29:The Horite chiefs are these: Chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
36:30:Dishon, Ezer, Dishan. These are the Horite chiefs, according to their various clans in the land of Seir.
36:31:And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites:
36:32:Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
36:33:Now Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned as his successor.
36:34:Then Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned as his successor.
36:35:And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned as his successor. The name of his [walled] city was Avith.
36:36:Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah succeeded him.
36:37:Then Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the river [Euphrates] reigned as his successor.
36:38:And Shaul died, and Baal-hanan son of Achbor reigned as his successor.
36:39:Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and then Hadar reigned [as his successor]. His [walled] city was Pau; his wife’s name was Mehetabel the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
36:40:And these are the names of the tribal chiefs of Esau, according to their families and places of residence, by their names: Chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,
36:41:Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,
36:42:Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,
36:43:Magdiel, and Iram. These are the tribal chiefs of Edom (that is, of Esau the father of the Edomites), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession.
37:1:Joseph’s Dream
So Jacob (Israel) lived in the land where his father [Isaac] had been a stranger (sojourner, resident alien), in the land of Canaan.
37:2:These are the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, when he was seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers [Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher]; the boy was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s [secondary] wives; and Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.
37:3:Now Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a [distinctive] multicolored tunic.
37:4:His brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than all of his brothers; so they hated him and could not [find it within themselves to] speak to him on friendly terms.
37:5:Now Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him even more.
37:6:He said to them, “Please listen to [the details of] this dream which I have dreamed;
37:7:we [brothers] were binding sheaves [of grain stalks] in the field, and lo, my sheaf [suddenly] got up and stood upright and remained standing; and behold, your sheaves stood all around my sheaf and bowed down [in respect].”
37:8:His brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Are you really going to rule and govern us as your subjects?” So they hated him even more for [telling them about] his dreams and for his [arrogant] words.
37:9:But Joseph dreamed still another dream, and told it to his brothers [as well]. He said, “See here, I have again dreamed a dream, and lo, [this time I saw] eleven stars and the sun and the moon bowed down [in respect] to me!”
37:10:He told it to his father as well as to his brothers; but his father rebuked him and said to him [in disbelief], “What is [the meaning of] this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow down to the ground [in respect] before you?”
37:11:Joseph’s brothers were envious and jealous of him, but his father kept the words [of Joseph] in mind [wondering about their meaning].
37:12:Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem.
37:13:Israel (Jacob) said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing [the flock] at Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said, “Here I am [ready to obey you].”
37:14:Then Jacob said to him, “Please go and see whether everything is all right with your brothers and all right with the flock; then bring word [back] to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem.
37:15:Now a certain man found Joseph, and saw that he was wandering around and had lost his way in the field; so the man asked him, “What are you looking for?”
37:16:He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are pasturing our flocks.”
37:17:Then the man said, “[They were here, but] they have moved on from this place. I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
37:18:The Plot against Joseph
And when they saw him from a distance, even before he came close to them, they plotted to kill him.
37:19:They said to one another, “Look, here comes this dreamer.
37:20:Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits (cisterns, underground water storage); then we will say [to our father], ‘A wild animal killed and devoured him’; and we shall see what will become of his dreams!”
37:21:Now Reuben [the eldest] heard this and rescued him from their hands and said, “Let us not take his life.”
37:22:Reuben said to them, “Do not shed his blood, but [instead] throw him [alive] into the pit that is here in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him [to kill him]”—[he said this so] that he could rescue him from them and return him [safely] to his father.
37:23:Now when Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the [distinctive] multicolored tunic which he was wearing;
37:24:then they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
37:25:Then they sat down to eat their meal. When they looked up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead [east of the Jordan], with their camels bearing ladanum resin [for perfume] and balm and myrrh, going on their way to carry the cargo down to Egypt.
37:26:Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood (murder)?
37:27:Come, let us [instead] sell him to these Ishmaelites [and Midianites] and not lay our hands on him, because he is our brother and our flesh.” So his brothers listened to him and agreed.
37:28:Then as the Midianite [and Ishmaelite] traders were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And so they took Joseph [as a captive] into Egypt.
37:29:Now Reuben [unaware of what had happened] returned to the pit, and [to his great alarm found that] Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his clothes [in deep sorrow].
37:30:He rejoined his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where shall I go [to hide from my father]?”
37:31:Then they took Joseph’s tunic, slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood;
37:32:and they brought the multicolored tunic to their father, saying, “We have found this; please examine it and decide whether or not it is your son’s tunic.”
37:33:He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces!”
37:34:So Jacob tore his clothes [in grief], put on sackcloth and mourned many days for his son.
37:35:Then all his sons and daughters attempted to console him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “I will go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in mourning for my son.” And his father wept for him.
37:36:Meanwhile, in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph [as a slave] to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the [royal] guard.
38:1:Judah and Tamar
Now at that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to [stay with] a certain Adullamite named Hirah.
38:2:There Judah saw a daughter of Shua, a Canaanite, and he took her [as his wife] and lived with her.
38:3:So she conceived and gave birth to a son and Judah named him Er.
38:4:Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan.
38:5:Again she conceived and gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.
38:6:Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar.
38:7:But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him [in judgment].
38:8:Then Judah told Onan, “Go in to your brother’s widow, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law [under the levirate marriage custom]; [be her husband and] raise children for [the name of] your brother.”
38:9:Onan knew that the child (heir) would not be his [but his dead brother’s]; so whenever he lay with his brother’s widow, he spilled his seed on the ground [to prevent conception], so that he would not give a child to his brother.
38:10:But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; therefore He killed him also [in judgment].
38:11:Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow at your father’s house until Shelah my [youngest] son is grown”; [but he was deceiving her] for he thought that [if Shelah should marry her] he too might die like his brothers did. So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
38:12:But quite a while later, Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died; and when the time of mourning was ended, he went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah with his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
38:13:Tamar was told, “Listen, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”
38:14:So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself up [in disguise], and sat in the gateway of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife [as Judah had promised].
38:15:When Judah saw her, he thought she was a [temple] prostitute, for she had covered her face [as such women did].
38:16:He turned to her by the road, and said, “Please come, let me lie with you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me, that you may lie with me?”
38:17:He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “Will you give me a pledge [as a deposit] until you send it?”
38:18:He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She said, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and was intimate with her, and she conceived by him.
38:19:Then she got up and left, and removed her veil and put on her widow’s clothing.
38:20:When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite, to get his pledge [back] from the woman, he was unable to find her.
38:21:He asked the men of that place, “Where is the temple prostitute who was by the roadside at Enaim?” They said, “There was no prostitute here.”
38:22:So he returned to Judah, and said, “I cannot find her; also the local men said, ‘There was no prostitute around here.’”
38:23:Then Judah said, “Let her keep the things (pledge articles) for herself, otherwise we will be a laughingstock [searching everywhere for her]. After all, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.”
38:24:About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the [role of a] prostitute, and she is with child because of her immorality.” So Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned [to death as punishment]!”
38:25:While she was being brought out, she [took the things Judah had given her and] sent [them along with a message] to her father-in-law, saying, “I am with child by the man to whom these articles belong.” And she added, “Please examine [them carefully] and see [clearly] to whom these things belong, the seal and the cord and staff.”
38:26:Judah recognized the articles, and said, “She has been more righteous [in this matter] than I, because I did not give her to my son Shelah [as I had promised].” And Judah did not have [intimate] relations with her again.
38:27:Now when the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb.
38:28:And when she was in labor, one [baby] put out his hand, and the midwife took his hand and tied a scarlet thread on it, saying, “This one was born first.”
38:29:But he pulled back his hand, and his brother was born first. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself [to be the firstborn]!” So he was named Perez (breach, break forth).
38:30:Afterward his brother who had the scarlet [thread] on his hand was born and was named Zerah (brightness).
39:1:Joseph’s Success in Egypt
Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the [royal] guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there.
39:2:The Lord was with Joseph, and he [even though a slave] became a successful and prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
39:3:Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper (succeed) in his hand.
39:4:So Joseph pleased Potiphar and found favor in his sight and he served him as his personal servant. He made Joseph overseer over his house, and he put all that he owned in Joseph’s charge.
39:5:It happened that from the time that he made Joseph overseer in his house and [put him in charge] over all that he owned, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph; so the Lord’s blessing was on everything that Potiphar owned, in the house and in the field.
39:6:So Potiphar left all that he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with Joseph there he did not [need to] pay attention to anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome and attractive in form and appearance.
39:7:Then after a time his master’s wife looked at Joseph with desire, and she said, “Lie with me.”
39:8:But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me in the house, my master does not concern himself with anything; he has put everything that he owns in my charge.
39:9:He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God [and your husband]?”
39:10:And so it was that she spoke to Joseph [persistently] day after day, but he did not listen to her [plea] to lie beside her or be with her.
39:11:Then it happened one day that Joseph went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the men of the household was there in the house.
39:12:She caught Joseph by his [outer] robe, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his robe in her hand and ran, and got outside [the house].
39:13:When she saw that he had left his robe in her hand and had run outside,
39:14:she called to the men of her household and said to them, “Look at this, your master has brought a Hebrew [into the household] to mock and insult us; he came to me to lie with me, and I screamed.
39:15:When he heard me screaming, he left his robe with me and ran outside [the house].”
39:16:So she left Joseph’s [outer] robe beside her until his master came home.
39:17:Then she told her husband the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you brought among us, came to me to mock and insult me;
39:18:then as soon as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his robe with me and ran outside [the house].”
39:19:Joseph Imprisoned
And when Joseph’s master heard the words of his wife, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger burned.
39:20:So Joseph’s master took him and put him in the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined; so he was there in the prison.
39:21:But the Lord was with Joseph and extended lovingkindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the warden.
39:22:The warden committed to Joseph’s care (management) all the prisoners who were in the prison; so that whatever was done there, he was in charge of it.
39:23:The warden paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s care because the Lord was with him; whatever Joseph did, the Lord made to prosper.
40:1:Joseph Interprets a Dream
Now some time later, the cupbearer (butler) and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, Egypt’s king.
40:2:Pharaoh (Sesostris II) was extremely angry with his two officials, the chief of the cupbearers and the chief of the bakers.
40:3:He put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined.
40:4:The captain of the guard put Joseph in charge of them, and he served them; and they continued to be in custody for some time.
40:5:Then the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, both dreamed a dream in the same night, each man with his [own significant] dream and each dream with its [personal] interpretation.
40:6:When Joseph came to them in the morning and looked at them, [he saw that] they were sad and depressed.
40:7:So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in confinement with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so down-hearted today?”
40:8:And they said to him, “We have [each] dreamed [distinct] dreams and there is no one to interpret them.” So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell me [your dreams].”
40:9:So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream there was a grapevine in front of me;
40:10:and on the vine were three branches. Then as soon as it budded, its blossoms burst open, and its clusters produced ripe grapes [in rapid succession].
40:11:Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup; then I placed the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”
40:12:Then Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches represent three days;
40:13:within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head (present you in public) and restore you to your position; and you will [again] put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand just as [you did] when you were his cupbearer.
40:14:Only think of me when it goes well with you, and please show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house.
40:15:For in fact I was taken (stolen) from the land of the Hebrews by [unlawful] force, and even here I have done nothing for which they should put me in the dungeon.”
40:16:When the chief baker saw that the interpretation [of the dream] was good, he said to Joseph, “I also dreamed, and [in my dream] there were three cake baskets on my head;
40:17:and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds [of prey] were eating [these foods] out of the basket on my head.”
40:18:Joseph answered, “This is the interpretation of it: the three baskets represent three days;
40:19:within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and will hang you on a tree (gallows, pole), and [you will not so much as be given a burial, but] the birds will eat your flesh.”
40:20:Now on the third day, [which was] the Pharaoh’s birthday, he [released the two men from prison and] made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker [that is, presented them in public] among his servants.
40:21:He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and the cupbearer [once again] put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand;
40:22:but Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted [the meaning of the dreams] to them.
40:23:Yet [even after all that] the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot [all about] him.
41:1:Pharaoh’s Dream
Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile.
41:2:And lo, there came up out of the Nile seven [healthy] cows, sleek and handsome and fat; and they grazed in the reed grass [in a marshy pasture].
41:3:Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the Nile, ugly and gaunt and raw-boned, and stood by the fat cows on the bank of the Nile.
41:4:Then the ugly and gaunt and raw-boned cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.
41:5:Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good.
41:6:Then behold, seven ears [of grain], thin and dried up by the east wind, sprouted after them.
41:7:Then the thin ears swallowed the seven plump and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream.
41:8:So when morning came his spirit was troubled and disturbed and he sent and called for all the magicians and all the wise men of Egypt. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them to him.
41:9:Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would mention my faults today.
41:10:[Two years ago] Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker.
41:11:We dreamed a dream on the same night, he and I; each of us dreamed according to [the significance of] the interpretation of his own dream.
41:12:Now there was with us [in the prison] a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us, to each man according to the significance of his own dream.
41:13:And just as he interpreted [the dreams] for us, so it happened; I was restored to my office [as chief cupbearer], and the baker was hanged.”
41:14:Joseph Interprets
Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when Joseph shaved himself and changed his clothes [making himself presentable], he came to Pharaoh.
41:15:Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you that you can understand a dream and interpret it.”
41:16:Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me [to interpret the dream]; God [not I] will give Pharaoh a favorable answer [through me].”
41:17:So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, I was standing on the bank of the Nile;
41:18:and seven fat, sleek and handsome cows came up out of the river, and they grazed in the reed grass [of a marshy pasture].
41:19:Lo, seven other cows came up after them, very ugly and gaunt [just skin and bones]; such emaciated animals as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt.
41:20:And the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows.
41:21:Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had eaten them, because they were still as thin and emaciated as before. Then I awoke [but again I fell asleep and dreamed].
41:22:I saw in my [second] dream, seven ears [of grain], plump and good, growing on a single stalk;
41:23:and lo, seven [other] ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted after them;
41:24:and the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. Now I told this to the magicians and soothsayers, but there was no one who could explain it [to me].”
41:25:Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The [two] dreams are one [and the same and have one interpretation]; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
41:26:The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the [two] dreams are one [and the same].
41:27:The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years; and also the seven thin ears, dried up and scorched by the east wind, they are seven years of famine and hunger.
41:28:This is the message just as I have told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
41:29:Listen very carefully: seven years of great abundance will come throughout all the land of Egypt;
41:30:but afterward seven years of famine and hunger will come, and [there will be such desperate need that] all the great abundance [of the previous years] will be forgotten in the land of Egypt [as if it never happened], and famine and destitution will ravage and destroy the land.
41:31:So the great abundance will become forgotten in the land because of that subsequent famine, for it will be very severe.
41:32:That the dream was repeated twice to Pharaoh [and in two different ways] indicates that this matter is fully determined and established by God, and God will bring it to pass very quickly.
41:33:So now let Pharaoh [prepare ahead and] look for a man discerning and clear-headed and wise, and set him [in charge] over the land of Egypt [as governor under Pharaoh].
41:34:Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers and officials over the land, and set aside one-fifth [of the produce] of the [entire] land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance.
41:35:Let them gather [as a tax] all [of the fifth of] the food of these good years that are coming, and store up grain under the direction and authority of Pharaoh, and let them guard the food [in fortified granaries] in the cities.
41:36:That food shall be put [in storage] as a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine and hunger which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land (people) will not be ravaged during the famine.”
41:37:Now the plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all of his servants.
41:38:Joseph Is Made a Ruler of Egypt
So Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this [a man equal to Joseph], in whom is the divine spirit [of God]?”
41:39:Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since [your] God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and clear-headed and wise as you are.
41:40:You shall have charge over my house, and all my people shall be governed according to your word and pay respect [to you with reverence, submission, and obedience]; only in [matters of] the throne will I be greater than you [in Egypt].”
41:41:Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you [in charge] over all the land of Egypt.”
41:42:Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and dressed him in [official] vestments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
41:43:He had him ride in his second chariot; and runners proclaimed before him, “[Attention,] bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Egypt.
41:44:Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission shall no man raise his hand [to do anything] or set his foot [to go anywhere] in all the land of Egypt [all classes of people shall submit to your authority].”
41:45:Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On (Heliopolis in Egypt), as his wife. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt [to inspect and govern it].
41:46:Now Joseph [had been in Egypt thirteen years and] was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Joseph departed from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt [performing his duties].
41:47:In the seven abundant years the earth produced handfuls [for each seed planted].
41:48:And Joseph gathered all the [surplus] food of the seven [good] years in the land of Egypt and stored [enormous quantities of] the food in the cities. He stored away in every city the food [collected] from its own surrounding fields.
41:49:Thus Joseph gathered and stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting it, for it could not be measured.
41:50:The Sons of Joseph
Now two sons were born to Joseph before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.
41:51:Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh (causing to forget), for he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and hardship and all [the sorrow of the loss of] my father’s household.”
41:52:He named the second [son] Ephraim (fruitfulness), for “God has caused me to be fruitful and very successful in the land of my suffering.”
41:53:When the seven years of plenty came to an end in the land of Egypt,
41:54:the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said [they would]; the famine was in all the [surrounding] lands, but in the land of Egypt there was bread (food).
41:55:So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; do whatever he says to you.”
41:56:When the famine was spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold [surplus grain] to the Egyptians; and the famine grew [extremely] severe in the land of Egypt.
41:57:And [the people of] all countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the [known] earth.
42:1:Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt
Now when Jacob (Israel) learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another [in bewilderment and not taking action]?”
42:2:He said, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy [some] grain for us, so that we may live and not die [of starvation].”
42:3:So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
42:4:But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s [younger] brother, with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that some harm or injury may come to him.”
42:5:So the sons of Israel came [to Egypt] to buy grain along with the others who were coming, for famine was in the land of Canaan also.
42:6:Now Joseph was the ruler over the land, and he was the one who sold [grain] to all the people of the land; and Joseph’s [half] brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.
42:7:When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but [hiding his identity] he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. He said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”
42:8:Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
42:9:Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies; you have come [with a malicious purpose] to observe the undefended parts of our land.”
42:10:But they said to him, “No, my lord, for your servants have [only] come to buy food.
42:11:We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies.”
42:12:Yet he said to them, “No, you have come to see the undefended parts of our land.”
42:13:But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers [in all], the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; please listen: the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer alive.”
42:14:Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you, you are spies.
42:15:In this way you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here!
42:16:Send one of you [back home], and let him bring your brother [here], while [the rest of] you remain confined, so that your words may be tested, [to see] whether there is any truth in you [and your story]; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, certainly you are spies.”
42:17:Then Joseph put them all in prison for three days.
42:18:Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and [you may] live, for I fear God:
42:19:if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your [place here in] prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine in your households,
42:20:but bring your youngest brother to me, so your words will be verified and you will not die.” And they did so.
42:21:And they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty regarding our brother [Joseph], because we saw the distress and anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us [to let him go], yet we would not listen [to his cry]; so this distress and anguish has come on us.”
42:22:Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Now the accounting for his blood is required [of us for we are guilty of his death].”
42:23:They did not know that Joseph understood [their conversation], because he spoke to them through an interpreter.
42:24:He turned away from his brothers and [left the room and] wept; then he returned and talked with them, and took Simeon from them and bound him in front of them [to be kept as a hostage in Egypt].
42:25:Then Joseph gave orders [privately] that their bags be filled with grain, and that every man’s money [used to pay for the grain] be put back in his sack, and that provisions be given to them for the journey. And so this was done for them.
42:26:They loaded their donkeys with grain and left from there.
42:27:And at the lodging place, as one of them opened his sack to feed his donkey, he saw his money in the opening of his sack.
42:28:And he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned! Here it is in my sack!” And their hearts sank, and they were afraid and turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”
42:29:The Return to Canaan
When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them, saying,
42:30:“The man who is the lord of the land spoke harshly to us, and took us for spies of the land.
42:31:But we told him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.
42:32:We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’
42:33:And the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘By this [test] I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers here with me and take grain for your starving households and go.
42:34:Bring your youngest brother to me; then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. Then I will return your [imprisoned] brother [back] to you, and you may trade and do business in the land.’”
42:35:Now when they emptied their sacks, every man’s bundle of money [paid to buy grain] was in his sack. When they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
42:36:Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me [by causing the loss] of my children. Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin [from me]. All these things are [working] against me.”
42:37:Then Reuben spoke to his father, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring Benjamin back to you; put him in my care, and I will return him to you.”
42:38:But Jacob said, “My son shall not go down [to Egypt] with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left [of Rachel’s children]. If any harm or accident should happen to him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in sorrow.”
43:1:The Return to Egypt
Now the famine was very severe in the land [of Canaan].
43:2:And it happened that when the families of Jacob’s sons had finished eating [all of] the grain which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.”
43:3:But Judah said to him, “The man [representing Pharaoh] solemnly and sternly warned us, saying, ‘You will not see my face [again] unless your brother is with you.’
43:4:If you will send our brother with us, we will go down [to Egypt] and buy you food.
43:5:But if you will not send him, we will not go down there; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”
43:6:And Israel (Jacob) said, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man that you had another brother?”
43:7:And they said, “The man asked us straightforward questions about ourselves and our relatives. He said, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down [here to Egypt]’?”
43:8:Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the young man with me and we will get up and go [buy food], so that we may live and not die [of starvation], we as well as you and our little ones.
43:9:I will be security (a guarantee) for him; you may hold me [personally] responsible for him. If I do not bring him [back] to you and place him [safely] before you, then let me bear the blame before you forever.
43:10:For if we had not delayed like this, surely by now we would have returned the second time.”
43:11:Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this; take some of the choicest products of the land in your sacks, and carry it as a present [of tribute] to the man [representing Pharaoh], a little balm and a little honey, aromatic spices or gum, resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds.
43:12:Take double the [amount of] money with you, and take back the money that was returned in the opening of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight.
43:13:Take your brother [Benjamin] also, and get up, and go to the man;
43:14:and may God Almighty grant you compassion and favor before the man, so that he will release to you your other brother [Simeon] and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children [Joseph, Simeon, and Benjamin], I am bereaved.”
43:15:Then the men took the present, and they took double the [amount of] money with them, and Benjamin; then they left and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
43:16:Joseph Sees Benjamin
When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and kill an animal and make [a meal] ready; for the men will dine with me at noon.”
43:17:So the man did as Joseph said, and brought the men to Joseph’s house.
43:18:The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and [expecting the worst] they said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time [we came] that we are being brought in, so that he may find a reason to accuse us and assail us, and take us as slaves, and seize our donkeys.”
43:19:So they approached the steward of Joseph’s house, and talked with him at the entrance of the house,
43:20:and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down here the first time to buy food;
43:21:and when we arrived at the inn [after leaving here], we opened our sacks and there was each man’s money [with which he had paid for grain], in full, returned in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back [this time].
43:22:We have also brought down with us additional money to buy food; we do not know who put our money [back] in our sacks [last time].”
43:23:But the steward [encouraged them and] said, “Peace be to you, do not be afraid; your God and the God of your father has [miraculously] given you treasure in your sacks. I [already] had your money [which you paid to us].” Then he brought Simeon out to them.
43:24:Then the steward brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed [the dust off] their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed.
43:25:So they prepared the present [of tribute] for Joseph before his arrival at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat a meal there.
43:26:When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present [of tribute] which they had with them and bowed to the ground before him.
43:27:He asked them about their well-being, and said, “Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”
43:28:And they answered, “Your servant our father is in good health; he is still alive.” And they bowed down [their heads before Joseph] in respect.
43:29:And he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s [only other] son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” And Joseph said, “God be gracious to you and show you favor, my son.”
43:30:Then Joseph hurried out [of the room] because his heart was deeply touched over his brother, and he sought privacy to weep; so he entered his chamber and wept there.
43:31:Then he washed his face and came out, and, restraining himself, said, “Let the meal be served.”
43:32:So the servants served Joseph by himself [in honor of his rank], and his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because [according to custom] the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is loathsome to the Egyptians.
43:33:Now Joseph’s brothers were seated [by the steward] before him [in the order of their birth]—the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked at one another in astonishment [because so much was known about them].
43:34:Joseph selected and sent portions to them from his own table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they feasted and drank freely and celebrated with him.
44:1:The Brothers Are Brought Back
And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s [grain] money in the mouth of the sack.
44:2:Put my [personal] cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his grain money.” And the steward did as Joseph had told him.
44:3:As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.
44:4:When they had left the city, and were not yet far away, Joseph said to his steward, “Get up, follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil [to us] for good [paid to you]?
44:5:Is this not my lord’s drinking cup and the one which he uses for divination? You have done [a great and unforgivable] wrong in doing this.’”
44:6:So the steward overtook them and he said these words to them.
44:7:They said to him, “Why does my lord speak these things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!
44:8:Please remember, the money which we found in the mouths of our sacks we have brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Is it likely then that we would steal silver or gold from your master’s house?
44:9:With whomever of your servants your master’s cup is found, let him die, and the rest of us will be my lord’s slaves.”
44:10:And the steward said, “Now let it be as you say; he with whom the cup is found will be my slave, but the rest of you shall be blameless.”
44:11:Then every man quickly lowered his sack to the ground and each man opened his sack [confident the cup would not be found among them].
44:12:The steward searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
44:13:Then they tore their clothes [in grief]; and after each man had loaded his donkey again, they returned to the city.
44:14:When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there; and they fell to the ground before him.
44:15:Joseph spoke harshly to them, “What is this thing that you have done? Do you not realize that such a man as I can indeed practice divination and foretell [everything you do without outside knowledge of it]?”
44:16:So Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What can we reply? Or how can we clear ourselves, since God has exposed the sin and guilt of your servants? Behold, we are my lord’s slaves, the rest of us as well as he with whom the cup is found.”
44:17:But Joseph said, “Far be it from me that I should do that; but the man in whose hand the cup has been found, he will be my servant; and as for [the rest of] you, get up and go in peace to your father.”
44:18:Then Judah approached him, and said, “O my lord, please let your servant say a word to you in private, and do not let your anger blaze against your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh [so I speak as if directly to him].
44:19:My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’
44:20:We said to my lord, ‘We have an old father and a young [brother, Benjamin, the] child of his old age. Now his brother [Joseph] is dead, and he alone is left of [the two sons born of] his mother, and his father loves him.’
44:21:Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me that I may actually see him.’
44:22:But we said to my lord, ‘The young man cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’
44:23:You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes with you, you shall not see my face again.’
44:24:So when we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.
44:25:Our father said, ‘Go back [to Egypt], and buy us a little food.’
44:26:But we said, ‘We cannot go down [to Egypt]. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down [there]; for we [were sternly told that we] cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’
44:27:Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife [Rachel] bore me [only] two sons.
44:28:And one [son] went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces,” and I have not seen him since.
44:29:If you take this one also from me, and harm or an accident happens to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’
44:30:Now, therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the young man is not with us, since his life is bound up in the young man’s life,
44:31:when he sees that the young man is not with us, he will die; and your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in [great] sorrow.
44:32:For your servant became security for the young man to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then let me bear the blame before my father forever.’
44:33:Now, therefore, please let your servant (Judah) remain here instead of the youth [to be] a slave to my lord, and let the young man go home with his brothers.
44:34:How can I go up to my father if the young man is not with me—for fear that I would see the tragedy that would overtake my [elderly] father [if Benjamin does not return]?”
45:1:Joseph Shows Kindness to His Brothers
Then Joseph could not control himself [any longer] in front of all those who attended him, and he called out, “Have everyone leave me.” So no man stood there when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers.
45:2:Joseph wept aloud, and the Egyptians [who had just left him] heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of it.
45:3:Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless, for they were stunned and dismayed by [the fact that they were in] Joseph’s presence.
45:4:And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they approached him. And he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
45:5:Now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to save life and preserve our family.
45:6:For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five more years in which there will be no plowing and harvesting.
45:7:God sent me [to Egypt] ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on the earth, and to keep you alive by a great escape.
45:8:So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
45:9:Hurry and go up to my father, and tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says this to you: “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.
45:10:You shall live in the land of Goshen [the best pasture land of Egypt], and you shall be close to me—you and your children and your grandchildren, your flocks and your herds and all you have.
45:11:There I will provide for you and sustain you, so that you and your household and all that are yours may not become impoverished, for there are still five years of famine to come.”’
45:12:Look! Your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that I am speaking to you [personally in your language and not through an interpreter].
45:13:Now you must tell my father of all my splendor and power in Egypt, and of everything that you have seen; and you must hurry and bring my father down here.”
45:14:Then he embraced his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.
45:15:He kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.
45:16:When the news was heard in Pharaoh’s house that Joseph’s brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.
45:17:Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: load your animals and return to the land of Canaan [without delay],
45:18:and get your father and your households and come to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you will eat the fat (the finest produce) of the land.’
45:19:Now you [brothers of Joseph] are ordered [by Pharaoh], ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come.
45:20:Do not be concerned with your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”
45:21:Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.
45:22:To each of them Joseph gave changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.
45:23:To his father he sent the following: ten male donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father [to supply all who were with him] on the journey.
45:24:So he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “See that you do not quarrel on the journey [about how to explain this to our father].”
45:25:So they went up from Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father,
45:26:and they said to him, “Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” But Jacob was stunned and his heart almost stopped beating, because he did not believe them.
45:27:When they told him everything that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
45:28:And Israel (Jacob) said, “It is enough! Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
46:1:Jacob Moves to Egypt
So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba [where both his father and grandfather had worshiped God], and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
46:2:And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” And he said, “Here I am.”
46:3:And He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you (your descendants) a great nation there.
46:4:I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you (your people) up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes [to close them at the time of your death].”
46:5:So Jacob set out from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
46:6:And they took their livestock and the possessions which they had acquired in the land of Canaan and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him.
46:7:His sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
46:8:Those Who Came to Egypt
Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
46:9:The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
46:10:The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
46:11:The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
46:12:The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah—but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
46:13:The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Job, and Shimron.
46:14:The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
46:15:These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah; all of his sons and daughters numbered thirty-three.
46:16:The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
46:17:The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.
46:18:These are the sons of Zilpah, [the maid] whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter [when she married Jacob]; and she bore to Jacob these sixteen persons [two sons and fourteen grandchildren].
46:19:The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin.
46:20:Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On (Heliopolis in Egypt), bore to him.
46:21:And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
46:22:These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; [there were] fourteen persons in all [two sons and twelve grandchildren].
46:23:The son of Dan: Hushim.
46:24:The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
46:25:These are the sons of Bilhah, [the maid] whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter [when she married Jacob]. And she bore these to Jacob; [there were] seven persons in all [two sons and five grandchildren].
46:26:All the persons who came with Jacob into Egypt—who were his direct descendants, not counting the wives of [Jacob or] Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all,
46:27:and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob [including Jacob, and Joseph and his sons], who came into Egypt, were seventy.
46:28:Now Jacob (Israel) sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph, to direct him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
46:29:Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen; as soon as he presented himself before him (authenticating his identity), he fell on his [father’s] neck and wept on his neck a [very] long time.
46:30:And Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die [in peace], since I have seen your face [and know] that you are still alive.”
46:31:Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me;
46:32:and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’
46:33:And it shall be that when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’
46:34:you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth until now, both we and our fathers [before us],’ in order that you may live [separately and securely] in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is repulsive to the Egyptians.”
47:1:Jacob’s Family Settles in Goshen
Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and their herds and all that they own, have come from the land of Canaan, and they are in the land of Goshen.”
47:2:He took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.
47:3:And Pharaoh said to his brothers [as Joseph expected], “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers [before us].”
47:4:Moreover, they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live temporarily (sojourn) in the land [of Egypt], for there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants [in our land], for the famine is very severe in Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”
47:5:Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.
47:6:The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know of any men of ability among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”
47:7:Then Joseph brought Jacob (Israel) his father and presented him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
47:8:And Pharaoh asked Jacob, “How old are you?”
47:9:Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. Few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, and they have not reached the years that my fathers lived during the days of their pilgrimage.”
47:10:And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and departed from his presence.
47:11:So Joseph settled his father and brothers and gave them a possession in Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses (Goshen), as Pharaoh commanded.
47:12:Joseph provided and supplied his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to [the needs of] their children.
47:13:Now [in the course of time] there was no food in all the land, for the famine was distressingly severe, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan languished [in destitution and starvation] because of the famine.
47:14:Joseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan [in payment] for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
47:15:And when the money was exhausted in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die before your very eyes? For our money is gone.”
47:16:Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, since the money is gone.”
47:17:So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for the horses and the flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.
47:18:When that year was ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord [the fact] that our money is spent; my lord also has our herds of livestock; there is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.
47:19:Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed [to plant], that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”
47:20:Result of the Famine
So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every Egyptian sold his field because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s.
47:21:And as for the people, he relocated them [temporarily] to cities from one end of Egypt’s border to the other.
47:22:Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived on the amount which Pharaoh gave them, so they did not sell their land.
47:23:Then Joseph said to the people, “Look, today I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you shall plant the land.
47:24:At harvest time [when you reap the increase] you shall give one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and four-fifths will be your own to use for seed for the field and as food for you and those of your households and for your little ones.”
47:25:And they said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”
47:26:And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt—valid to this day—that Pharaoh should have the fifth part [of the crops]; only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.
47:27:Now [the people of] Israel lived in the country of Egypt, in [the land of] Goshen, and they gained possessions and acquired property there and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.
47:28:And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the length of Jacob’s life was a hundred and forty-seven years.
47:29:And when the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh and [promise to] deal loyally and faithfully with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt,
47:30:but when I lie down with my fathers [in death], you will carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place [at Hebron in the cave of Machpelah].” And Joseph said, “I will do as you have directed.”
47:31:Then he said, “Swear to me [that you will do it].” So he swore to him. Then Israel (Jacob) bowed in worship at the head of the bed.
48:1:Israel’s Last Days
Now some time after these things happened, Joseph was told, “Your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him [to go to Goshen].
48:2:And when Jacob (Israel) was told, “Look now, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed.
48:3:Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz (Bethel) in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
48:4:and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a great company of people, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’
48:5:Now your two sons [Ephraim and Manasseh], who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine [that is, adopted as my heirs and sons as surely], as Reuben and Simeon are my sons.
48:6:But other sons who were born to you after them shall be your own; they shall be called by the names of their [two] brothers in their inheritance.
48:7:Now as for me, when I came from Paddan [in Mesopotamia], Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
48:8:When Israel [who was almost blind] saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”
48:9:Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here [in Egypt].” So he said, “Please bring them to me, so that I may bless them.”
48:10:Now Israel’s eyes were so dim from age that he could not see [clearly]. Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed and embraced them.
48:11:Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, but see, God has shown me your children as well.”
48:12:Then Joseph took the boys [from his father’s embrace], and he bowed [before him] with his face to the ground.
48:13:Then Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to him.
48:14:But Israel reached out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands [intentionally], even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
48:15:Then Jacob (Israel) blessed Joseph, and said,
“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked [in faithful obedience],
The God who has been my Shepherd [leading and caring for me] all my life to this day,
48:16:The Angel [that is, the Lord Himself] who has redeemed me [continually] from all evil,
Bless the boys;
And may my name live on in them [may they be worthy of having their names linked with mine],
And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And may they grow into a [great] multitude in the midst of the earth.”
48:17:When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him [because he was not the firstborn]; and he grasped his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
48:18:Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn; place your right hand on Manasseh’s head.”
48:19:But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; Manasseh also will become a people and he will be great; but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”
48:20:Then Jacob blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will pronounce a blessing, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”
And he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
48:21:Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to [Canaan] the land of your fathers.
48:22:Moreover, I have given you [the birthright,] one portion [Shechem, one mountain ridge] more than any of your brothers, which I took [reclaiming it] from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
49:1:Israel’s Prophecy concerning His Sons
Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves [around me] that I may tell you what will happen to you and your descendants in the days to come.
49:2:“Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob;
And listen to Israel (Jacob) your father.
49:3:“Reuben, you are my firstborn;
My might, the beginning of my strength and vigor,
Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power [that should have been your birthright].
49:4:“But unstable and reckless and boiling over like water [in sinful lust], you shall not excel or have the preeminence [of the firstborn],
Because you went up to your father’s bed [with Bilhah];
You defiled it—he went up to my couch.
49:5:“Simeon and Levi are brothers [equally headstrong, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel];
Their swords are weapons of violence and revenge.
49:6:“O my soul, do not come into their secret council;
Let not my glory (honor) be united with their assembly [for I knew nothing of their plot];
Because in their anger they killed men [an honored man, Shechem, and the Shechemites],
And in their self-will they lamed oxen.
49:7:“Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;
And their wrath, for it was cruel.
I will divide and disperse them in Jacob,
And scatter them in [the midst of the land of] Israel.
49:8:“Judah, you are the one whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
49:9:“Judah, a lion’s cub;
With the prey, my son, you have gone high up [the mountain].
He stooped down, he crouched like a lion,
And like a lion—who dares rouse him?
49:10:“The scepter [of royalty] shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh [the Messiah, the Peaceful One] comes,
And to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
49:11:“Tying his foal to the [strong] vine
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washes his clothing in wine [because the grapevine produces abundantly],
And his robes in the blood of grapes.
49:12:“His eyes are darker and sparkle more than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.
49:13:“Zebulun shall dwell at the seashore;
And he shall be a haven (landing place) for ships,
And his flank shall be toward Sidon.
49:14:“Issachar is [like] a strong-boned donkey,
Crouching down between the sheepfolds.
49:15:“When he saw that the resting place was good
And that the land was pleasant,
He bowed his shoulder to bear [burdens],
And became a servant at forced labor.
49:16:“Dan shall judge his people,
As one of the tribes of Israel.
49:17:“Dan shall be a [venomous] serpent in the way,
A fanged snake in the path,
That bites the horse’s heels,
So that his rider falls backward.
49:18:“I wait for Your salvation, O Lord.
49:19:“As for Gad—a raiding troop shall raid him,
But he shall raid at their heels and assault them [victoriously].
49:20:“Asher’s food [supply] shall be rich and bountiful,
And he shall yield and deliver royal delights.
49:21:“Naphtali is a doe let loose, [a swift warrior,]
Which yields branched antlers (eloquent words).
49:22:“Joseph is a fruitful bough (a main branch of the vine),
A fruitful bough by a spring (a well, a fountain);
Its branches run over the wall [influencing others].
49:23:“The [skilled] archers have bitterly attacked and provoked him;
They have shot [at him] and harassed him.
49:24:“But his bow remained firm and steady [in the Strength that does not fail],
For his arms were made strong and agile
By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
(By the name of the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
49:25:By the God of your father who will help you,
And by the Almighty who blesses you
With blessings of the heavens above,
Blessings lying in the deep that couches beneath,
Blessings of the [nursing] breasts and of the [fertile] womb.
49:26:“The blessings of your father
Are greater than the blessings of my ancestors [Abraham and Isaac]
Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
Even on the crown of the head of him who was the distinguished one and the one who is prince among (separate from) his brothers.
49:27:“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
In the morning he devours the prey,
And at night he divides the spoil.”
49:28:All these are the [beginnings of the] twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each one according to the blessing appropriate to him.
49:29:He charged them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
49:30:in the cave in the field at Machpelah, east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, that Abraham bought, along with the field from Ephron the Hittite, to possess as a burial site.
49:31:There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—
49:32:the field and the cave that is in it was purchased from the sons of Heth.”
49:33:When Jacob (Israel) had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death].
50:1:Burial Preparations and Mourning for Jacob
Then Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him [tenderly].
50:2:Then Joseph ordered his servants the physicians to embalm (mummify) his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel (Jacob).
50:3:Now forty days were required for this, for that is the customary number of days [of preparation] required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept and grieved for him [in public mourning as they would for royalty] for seventy days.
50:4:When the days of weeping and public mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to [the nobles of] the house of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak to Pharaoh, saying,
50:5:‘My father made me swear [an oath], saying, “Hear me, I am about to die; bury me in my tomb which I prepared for myself in the land of Canaan.” So now let me go up [to Canaan], please, and bury my father; then I will return.’”
50:6:And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”
50:7:So Joseph went up [to Canaan] to bury his father, and with him went all the officials of Pharaoh, [the nobles of his court and] the elders of his household and all [the nobles and] the elders of the land of Egypt—
50:8:and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household. They left only their little ones and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.
50:9:Both chariots and horsemen also went up [to Canaan] with Joseph; and it was a very great company.
50:10:When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they mourned there with a great lamentation (expressions of mourning for the deceased) and [extreme demonstrations of] sorrow [according to Egyptian custom]; and Joseph observed a seven-day mourning for his father.
50:11:When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim (mourning of Egypt); it is west of the Jordan.
50:12:Burial at Machpelah
So Jacob’s sons did for him as he had commanded them;
50:13:for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, east of Mamre, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite.
50:14:After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him.
50:15:When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph carries a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him?”
50:16:So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded us before he died, saying,
50:17:‘You are to say to Joseph, “I beg you, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.”’ Now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
50:18:Then his brothers went and fell down before him [in confession]; then they said, “Behold, we are your servants (slaves).”
50:19:But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? [Vengeance is His, not mine.]
50:20:As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present outcome, that many people would be kept alive [as they are this day].
50:21:So now, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and support you and your little ones.” So he comforted them [giving them encouragement and hope] and spoke [with kindness] to their hearts.
50:22:Death of Joseph
Now Joseph lived in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years.
50:23:Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children; also the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born and raised on Joseph’s knees.
50:24:Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up out of this land to the land which He promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob [to give you].”
50:25:Then Joseph made the sons of Israel (Jacob) swear [an oath], saying, “God will surely visit you and take care of you [returning you to Canaan], and [when that happens] you shall carry my bones up from here.”
50:26:So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
exodus:1:1:Israel Multiplies in Egypt
Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his household:
1:2:Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
1:3:Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
1:4:Dan and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
1:5:All the descendants of Jacob were seventy people; Joseph was [already] in Egypt.
1:6:Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation,
1:7:but the Israelites were prolific and increased greatly; they multiplied and became extremely strong, so that the land was filled with them.
1:8:Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph [nor the history of his accomplishments].
1:9:He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us [they greatly outnumber us].
1:10:Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they will not multiply and in the event of war, join our enemies, and fight against us and escape from the land.”
1:11:So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with hard labor. And the sons of Israel built Pithom and Raamses as storage cities for Pharaoh.
1:12:But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, so that the Egyptians dreaded and were exasperated by the Israelites.
1:13:And the Egyptians made the Israelites serve rigorously [forcing them into severe slavery].
1:14:They made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar, brick, and all kinds of field work. All their labor was harsh and severe.
1:15:Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah (beauty) and the other named Puah (splendor),
1:16:“When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”
1:17:But the midwives feared God [with profound reverence] and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded, but they let the boy babies live.
1:18:So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and allowed the boy babies to live?”
1:19:The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth quickly and their babies are born before the midwife can get to them.”
1:20:So God was good to the midwives, and the people [of Israel] multiplied and became very strong.
1:21:And because the midwives feared God [with profound reverence], He established families and households for them.
1:22:Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born [to the Hebrews] must be thrown into the Nile, but every daughter you shall keep alive.”
2:1:The Birth of Moses
Now a man of the house of Levi [the priestly tribe] went and took as his wife a daughter of Levi.
2:2:The woman conceived and gave birth to a son; and when she saw that he was [especially] beautiful and healthy, she hid him for three months [to protect him from the Egyptians].
2:3:When she could no longer hide him, she got him a basket (chest) made of papyrus reeds and covered it with tar and pitch [making it waterproof]. Then she put the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.
2:4:And his sister [Miriam] stood some distance away to find out what would happen to him.
2:5:Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, and [she, together with] her maidens walked along the river’s bank; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid [to get it], and she brought it to her.
2:6:When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. And she took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
2:7:Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a wet-nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”
2:8:And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go ahead.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother.
2:9:Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him.
2:10:And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
2:11:One day, after Moses had grown [into adulthood], it happened that he went to his countrymen and looked [with compassion] at their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his countrymen.
2:12:He turned to look around, and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
2:13:He went out the next day and saw two Hebrew men fighting with each other; and he said to the aggressor, “Why are you striking your friend?”
2:14:But the man said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Certainly this incident is known.”
2:15:Moses Escapes to Midian
When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he tried to kill Moses. Then Moses fled from Pharaoh’s presence and took refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well.
2:16:Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water [from the well where Moses was resting] and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
2:17:Then shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.
2:18:When they came to Reuel (Jethro) their father, he said, “How is it that you have come back so soon today?”
2:19:They said, “An Egyptian saved us from the shepherds. He even drew water [from the well] for us and watered the flock.”
2:20:Then he said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why have you left the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.”
2:21:Moses was willing to remain with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah [to be his wife].
2:22:She gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom (stranger); for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”
2:23:Now it happened after a long time [about forty years] that the king of Egypt died. And the children of Israel (Jacob) groaned and sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out. And their cry for help because of their bondage ascended to God.
2:24:So God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel).
2:25:God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice [of them] and was concerned about them [knowing all, understanding all, remembering all].
3:1:The Burning Bush
Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro (Reuel) his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God.
3:2:The Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing flame of fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was on fire, yet it was not consumed.
3:3:So Moses said, “I must turn away [from the flock] and see this great sight—why the bush is not burned up.”
3:4:When the Lord saw that he turned away [from the flock] to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
3:5:Then God said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet [out of respect], because the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
3:6:Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
3:7:The Lord said, “I have in fact seen the affliction (suffering, desolation) of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters (oppressors); for I know their pain and suffering.
3:8:So I have come down to rescue them from the hand (power) of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a land [that is] good and spacious, to a land flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty]—to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
3:9:Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me; and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
3:10:The Mission of Moses
Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and then bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
3:11:But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
3:12:And God said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve and worship God at this mountain.”
3:13:Then Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers (ancestors) has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”
3:14:God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am”; and He said, “You shall say this to the Israelites, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’”
3:15:Then God also said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Israel), has sent me to you.’ This is My Name forever, and this is My memorial [name] to all generations.
3:16:Go, gather the elders (tribal leaders) of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.
3:17:So I said I will bring you up out of the suffering and oppression of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
3:18:The elders [of the tribes] will listen and pay attention to what you say; and you, with the elders of Israel, shall go to the king of Egypt and you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; so now, please, [we ask and plead with you,] let us go on a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’
3:19:But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless [he is forced] by a strong hand.
3:20:So I will reach out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.
3:21:And I will grant this people favor and respect in the sight of the Egyptians; therefore, it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.
3:22:But every woman shall [insistently] ask her neighbor and any woman who lives in her house, for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and daughters. In this way you are to plunder the Egyptians [leaving bondage with great possessions that are rightfully yours].”
4:1:Moses Given Powers
Then Moses answered [the Lord] and said, “What if they will not believe me or take seriously what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
4:2:And the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.”
4:3:Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a [living] serpent [like the royal symbol on the crown of Pharaoh]; and Moses ran from it.
4:4:But the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and grasp it by the tail.” So he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—
4:5:[“You shall do this,” said the Lord,] “so that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has [most certainly] appeared to you.”
4:6:The Lord also said to him, “Put your hand into your robe [where it covers your chest].” So he put his hand into his robe, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.
4:7:Then God said, “Put your hand into your robe again.” So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he took it out, it was restored [and was] like the rest of his body.
4:8:“If they will not believe you or pay attention to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign.
4:9:But if they will not believe these two signs or pay attention to what you say, you are to take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take out of the river will turn into blood on the dry ground.”
4:10:Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I am not a man of words (eloquent, fluent), neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and tongue.”
4:11:The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, or the seeing or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
4:12:Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and will teach you what you shall say.”
4:13:But he said, “Please my Lord, send the message [of rescue to Israel] by [someone else,] whomever else You will [choose].”
4:14:Aaron to Speak for Moses
Then the anger of the Lord was kindled and burned against Moses; He said, “Is there not your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.
4:15:You must speak to him and put the words in his mouth; I, even I, will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do.
4:16:Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; he will act as a mouthpiece for you, and you will be as God to him [telling him what I say to you].
4:17:You shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs [the miracles which prove I sent you].”
4:18:Then Moses went away and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please, let me go back so that I may return to my relatives in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
4:19:Then the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life [for killing the Egyptian] are dead.”
4:20:So Moses took his wife [Zipporah] and his sons [Gershom and Eliezer] and seated them on donkeys, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the staff of God in his hand.
4:21:The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders (miracles) which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go.
4:22:Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My firstborn.
4:23:So I say to you, ‘Let My son go so that he may serve Me’; and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”
4:24:Now it happened at the lodging place, that the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him [making him deathly ill because he had not circumcised one of his sons].
4:25:Then Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and threw it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Indeed you are a husband of blood to me!”
4:26:So He let Moses alone [to recover]. At that time Zipporah said, “You are a husband of blood”—because of the circumcision.
4:27:The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God (Sinai) and kissed him.
4:28:Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do.
4:29:Then Moses and Aaron went [into Egypt] and assembled all the elders of the Israelites;
4:30:and Aaron said all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then Moses performed the signs [given to him by God] before the people.
4:31:So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the Israelites and that He had looked [with compassion] on their suffering, then they bowed their heads and worshiped [the Lord].
5:1:Israel’s Labor Increased
Afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go, so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”
5:2:But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”
5:3:Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go on a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God, so that He does not discipline us with pestilence or with the sword.”
5:4:But the king of Egypt said to Moses and Aaron, “Why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens!”
5:5:Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them stop their work!”
5:6:The very same day Pharaoh gave orders to the [Egyptian] taskmasters in charge of the people and their [Hebrew] foremen, saying,
5:7:“You will no longer give the people straw to make brick as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves.
5:8:But the number of bricks which they were making before, you shall [still] require of them; you are not to reduce it in the least. For they are idle and lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
5:9:Let labor be heavier on the men, and let them work [hard] at it so that they will pay no attention to [their God’s] lying words.”
5:10:Then the [Egyptian] taskmasters [in charge] of the people and their [Hebrew] foremen went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you any straw.
5:11:Go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work [quota] will not be reduced in the least.’”
5:12:So the people were scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw.
5:13:And the taskmasters pressured them, saying, “Finish your work, [fulfill] your daily quotas, just as when there was straw [given to you].”
5:14:And the Hebrew foremen, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your required quota of making bricks yesterday and today, as before?”
5:15:Then the Hebrew foremen came to Pharaoh and cried, “Why do you deal like this with your servants?
5:16:No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And look, your servants are being beaten, but it is the fault of your own people.”
5:17:But Pharaoh said, “You are lazy, very lazy and idle! That is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’
5:18:Get out now and get to work; for no straw will be given to you, yet you are to deliver the same quota of bricks.”
5:19:The Hebrew foremen saw that they were in a bad situation because they were told, “You must not reduce [in the least] your daily quota of bricks.”
5:20:When they left Pharaoh’s presence, the foremen met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them.
5:21:And the foremen said to them, “May the Lord look upon you and judge you, because you have made us odious (something hated) in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and you have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
5:22:Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have You brought harm and oppression to this people? Why did You ever send me? [I cannot understand Your purpose!]
5:23:Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has harmed and oppressed this people, and You have done nothing at all to rescue Your people.”
6:1:God Promises Action
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will [not only] let them go, but under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”
6:2:Then God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord.
6:3:I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob (Israel) as God Almighty [El Shaddai], but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them [in acts and great miracles].
6:4:I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as strangers (temporary residents, foreigners).
6:5:And I have also heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, whom the Egyptians have enslaved, and I have [faithfully] remembered My covenant [with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob].
6:6:Therefore, say to the children of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will free you from their bondage. I will redeem and rescue you with an outstretched (vigorous, powerful) arm and with great acts of judgment [against Egypt].
6:7:Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who redeemed you and brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
6:8:I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel); and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord [you have the promise of My changeless omnipotence and faithfulness].’”
6:9:Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their impatience and despondency, and because of their forced labor.
6:10:The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
6:11:“Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.”
6:12:But Moses said to the Lord, “Look, [my own people] the Israelites have not listened to me; so how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled and inept in speech?”
6:13:Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a command concerning the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
6:14:The Heads of Israel
These are the heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Reuben, Israel’s (Jacob’s) firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.
6:15:The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.
6:16:These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their births: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and Levi lived a hundred and thirty-seven years.
6:17:The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their families.
6:18:The sons of Kohath: Amram (Moses’ father), Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and Kohath lived a hundred and thirty-three years.
6:19:The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their generations.
6:20:Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she gave birth to Aaron and Moses; and Amram lived a hundred and thirty-seven years.
6:21:The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.
6:22:The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
6:23:Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she gave birth to Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
6:24:The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the [extended] families of the Korahites.
6:25:Eleazar, Aaron’s son, married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she gave birth to Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites by their families.
6:26:These are [the same] Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.”
6:27:They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt; these are [the same] Moses and Aaron.
6:28:Now it happened on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,
6:29:that He said, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything that I say to you.”
6:30:But Moses said before the Lord, “Look, I am unskilled and inept in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me and pay attention to what I say?”
7:1:“I Will Stretch Out My Hand”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now hear this: I make you as God to Pharaoh [to declare My will and purpose to him]; and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
7:2:You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go out of his land.
7:3:And I will make Pharaoh’s heart hard, and multiply My signs and My wonders (miracles) in the land of Egypt.
7:4:But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I shall lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My hosts [like a defensive army, tribe by tribe], My people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment (the plagues).
7:5:The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”
7:6:And Moses and Aaron did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did.
7:7:Now Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
7:8:Aaron’s Rod Becomes a Serpent
Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
7:9:“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Work a miracle [to prove your authority],’ then you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, so that it may become a serpent.’”
7:10:So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and did just as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
7:11:Then Pharaoh called for the wise men [skilled in magic and omens] and the sorcerers [skilled in witchcraft], and they also, these magicians (soothsayer-priests) of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts and enchantments.
7:12:For every man threw down his staff and they turned into serpents; but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
7:13:Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
7:14:Water Is Turned to Blood
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go.
7:15:Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and wait for him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent.
7:16:You shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.”
7:17:Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know and recognize and acknowledge that I am the Lord: look, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood.
7:18:The fish in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will not be able to drink water from the Nile.”’”
7:19:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, in containers both of wood and of stone.’”
7:20:So Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded; Aaron lifted up the staff and struck the waters in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned into blood.
7:21:The fish in the Nile died, and the river became foul smelling, and the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
7:22:But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts and enchantments; so Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
7:23:Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this [divine sign] to heart.
7:24:So all the Egyptians dug near the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the Nile.
7:25:Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.
8:1:Frogs over the Land
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.
8:2:However, if you refuse to let them go, hear this: I am going to strike your entire land with frogs.
8:3:The Nile will swarm with frogs, which will come up and go into your home, into your bedroom and on to your bed, and into the houses of your servants and on your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls.
8:4:So the frogs will come up on you and on your people and all your servants.”’”
8:5:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams and canals, over the pools [among the reeds], and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’”
8:6:So Aaron stretched out his hand [with his staff] over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
8:7:But the magicians (soothsayer-priests) did the same thing with their secret arts and enchantments, and brought up [more] frogs on the land of Egypt.
8:8:Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and my people; and I will let the people go, so that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”
8:9:And Moses said to Pharaoh, “I am entirely at your service: when shall I plead [with the Lord] for you and your servants and your people, so that the frogs may leave you and your houses and remain only in the Nile?”
8:10:Then Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” Moses replied, “May it be as you say, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that there is no one like the Lord our God.
8:11:The frogs will leave you and your houses and leave your servants and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.”
8:12:So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to the Lord [as he had agreed to do] concerning the frogs which God had inflicted on Pharaoh.
8:13:The Lord did as Moses asked, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards and villages, and out of the fields.
8:14:So they piled them up in heaps, and the land was detestable and stank.
8:15:But when Pharaoh saw that there was [temporary] relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen or pay attention to them, just as the Lord had said.
8:16:The Plagues of Gnats and Insects
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become [biting] gnats (lice) throughout the land of Egypt.’”
8:17:They did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were [biting] gnats on man and animal. All the dust of the land became gnats through all the land of Egypt.
8:18:The magicians (soothsayer-priests) tried by their secret arts and enchantments to create gnats, but they could not; and there were gnats on man and animal.
8:19:Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the [supernatural] finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
8:20:Now the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he is coming out to the water [of the Nile], and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.
8:21:For if you do not let My people go, hear this: I will send swarms of [bloodsucking] insects on you and on your servants and on your people and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of insects, as well as the ground on which they stand.
8:22:But on that day I will separate and set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of insects will be there, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that I, the Lord, am in the midst of the earth.
8:23:I will put a division (distinction) between My people and your people. By tomorrow this sign shall be in evidence.”’”
8:24:Then the Lord did so. And there came heavy and oppressive swarms of [bloodsucking] insects into the house of Pharaoh and his servants’ houses; in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted and ruined because of the [great invasion of] insects.
8:25:Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God [here] in the land [of Egypt].”
8:26:But Moses said, “It is not right [or even possible] to do that, for we will sacrifice to the Lord our God what is repulsive and unacceptable to the Egyptians [that is, animals that the Egyptians consider sacred]. If we sacrifice what is repulsive and unacceptable to the Egyptians, will they not riot and stone us?
8:27:We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He commands us.”
8:28:So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, so that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Plead [with your God] for me.”
8:29:Moses said, “I am going to leave you, and I will urgently petition (pray, entreat) the Lord that the swarms of insects may leave Pharaoh, his servants, and his people tomorrow; only do not let Pharaoh act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”
8:30:So Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord [on behalf of Pharaoh].
8:31:The Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of [bloodsucking] insects from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people; not one remained.
8:32:But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.
9:1:Egyptian Cattle Die
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.
9:2:But if you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them,
9:3:now hear this: the hand of the Lord will fall on your livestock which are out in the field, on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks—a horrible plague shall come.
9:4:But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing that belongs to the Israelites will die.”’”
9:5:The Lord set a [definite] time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”
9:6:And the Lord did this thing the next day, and all [kinds of] the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the Israelites, not one died.
9:7:Then Pharaoh sent [men to investigate], and not even one of the livestock of the Israelites had died. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened [and his mind was firmly set], and he did not let the people go.
9:8:The Plague of Boils
Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the brick kiln, and let Moses throw it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.
9:9:It will become fine dust over the entire land of Egypt, and it will become boils breaking out in sores on man and animal in all the land [occupied by the Egyptians].”
9:10:So they took soot from the kiln, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses threw it toward the sky, and it became boils erupting in sores on man and animal.
9:11:The magicians (soothsayer-priests) could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians.
9:12:But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen or pay attention to them, just as the Lord had told Moses.
9:13:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.
9:14:For this time I will send all My plagues on you [in full force,] and on your servants and on your people, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that there is no one like Me in all the earth.
9:15:For by now I could have put out My hand and struck you and your people with a pestilence, and you would then have been cut off (obliterated) from the earth.
9:16:But indeed for this very reason I have allowed you to live, in order to show you My power and in order that My name may be proclaimed throughout all the earth.
9:17:The Plague of Hail
Since you are still [arrogantly] exalting yourself [in defiance] against My people by not letting them go,
9:18:hear this: tomorrow about this time I will send a very heavy and dreadful hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.
9:19:Now therefore send [a message], bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. Every man and animal that is in the field and is not brought home shall be struck by the hail and shall die.”’”
9:20:Then everyone among the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses and shelters;
9:21:but everyone who ignored and did not take seriously the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.
9:22:Now the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand [with your staff] toward the sky, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and on animal and on all the vegetation of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”
9:23:Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning (fireballs) ran down to the earth and along the ground. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.
9:24:So there was hail, and lightning (fireballs) flashing intermittently in the midst of the extremely heavy hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
9:25:The hail struck down everything that was in the field throughout all the land of Egypt, both man and animal; the hail struck and beat down all the plants in the field and shattered every tree in the field.
9:26:Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel lived, was there no hail.
9:27:Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time; the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
9:28:Pray and entreat the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail; I will let you go, and you shall stay here no longer.”
9:29:Moses said to him, “As soon as I leave the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease and there will be no more hail, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that the earth is the Lord’s.
9:30:But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.”
9:31:(Now the flax and the barley were battered and ruined [by the hail], because the barley was in the ear (ripe, but soft) and the flax was in bud,
9:32:but the wheat and spelt (coarse wheat) were not battered and ruined, because they ripen late in the season.)
9:33:So Moses left the city and Pharaoh, and stretched out his hands to the Lord; then the thunder and hail ceased, and rain no longer poured on the earth.
9:34:But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, both he and his servants.
9:35:Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.
10:1:The Plague of Locusts
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants [making them determined and unresponsive], so that I may exhibit My signs [of divine power] among them,
10:2:and that you may recount and explain in the hearing of your son, and your grandson, what I have done [repeatedly] to make a mockery of the Egyptians—My signs [of divine power] which I have done among them—so that you may know [without any doubt] and recognize [clearly] that I am the Lord.”
10:3:So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.
10:4:For if you refuse to let My people go, then hear this: tomorrow I will bring [migratory] locusts into your country.
10:5:They shall cover the [visible] surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the ground, and they will eat the rest of what has remained—that is, the vegetation left after the hail—and they will eat every one of your trees that grows in the field;
10:6:your houses and those of all your servants and of all the Egyptians shall be filled with locusts, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from their birth until this day.’” Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.
10:7:Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a trap to us? Let the men go, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not realize that Egypt is destroyed?”
10:8:So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God! Who specifically are the ones that are going?”
10:9:Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds [all of us and all that we have], for we must hold a feast to the Lord.”
10:10:Pharaoh said to them, “The Lord be with you [to help you], if I ever let you go with your children [because you will never return]! Look [be forewarned], you have an evil plan in mind.
10:11:No! Go now, you who are men, [without your families] and serve the Lord, if that is what you want.” So Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.
10:12:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come up on the land of Egypt and eat all the plants of the land, all that the hail has left.”
10:13:So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; when it was morning, the east wind had brought the [swarms of] locusts.
10:14:The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in the whole territory, a very dreadful mass of them; never before were there such locusts as these, nor will there ever be again.
10:15:For they covered the [visible] surface of the land, so that the ground was darkened; and they ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained not a green thing on the trees or the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.
10:16:Then Pharaoh hurried to call for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you.
10:17:Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once [more], and pray and entreat the Lord your God, so that He will remove this [plague of] death from me.”
10:18:Moses left Pharaoh and entreated the Lord.
10:19:So the Lord shifted the wind to a violent west wind which lifted up the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not one locust remained within the border of Egypt.
10:20:But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart [so that it was even more resolved and obstinate], and he did not let the Israelites go.
10:21:Darkness over the Land
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, so that darkness may come over the land of Egypt, a darkness which [is so awful that it] may be felt.”
10:22:So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and for three days a thick darkness was all over the land of Egypt [no sun, no moon, no stars].
10:23:The Egyptians could not see one another, nor did anyone leave his place for three days, but all the Israelites had [supernatural] light in their dwellings.
10:24:Then Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve the Lord; only your flocks and your herds must be left behind. Even your children may go with you.”
10:25:But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, so that we may sacrifice them to the Lord our God.
10:26:Therefore, our livestock must also go with us; not one hoof shall be left behind, for we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God. Even we do not know with what we will serve the Lord until we arrive there.”
10:27:But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go.
10:28:Then Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get away from me! See that you never enter my presence again, for on the day that you see my face again you will die!”
10:29:Then Moses said, “You are correct; I will never see your face again!”
11:1:The Last Plague
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring yet one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go. When he lets you go, he will most certainly drive you out of here completely.
11:2:Speak so that all of the people [of Israel] may hear, and tell every man to ask from his neighbor, and every woman to ask from her neighbor, articles of silver, and articles of gold.”
11:3:The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, [both] in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.
11:4:Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘At midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt,
11:5:and all the firstborn in the land [the pride, hope, and joy] of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the hand-mill, and all the firstborn of cattle as well.
11:6:There shall be a great cry [of heartache and sorrow] throughout the land of Egypt, such as has never been before and such as shall never be again.
11:7:But not even a dog will threaten any of the Israelites, whether man or animal, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge how the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’
11:8:All these servants of yours will come down to me and bow down before me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ After that I will leave.” And he left Pharaoh in the heat of anger.
11:9:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders (miracles) may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
11:10:Moses and Aaron did all these wonders (miracles) before Pharaoh; yet the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the Israelites go out of his land.
12:1:The Passover Lamb
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
12:2:“This month shall be the beginning of months to you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.
12:3:Tell all the congregation of Israel, ‘On the tenth [day] of this month they are to take a lamb or young goat for themselves, according to [the size of] the household of which he is the father, a lamb or young goat for each household.
12:4:Now if the household is too small for a lamb [to be consumed], let him and his next door neighbor take one according to the number of people [in the households]; according to what each man can eat, you are to divide the lamb.
12:5:Your lamb or young goat shall be [perfect] without blemish or bodily defect, a male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
12:6:You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight.
12:7:Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel [above the door] of the houses in which they eat it.
12:8:They shall eat the meat that same night, roasted in fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
12:9:Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted in fire—both its head and its legs, along with its inner parts.
12:10:You shall let none of the meat remain until the morning, and anything that remains left over until morning, you shall burn completely in the fire.
12:11:Now you are to eat it in this manner: [be prepared for a journey] with your loins girded [that is, with the outer garment tucked into the band], your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; you shall eat it quickly—it is the Lord’s Passover.
12:12:For I [the Lord] will pass through the land of Egypt on this night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal; against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments [exhibiting their worthlessness]. I am the Lord.
12:13:The blood shall be a sign for you on [the doorposts of] the houses where you live; when I see the blood I shall pass over you, and no affliction shall happen to you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
12:14:Feast of Unleavened Bread
‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as an ordinance forever.
12:15:[In the celebration of the Passover in future years,] seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove the leaven from your houses [because it represents the spread of sin]; for whoever eats leavened bread on the first day through the seventh day, that person shall be cut off and excluded from [the atonement made for] Israel.
12:16:On the first day [of the feast] you shall have a holy and solemn assembly, and on the seventh day there shall be another holy and solemn assembly; no work of any kind shall be done on those days, except for the preparation of food which every person must eat—only that may be done by you.
12:17:You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your hosts [grouped according to tribal armies] out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an ordinance forever.
12:18:In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, [and continue] until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
12:19:Seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses; whoever eats what is leavened shall be cut off and excluded from [the atonement made for] the congregation of Israel, whether a stranger or native-born.
12:20:You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”
12:21:Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take a lamb for yourselves according to [the size of] your families and slaughter the Passover lamb.
12:22:You shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and touch some of the blood to the lintel [above the doorway] and to the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.
12:23:A Memorial of Redemption
For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel [above the entry way] and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to slay you.
12:24:You shall observe this event [concerning Passover] as an ordinance for you and for your children forever.
12:25:When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall keep and observe this service.
12:26:When your children say to you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’
12:27:you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians, but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed [their heads] low and worshiped [God].
12:28:Then the Israelites went and did [as they had been told]: just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
12:29:Now it happened at midnight that the Lord struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the cattle.
12:30:Pharaoh got up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry [of heartache and sorrow] in Egypt, for there was no house where there was not someone dead.
12:31:Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Get up, get out from among my people, both you and the Israelites; and go, serve the Lord, as you said.
12:32:Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and [ask your God to] bless me also.”
12:33:Exodus of Israel
The Egyptians [anxiously] urged the people [to leave], to send them out of the land quickly, for they said, “We will all be dead.”
12:34:So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.
12:35:Now the Israelites had acted in accordance with the word of Moses; and they had asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing.
12:36:The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they gave them what they asked. And so they plundered the Egyptians [of those things].
12:37:Now the Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides [the women and] the children.
12:38:A mixed multitude [of non-Israelites from foreign nations] also went with them, along with both flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.
12:39:And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought from Egypt; it was not leavened, since they were driven [quickly] from Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any food for themselves.
12:40:Now the period of time the children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.
12:41:At the end of the four hundred and thirty years, to that very day, all the hosts of the Lord [gathered into tribal armies] left the land of Egypt.
12:42:Ordinance of the Passover
It is a night of watching to be observed for the Lord for having brought them out of the land of Egypt; this [same] night is for the Lord, to be observed and celebrated by all the Israelites throughout their generations.
12:43:The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat it;
12:44:but every man’s slave who is bought with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat it.
12:45:No stranger (temporary resident, foreigner) or hired servant shall eat it.
12:46:It is to be eaten inside one house; you shall not take any of the meat outside the house, nor shall you break any of its bones.
12:47:The entire congregation of Israel shall keep and celebrate it.
12:48:If a stranger living temporarily among you wishes to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, all his males must be circumcised, and then he may participate and celebrate it like one that is born in the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat it.
12:49:The same law shall apply to the native-born and to the stranger who lives temporarily among you.”
12:50:Then all the Israelites did so; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
12:51:And on that very same day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their hosts (tribal armies).
13:1:Consecration of the Firstborn
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
13:2:“Sanctify to Me [that is, set apart for My purpose] every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal; it is Mine.”
13:3:Moses said to the people, “Remember [solemnly observe and commemorate] this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage and slavery; for by a strong and powerful hand the Lord brought you out of this place. And nothing leavened shall be eaten.
13:4:On this day in the month Abib, you are about to go onward.
13:5:And it shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land [of abundance] flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep and observe this rite (service) in this month.
13:6:For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord.
13:7:Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, nor shall there be leaven within the borders of your territory.
13:8:You shall explain this to your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
13:9:It shall serve as a sign to you on your hand (arm), and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the instruction (law) of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a strong and powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.
13:10:Therefore, you shall keep this ordinance at this time from year to year.
13:11:“Now it shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you,
13:12:you shall set apart and dedicate to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock shall be the Lord’s.
13:13:Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem by [substituting] a lamb [as a sacrifice for it], but if you do not [wish to] redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn among your sons you shall redeem [that is, “buy back” from God with a suitable sacrifice].
13:14:And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘With a strong and powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage and slavery.
13:15:For it happened, when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, that the Lord struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animal. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord all the males, the first [to be born] of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’
13:16:So it shall serve as a sign and a reminder on your [left] hand (arm) and as frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong and powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
13:17:God Leads the People
So it happened, when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearer; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war [that is, that there will be war], and return to Egypt.”
13:18:But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea; the sons of Israel went up in battle array (orderly ranks, marching formation) out of the land of Egypt.
13:19:Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had solemnly ordered (placed under an oath) the Israelites, saying, “God will assuredly take care of you, and you must carry my bones away from here with you.”
13:20:They journeyed from Succoth [in Goshen] and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.
13:21:The [presence of the] Lord was going before them by day in a pillar (column) of cloud to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, so that they could travel by day and by night.
13:22:He did not withdraw the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from going before the people.
14:1:Pharaoh in Pursuit
Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
14:2:“Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea.
14:3:For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’
14:4:I will harden (make stubborn, defiant) Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will be glorified and honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians shall know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
14:5:When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this that we have done? We have let Israel go from serving us!”
14:6:So Pharaoh harnessed horses to his war-chariots [for battle] and took his army with him;
14:7:and he took six hundred chosen war-chariots, and all the other war-chariots of Egypt with fighting charioteers over all of them.
14:8:The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, as they were leaving confidently and defiantly.
14:9:The Egyptians chased them with all the horses and war-chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them as they camped by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
14:10:As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were very frightened; so the Israelites cried out to the Lord.
14:11:Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What is this that you have done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
14:12:Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians?’ For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians [as slaves] than to die in the wilderness.”
14:13:The Sea Is Divided
Then Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid! Take your stand [be firm and confident and undismayed] and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for those Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see again.
14:14:The Lord will fight for you while you [only need to] keep silent and remain calm.”
14:15:The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to move forward [toward the sea].
14:16:As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the sons of Israel may go through the middle of the sea on dry land.
14:17:As for Me, hear this: I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will go in [the sea] after them; and I will be glorified and honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and his war-chariots and his horsemen.
14:18:And the Egyptians shall know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that I am the Lord, when I am glorified and honored through Pharaoh, through his war-chariots and his charioteers.”
14:19:The angel of God, who had been going in front of the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them. The pillar of the cloud moved from in front and stood behind them.
14:20:So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. It was a cloud along with darkness [even by day to the Egyptians], but it gave light by night [to the Israelites]; so one [army] did not come near the other all night.
14:21:Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all that night and turned the seabed into dry land, and the waters were divided.
14:22:The Israelites went into the middle of the sea on dry land, and the waters formed a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
14:23:Then the Egyptians pursued them into the middle of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his war-chariots and his charioteers.
14:24:So it happened at the early morning watch [before dawn], that the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and put them in a state of confusion.
14:25:He made their chariot wheels hard to turn, and the chariots difficult to drive; so the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”
14:26:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, on their war-chariots and their charioteers.”
14:27:So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal flow at sunrise; and the Egyptians retreated right into it [being met by the returning water]; so the Lord overthrew the Egyptians and tossed them into the midst of the sea.
14:28:The waters returned and covered the chariots and the charioteers, and all the army of Pharaoh that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them survived.
14:29:But the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters formed a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
14:30:The Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians [lying] dead on the seashore.
14:31:When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, they feared the Lord [with reverence and awe-filled respect], and they believed in the Lord, and in His servant Moses.
15:1:The Song of Moses and Israel
Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, singing,
“I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously;
The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea.
15:2:“The Lord is my strength and my song,
And He has become my salvation;
This is my God, and I will praise Him;
My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
15:3:“The Lord is a warrior;
The Lord is His name.
15:4:“Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has thrown into the sea;
His chosen captains are drowned in the Red Sea.
15:5:“The deep [water] covers them;
[Clad in armor] they sank into the depths like a stone.
15:6:“Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power;
Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
15:7:“In the greatness of Your majesty You overthrow and annihilate those [adversaries] who rise [in rebellion] against You;
You send out Your fury, and it consumes them like chaff.
15:8:“With the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up,
The flowing waters stood up like a mound;
The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.
15:9:“The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil;
My desire shall be satisfied against them;
I will draw my sword, my hand shall dispossess them and drive them out.’
15:10:“You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them;
[Clad in armor] they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
15:11:“Who is like You among the gods, O Lord?
Who is like You, majestic in holiness,
Awesome in splendor, working wonders?
15:12:“You stretched out Your right hand,
The sea swallowed them.
15:13:“You in Your lovingkindness and goodness have led the people whom You have redeemed;
In Your strength You have guided them with care to Your holy habitation.
15:14:“The peoples have heard [about You], they tremble;
Anguish and fear has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia.
15:15:“Then the [tribal] chiefs of Edom were dismayed and horrified;
The [mighty] leaders of Moab, trembling grips them;
All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away [in despair]—
15:16:Terror and dread fall on them;
Because of the greatness of Your arm they are as still as a stone;
Until Your people pass by and [into Canaan], O Lord,
Until the people pass by whom You have purchased.
15:17:“You will bring them [into the land of promise] and plant them on the mountain (Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem) of Your inheritance,
The place, O Lord, You have made for Your dwelling [among them],
The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.
15:18:“The Lord shall reign to eternity and beyond.”
15:19:For the horses of Pharaoh went with his war-chariots and his charioteers into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them, but the sons of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.
15:20:Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron [and Moses], took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her with timbrels and dancing.
15:21:Miriam answered them,
“Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously and is highly exalted;
The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.”
15:22:The Lord Provides Water
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went into the Wilderness of Shur; they went [a distance of] three days (about thirty-three miles) in the wilderness and found no water.
15:23:Then they came to Marah, but they could not drink its waters because they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah (bitter).
15:24:The people [grew discontented and] grumbled at Moses, saying, “What are we going to drink?”
15:25:Then he cried to the Lord [for help], and the Lord showed him a tree, [a branch of] which he threw into the waters, and the waters became sweet.
There the Lord made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them,
15:26:saying, “If you will diligently listen and pay attention to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and listen to His commandments, and keep [foremost in your thoughts and actively obey] all His precepts and statutes, then I will not put on you any of the diseases which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”
15:27:Then the children of Israel came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters.
16:1:The Lord Provides Manna
They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they left the land of Egypt.
16:2:The whole congregation of the Israelites [grew discontented and] murmured and rebelled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,
16:3:and the Israelites said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger.”
16:4:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will cause bread to rain from heaven for you; the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may test them [to determine] whether or not they will walk [obediently] in My instruction (law).
16:5:And it shall be that on the sixth day, they shall prepare to bring in twice as much as they gather daily [so that they will not need to gather on the seventh day].”
16:6:So Moses and Aaron said to all Israel, “At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt,
16:7:and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your murmurings against the Lord. What are we, that you murmur and rebel against us?”
16:8:The Lord Provides Meat
Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning [enough] bread to be fully satisfied, because the Lord has heard your murmurings against Him; for what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.”
16:9:Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of Israel, ‘Approach the Lord, because He has heard your murmurings.’”
16:10:So it happened that as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared in the cloud!
16:11:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
16:12:“I have heard the murmurings of the Israelites; speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”
16:13:So in the evening the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a blanket of dew around the camp.
16:14:When the layer of dew evaporated, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine, flake-like thing, as fine as frost on the ground.
16:15:When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.
16:16:This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather as much of it as he needs. Take an omer for each person, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’”
16:17:The Israelites did so, and some gathered much [of it] and some [only a] little.
16:18:When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered a large amount had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered according to his need (family size).
16:19:Moses said, “Let none of it be left [overnight] until [the next] morning.”
16:20:But they did not listen to Moses, and some left a supply of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul and rotten; and Moses was angry with them.
16:21:So they gathered it every morning, each as much as he needed, because when the sun was hot it melted.
16:22:The Sabbath Observed
Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each person; and all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses.
16:23:He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord’; bake and boil what you will bake and boil [today], and all that remains left over put aside for yourselves to keep until morning.”
16:24:They put it aside until morning, as Moses told them, and it did not become foul nor was it wormy.
16:25:Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field.
16:26:Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none [in the field].”
16:27:Now on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
16:28:Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you [people] refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions (laws)?
16:29:See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you the bread for two days on the sixth day. Let every man stay in his place; no man is to leave his place on the seventh day.”
16:30:So the people rested on the seventh day.
16:31:The house of Israel called the bread manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and it tasted like flat pastry (wafers) made with honey.
16:32:Then Moses said, “This is the word which the Lord commands, ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
16:33:So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.”
16:34:As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron [eventually] placed it in the presence of the Testimony, to be kept.
16:35:The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they reached an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
16:36:(Now an omer is the tenth of an ephah.)
17:1:Water in the Rock
Then all the congregation of the children of Israel moved on from the Wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.
17:2:Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water so we may [have something to] drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you tempt the Lord and try His patience?”
17:3:But the people were thirsty for water; and the people murmured against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
17:4:So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
17:5:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
17:6:Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; there you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may [have something to] drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
17:7:He named the place [where this miracle occurred] Massah (test) and Meribah (contention) because of the quarreling of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the [patience of the] Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”
17:8:Amalek Fought
Then Amalek [and his people] came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.
17:9:So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek [and his people]. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”
17:10:So Joshua did as Moses said, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the hilltop.
17:11:Now when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he lowered his hand [due to fatigue], Amalek prevailed.
17:12:But Moses’ hands were heavy and he grew tired. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other side; so it was that his hands were steady until the sun set.
17:13:So Joshua overwhelmed and defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
17:14:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this in the book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek [and his people] from under heaven.”
17:15:And Moses built an altar and named it The Lord Is My Banner;
17:16:saying, “The Lord has sworn [an oath]; the Lord will have war against [the people of] Amalek from generation to generation.”
18:1:Jethro, Moses’ Father-in-law
Now Jethro (Reuel), the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.
18:2:Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife Zipporah, after he had sent her away [from Egypt],
18:3:along with her two sons, of whom one was named Gershom (stranger), for Moses said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”
18:4:The other [son] was named Eliezer (my God is help), for Moses said, “The God of my father was my help, and He rescued me from the sword of Pharaoh.”
18:5:Then Jethro, his father-in-law, came with Moses’ sons and his wife to [join] Moses in the wilderness where he was camped, at the mountain of God [that is, Mt. Sinai in Horeb].
18:6:He sent a message to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons [who are] with her.”
18:7:So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down [in respect] and kissed him. They asked each other about their well-being and went into the tent.
18:8:Moses told his father-in-law about all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and about all the hardship that had happened during the journey, and how the Lord had rescued them.
18:9:Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the Lord had done to Israel, in that He had rescued them from the hand of the Egyptians.
18:10:Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who has rescued the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
18:11:Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods; indeed, it was proven when they acted insolently toward Israel [and the Lord showed Himself infinitely superior to all their gods].”
18:12:Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and [other] sacrifices [to offer] to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
18:13:Now the next day Moses sat to judge [the disputes] the people [had with one another], and the people stood around Moses from dawn to dusk.
18:14:When Moses’ father-in-law saw everything that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why are you sitting alone [as a judge] with all the people standing around you from dawn to dusk?”
18:15:Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to ask [about the will] of God.
18:16:When they have a dispute they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”
18:17:Jethro Counsels Moses
Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good.
18:18:You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you [to bear]; you cannot do it alone.
18:19:Now listen to me; I will advise you, and may God be with you [to confirm my advice]. You shall represent the people before God. You shall bring their disputes and causes to Him.
18:20:You shall teach them the decrees and laws. You shall show them the way they are to live and the work they are to do.
18:21:Furthermore, you shall select from all the people competent men who [reverently] fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; you shall place these over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.
18:22:They shall judge the people at all times; have them bring every major dispute to you, but let them judge every minor dispute themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.
18:23:If you will do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure [the responsibility], and all these people will also go [back] to their tents in peace.”
18:24:So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything that he had said.
18:25:Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens [from the highest to the lowest judicial levels].
18:26:And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but every minor dispute they judged and decided themselves.
18:27:Then Moses said goodbye to his father-in-law, and Jethro went back to his own land (Midian).
19:1:Moses on Sinai
In the third month after the children of Israel had left the land of Egypt, the very same day, they came into the Wilderness of Sinai.
19:2:When they moved out from Rephidim, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai and they camped there; Israel camped at the base of the mountain [of Sinai].
19:3:Moses went up to God [on the mountain], and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Say this to the house of Jacob and tell the Israelites:
19:4:‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.
19:5:Now therefore, if you will in fact obey My voice and keep My covenant (agreement), then you shall be My own special possession and treasure from among all peoples [of the world], for all the earth is Mine;
19:6:and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation [set apart for My purpose].’ These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”
19:7:So Moses called for the elders of the people, and told them all these words which the Lord commanded him.
19:8:All the people answered together and said, “We will do everything that the Lord has spoken.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.
19:9:The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may believe and trust in you forever.” Then Moses repeated the words of the people to the Lord.
19:10:The Lord also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow [that is, prepare them for My sacred purpose], and have them wash their clothes
19:11:and be ready by the third day, because on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai [in the cloud] in the sight of all the people.
19:12:You shall set barriers for the people all around [the mountain], saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch its border; whoever touches the mountain must be put to death.
19:13:No hand shall touch him [that is, no one shall try to save the guilty party], but the offender must be stoned or shot through [with arrows]; whether man or animal [that touches the mountain], he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”
19:14:So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified them [for God’s sacred purpose], and they washed their clothes.
19:15:He said to the people, “Be prepared for the third day; do not be intimate with a woman.”
19:16:So it happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and flashes of lightning, and a thick cloud was on the mountain, and a very loud blast was sounded on a ram’s horn, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
19:17:Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood and presented themselves at the foot of the mountain.
19:18:The Lord Visits Sinai
Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.
19:19:And it happened, as the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with [a voice of] thunder.
19:20:The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up.
19:21:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through [the barriers around the mountain] to the Lord to see [Me], and many of them perish [as a result].
19:22:Also have the priests who approach the Lord consecrate (sanctify, set apart) themselves [for My sacred purpose], or else the Lord will break forth [in judgment] against them [and destroy them].”
19:23:Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, because You warned us, saying, ‘Set barriers around the mountain and consecrate it.’”
19:24:Then the Lord said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through [the barriers] to come up to the Lord, or He will break forth [in judgment] against them [and destroy them].”
19:25:So Moses went down to the people and told them [again about God’s warning].
20:1:The Ten Commandments
Then God spoke all these words:
20:2:“I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
20:3:“You shall have no other gods before Me.
20:4:“You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to worship].
20:5:You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
20:6:but showing graciousness and steadfast lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
20:7:“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the Lord will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].
20:8:“Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God).
20:9:Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
20:10:but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates.
20:11:For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].
20:12:“Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land the Lord your God gives you.
20:13:“You shall not commit murder (unjustified, deliberate homicide).
20:14:“You shall not commit adultery.
20:15:“You shall not steal [secretly, openly, fraudulently, or through carelessness].
20:16:“You shall not testify falsely [that is, lie, withhold, or manipulate the truth] against your neighbor (any person).
20:17:“You shall not covet [that is, selfishly desire and attempt to acquire] your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
20:18:Now all the people witnessed the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the smoking mountain; and as they looked, the people were afraid, and they trembled [and moved backward] and stood at a [safe] distance.
20:19:Then they said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us or we will die.”
20:20:Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him [that is, a profound reverence for Him] will remain with you, so that you do not sin.”
20:21:So the people stood at a [safe] distance, but Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.
20:22:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven.
20:23:You shall not make other gods [to worship] besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make [these lifeless idols] for yourselves.
20:24:You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause My Name to be recorded and remembered [through revelation of My divine nature] I will come to you and bless you.
20:25:If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you use a chisel on it, you will profane it.
20:26:Nor shall you go up to My altar on steps, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’
21:1:Ordinances for the People
“Now these are the ordinances (laws) which you shall set before the Israelites:
21:2:“If you purchase a Hebrew servant [because of his debt or poverty], he shall serve six years, and in the seventh [year] he shall leave as a free man, paying nothing.
21:3:If he came [to you] alone, he shall leave alone; if he came married, then his wife shall leave with him.
21:4:If his master gives him a wife, and she gives birth to sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall leave [your service] alone.
21:5:But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not leave as a free man,’
21:6:then his master shall bring him to God [that is, to the judges who act in God’s name], then he shall bring him to the door or doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl (strong needle); and he shall serve him for life.
21:7:“If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go free [after six years] as male servants do.
21:8:If she does not please her master who has chosen her for himself [as a wife], he shall let her be redeemed [by her family]. He does not have the authority to sell her to a foreign people, because he has been unfair to her.
21:9:If her master chooses her [as a wife] for his son, he shall act toward her as if she were legally his daughter.
21:10:If her master marries another wife, he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her privilege as a wife.
21:11:If he does not do these three things for her, then shall she leave free, without payment of money.
21:12:Personal Injuries
“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies must be put to death.
21:13:However, if he did not lie in wait [for him], but God allowed him to fall into his hand, then I will establish for you a place to which he may escape [for protection until duly tried].
21:14:But if a man acts intentionally against another and kills him by [design through] treachery, you are to take him from My altar [to which he may have fled for protection], so that he may be put to death.
21:15:“Whoever strikes his father or his mother must be put to death.
21:16:“Whoever kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or is found with him in his possession, must be put to death.
21:17:“Whoever curses his father or his mother or treats them contemptuously must be put to death.
21:18:“If men quarrel and one strikes another with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to bed,
21:19:if he gets up and walks around leaning on his cane, then the one who struck him shall be left [physically] unpunished; he must only pay for his loss of time [at work], and the costs [of treatment and recuperation] until he is thoroughly healed.
21:20:“If a man strikes his male or his female servant with a staff and the servant dies at his hand, he must be punished.
21:21:If, however, the servant survives for a day or two, the offender shall not be punished, for the [injured] servant is his own property.
21:22:“If men fight with each other and injure a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely [and the baby lives], yet there is no further injury, the one who hurt her must be punished with a fine [paid] to the woman’s husband, as much as the judges decide.
21:23:But if there is any further injury, then you shall require [as a penalty] life for life,
21:24:eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
21:25:burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
21:26:“If a man hits the eye of his male servant or female servant and it is destroyed, he must let the servant go free because of [the loss of] the eye.
21:27:And if he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or female servant, he must let the servant go free because of [the loss of] the tooth.
21:28:“If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned and its meat shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be cleared [of responsibility].
21:29:But if the ox has tried to gore on a previous occasion, and its owner has been warned, but has not kept it confined and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner shall be put to death as well.
21:30:If a ransom is demanded of him [in return for his life], then he shall give whatever is demanded for the redemption of his life.
21:31:If the ox has gored another’s son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule.
21:32:If the ox gores a male or a female servant, the owner shall give to the servant’s master thirty shekels of silver [the purchase price for a slave], and the ox shall be stoned.
21:33:“If a man leaves a pit open, or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
21:34:the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to the animal’s owner, but the dead [animal] shall be his.
21:35:“If one man’s ox injures another’s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the proceeds equally; they shall also divide the dead ox [between them].
21:36:Or if it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, and its owner has not kept it confined, he must make restitution of ox for ox, and the dead [animal] shall be his.
22:1:Property Rights
“If a man steals an ox or sheep and kills or sells it, he shall make restitution of five oxen for an ox or four sheep for a sheep.
22:2:“If a thief is caught breaking in [after dark] and is struck [by the owner] so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him.
22:3:But if the sun has risen, there will be bloodguilt for him. The thief [if he lives] must make [full] restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold [as a slave to make restitution] for his theft.
22:4:If the animal that he stole is found alive in his possession, whether it is ox or donkey or sheep, he shall pay double [for it].
22:5:“If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed bare or lets his livestock loose so that it grazes in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.
22:6:“If fire breaks out and spreads to thorn bushes so that the stacked grain or standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.
22:7:“If a man gives his neighbor money or [other] goods to keep [for him while he is away] and it is stolen from the neighbor’s house, then, if the thief is caught, he shall pay double [for it].
22:8:If the thief is not caught, the owner of the house shall appear before the judges [who act in God’s name], to determine whether or not he had stolen his neighbor’s goods.
22:9:For every offense involving property, whether it concerns ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or any piece of lost property, which another identifies as his, the case of both parties shall come before the judges [who act in God’s name]. Whomever the judges pronounce guilty shall pay double to his neighbor.
22:10:“If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any [other] animal to keep [for him], and it dies or is injured or taken away while no one is looking,
22:11:then an oath before the Lord shall be made by the two of them that he has not taken his neighbor’s property; and the owner of it shall accept his word and not require him to make restitution.
22:12:But if it is actually stolen from him [when in his care], he shall make restitution to its owner.
22:13:If it is torn to pieces [by some predator or by accident], let him bring the mangled carcass as evidence; he shall not make restitution for what was torn to pieces.
22:14:“And if a man borrows an animal from his neighbor, and it gets injured or dies while its owner is not with it, the borrower shall make full restitution.
22:15:But if the owner is with it [when the damage is done], the borrower shall not make restitution. If it was hired, the damage is included in [the price of] its fee.
22:16:Various Laws
“If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he must pay a dowry (marriage price) for her to be his wife.
22:17:If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must [still] pay money equivalent to the dowry of virgins.
22:18:“You shall not allow a woman who practices sorcery to live.
22:19:“Whoever lies with an animal must be put to death.
22:20:“He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the Lord alone, shall be put under a ban (designated) for destruction (execution).
22:21:“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22:22:You shall not harm or oppress any widow or fatherless child.
22:23:If you harm or oppress them in any way, and they cry at all to Me [for help], I will most certainly hear their cry;
22:24:and My wrath shall be kindled and burn; I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
22:25:“If you lend money to any one of My people with you who is poor, you shall not act as a creditor (professional moneylender) to him; you shall not charge him interest.
22:26:If you ever take your [poor] neighbor’s robe in pledge, you must return it to him before sunset,
22:27:for that is his only covering; it is his clothing for his body. In what shall he sleep? And when he cries to Me [for help], I will hear him, for I am compassionate and gracious.
22:28:“You shall not curse God, nor curse the ruler of your people [since he administers God’s law].
22:29:“You shall not delay the offering from your harvest and your vintage. You shall give (consecrate, dedicate) to Me the firstborn of your sons.
22:30:You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother for seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it [as an offering] to Me.
22:31:“You shall be holy men to Me; therefore you shall not eat meat [from any animal] that has been torn to pieces [by predators] in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.
23:1:Various Laws
“You shall not give a false report; you shall not join hands with the wicked to be a malicious witness [promoting wrong and violence].
23:2:You shall not follow a crowd to do [something] evil, nor shall you testify at a trial or in a dispute so as to side with a crowd in order to pervert justice;
23:3:nor shall you favor or be partial to a poor man in his dispute [simply because he is poor].
23:4:“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering off, you must bring it back to him.
23:5:If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave the man to deal with it [alone]; you must help him release the animal [from its burden].
23:6:“You shall not pervert (bend) the justice due to your poor in his dispute.
23:7:Keep far away from a false charge or action, and do not condemn to death the innocent or the righteous, for I will not justify and acquit the guilty.
23:8:“You shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the testimony and the cause of the righteous.
23:9:“You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the soul [the feelings, thoughts, and concerns] of a stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt.
23:10:The Sabbath and Land
“You shall sow your land six years and harvest its yield,
23:11:but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat [what the land grows naturally]; whatever they leave the animals of the field may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.
23:12:“Six days [each week] you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall stop [working] so that your ox and your donkey may settle down and rest, and the son of your female servant, as well as your stranger, may be refreshed.
23:13:Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; do not mention the name of other gods [either in a blessing or in a curse]; do not let such speech be heard [coming] from your mouth.
23:14:Three National Feasts
“Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast [dedicated] to Me.
23:15:You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed [but you shall bring sacrificial offerings].
23:16:Also [you shall observe] the Feast of Harvest (Weeks, Pentecost, or First Fruits), acknowledging the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. And [third] the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the end of the year when you gather in [the fruit of] your labors from the field.
23:17:Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.
23:18:“You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; and the fat of My feast is not to be left overnight until morning.
23:19:“You shall bring the choice first fruits of your ground into the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
23:20:Conquest of the Land
“Behold, I am going to send an Angel before you to keep and guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
23:21:Be on your guard before Him, listen to and obey His voice; do not be rebellious toward Him or provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgression, since My Name (authority) is in Him.
23:22:But if you will indeed listen to and truly obey His voice and do everything that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
23:23:When My Angel goes before you and brings you to [the land of] the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, I will reject them and completely destroy them.
23:24:You shall not bow down to worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do [anything] in accordance with their practices. You shall completely overthrow them and break down their [sacred] pillars and images [of pagan worship].
23:25:You shall serve [only] the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread and water. I will also remove sickness from among you.
23:26:No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
23:27:I will send My terror ahead of you, and I will throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you [in flight].
23:28:I will send hornets ahead of you which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.
23:29:I will not drive them out before you in a single year, so that the land does not become desolate [due to lack of attention] and the [wild] animals of the field do not become too numerous for you.
23:30:I will drive them out before you little by little, until you have increased and are strong enough to take possession of the land.
23:31:I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines (the Mediterranean), and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will hand over the residents of the land to you, and you shall drive them out before you.
23:32:You shall not make a covenant with them or with their gods.
23:33:They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it is certain to be a trap for you [resulting in judgment].”
24:1:People Affirm Their Covenant with God
Then God said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu (Aaron’s older sons), and seventy of Israel’s elders, and you shall worship at a [safe] distance.
24:2:Moses alone shall approach the Lord, but the others shall not come near, nor shall the people come up with him.”
24:3:Then Moses came and told the people everything that the Lord had said and all the ordinances. And all the people answered with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”
24:4:Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he got up early in the morning, and built an altar [for worship] at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars (memorial stones) representing the twelve tribes of Israel.
24:5:Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord.
24:6:Moses took half of the blood and put it in large basins, and [the other] half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
24:7:Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people; and they said, “Everything that the Lord has said we will do, and we will be obedient.”
24:8:So Moses took the blood [which had been placed in the large basins] and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
24:9:Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up [the mountainside],
24:10:and they saw [a manifestation of] the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, just as clear as the sky itself.
24:11:Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the Israelites; and they saw [the manifestation of the presence of] God, and ate and drank.
24:12:Now the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandments which I have written for their instruction.”
24:13:So Moses arose with Joshua his attendant, and he went up to the mountain of God.
24:14:And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Remember that Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, let him go to them.”
24:15:Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
24:16:The glory and brilliance of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day God called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.
24:17:In the sight of the Israelites the appearance of the glory and brilliance of the Lord was like consuming fire on the top of the mountain.
24:18:Moses entered the midst of the cloud and went up the mountain; and he was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
25:1:Offerings for the Sanctuary
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
25:2:“Tell the children of Israel to take an offering for Me. From every man whose heart moves him [to give willingly] you shall take My offering.
25:3:This is the offering you are to receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze,
25:4:blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, fine twisted linen, goats’ hair,
25:5:rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood,
25:6:[olive] oil for lighting, balsam for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense,
25:7:onyx stones and setting stones for the [priest’s] ephod and for the breastpiece.
25:8:Have them build a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.
25:9:You shall construct it in accordance with everything that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture.
25:10:Ark of the Covenant
“They shall make an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.
25:11:You shall overlay the ark with pure gold, overlay it inside and out, and you shall make a gold border (frame) around its top.
25:12:You shall cast four gold rings for it and attach them to the four feet, two rings on either side.
25:13:You shall make [carrying] poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold,
25:14:and put the poles through the rings on the sides of the ark, by which to carry it.
25:15:The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it [so that the ark itself need not be touched].
25:16:You shall put into the ark the Testimony (Ten Commandments) which I will give you.
25:17:“You shall make a mercy seat (cover) of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.
25:18:You shall make two cherubim (winged angelic figures) of [solid] hammered gold at the two ends of the mercy seat.
25:19:Make one cherub at each end, making the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends.
25:20:The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing each other. The faces of the cherubim are to be looking downward toward the mercy seat.
25:21:You shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony which I will give you.
25:22:There I will meet with you; from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, I will speak [intimately] with you regarding every commandment that I will give you for the Israelites.
25:23:The Table of Bread
“You shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and one and a half cubits high.
25:24:You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a border of gold around the top of it.
25:25:You shall make a rim of a hand width around it; you shall make a gold border for the rim around it.
25:26:You shall make four gold rings for it and fasten them at the four corners that are on the table’s four legs.
25:27:The rings shall be close against the rim as holders for the poles to carry the table.
25:28:You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them.
25:29:You shall make its plates [for the showbread] and its cups [for incense] and its pitchers and bowls for sacrificial drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold.
25:30:You shall set the bread of the Presence (showbread) on the table before Me at all times.
25:31:The Golden Lampstand
“You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand and its base and its shaft shall be made of hammered work; its cups, its calyxes and its flowers shall be all of one piece with it.
25:32:Six branches shall come out of its sides; three branches of the lampstand out of the one side and three branches of the lampstand out of its other side [the shaft being the seventh branch].
25:33:Three cups shall be made like almond blossoms, each with a calyx and a flower on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms on the other branch with a calyx and a flower—so for the six branches coming out of the lampstand;
25:34:and in the [center shaft of the] lampstand [you shall make] four cups shaped like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and their flowers.
25:35:A calyx shall be under the first pair of branches coming out of it, and a calyx under the second pair of branches coming out of it, and a calyx under the third pair of branches coming out of it, for the six branches coming out of the lampstand.
25:36:Their calyxes and their branches shall be of one piece with it; all of it shall be one piece of hammered work of pure gold.
25:37:Then you shall make the lamps [of the lampstand] seven in number [with one lamp at the top of the shaft]. The priests shall set up its seven lamps so that they will light the space in front of it.
25:38:Its snuffers and their trays shall be of pure gold.
25:39:It shall be made from a talent (50-80 lbs.) of pure gold, including all these utensils.
25:40:See that you make them [exactly] after their pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.
26:1:Curtains of Linen
“Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle (sacred tent of worship) with ten [interior] curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue, purple, and scarlet fabric; you shall make them with [embroidered] cherubim, the handwork of a skillful craftsman.
26:2:The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all of the curtains shall measure the same.
26:3:The five curtains shall be joined to one another, and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another.
26:4:You shall make loops of blue on the outer edge of the last curtain in the first set, and likewise in the second set.
26:5:You shall make fifty loops on the one curtain, and fifty loops on the edge of the last curtain that is in the second set. The loops on one curtain correspond to the loops on the other.
26:6:You shall make fifty gold hooks, and fasten the curtains together with the hooks; and the tabernacle shall be one unit.
26:7:Curtains of Goats’ Hair
“Then you shall make [exterior] curtains of goats’ hair as a tent over the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains in all.
26:8:Each curtain shall be thirty cubits long and four cubits wide. The eleven curtains shall all measure the same.
26:9:You shall join five curtains by themselves and the other six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent [to make a closed door].
26:10:Make fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set.
26:11:“You shall make fifty bronze hooks and put the hooks into the loops and join the tent together so that it may be one unit.
26:12:The overlapping part that is left over from the tent curtains, the half curtain that is left over, shall lap over the back of the tabernacle.
26:13:The cubit on one side and the cubit on the other, of what is left over in the length of the curtains of the tent shall lap over the sides of the tabernacle on one side and the other side, to cover it.
26:14:You shall make a third covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a fourth covering above that of porpoise skins.
26:15:Boards and Sockets
“Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright [as a trellis-like frame].
26:16:The length of each board shall be ten cubits and the width of each board shall be one and a half cubits.
26:17:Make two dovetails in each board for fitting [them] together; you shall do the same for all the tabernacle boards.
26:18:You shall make the boards for the tabernacle [in the following quantities]: twenty boards for the south side.
26:19:You shall make forty silver sockets under the twenty boards, two sockets under each board for its two dovetails, and two sockets under another board for its two dovetails;
26:20:for the north side of the tabernacle there shall be twenty boards,
26:21:and their forty silver sockets, two sockets under each board.
26:22:For the back or west side of the tabernacle you shall make six boards.
26:23:Make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear [on both sides].
26:24:They shall be joined together underneath, and joined together on top with one ring. So shall it be for both of them; they shall form the two [rear] corners.
26:25:There shall be eight boards and sixteen silver sockets; two sockets under each board.
26:26:“Then you shall make [fifteen] bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle,
26:27:and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the rear end of the tabernacle, for the back wall toward the west.
26:28:And the middle bar in the center of the boards shall pass through [horizontally] from end to end.
26:29:You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold to hold the bars. You shall overlay the bars with gold.
26:30:You shall erect the tabernacle according to its plan [the direction corresponding to its meaning and purpose] which has been shown to you on the mountain.
26:31:The Veil and Screen
“You shall make a veil [to divide the two rooms] of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric and fine twisted linen, skillfully worked with cherubim on it.
26:32:You shall hang it on four pillars (support poles) of acacia wood overlaid with gold, with gold hooks, on four silver sockets.
26:33:You shall hang the veil from the hooks [that connect the curtains together], and you shall bring the ark of the Testimony there within the veil. The veil shall separate for you the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.
26:34:You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the Testimony in the Holy of Holies.
26:35:You shall set the table [for the bread] outside the veil [in the Holy Place] on the north side, and the lampstand opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle.
26:36:“You shall make a screen [to provide a covering] for the doorway of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric and finely woven [embroidered] linen, the work of an embroiderer.
26:37:You shall make five pillars (support poles) of acacia wood to support the hanging curtain and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five [base] sockets of bronze for them.
27:1:The Bronze Altar
“And you shall make the altar [for burnt offerings] of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.
27:2:Make horns (horn-shaped projections) for it on its four corners; the horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.
27:3:You shall make pots to remove its ashes, and shovels, basins [to catch the blood of the sacrificed animal], meat-forks, and firepans [to store live coals]. You shall make all its utensils of bronze.
27:4:Also make a grate for it, a network of bronze; and on the grid you are to make four bronze rings at its four corners.
27:5:And you shall put it under the ledge of the altar, so that the grid will extend halfway up the altar.
27:6:You shall make [carrying] poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, overlaid with bronze.
27:7:The poles shall be inserted through the rings on the two sides of the altar so that it may be carried.
27:8:You are to make the altar hollow with planks; as you were shown on the mountain [of Sinai], so shall it be made.
27:9:Court of the Tabernacle
“You shall make the court of the tabernacle. The south side of the court is to have curtains of fine twisted linen, a hundred cubits long for one side;
27:10:it shall have twenty pillars and twenty bronze sockets; but the hooks of the pillars and their fasteners shall be silver;
27:11:likewise for the north side there shall be curtains, a hundred cubits long, and its twenty pillars and twenty bronze sockets; but the hooks of the pillars and their fasteners shall be silver.
27:12:For the width of the court on the west side there shall be curtains of fifty cubits, with ten pillars (support poles) and ten sockets.
27:13:The width of the court [to the front], on the east side shall be fifty cubits.
27:14:The curtains for one side [of the gate] shall be fifteen cubits with three pillars and three sockets.
27:15:On the other side [of the gate] the curtains shall be fifteen cubits with three pillars and three sockets.
27:16:For the gate of the court there shall be a screen [to provide a covering] of twenty cubits, of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric and finely woven [embroidered] linen, the work of an embroiderer, with four pillars and four [base] sockets.
27:17:All the pillars (support poles) around the court shall be joined together with silver rods; their hooks shall be of silver and their sockets of bronze.
27:18:The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, and the width fifty [cubits] throughout, and the height five cubits of fine twisted linen, and their sockets of bronze.
27:19:All the tabernacle’s utensils and instruments used in all its service, and all its stakes, and all the stakes for the court, shall be of bronze.
27:20:“You shall command the Israelites to provide you with clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually [every night].
27:21:In the Tent of Meeting [of God with His people], outside the veil which is in front of the [ark of the] Testimony [and sets it apart], Aaron [the high priest] and his sons shall keep the lamp burning from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual statute [to be observed] throughout their generations on behalf of the Israelites.
28:1:Garments of the Priests
“Now bring your brother Aaron near, and his sons with him from among the sons of Israel, so that he may serve as priest to Me—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
28:2:You are to make sacred garments [official clothing reserved for holy services] for Aaron your brother, for honor and for beauty (ornamentation).
28:3:Tell all the skilled and talented people whom I have endowed with a spirit of wisdom, that they are to make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him and set him apart to serve as a priest for Me.
28:4:These are the garments which they shall make: a breastpiece and an ephod [for the breastpiece] and a robe and a tunic of checkered work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make sacred garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, so that he may serve as a priest to Me.
28:5:They are to use the gold and the blue and the purple and the scarlet fabric and fine twisted linen [from the people],
28:6:and they shall make the ephod of gold and blue, purple, and scarlet fabric and fine twisted linen, skillfully woven and [beautifully] worked.
28:7:It is to have two shoulder pieces joined to its two [back and front] ends, so that it may be joined together.
28:8:And the skillfully woven sash, which is on the ephod shall be made of the same material: of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric and fine twisted linen.
28:9:You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the [twelve] sons of Israel,
28:10:six of their names on one stone and the remaining six names on the other stone, arranged in the order of their births.
28:11:With the work of a jeweler, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel. You shall have them set in filigree [settings] of gold.
28:12:You shall put the two stones on the [two] shoulder pieces of the ephod [of the high priest], as memorial stones for Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names on his two shoulders as a memorial before the Lord.
28:13:You shall make filigree [settings] of gold,
28:14:and you are to make two chains of pure gold like twisted cords, and fasten the corded chains to the settings.
28:15:“You are to make a breastpiece of judgment, the work of a skilled and talented craftsman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric and of fine twisted linen.
28:16:The breastpiece shall be square and folded double; a span [about nine inches] in length and a span in width.
28:17:You shall mount on it four rows of stones: the first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald;
28:18:the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond;
28:19:the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
28:20:and the fourth row a beryl and an onyx and a jasper; they shall be set in gold filigree.
28:21:The [engraved] stones shall be twelve, according to the names of [the twelve tribes of] the sons of Israel; they shall be like the engravings of a signet, each with its name for the twelve tribes.
28:22:You shall make for the breastpiece chains of pure gold twisted like cords.
28:23:You shall make on the breastpiece two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece.
28:24:You shall put the two twisted cords of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastpiece.
28:25:The other two ends of the two cords you shall fasten in the two filigree settings in front, putting them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod.
28:26:You shall make two gold rings and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod.
28:27:You are to make two gold rings and attach them to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod in front, close to the place where it is joined, above the skillfully woven sash of the ephod.
28:28:They shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it will be above the skillfully woven sash of the ephod, so that the breastpiece will not come loose from the ephod.
28:29:So Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob) in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he enters the Holy Place, to bring them in continual remembrance before the Lord.
28:30:In the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim (Lights) and the Thummim (Perfections) [to be used for determining God’s will in a matter]. They shall be over Aaron’s heart whenever he goes before the Lord, and Aaron shall always carry the judgment (verdict, judicial decisions) of the sons of Israel over his heart before the Lord.
28:31:“And you shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.
28:32:There shall be an opening at its top in the center [for the head], with a binding of woven work around the opening, like the opening in a coat of armor, so that it will not tear or fray.
28:33:You shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric all around its hem, with gold bells between them;
28:34:a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around the [bottom] hem of the robe.
28:35:Aaron shall wear the robe when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes [alone] into the Holy Place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he will not die there.
28:36:“You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’
28:37:You shall fasten it on the front of the turban with a blue cord.
28:38:It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take away the guilt from the holy things which the sons of Israel dedicate, with regard to all their holy gifts. It shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be accepted before the Lord.
28:39:“You shall weave the tunic of checkered work of fine linen, and make a turban of fine linen. You shall make a sash, the work of an embroiderer.
28:40:“For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics and sashes and [ornamental] caps, for glory and honor and beauty.
28:41:You shall put the various articles of clothing on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain and sanctify them, so that they may serve Me as priests.
28:42:You shall make for them [white] linen undergarments to cover their bare flesh, reaching from the waist to the thighs.
28:43:The various articles of clothing shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the Tent of Meeting, or when they approach the altar [of incense] to minister in the Holy Place, so that they do not incur guilt and die. It shall be a statute forever to Aaron and to his descendants after him.
29:1:Consecration of the Priests
“This is what you shall do to consecrate Aaron and his sons so that they may serve Me as priests: take one young bull and two rams, without blemish,
29:2:and unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour.
29:3:You shall put them in one basket, and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams.
29:4:Then bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting [out where the basin is] and wash them with water.
29:5:Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece, and wrap him with the skillfully woven sash of the ephod;
29:6:and you shall put the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban.
29:7:Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.
29:8:You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them.
29:9:And you shall wrap them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the [ornamental] caps on them; and the priest’s office shall be theirs by a perpetual statute. So you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.
29:10:The Sacrifices
“Then you shall bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the bull’s head.
29:11:Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord by the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.
29:12:And you shall take some of the blood of the bull and with your finger put it on the horns of the altar [of burnt offering], and you shall pour out the remainder of the blood at the base of the altar.
29:13:You shall take all the fat that covers the intestines and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar.
29:14:But the meat of the bull, its hide, and the contents of its intestines you shall burn in the fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
29:15:“And you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram;
29:16:then you shall kill the ram and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it around the altar [of burnt offering].
29:17:Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and wash its intestines and legs, and place them with its pieces and its head,
29:18:and you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord: it is a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
29:19:“Then you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.
29:20:Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ears of Aaron and his sons and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the [rest of the] blood around on the altar [of burnt offering].
29:21:Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. Now Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments shall be consecrated (dedicated, made holy, declared sacred for God’s purpose).
29:22:“You shall also take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the intestines, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh; (for it is a ram of ordination),
29:23:and one loaf of bread and one cake of oiled bread and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord;
29:24:and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.
29:25:Then you shall take them from their hands, add them to the burnt offering, and burn them on the altar for a sweet and soothing aroma before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.
29:26:“Then you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination, and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your (Moses) portion.
29:27:You shall consecrate the waved breast offering [of the ram] used in the ordination and the waved thigh offering of the priests’ portion, since it is [a contribution] for Aaron and for his sons.
29:28:It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their due portion from the Israelites forever, for it is a heave offering. It shall be a heave offering to the Lord from the Israelites from the sacrifices of their peace offerings.
29:29:“The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed and ordained in them.
29:30:That son who is [high] priest in his place shall put them on [each day for] seven days when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place.
29:31:Food of the Priests
“You shall take the ram of the ordination and boil its meat in a holy place.
29:32:Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram and the bread in the basket, at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.
29:33:They shall eat those things by which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration; but a layman shall not eat them, because they are holy [that is, set apart to the worship of God].
29:34:And if any of the meat of ordination or the bread remains until morning, you shall burn it in the fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
29:35:“So you shall do to Aaron and to his sons in accordance with all I have commanded you; during seven days you are to ordain them.
29:36:You shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar from sin when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to consecrate it [for God’s sacred purpose].
29:37:For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar [of burnt offering] and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar must be holy (set apart for God’s service).
29:38:“Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs shall be offered each day, continuously.
29:39:One lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb at twilight;
29:40:and with the one lamb there shall be one-tenth of a measure of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten [olive] oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering [to be poured out].
29:41:And the other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and do with it as with the grain offering of the morning and with the drink offering, for a sweet and soothing aroma [to appease God], an offering by fire to the Lord.
29:42:This will be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.
29:43:There I will meet with the Israelites, and the Tent of Meeting shall be sanctified by My glory [the Shekinah, God’s dwelling presence].
29:44:I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar [of burnt offering]; also I will sanctify Aaron and his sons to serve as priests to Me.
29:45:I will dwell among the sons of Israel and be their God.
29:46:They shall know [from personal experience] and acknowledge that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.
30:1:The Altar of Incense
“You shall make an altar upon which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.
30:2:It shall be a cubit long and a cubit wide. It shall be square and it shall be two cubits high. Its horns of one piece with it.
30:3:You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around it.
30:4:You shall make two gold rings under its molding, make them on the two side walls—on opposite sides—they shall be holders for the poles with which to carry it.
30:5:You shall make the poles of acacia wood overlaid with gold.
30:6:You shall put the altar of incense [in the Holy Place] in front and outside of the veil that screens the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.
30:7:Aaron shall burn sweet and fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims and tends the lamps.
30:8:When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.
30:9:You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering; you shall not pour out a drink offering on it.
30:10:Once a year Aaron shall make atonement [for sin] on its horns. He shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”
30:11:The Ransom Money
Then the Lord said to Moses,
30:12:“When you take the census of the Israelites, each one shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord when you count them, so that no plague will come on them when you number them.
30:13:This is what everyone who is counted shall give [as he joins those already counted]: a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel (the shekel is twenty gerahs); a half shekel as a contribution to the Lord.
30:14:Everyone who is counted, from twenty years old and over, [as he joins those already counted], shall give this contribution to the Lord.
30:15:The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give this contribution to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves.
30:16:You shall take the atonement money from the Israelites and use it [exclusively] for the service of the Tent of Meeting, so that it may be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.”
30:17:The Bronze Basin
Then the Lord said to Moses,
30:18:“You shall also make a basin of bronze, with a base of bronze, for washing. You shall put it [outside in the court] between the Tent of Meeting and the altar [of burnt offering], and you shall put water in it.
30:19:Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet.
30:20:When they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister, to burn an offering in the fire to the Lord [they shall do the same].
30:21:They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.”
30:22:The Anointing Oil
Moreover, the Lord said to Moses,
30:23:“Take for yourself the best spices: five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much—two hundred and fifty—of sweet-scented cinnamon, and two hundred and fifty of fragrant cane,
30:24:and five hundred shekels of cinnamon blossom according to the sanctuary shekel, and a hin of olive oil.
30:25:You shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be a sacred anointing oil.
30:26:You shall anoint the Tent of Meeting with it, and the ark of the Testimony,
30:27:and the table [for the bread] and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,
30:28:and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin [for cleansing] and its base.
30:29:You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them must be holy (set apart for God).
30:30:You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve as priests to Me.
30:31:You shall say to the Israelites, ‘This shall be a holy and sacred anointing oil, to Me [alone] throughout your generations.
30:32:It shall not be poured on anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in the same composition. It is holy, and it shall be sacred to you.
30:33:Whoever prepares any like it or puts any of it on a layman shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].’”
30:34:The Incense
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take sweet and fragrant spices—stacte, onycha, and galbanum, sweet and fragrant spices with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal amount of each—
30:35:and make incense with it, a perfume, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure and sacred.
30:36:You shall crush some of it [into a] very fine [powder], and put some of it before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you.
30:37:The incense which you shall make, you shall not make in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord.
30:38:Whoever makes any like it, to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].”
31:1:The Skilled Craftsmen
Now the Lord said to Moses,
31:2:“See, I have called by name Bezalel, son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.
31:3:I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom and skill, in understanding and intelligence, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship,
31:4:to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze,
31:5:and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship.
31:6:And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; to all who are wise-hearted I have given the skill and ability to make everything that I have commanded you:
31:7:the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the mercy seat that is upon it, all the furnishings of the tent—
31:8:the table [for the bread] and its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the [golden] altar of incense,
31:9:the [bronze] altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, the basin and its base—
31:10:the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the [high] priest and the garments for his sons to minister as priests,
31:11:and the anointing oil and the sweet and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them according to all that I have commanded you.”
31:12:The Sign of the Sabbath
And the Lord said to Moses,
31:13:“But as for you, say to the Israelites, ‘You shall most certainly observe My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that I am the Lord who sanctifies you and sets you apart [for Myself].
31:14:Therefore, you shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it must be put to death; for whoever does work on the Sabbath, that person (soul) shall be cut off from among his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].
31:15:For six days work may be done, but the seventh is the Sabbath of complete rest, sacred to the Lord; whoever does work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.
31:16:So the Israelites shall observe the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’
31:17:It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He ceased and was refreshed.”
31:18:When He had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
32:1:The Golden Calf
Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, they gathered together before Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
32:2:So Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
32:3:So all the people took off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.
32:4:And he took the gold from their hands, and fashioned it with an engraving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
32:5:Now when Aaron saw the molten calf, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord!”
32:6:So they got up early the next day and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; then the people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to play [shamefully—without moral restraint].
32:7:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
32:8:They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’”
32:9:The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people.
32:10:Now therefore, let Me alone and do not interfere, so that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you (your descendants) a great nation.”
32:11:Moses’ Entreaty
But Moses appeased and entreated the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
32:12:Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil [intent] their God brought them out to kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from Your burning anger and change Your mind about harming Your people.
32:13:Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob), Your servants to whom You swore [an oath] by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’”
32:14:So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He had said He would do to His people.
32:15:Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand; tablets that were written on both sides—they were written on one side and on the other.
32:16:The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
32:17:Now when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of battle in the camp.”
32:18:But Moses said,
“It is not the sound of the cry of victory,
Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;
But I hear the sound of singing.”
32:19:Moses’ Anger
And as soon as he approached the camp and he saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned; and he threw the tablets from his hands and smashed them at the foot of the mountain.
32:20:Then Moses took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it on the surface of the water and made the Israelites drink it.
32:21:Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought so great a sin on them?”
32:22:Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil.
32:23:For they said to me, ‘Make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
32:24:I said to them, ‘Let whoever has gold [jewelry], take it off.’ So they gave it to me; then I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
32:25:Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to the point of being an object of mockery among their enemies—
32:26:then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi [the priestly tribe] gathered together to him.
32:27:He said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Every man strap his sword on his thigh and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor [all who continue pagan worship].’”
32:28:So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people [of Israel] were killed that day.
32:29:Then Moses said [to the Levites], “Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord—for each man has been against his own son and his own brother [in his attempt to escape execution]—so that He may restore and bestow His blessing on you this day.”
32:30:Then the next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
32:31:So Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin [against You], and have made themselves a god of gold.
32:32:Yet now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of Your book which You have written (kill me)!”
32:33:But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book [not you].
32:34:But now go, lead the people [to the place] where I have told you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you; nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin!”
32:35:So the Lord struck the people with a plague, because of what they had done with the calf which Aaron had made [for them].
33:1:The Journey Resumed
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought from the land of Egypt, to the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel), saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’
33:2:I will send an Angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
33:3:Go up to a land [of abundance] flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are a stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people, and I might destroy you on the way.”
33:4:When the people heard this sad word, they mourned, and none of them put on his ornaments.
33:5:For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people! If I should come among you for one moment, I would destroy you. Now therefore, [penitently] take off your ornaments, so that I may know what to do with you.’”
33:6:So the Israelites left off all their ornaments [in repentance], from Mount Horeb (Sinai) onward.
33:7:Now Moses used to take his own tent and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting [of God with His own people]. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the [temporary] tent of meeting which was outside the camp.
33:8:Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each at his tent door, and look at Moses until he entered the tent.
33:9:Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the doorway of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses.
33:10:When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tent door, all the people would rise and worship, each at his tent door.
33:11:And so the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his attendant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
33:12:Moses Intercedes
Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’
33:13:Now therefore, I pray you, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways so that I may know You [becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, recognizing and understanding Your ways more clearly] and that I may find grace and favor in Your sight. And consider also, that this nation is Your people.”
33:14:And the Lord said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest [by bringing you and the people into the promised land].”
33:15:And Moses said to Him, “If Your presence does not go [with me], do not lead us up from here.
33:16:For how then can it be known that Your people and I have found favor in Your sight? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we are distinguished, Your people and I, from all the [other] people on the face of the earth?”
33:17:The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have asked; for you have found favor (lovingkindness, mercy) in My sight and I have known you [personally] by name.”
33:18:Then Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory!”
33:19:And God said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the Name of the Lord before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion (lovingkindness) on whom I will show compassion.”
33:20:But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me and live!”
33:21:Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place beside Me, and you shall stand there on the rock;
33:22:and while My glory is passing by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and protectively cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
33:23:Then I will take away My hand and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
34:1:The Two Tablets Replaced
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you smashed [when you learned of Israel’s idolatry].
34:2:So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain.
34:3:No man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain; nor let flocks or herds feed in front of that mountain.”
34:4:So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and he got up early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took the two tablets of stone in his hand.
34:5:Then the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with Moses as he proclaimed the Name of the Lord.
34:6:Then the Lord passed by in front of him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth (faithfulness);
34:7:keeping mercy and lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; but He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers upon the children and the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].”
34:8:Moses bowed to the earth immediately and worshiped [the Lord].
34:9:And he said, “If now I have found favor and lovingkindness in Your sight, O Lord, let the Lord, please, go in our midst, though it is a stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your possession.”
34:10:The Covenant Renewed
Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will do wondrous works (miracles) such as have not been created or produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live shall see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful and awesome thing that I am going to do with you.
34:11:“Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
34:12:Watch yourself so that you do not make a covenant (solemn agreement, treaty) with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a [dangerous] trap among you.
34:13:But you shall tear down and destroy their [pagan] altars, smash in pieces their [sacred] pillars (obelisks, images) and cut down their Asherim
34:14:—for you shall not worship any other god; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]—
34:15:otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the prostitute with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat his sacrifice (meal),
34:16:and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters would play the prostitute with their gods and cause your sons also to play the prostitute (commit apostasy) with their gods [that is, abandon the true God for man-made idols].
34:17:You shall make for yourselves no molten gods.
34:18:“You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover). For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
34:19:“All the firstborn males among your livestock belong to Me, whether cattle or sheep.
34:20:You shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb; but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None of you are to appear before Me empty-handed.
34:21:“You shall work for six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; [even] in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest [on the Sabbath].
34:22:You shall observe and celebrate the Feast of Weeks (Harvest, First Fruits, or Pentecost), the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the year’s end.
34:23:Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
34:24:For I will drive out and dispossess nations before you and enlarge your borders; nor shall any man covet (actively seek for himself) your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times a year.
34:25:“You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover (Unleavened Bread) be left over until morning.
34:26:“You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in his mother’s milk [as some pagans do].”
34:27:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
34:28:Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
34:29:Moses’ Face Shines
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face was shining [with a unique radiance] because he had been speaking with God.
34:30:When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to approach him.
34:31:But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him; and he spoke to them.
34:32:Afterward all the Israelites approached him, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had said to him on Mount Sinai.
34:33:When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
34:34:But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out. When he came out and he told the Israelites what he had been commanded [by God],
34:35:the Israelites would see the face of Moses, how his skin shone [with a unique radiance]. So Moses put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with God.
35:1:The Sabbath Emphasized
Moses gathered all the congregation of the sons of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the things which the Lord has commanded you to do:
35:2:“For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord; whoever does any kind of work on that day shall be put to death.
35:3:You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
35:4:And Moses said to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded:
35:5:‘Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever has a willing heart, let him bring it as the Lord’s offering: gold, silver, and bronze,
35:6:blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, fine linen, goats’ hair,
35:7:and rams’ skins dyed red, and skins of porpoises, and acacia wood,
35:8:and [olive] oil for the lighting, and balsam for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense,
35:9:and onyx stones and other stones to be set for the ephod and the breastpiece.
35:10:Tabernacle Workmen
‘Let every skilled and talented man among you come, and make everything that the Lord has commanded:
35:11:the tabernacle (sacred dwelling of God), its tent and its covering, its hooks, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets;
35:12:the ark [of the covenant] and its carrying poles, with the mercy seat and the veil (partition curtain) of the screen [to hang between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies];
35:13:the table and its carrying poles, and all its utensils, and the bread of the [divine] Presence (showbread);
35:14:the lampstand also for the light and its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light;
35:15:and the altar of incense and its carrying poles, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, the screen (curtain) for the doorway at the entrance of the tabernacle;
35:16:the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its carrying poles, and all its utensils, the wash basin and its base (stand);
35:17:the court’s curtains, its support poles and their sockets, and the curtain for the gate of the courtyard;
35:18:the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court and their cords;
35:19:the finely-woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons, to minister as priests.’”
35:20:Gifts Received
Then all the congregation of the Israelites left Moses’ presence.
35:21:Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the Lord’s offering to be used for the Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.
35:22:Then all whose hearts moved them, both men and women, came and brought brooches, earrings or nose rings, signet rings, and necklaces, all jewels of gold; everyone bringing an offering of gold to the Lord.
35:23:Every man who had in his possession blue or purple or scarlet fabric, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and rams’ skins dyed red and porpoise skins, brought them.
35:24:Everyone who could make an offering of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord’s offering; every man who had in his possession acacia wood for any work of the service brought it.
35:25:All the skilled and talented women spun thread with their hands, and brought what they had spun, blue and purple and scarlet fabric and fine linen.
35:26:All the women whose heart stirred with a skill spun the goats’ hair.
35:27:The leaders brought onyx stones and other stones to be put in settings for the ephod and for the breastpiece,
35:28:and spice and [olive] oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense.
35:29:The Israelites, all the men and women whose heart moved them to bring material for all the work which the Lord had commanded through Moses to be done, brought a freewill (voluntary) offering to the Lord.
35:30:Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
35:31:and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and skill, with intelligence and understanding, and with knowledge in all [areas of] craftsmanship,
35:32:to devise artistic designs to work in gold, silver, and bronze,
35:33:and in the cutting of stones for setting and in the carving of wood, for work in every skilled craft.
35:34:He has also put in Bezalel’s heart [the willingness] to teach [others the same skills], both he and Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
35:35:He has filled them with skill to do the work of an engraver, of a designer, and of an embroiderer, in blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and in fine linen, and of a weaver; makers of every work and embroiderers of [excellent] designs.
36:1:The Tabernacle Underwritten
“Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skilled person in whom the Lord has put ability and understanding to know how to do all the work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall work according to all that the Lord has commanded.”
36:2:So Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom the Lord had put ability, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to do the work.
36:3:They received from Moses all the offerings which the Israelites had brought for the construction of the sanctuary, to prepare it for service. And they continued to bring him freewill (voluntary) offerings every morning.
36:4:And all the skilled men who were doing all the work on the sanctuary came, each one from the work which he was doing,
36:5:and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the construction work which the Lord commanded us to do.”
36:6:So Moses issued a command, and it was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the sanctuary offering.” So the people were restrained from bringing anything more;
36:7:for the material they had was sufficient and more than enough to do all the work.
36:8:Construction Proceeds
All the skilled men among them who were doing the work on the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, with cherubim [worked into them], the work of an embroiderer, Bezalel made them.
36:9:Each curtain was twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide; all the curtains were one size.
36:10:Bezalel joined five curtains one to another, and [the other] five curtains he joined one to another.
36:11:He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set; he also did this on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the second set.
36:12:He made fifty loops in the one curtain [of the first set] and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which was in the second set; the loops were opposite one another.
36:13:He made fifty gold hooks and joined the curtains together with the hooks, so that the tabernacle became a unit.
36:14:Then he made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains in all.
36:15:Each curtain was thirty cubits long and four cubits wide; the eleven curtains were of equal size.
36:16:Bezalel joined five curtains by themselves and [the other] six curtains by themselves.
36:17:He made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set.
36:18:He made fifty bronze hooks to join the tent together into a unit.
36:19:He made a [third] covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and above it a [fourth] covering of porpoise skins.
36:20:Bezalel made boards of acacia wood for the upright framework of the tabernacle.
36:21:Each board was ten cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.
36:22:Each board had two tenons (dovetails), fitted to one another; he did this for all the boards of the tabernacle.
36:23:And [this is how] he made the boards [for frames] for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side;
36:24:and he made under the twenty boards forty silver sockets; two sockets under one board for its two tenons (dovetails), and two sockets under another board for its two tenons.
36:25:For the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards,
36:26:and their forty silver sockets; two sockets under [the end of] each board.
36:27:And for the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, he made six [frame] boards.
36:28:And he made two boards for each corner of the tabernacle in the rear.
36:29:They were separate below, but linked together at the top with one ring; thus he made both of them in both corners.
36:30:There were eight boards with sixteen silver sockets, and under [the end of] each board two sockets.
36:31:Bezalel made bars of acacia wood, five for the [frame] boards of the one side of the tabernacle,
36:32:and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle’s other side, and five bars for the boards at the rear side to the west.
36:33:And he made the middle bar pass through [horizontally] halfway up the boards from one end to the other.
36:34:He overlaid the boards and the bars with gold and made their rings of gold as holders for the bars.
36:35:Further, Bezalel made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen; he made it with cherubim, the work of an embroiderer.
36:36:For the veil (partition curtain) he made four support poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were gold, and he cast for them four silver sockets.
36:37:He made a screen (curtain) for the doorway of the tent, of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer;
36:38:and [he made] the five support poles with their hooks, and overlaid their [ornamental] tops and connecting rings with gold; but their five sockets were bronze.
37:1:Construction Continues
Bezalel made the ark [of the covenant] of acacia wood—it was two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.
37:2:And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and out, and made a molding (border) of gold to go all around [the top of it].
37:3:He cast four rings of gold for it on its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other side.
37:4:He made carrying poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
37:5:He put the carrying poles through the rings at the sides of the ark, to carry it.
37:6:Bezalel made the mercy seat of pure gold; it was two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide.
37:7:He made two cherubim of hammered gold; he made them at the two ends of the mercy seat,
37:8:one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; he made the cherubim [of one piece] with the mercy seat at the two ends.
37:9:The cherubim spread out their wings upward, covering and protecting the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward each other; the faces of the cherubim were [looking downward] toward the mercy seat.
37:10:Bezalel made the table [for the bread] of acacia wood; it was two cubits long, a cubit wide, and one and a half cubits high.
37:11:He overlaid it with pure gold, and made a border of gold for it all around [its top].
37:12:He made a rim for it [just under the top] a hand width wide all around, and a border of gold around its rim.
37:13:He cast four rings of gold for it and fastened the rings to the four corners that were at its four legs.
37:14:Close by the rim were the rings, the holders for the poles [to pass through] to carry the table.
37:15:Bezalel made the carrying poles of acacia wood to carry the table and overlaid them with gold.
37:16:He made the utensils which were to be on the table, its dishes and its pans [for bread], its bowls and its jars for pouring drink offerings, of pure gold.
37:17:Then he made the lampstand (menorah) of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work, its base and its [center] shaft; its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were all of one piece with it.
37:18:There were six branches coming out of the sides of the lampstand, three branches from one side of the center shaft and three branches from the other side of it;
37:19:three cups shaped like almond blossoms, a calyx and a flower in one branch, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, a calyx and a flower in the opposite branch—so for the six branches coming out of the center shaft of the lampstand.
37:20:On the center shaft of the lampstand there were four cups shaped like almond blossoms, with calyxes and flowers [one at the top];
37:21:and a calyx was under the first pair of branches coming out of it, and a calyx under the second pair of branches, coming out of it, and a calyx under the third pair of branches coming out of it, for the six branches coming out of the lampstand.
37:22:Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it; all of it was a single hammered work of pure gold.
37:23:He made its seven lamps with its snuffers and its trays of pure gold.
37:24:He made the lampstand and all its utensils from a talent of pure gold.
37:25:Then Bezalel made the incense altar of acacia wood; its top was a cubit square and it was two cubits high; the horns were of one piece with it.
37:26:He overlaid it with pure gold, its top, its sides all around and its horns; he also made a rim of gold around it.
37:27:He made two rings of gold for it under its rim, on its two opposite sides, as holders for the poles [to pass through] to carry it.
37:28:He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
37:29:He also made the holy anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense of spices, the work of a perfumer.
38:1:The Tabernacle Completed
Then Bezalel made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood; its top was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide, and three cubits high.
38:2:And he made its horns (horn-shaped projections) on the four corners of it; the horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze.
38:3:He made all the utensils and vessels of the altar [of burnt offering], the pots, shovels, basins [to catch the blood of the sacrificed animal], meat hooks and the firepans [to store live coals]. He made all its utensils of bronze.
38:4:He made for the altar a grating of bronze mesh under its rim, extending halfway up it.
38:5:He cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grating as holders for the carrying poles.
38:6:And he made the carrying poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.
38:7:He put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it; he made it hollow with planks.
38:8:Bezalel made the basin and its base of bronze from the mirrors of the attending women who served and ministered at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.
38:9:Then he made the court: for the south side the curtains of the court were of fine twisted linen, a hundred cubits;
38:10:their twenty support poles, and their twenty bronze sockets; the hooks of the support poles and their connecting rings were silver.
38:11:And for the north side [of the court the curtains were also] a hundred cubits; their twenty support poles and their twenty bronze sockets; the hooks of the support poles and their connecting rings were silver.
38:12:For the west side [of the court] there were curtains of fifty cubits with their ten support poles and their ten sockets; the hooks of the support poles and their connecting rings were silver.
38:13:For the east side [the front of the courtyard, there were curtains of] fifty cubits.
38:14:The curtains for one side of the court gate were fifteen cubits, with their three support poles and their three sockets;
38:15:and the same for the other side [of the court gate]. Left and right of the court gate there were curtains of fifteen cubits; with their three support poles and their three sockets.
38:16:All the curtains around the court were of fine twisted linen.
38:17:The sockets for the support poles were made of bronze, the hooks of the support poles and their connecting rings were made of silver; and silver overlaid their tops. All the support poles of the court had silver connecting rings.
38:18:The screen (curtain) for the gate of the courtyard [on the east side] was the work of an embroiderer, in blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen; it was twenty cubits long and five cubits high, corresponding to the curtains of the court.
38:19:Their four support poles and their four sockets were bronze; their hooks were silver, and silver overlaid their tops and their connecting rings.
38:20:All the pegs for the tabernacle and the court were bronze.
38:21:The Cost of the Tabernacle
This is the sum of the things for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, as counted according to the command of Moses, for the work of the Levites, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
38:22:Now Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that the Lord commanded Moses.
38:23:With him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and a skillful craftsman and an embroiderer in blue and in purple and in scarlet fabric, and in fine linen.
38:24:All the gold that was used for the work, in all the building and furnishing of the sanctuary, the gold from the wave offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
38:25:The silver from those of the congregation who were assembled and counted was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary;
38:26:a beka for each man (that is, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary) for everyone who was counted, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men.
38:27:The hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil (partition curtain); a hundred sockets for the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
38:28:Of the 1,775 shekels, he made hooks for the support poles and overlaid their tops and made connecting rings for them.
38:29:The bronze of the wave offering was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels.
38:30:With it Bezalel made the sockets for the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, and the bronze altar and its bronze grating, and all the utensils of the altar,
38:31:and the sockets of the court all around and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pegs of the tabernacle and all the pegs around the court.
39:1:The Priestly Garments
Moreover, from the blue and purple and scarlet fabric, they made finely woven garments for serving and ministering in the Holy Place; they made the holy garments for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
39:2:Bezalel made the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen.
39:3:Then Bezalel and Oholiab hammered the gold [into thin sheets] and cut it into threads to work into the blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and into the fine linen, the work of a skilled craftsman.
39:4:They made attaching shoulder pieces for the ephod; it was attached at its two [upper] edges.
39:5:The skillfully woven sash with which to bind it, which was on the ephod [to hold it in place], was like its workmanship, of the same material: of gold and of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
39:6:They made the onyx stones, set in settings of gold filigree; they were engraved as signets are engraved, with the names of [the twelve tribes of] the sons of Israel.
39:7:And he put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be memorial stones (a remembrance) for the sons of Israel (Jacob), just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
39:8:Bezalel made the breastpiece, the work of a skillful craftsman, like the workmanship of the ephod: of gold and of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen.
39:9:It was square; they made the breastpiece folded double, a [hand’s] span long and a [hand’s] span wide when folded double.
39:10:And they mounted four rows of stones on it. The first row was a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald;
39:11:and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond;
39:12:and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
39:13:and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper; they were mounted in settings of gold filigree.
39:14:The stones corresponded to the names of the sons of Israel; they were twelve [in all], corresponding to their names, engraved like a signet, each with its name, for the twelve tribes.
39:15:And they made on the breastpiece twisted chains like cords of pure gold.
39:16:They made two settings of gold filigree and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece.
39:17:Then they put the two twisted cords of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastpiece.
39:18:They put the [other] two ends of the two cords on the two filigree settings, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it.
39:19:They made two rings of gold and put them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inner edge which was next to the ephod.
39:20:Furthermore, they made two [other] gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at the front of it, close to the place where it is joined, above the woven sash of the ephod.
39:21:They bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it would lie on the woven sash of the ephod, and so that the breastpiece would not come loose from the ephod, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
39:22:Then Bezalel made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue;
39:23:there was an opening [for the head] in the middle of the robe, like the opening in a coat of armor, with a hem around it, so that it would not be frayed or torn.
39:24:On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen.
39:25:They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates around the hem of the robe;
39:26:a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all [the way] around the hem of the robe, for service and ministering, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
39:27:And they made tunics of finely woven linen for Aaron and his sons,
39:28:and the turban of fine linen, and the ornamental caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twisted linen,
39:29:and the sash of fine twisted linen, and blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, the work of an embroiderer, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
39:30:They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engravings of a signet, “Holy to the Lord.”
39:31:They tied a blue cord to it, to fasten it on the turban above, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
39:32:Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished; and the Israelites did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; that is what they did.
39:33:They brought the tabernacle to Moses [for him to inspect]: the tent and all its furnishings, its hooks, its [frame] boards, its bars, its support poles, its sockets or bases;
39:34:and the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering of porpoise skins, and the veil (partition) of the screen (curtain);
39:35:the ark of the Testimony, its carrying poles and the mercy seat;
39:36:the table and all its utensils and the bread of the Presence (showbread);
39:37:the pure gold lampstand and its lamps, with the lamps placed in order, all its utensils, and the oil for the light;
39:38:the golden altar [of incense], the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the [hanging] veil for the doorway of the tent;
39:39:the bronze altar [of burnt offering] and its grating of bronze, its poles and all its utensils, the basin and its base;
39:40:the curtains of the courtyard, its support poles and sockets, and the screen (curtain) for the courtyard gate, its cords and pegs, and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the Tent of Meeting [of God with His people];
39:41:the [finely] woven garments for serving and ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons to minister as priests.
39:42:So the Israelites did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses.
39:43:And Moses [carefully] inspected all the work, and behold, they had done it; just as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. So Moses blessed them.
40:1:The Tabernacle Erected
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
40:2:“On the first day of the first month (Abib) you shall set up the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting [of God with you].
40:3:You shall place the ark of the Testimony there, and you shall screen off the ark [from the Holy Place of God’s Presence] with the veil (partition curtain).
40:4:You shall bring in the table [for the bread] and arrange its setting; you shall bring in the lampstand and mount and light its lamps.
40:5:You shall set the golden altar of incense in front of the ark of the Testimony [outside the veil], and put the [hanging] veil at the doorway of the tabernacle.
40:6:You shall set the [bronze] altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting.
40:7:You shall set the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar [of burnt offering], and put water in it.
40:8:You shall set up the courtyard [curtains] all around and hang up the screen (curtain) for the gateway of the courtyard.
40:9:Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture; and it shall be holy (declared sacred, separated from secular use).
40:10:You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, and the altar shall be most holy.
40:11:You shall anoint the basin and its base, and consecrate it.
40:12:Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water.
40:13:You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve as a priest to Me.
40:14:You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them;
40:15:you shall anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may serve as priests to Me; and their anointing shall qualify them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.”
40:16:Thus Moses did; in accordance with all that the Lord commanded him, so he did.
40:17:Now it happened on the first day of the first month (Abib) in the second year [after the exodus from Egypt], that the tabernacle was erected.
40:18:Moses erected the tabernacle, laid its sockets, set up its boards, put in its bars and erected its support poles.
40:19:He spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, just as the Lord had commanded him.
40:20:He took the Testimony [the stones inscribed with the Ten Commandments] and put it into the ark [of the covenant], and placed the poles [through the rings] on the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark.
40:21:Moses brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up a veil (partition) for the screen (curtain), and screened off the ark of the Testimony, just as the Lord had commanded him.
40:22:Then he put the table in the Tent of Meeting on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil.
40:23:He set the bread [of the Presence] in order on it before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him.
40:24:Then he put the lampstand in the Tent of Meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle.
40:25:Moses mounted and lighted the lamps [on the lampstand] before the Lord, just as the Lord commanded him.
40:26:He put the golden altar [of incense] in the Tent of Meeting in front of the veil;
40:27:he burned fragrant incense [as a symbol of prayer] on it, just as the Lord commanded him.
40:28:Then he set up the screen (curtain) at the doorway of the tabernacle.
40:29:He set the altar of burnt offering before the doorway of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the Lord commanded him.
40:30:He placed the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar [of burnt offering], and put water in it for washing.
40:31:Then from it Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet.
40:32:When they entered the Tent of Meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
40:33:And he erected the courtyard all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung the screen (curtain) at the gateway of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.
40:34:The Glory of the Lord
Then the cloud [the Shekinah, God’s visible, dwelling presence] covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
40:35:Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud remained on it, and the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
40:36:In all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out;
40:37:but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey on until the day when it was taken up.
40:38:For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.
leviticus:1:1:The Law of Burnt Offerings
The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying,
1:2:“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of [domestic] animals from the herd (cattle, oxen) or from the flock (sheep, goats).
1:3:If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting so that he may be accepted before the Lord.
1:4:He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.
1:5:He shall kill the young bull before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.
1:6:Then he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces.
1:7:The sons of Aaron the [high] priest shall put fire on the altar [of burnt offering] and arrange wood on the fire.
1:8:Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head and the fat, on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.
1:9:But he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. The priest shall offer all of it up in smoke on the altar as a burnt offering. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
1:10:‘But if his offering is from the flock, of the sheep or of the goats, as a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without blemish.
1:11:He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.
1:12:He shall cut it into pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.
1:13:But he shall wash the entrails and legs with water. The priest shall offer all of it, and offer it up in smoke on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
1:14:‘But if his offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring turtledoves or young pigeons as his offering.
1:15:The priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and offer it up in smoke on the altar; and its blood is to be drained out on the side of the altar.
1:16:He shall remove its crop with its feathers and throw it next to the east side of the altar, in the place for ashes.
1:17:Then he shall tear it open by its wings, but shall not sever it. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
2:1:The Law of Grain Offerings
‘When anyone presents a grain offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour [olive] oil over it and put frankincense on it.
2:2:He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. Out of it he shall take a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall offer this up in smoke on the altar [of burnt offering] as the memorial portion of it. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
2:3:What is left of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings to the Lord by fire.
2:4:‘When you bring an offering of grain baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil.
2:5:If your offering is grain baked on a griddle, it shall be of fine unleavened flour, mixed with oil.
2:6:You are to break it into pieces, and you shall pour oil on it; it is a grain offering.
2:7:Now if your offering is grain cooked in a lidded pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.
2:8:When you bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the Lord, it shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the altar [of burnt offering].
2:9:The priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
2:10:What is left of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings to the Lord by fire.
2:11:‘No grain offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven [which symbolizes the spread of sin] or any honey [which, like leaven, is subject to fermentation] in any offering by fire to the Lord.
2:12:As an offering of first fruits you may offer them [leaven and honey] to the Lord, but they shall not go up [in smoke] on the altar as a sweet and soothing aroma.
2:13:You shall season every grain offering with salt so that the salt (preservation) of the covenant of your God will not be missing from your grain offering. You shall offer salt with all your offerings.
2:14:‘If you bring a grain offering of early ripened things to the Lord, you shall bring fresh heads of grain roasted in the fire, crushed grain of new growth, for the grain offering of your early ripened things.
2:15:You shall put oil on it and lay incense on it; it is a grain offering.
2:16:The priest shall offer up in smoke its memorial portion, part of the crushed grain and part of its oil with all its incense; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.
3:1:The Law of Peace Offerings
‘If a man’s offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he offers an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord.
3:2:He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice] and kill it at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar.
3:3:From the sacrifice of the peace offerings, an offering by fire to the Lord, he shall present the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails,
3:4:and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver which he shall remove with the kidneys.
3:5:Aaron’s sons shall offer it up in smoke on the altar [placing it] on the burnt offering which is on the wood that is on the fire. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
3:6:If his peace offering to the Lord is an animal from the flock, male or female, he shall offer the animal without blemish.
3:7:If he offers a lamb as his offering, then he shall present it before the Lord,
3:8:and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.
3:9:From the sacrifice of peace offerings he shall bring as an offering by fire to the Lord, its fat, the entire fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails,
3:10:and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys.
3:11:The priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire to the Lord.
3:12:‘If his offering is a goat, he shall present it before the Lord,
3:13:and he shall lay his hand on its head [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it before the Tent of Meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.
3:14:Then he shall present from it as his offering, an offering by fire to the Lord: the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails,
3:15:and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver which he shall remove with the kidneys.
3:16:The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as food. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma; all the fat is the Lord’s.
3:17:It is a permanent statute for your generations wherever you may be, that you shall not eat any fat or any blood.’”
4:1:The Law of Sin Offerings
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
4:2:“Speak to the children of Israel, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them—
4:3:if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer to the Lord a young bull without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.
4:4:He shall bring the bull to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, and shall lay his hand on the bull’s head [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice] and kill the bull before the Lord.
4:5:Then the anointed priest is to take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the Tent of Meeting;
4:6:and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil (curtain) of the sanctuary.
4:7:The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting. All the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of the burnt offering which is at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.
4:8:He shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering—the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails,
4:9:and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys
4:10:(just as these are removed from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings), and the priest is to offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering.
4:11:But the hide of the bull and all its meat, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its refuse,
4:12:that is, all the rest of the bull, he is to bring outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on a fire of wood. Where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.
4:13:‘Now if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they have done any one of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and they become guilty;
4:14:when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the congregation shall offer a young bull of the herd as a sin offering and bring it before the Tent of Meeting.
4:15:Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord [to transfer symbolically the congregation’s guilt to the sacrifice], and they shall kill the bull before the Lord.
4:16:The anointed priest is to bring some of the bull’s blood to the Tent of Meeting,
4:17:and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil [which screens off the Holy of Holies and the ark of the covenant].
4:18:He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar [of incense] which is before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting; and he shall pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.
4:19:He shall remove all its fat from the bull and offer it up in smoke on the altar.
4:20:He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; that is what he shall do with this. So the priest shall make atonement for [the sin of] the people, and they will be forgiven.
4:21:Then the priest is to bring the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the congregation.
4:22:‘When a ruler or leader sins and unintentionally does any one of the things the Lord his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty,
4:23:if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring a goat, a male without blemish as his offering.
4:24:He shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering.
4:25:Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
4:26:And he shall offer all its fat up in smoke on the altar like the fat from the sacrifice of peace offerings; so the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven.
4:27:‘If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing any of the things the Lord has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty,
4:28:if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring a goat, a female without blemish as his offering for the sin which he has committed.
4:29:He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it at the place of the burnt offering.
4:30:The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and shall pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar.
4:31:Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
4:32:‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish.
4:33:He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it as a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.
4:34:The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and all the rest of the blood of the lamb he shall pour out at the base of the altar.
4:35:Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to the Lord. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to the sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
5:1:The Law of Guilt Offerings
‘If anyone sins after he hears a public adjuration (solemn command to testify) when he is a witness, whether he has seen or [otherwise] known [something]—if he fails to report it, then he will bear his guilt and be held responsible.
5:2:Or if someone touches any [ceremonially] unclean thing—whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal or the carcass of an unclean domestic animal or the carcass of unclean creeping things—even if he is unaware of it, he has become unclean, and he will be guilty.
5:3:Or if he touches human uncleanness—whatever kind it may be—and he becomes unclean, but he is unaware of it, when he recognizes it, he will be guilty.
5:4:Or if anyone swears [an oath] thoughtlessly or impulsively aloud that he will do either evil or good, in whatever manner a person may speak thoughtlessly or impulsively with an oath, but he is unaware of it, when he recognizes it, he will be guilty in one of these.
5:5:So it shall be when a person is guilty in one of these, that he shall confess the sin he has committed.
5:6:He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord for the sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin.
5:7:‘But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons as his guilt offering for his sin to the Lord, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.
5:8:He shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer first the one for the sin offering, and shall nip its head at the front of its neck, but shall not sever it [completely].
5:9:He shall also sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering.
5:10:The second [bird] he shall prepare as a burnt offering, according to the ordinance. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for the sin which he has committed, and it will be forgiven him.
5:11:‘But if he cannot afford to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he shall bring as his offering for his sin the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering; he shall not put [olive] oil or incense on it, for it is a sin offering.
5:12:He shall bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful of it as a memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar, with the offerings by fire to the Lord; it is a sin offering.
5:13:In this way the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed in one of these things, and it will be forgiven him; then the rest shall be for the priest, like the grain offering.’”
5:14:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
5:15:“If a person commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally against the holy things of the Lord, then he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, valued by you in shekels of silver, that is, the shekel of the sanctuary, as a guilt offering.
5:16:He shall make restitution for the sin which he has committed against the holy thing, and shall add a fifth [of the ram’s value] to it, and give it to the priest. The priest shall then make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.
5:17:“Now if anyone sins and does any of the things which the Lord has forbidden, though he was not aware of it, still he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.
5:18:He is then to bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him regarding the error which he committed unintentionally and did not know it, and he shall be forgiven.
5:19:It is a guilt offering; he was certainly guilty before the Lord.”
6:1:Guilt Offerings
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
6:2:“When anyone sins and acts unfaithfully against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor (companion, associate) in regard to a deposit or a security entrusted to him, or through robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor,
6:3:or has found what was lost and lied about it and sworn falsely, so that he sins in regard to any one of the things a man may do—
6:4:then if he has sinned and is guilty, he shall restore what he took by robbery, or what he got by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him, or the lost thing which he found,
6:5:or anything about which he has sworn falsely; he shall not only restore it in full, but shall add to it one-fifth more. He shall give it to the one to whom it belongs on the day of his guilt offering.
6:6:Then he shall bring to the priest his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, as valued by you, as a guilt offering.
6:7:The priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he will be forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt.”
6:8:The Priest’s Part in the Offerings
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
6:9:“Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: the burnt offering shall remain on the hearth that is on the altar all night until morning and the fire is to be kept burning on the altar.
6:10:The priest is to put on his linen robe, with his linen undergarments next to his body. Then he shall take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the fire has consumed on the altar and put them beside the altar.
6:11:Then he shall take off his garments and put on something else, and take the ashes outside the camp to a (ceremonially) clean place.
6:12:The fire on the altar shall be kept burning; it shall not [be allowed to] go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and offer the fat portions of the peace offerings up in smoke on it.
6:13:The fire shall be burning continually on the altar; it shall not [be allowed to] go out.
6:14:‘Now this is the law of the grain offering: the sons of Aaron shall present it before the Lord in front of the altar.
6:15:One of them shall take up from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering with its oil and all the incense that is on the grain offering, and he shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, a sweet and soothing aroma, as the memorial offering to the Lord.
6:16:What is left of it Aaron and his sons are to eat. It shall be eaten as unleavened bread in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.
6:17:It shall not be baked with leaven [which represents corruption or sin]. I have given it as their share of My offerings by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.
6:18:Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it [as his share]; it is a permanent ordinance throughout your generations, from offerings by fire to the Lord. Whatever touches them will become consecrated (ceremonially clean).’”
6:19:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
6:20:“This is the offering which Aaron and his sons are to present to the Lord on the day when he is anointed: the tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening.
6:21:It shall be prepared with oil on a griddle. When it is well stirred, you shall bring it. You shall present the grain offering in baked pieces as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
6:22:The priest from among the sons of Aaron who is anointed in his place shall offer it. By a permanent statute it shall be entirely offered up in smoke to the Lord.
6:23:So every grain offering of the priest shall be burned entirely. It shall not be eaten.”
6:24:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
6:25:“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: the sin offering shall be killed before the Lord in the [same] place where the burnt offering is killed; it is most holy.
6:26:The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.
6:27:Whatever touches its meat will become consecrated (ceremonially clean). When any of its blood splashes on a garment, you shall wash what was splashed on in a holy place.
6:28:Also the earthenware vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then that vessel shall be scoured and rinsed in water.
6:29:Every male among the priests may eat this offering; it is most holy.
6:30:But no sin offering from which any of the blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place shall be eaten; it shall be [completely] burned in the fire.
7:1:The Priest’s Part in the Offerings
‘This is the law of the guilt offering; it is most holy.
7:2:In the place where they kill the burnt offering they are to kill the guilt offering, and he shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.
7:3:Then he shall offer all its fat, the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails,
7:4:and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys.
7:5:The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as an offering by fire to the Lord; it is a guilt offering.
7:6:Every male among the priests may eat it; it shall be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy.
7:7:The guilt offering is like the sin offering, there is one law for [both of] them: the priest who makes atonement with it shall have it for himself.
7:8:The priest who presents any man’s burnt offering shall have for himself the hide of the burnt offering which he has presented.
7:9:Likewise, every grain offering that is baked in the oven and everything that is prepared in a pan or on a griddle shall belong to the priest who presents it.
7:10:Every grain offering, mixed with [olive] oil or dry, all the sons of Aaron may have, one as well as another.
7:11:‘Now this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which shall be presented to the Lord:
7:12:If one offers it as a sacrificial meal of thanksgiving, then along with the sacrifice of thanksgiving he shall offer unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of fine flour mixed with oil.
7:13:With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving, he shall present his offering with cakes of leavened bread.
7:14:Of this he shall present one [cake] from each offering as a contribution to the Lord; it shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings.
7:15:‘The meat of the sacrifice of thanksgiving presented as a peace offering shall be eaten on the day that it is offered; none of it shall be left until morning.
7:16:But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day that which remains of it may be eaten;
7:17:but what is left over from the meat of the sacrifice on the third day shall be [completely] burned in the fire.
7:18:If any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is ever eaten on the third day, then it will not be accepted, and the one who brought it will not be credited with it. It shall be an abhorred (offensive) thing; the one who eats it shall bear his own guilt.
7:19:‘The meat that comes in contact with anything that is unclean shall not be eaten; it shall be burned in the fire. As for other meat, everyone who is [ceremonially] clean may eat it.
7:20:But the one who eats meat from the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the Lord, in his uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].
7:21:When anyone touches any unclean thing—human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or any unclean detestable thing—and then eats the meat of the sacrifice of the Lord’s peace offerings, that person shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].’”
7:22:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
7:23:“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘You shall not eat any fat from an ox, a sheep, or a goat.
7:24:The fat of an animal which dies [of natural causes] and the fat of one which is torn [to pieces by a predator] may be put to any other use, but under no circumstances are you to eat it.
7:25:For whoever eats the fat of the animal from which an offering by fire is presented to the Lord, that person who eats shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].
7:26:Moreover, you are not to eat any blood [of any kind], whether of bird or animal, in any of your dwelling places.
7:27:Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.’”
7:28:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
7:29:“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the Lord shall bring his offering to the Lord from the sacrifice of his peace offerings.
7:30:With his own hands he is to bring offerings by fire to the Lord; he shall bring the fat with the breast, so that the breast may be presented as a wave offering before the Lord.
7:31:The priest shall offer up the fat in smoke on the altar, but the breast shall be for Aaron and his sons.
7:32:You shall give the right thigh to the priest as a contribution from the sacrifices of your peace offerings.
7:33:The son of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat shall have the right thigh as his portion.
7:34:For I have taken the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering from the Israelites, from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their perpetual portion from the Israelites.
7:35:‘This is the consecrated portion from the offerings by fire to the Lord that was designated for Aaron and his sons on the day he presented them to serve as priests to the Lord.
7:36:The Lord commanded this to be given to the priests by the Israelites on the day that He anointed them. It is their portion perpetually throughout their generations.’”
7:37:This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the consecration (ordination) offering, and the sacrifice of peace offerings,
7:38:which the Lord commanded Moses at Mount Sinai on the day He commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord, in the Wilderness of Sinai.
8:1:The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
8:2:“Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments [which are symbols of their office], and the anointing oil, and the bull for the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread;
8:3:and assemble the entire congregation at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.”
8:4:Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the congregation was assembled at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.
8:5:Moses said to the congregation, “This is what the Lord has commanded us to do.”
8:6:Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water.
8:7:He put the undertunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him in the robe, and put the ephod (an upper vestment) on him. He tied the [skillfully woven] band of the ephod around him, with which he secured it to Aaron.
8:8:Moses then put the breastpiece on Aaron, and he put in the breastpiece the Urim and the Thummim [the sacred articles the high priest used when seeking God’s will concerning the nation].
8:9:He also put the turban on Aaron’s head, and on it, in the front, Moses placed the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the Lord had commanded him.
8:10:Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them.
8:11:He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them.
8:12:Then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him.
8:13:Next Moses brought Aaron’s sons forward, put undertunics on them, belted them with sashes, and bound caps on them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8:14:Then he brought the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull.
8:15:Next Moses killed it and took the blood and with his finger put some of it around on the horns of the altar and purified it [from sin]. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it, to make atonement for it.
8:16:He took all the fat that was on the entrails, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and Moses offered them up in smoke on the altar.
8:17:But the bull (the sin offering) and its hide, its meat, and its refuse he burned in the fire outside the camp, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8:18:He brought the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.
8:19:Moses killed it and sprinkled the blood around on the altar.
8:20:When he had cut the ram into pieces, Moses offered up the head, the pieces, and the fat in smoke.
8:21:After he had washed the entrails and the legs in water, Moses offered up the whole ram in smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8:22:Then he brought the second ram, the ram of consecration (ordination), and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.
8:23:Moses killed it and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
8:24:He also brought Aaron’s sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, and the thumbs of their right hands, and the big toes of their right feet; and Moses sprinkled the rest of the blood around on the altar.
8:25:He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat that was on the entrails, the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh;
8:26:and from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord, he took one unleavened cake, a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer and put them on the fat and on the right thigh;
8:27:and he put all these things in Aaron’s hands and his sons’ hands and presented them as a wave offering before the Lord.
8:28:Then Moses took these things from their hands and offered them up in smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. They were a consecration (ordination) offering for a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
8:29:Moses also took the breast and presented it as a wave offering before the Lord; it was Moses’ portion of the ram of consecration (ordination), just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8:30:So Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and also on his sons and their garments with him; so Moses consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
8:31:Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the meat at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting and eat it there together with the bread that is in the basket of the consecration (ordination) offering, just as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’
8:32:And what remains of the meat and of the bread you shall burn in the fire.
8:33:You shall not go outside the doorway of the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration (ordination) are ended; for it will take seven days to consecrate you.
8:34:As has been done this day, so the Lord has commanded to do for your atonement.
8:35:You shall remain day and night for seven days at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, doing what the Lord has required you to do, so that you will not die; for so I (Moses) have been commanded.”
8:36:So Aaron and his sons did all the things which the Lord had commanded through Moses.
9:1:Aaron Offers Sacrifices
And it happened on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel;
9:2:and he said to Aaron, “Take a bull calf as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, [each] without blemish, and offer both before the Lord.
9:3:Then say to the Israelites, ‘Take a male goat as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both one year old, without blemish, as a burnt offering,
9:4:and a bull and a ram as peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with [olive] oil, for today the Lord will appear to you.’”
9:5:So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and all the congregation approached and stood before the Lord.
9:6:Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”
9:7:Moses said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and present your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people; and present the offering of the people and make atonement for them, just as the Lord has commanded.”
9:8:So Aaron approached the altar and killed the calf as the sin offering, which was designated for himself.
9:9:The sons of Aaron presented the blood to him; he dipped his finger in the blood and put some of it on the horns of the altar, and poured out the rest of the blood at the altar’s base;
9:10:but the fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver from the sin offering he offered up in smoke on the altar, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
9:11:And Aaron burned the meat and the hide in the fire outside the camp.
9:12:Then he killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons handed the blood to him and he sprinkled it around on the altar.
9:13:They brought the burnt offering to him piece by piece, with the head, and Aaron offered them up in smoke on the altar.
9:14:He also washed the entrails and the legs, and offered them up in smoke with the burnt offering on the altar.
9:15:Then Aaron presented the people’s offering. He took the goat for the sin offering of the people, and killed it and offered it for sin, as he did the first.
9:16:He also presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the ordinance.
9:17:Next Aaron presented the grain offering and took a handful of it and offered it up in smoke on the altar in addition to the burnt offering of the morning.
9:18:He also killed the bull and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings which was for the people; and Aaron’s sons handed the blood to him and he sprinkled it around on the altar,
9:19:As for the portions of fat from the bull and from the ram—the fat tail, and the fat covering the internal organs, and the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver—
9:20:they now put the portions of fat on the breasts; and Aaron offered the fat up in smoke on the altar.
9:21:But the breasts and the right thigh Aaron presented as a wave offering before the Lord, just as Moses had commanded.
9:22:Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them, and came down [from the altar of burnt offering] after presenting the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.
9:23:Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory and brilliance of the Lord [the Shekinah cloud] appeared to all the people [as promised].
9:24:Then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell face downward [in awe and worship].
10:1:The Sin of Nadab and Abihu
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective [ceremonial] censers, put fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange (unauthorized, unacceptable) fire before the Lord, [an act] which He had not commanded them to do.
10:2:And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
10:3:Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord said:
‘I will be treated as holy by those who approach Me,
And before all the people I will be honored.’”
So Aaron, therefore, said nothing.
10:4:Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel who was Aaron’s uncle, and said to them, “Come here, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary and take them outside the camp.”
10:5:So they came forward and carried them, still in their undertunics, outside the camp, as Moses had said.
10:6:Then Moses said to Aaron and to his [younger] sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not uncover your heads nor let your hair hang loose nor tear your clothes [as expressions of mourning], so that you will not die [also] and so that He will not express His wrath and anger toward all the congregation. But your relatives, the whole house of Israel, may mourn the burning which the Lord has brought about.
10:7:You shall not even go out of the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, or you will die; for the Lord’s anointing oil is upon you.” So they did [everything] according to the word of Moses.
10:8:Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying,
10:9:“Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the Tent of Meeting, so that you will not die—it is a permanent statute throughout your generations—
10:10:and to make a distinction and recognize a difference between the holy (sacred) and the common (profane), and between the [ceremonially] unclean and the clean;
10:11:and you are to teach the Israelites all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.”
10:12:Then Moses said to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the offerings by fire to the Lord, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy.
10:13:You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your portion and your sons’ portion, from the offerings by fire to the Lord; for so I have been commanded.
10:14:But the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and daughters with you; for the breast and the thigh are your portion and your sons’ portion, given out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the Israelites.
10:15:They shall bring the thigh presented by lifting up and the breast presented by waving, along with the offerings by fire of the fat, to present as a wave offering before the Lord. This shall be yours and your sons’ with you, as your perpetual portion, just as the Lord has commanded.”
10:16:But Moses diligently tried to find the goat [that had been offered] as the sin offering, and discovered that it had been burned up [as waste, not eaten]! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying,
10:17:“Why did you not eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy; and God gave it to you to remove the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord.
10:18:Behold, its blood was not brought into the Holy Place; you certainly should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary, just as I commanded.”
10:19:Then Aaron said to Moses, “This very day they have [obediently] presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, but [such terrible things] as these have happened to me [and to them]; if I [and my sons] had eaten a sin offering today would it have been acceptable and pleasing in the sight of the Lord?”
10:20:When Moses heard that, he was satisfied.
11:1:Laws about Animals for Food
The Lord spoke again to Moses and Aaron, saying to them,
11:2:“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Among all the animals which are on the earth, these are the animals which you may eat.
11:3:You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof [that is, a hoof split into two parts especially at its distal extremity] and chews the cud.
11:4:Nevertheless, you are not to eat these, among those which chew the cud or divide the hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is [ceremonially] unclean to you.
11:5:And the shaphan, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you.
11:6:And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you.
11:7:And the swine, because it divides the hoof and makes a split hoof, but does not chew the cud; it is unclean to you.
11:8:You shall not eat their meat nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.
11:9:‘These you may eat, whatever is in the water: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, these you may eat;
11:10:but whatever does not have fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, of all the teeming life in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are [to be considered] detestable to you.
11:11:They shall be hated things to you. You may not eat their meat; you shall detest their carcasses.
11:12:Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.
11:13:Avoid the Unclean
‘These you shall detest among the birds; they are not to be eaten, for they are hated things: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard,
11:14:the kite, every kind of falcon,
11:15:every kind of raven,
11:16:the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, every species of hawk,
11:17:the little owl and the cormorant and the great owl,
11:18:the white owl, the pelican, the carrion vulture,
11:19:the stork, all kinds of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.
11:20:‘All winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you;
11:21:yet of all winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those which have legs above their feet with which to leap on the ground.
11:22:Of these you may eat: the whole species of migratory locust, of bald locust, of cricket, and of grasshopper.
11:23:But all other winged insects which are four footed are detestable to you.
11:24:‘By [contact with] these you will become unclean; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until the evening (dusk),
11:25:and whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.
11:26:Concerning all the animals which divide the hoof, but do not have a split hoof, or which do not chew the cud, they are unclean to you; whoever touches them becomes unclean.
11:27:Also all animals that walk on their paws, among all kinds of animals that walk on four legs, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until the evening,
11:28:and the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.
11:29:‘These also are unclean to you among the swarming things that crawl around on the ground [and multiply profusely]: the mole, the mouse, and any kind of great lizard,
11:30:the gecko, the crocodile, the lizard, the sand reptile, and the chameleon.
11:31:These [creatures] are unclean to you among all that swarm; whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening.
11:32:Also anything on which one of them falls after dying becomes unclean, whether it is an article of wood or clothing, or a skin, or a sack—any article that is used—it must be put in water, and will be unclean until the evening; then it becomes clean.
11:33:As for any earthenware container into which any of these [crawling things] falls, whatever is in it becomes unclean, and you shall break the container.
11:34:Any of the food which may be eaten, but on which [unclean] water falls, shall become unclean, and any liquid that may be drunk in every container shall become unclean.
11:35:Everything that part of their carcass falls on becomes unclean; an oven, or a small stove shall be smashed; they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.
11:36:Nevertheless a spring or a cistern (reservoir) collecting water shall be clean; but whoever touches one of these carcasses shall be unclean.
11:37:If a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing which is to be sown, it is clean;
11:38:but if water is put on the seed and a part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.
11:39:‘If one of the animals that you may eat dies [of natural causes], whoever touches its carcass becomes unclean until the evening.
11:40:And whoever eats some of its meat shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening; also whoever picks up its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.
11:41:‘Now everything that swarms on the ground is detestable; it is not to be eaten.
11:42:Whatever crawls on its belly, and whatever walks on all fours, and whatever has many feet among all things that swarm on the ground, you shall not eat; for they are detestable.
11:43:Do not make yourselves loathsome (impure, repulsive) by [eating] any swarming thing; you shall not make yourselves unclean by them so as to defile yourselves.
11:44:For I am the Lord your God; so consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm or crawls on the ground.
11:45:For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”
11:46:This is the law regarding the animal and the bird and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth,
11:47:to make a distinction between the [ceremonially] unclean and the [ceremonially] clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.
12:1:Laws of Motherhood
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
12:2:“Speak to the children of Israel, saying,
‘If a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child, she shall be [ceremonially] unclean for seven days, unclean as during her monthly period.
12:3:On the eighth day the flesh of the male child’s foreskin shall be circumcised.
12:4:Then she shall remain [intimately separated] thirty-three days to be purified from the blood; she shall not touch any consecrated thing nor enter the [courtyard of the] sanctuary until the days of her purification are over.
12:5:But if she gives birth to a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as during her monthly period, and she shall remain [intimately separated] sixty-six days to be purified from the blood.
12:6:‘When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting a one year old lamb as a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering;
12:7:and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who gives birth to a child, whether a male or a female child.
12:8:If she cannot afford a lamb then she shall take two turtledoves or young pigeons, one as a burnt offering, the other as a sin offering; the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”
13:1:The Test for Leprosy
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
13:2:“When a man has a swelling on the skin of his body, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes the infection of leprosy on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests.
13:3:The priest shall look at the diseased spot on the skin of his body, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears deeper than the skin of his body, it is an infection of leprosy; when the priest has looked at him, he shall pronounce him [ceremonially] unclean.
13:4:If the bright spot is white on the skin of his body and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has not turned white, the priest shall isolate the person who has the infection for seven days.
13:5:The priest shall examine it on the seventh day, and if in his estimation the infection has not changed and has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days.
13:6:The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the infection has a more normal color and the spot has not spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a scab; and he shall wash his clothes and be clean.
13:7:“But if the scab spreads farther on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his [ceremonial] cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again.
13:8:The priest shall look, and if the scab has spread on the skin, then he shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy.
13:9:“When a leprous infection is on a person, he shall be brought to the priest.
13:10:The priest shall examine him, and if there is a white swelling on the skin and it has turned the hair white and there is new raw flesh in the swelling,
13:11:it is a chronic leprosy on the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not isolate him because he is [clearly] unclean.
13:12:But if the [suspected] leprosy breaks out farther on the skin, and it covers all of the skin of the one who has the outbreak—from his head to his foot—wherever the priest looks,
13:13:the priest shall examine him. If the [suspected] leprosy has covered his entire body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean.
13:14:But whenever raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean.
13:15:The priest shall examine the raw flesh, and he shall pronounce him unclean; the raw flesh is unclean, it is leprosy.
13:16:But if the raw flesh turns again and is changed to white, then he shall come to the priest,
13:17:and the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased part is changed to white, then the priest shall pronounce him who had the disease to be clean; he is clean.
13:18:“And when there is on the skin of the body [the scar of] a boil that is healed,
13:19:and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling or a bright spot, reddish white, then it shall be shown to the priest;
13:20:and the priest shall look, and if it looks deeper than the skin and the hair on it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy; it has broken out in the boil.
13:21:But if the priest examines it and finds no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin and is dull in color, then the priest shall isolate him for seven days.
13:22:If it spreads farther on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease.
13:23:But if the bright spot remains where it is and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
13:24:“Or if the body has on its skin a burn from fire and the new flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish white or white,
13:25:then the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the bright spot has turned white, and it appears deeper than the skin, then leprosy has broken out in the burn. So the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy.
13:26:But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the bright spot and it is not deeper than [the rest of] the skin but is dull in color, then the priest shall isolate him for seven days.
13:27:And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day; if it is spreading farther on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy.
13:28:But if the bright spot remains in its place and has not spread in the skin, but is dull in color, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; for it is the scar of the burn.
13:29:“When a man or woman has a disease on the head or in the beard (face),
13:30:the priest shall examine the diseased place; if it appears to be deeper than the skin, with yellow, thin hair in it, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a scale, it is leprosy of the head or beard.
13:31:But if the priest examines the spot infected by the scale, and it does not appear deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall isolate the person with the scaly infection for seven days.
13:32:On the seventh day the priest shall examine the diseased spot; if the scale has not spread and has no yellow hair in it, and the scale does not look deeper than the skin,
13:33:then he shall shave himself, but he shall not shave the scale; and the priest shall isolate the person with the scale for seven more days.
13:34:Then on the seventh day the priest shall look at the scale; if the scale has not spread on the skin and appears to be no deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; he shall wash his clothes and be clean.
13:35:But if the scale spreads farther on the skin after his cleansing,
13:36:then the priest shall examine him, and if the scale has spread on the skin, the priest need not look for the yellowish hair; he is unclean.
13:37:If, in the priest’s estimation, the scale has remained [without spreading], and black hair has grown in it, the scale is healed; he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
13:38:“When a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the body, even white bright spots,
13:39:then the priest shall look, and if the bright spots on the skin of their bodies is a dull white, it is [only] a rash that has broken out on the skin; he is clean.
13:40:“If a man loses the hair on his head, he is bald, but he is clean.
13:41:And if he loses the hair on front of his head, he is bald on the forehead, but he is clean.
13:42:But if there is a reddish-white infection on the bald head or forehead, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head or forehead.
13:43:Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or forehead like the appearance of leprosy on the skin of the body,
13:44:he is a leprous man; he is unclean; the priest shall most certainly pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.
13:45:“As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered (disheveled), and he shall cover his mustache and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’
13:46:He shall remain [ceremonially] unclean as long as the disease is on him; he is unclean. He shall live alone; he shall live outside the camp.
13:47:“When a garment has a mark of leprosy in it, whether it is a wool garment or a linen garment,
13:48:whether in woven or knitted material or in the warp (lengthwise strands) or woof (crosswise strands) of linen or of wool, or in a skin or on anything made of leather,
13:49:if the mark is greenish or reddish in the garment or in the leather or in the warp or woof or in any article made of leather, it is an infestation of leprosy and shall be shown to the priest.
13:50:The priest shall examine the mark and shall quarantine the article with the mark for seven days.
13:51:He shall examine the mark on the seventh day; if it has spread in the garment, whether in the warp or the woof, or in the leather, whatever the leather’s purpose, the mark is a malignant leprosy; it is unclean.
13:52:So he shall burn the garment, whether the warp or woof, in wool or linen, or on anything made of leather in which the mark occurs; for it is a malignant leprosy; it shall be burned in the fire.
13:53:“But if the priest sees that the mark has not spread in the garment, either in the warp or the woof, or on anything made of leather,
13:54:then the priest shall order that they wash the thing in which the mark occurs, and he shall quarantine it for seven more days.
13:55:The priest shall examine the article with the mark after it has been washed, and if the mark has not changed color, even though the mark has not spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in the fire; it is a corroding mildew, whether on the top or on the front of it.
13:56:“If the priest looks and the mark has faded after it is washed, he shall tear it out of the garment, or the leather, or out of the warp or woof.
13:57:If it still appears in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or on anything made of leather, it is an outbreak; you shall burn the marked part in the fire.
13:58:The garment, whether the warp or the woof, or anything made of leather from which the mildew has departed after washing, shall then be washed a second time and it will be [ceremonially] clean.”
13:59:This is the law for a leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or woof, or on anything made of leather, to pronounce it clean or unclean.
14:1:Law of Cleansing a Leper
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
14:2:“This shall be the law of the leper on the day of his [ceremonial] cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest [at a meeting place outside the camp];
14:3:the priest shall go out of the camp [to meet him]; and the priest shall examine him, and if the leper has been healed of the infection of leprosy,
14:4:then the priest shall give orders to take two live clean birds and cedar wood and scarlet string and hyssop for the one to be cleansed.
14:5:Next the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed [as a sacrifice] in an earthenware container over [fresh] running water.
14:6:As for the live bird, he shall take it together with the cedar wood and the scarlet string and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird sacrificed over the running water.
14:7:He shall sprinkle [the blood] seven times on the one to be cleansed from the leprosy and shall pronounce him [ceremonially] clean. Then he shall let the live bird go free over the open field.
14:8:The one to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe in water; and he shall be clean. After that he may come into the camp, but he shall stay outside of his tent for seven days.
14:9:On the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair: he shall shave his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair [on his body]. Then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and be clean.
14:10:“Now on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and a yearling ewe lamb without blemish, and three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with [olive] oil as a grain offering, and one log (about a pint) of oil;
14:11:and the priest who cleanses him shall present the man to be cleansed and his offerings before the Lord at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.
14:12:“Then the priest shall take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering, with the log of oil, and present them as a wave offering before the Lord.
14:13:He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the sacred place [the courtyard of the tabernacle]; for the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy.
14:14:“The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
14:15:The priest shall also take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand;
14:16:and the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of the oil seven times before the Lord.
14:17:“Of the rest of the oil which is in his palm, the priest shall put some on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering.
14:18:The remaining oil that is in the priest’s palm shall be put on the head of the one to be cleansed. The priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord.
14:19:Next the priest shall offer the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness, and afterward kill the burnt offering.
14:20:The priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
14:21:“But if the cleansed leper is poor and his means are insufficient, then he is to take one lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and a log of oil,
14:22:and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he can afford, one shall be a sin offering, the other a burnt offering.
14:23:He shall bring them on the eighth day for his [ceremonial] cleansing to the priest at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, before the Lord.
14:24:The priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering, and the log of oil, and shall present them as a wave offering before the Lord.
14:25:Next he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering; and the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
14:26:The priest shall pour some of the oil into his left palm,
14:27:and with his right finger the priest shall sprinkle some of the oil that is in his left palm seven times before the Lord.
14:28:The priest shall put some of the oil in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the places where he has put the blood of the guilt offering.
14:29:The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s palm shall be put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord.
14:30:Then he shall offer one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, which are within his means.
14:31:He shall offer what he can afford, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. The priest shall make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one to be cleansed.
14:32:This is the law for the one in whom there is an infection of leprosy, whose means are limited for his [ceremonial] cleansing.”
14:33:Cleansing an Infected House
The Lord further spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
14:34:“When you come into the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as a possession, and I put a mark of leprosy on a house in your land,
14:35:then the one who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a mark of leprosy in my house.’
14:36:The priest shall order that they empty the house before he goes in to examine the mark, so that everything in the house will not have to be declared unclean; afterward he shall go in to see the house.
14:37:He shall examine the mark, and if the mark on the walls of the house has greenish or reddish depressions and appears deeper than the surface,
14:38:the priest shall go out of the house, to the doorway, and quarantine the house for seven days.
14:39:The priest shall return on the seventh day and look; and if the mark has spread on the walls of the house,
14:40:he shall order them to tear out the contaminated stones and throw them into an unclean place outside the city.
14:41:He shall have the entire inside area of the house scraped, and the plaster that is scraped off shall be dumped in an unclean place outside the city.
14:42:Then they shall take new stones and replace the [contaminated] stones, and he shall take plaster and replaster the house.
14:43:“If, however, the mark breaks out again in the house after he has removed the stones and has scraped and replastered the house,
14:44:then the priest shall come and look again, and if the mark has spread in the house, it is a malignant leprosy in the house; it is [ceremonially] unclean.
14:45:He shall tear down the house—its stones and its timber and all the plaster of the house—and shall take everything outside the city to an unclean place.
14:46:Moreover, whoever goes into the house during the time that it is quarantined becomes unclean until evening.
14:47:And whoever lies down in the house [to rest] shall wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
14:48:“But if the priest comes in and inspects it and the mark has not spread in the house after the house has been replastered, he shall pronounce the house clean because the mark has not reappeared.
14:49:To cleanse the house then, he shall take two birds and cedar wood and scarlet string and hyssop;
14:50:and he shall kill one of the birds in an earthenware container over running water,
14:51:and he shall take the cedar wood and the hyssop and the scarlet string, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird as well as in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.
14:52:So he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the running water, along with the live bird and the cedar wood and the hyssop and the scarlet string.
14:53:But he shall let the live bird go free outside the city into the open field. So he shall make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”
14:54:This is the law for any mark of leprosy—even for a scale,
14:55:and for the leprous garment or house,
14:56:and for a swelling, and for a scab, and for a bright spot on the skin—
14:57:to teach when they are unclean and when they are clean. This is the law of leprosy [in regard to both persons and property].
15:1:Cleansing Unhealthiness
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
15:2:“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When any man has a bodily discharge, his discharge is unclean.
15:3:This shall be [the law concerning] his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body allows its discharge to flow or obstructs its flow; it is uncleanness in him.
15:4:Every bed on which the one who has the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean.
15:5:Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening;
15:6:and whoever sits on anything on which the man with the discharge has been sitting shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:7:Also whoever touches the man with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:8:And if he who has the discharge spits on one who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:9:Any saddle on which the man with the discharge rides becomes unclean.
15:10:Whoever touches anything that has been under him shall be unclean until evening; and whoever carries those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:11:Whomever the one with the discharge touches without rinsing his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:12:An earthenware container that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden container shall be rinsed in water.
15:13:‘When the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge, he shall count off seven days for his purification; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean.
15:14:On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest;
15:15:and the priest shall offer them, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for the man before the Lord because of his discharge.
15:16:‘Now if any man has a seminal emission, he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:17:Every garment and every leather on which there is semen shall be washed with water, and shall be unclean until evening.
15:18:If a man lies with a woman so that there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
15:19:‘When a woman has a discharge, if her bodily discharge is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.
15:20:Everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean; and everything on which she sits shall be unclean.
15:21:Anyone who touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:22:Whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:23:And if it is on her bed or on the thing on which she is sitting, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening.
15:24:If a man actually lies with her so that her menstrual impurity is on him, he shall be unclean for seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
15:25:‘Now if a woman has a flow of blood for many days, not during the time of her menstruation, or if she has a discharge beyond that period, as long as the impure discharge continues she shall be as she is in the days of her [normal] menstrual impurity; she is unclean.
15:26:Every bed on which she lies during the time of her discharge shall be to her like the bed of her menstrual impurity, and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, like the uncleanness of her monthly period.
15:27:And whoever touches those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
15:28:When she is cleansed from her discharge, then she shall count off for herself seven days, and after that she will be clean.
15:29:Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting;
15:30:and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; and he shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.’
15:31:“Thus you shall separate the Israelites from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.”
15:32:This is the law for the one who has a discharge and for the one who has a seminal emission, so that he is unclean by it;
15:33:and for the woman who is ill because of her monthly period, and for the one who has a discharge, whether man or woman, or for a man who lies with a woman who is [ceremonially] unclean.
16:1:Law of Atonement
Then the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who had died when they [irreverently] approached the presence of the Lord.
16:2:The Lord said to Moses,
“Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil (the Holy of Holies), before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die, for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.
16:3:Aaron [as high priest] shall enter the Holy Place in this way: with [the blood of] a young bull as a sin offering and [the blood of] a ram as a burnt offering.
16:4:He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be belted with the linen sash, and dressed with the linen turban (these are the holy garments). He shall bathe his body in water and put them on.
16:5:He shall take from the congregation of the Israelites [at their expense] two male goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering.
16:6:Then Aaron shall present the bull as the sin offering for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house.
16:7:He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.
16:8:Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord, the other lot for the scapegoat.
16:9:Then Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell and offer it as a sin offering.
16:10:But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement on it; it shall be sent into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
16:11:“Aaron shall present the bull as the sin offering for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household (the other priests), and he shall kill the bull as the sin offering for himself.
16:12:He shall take a censer full of burning coals from the [bronze] altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil [into the Most Holy Place],
16:13:and put the incense on the fire [in the censer] before the Lord, so that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on [the ark of] the Testimony, otherwise he will die.
16:14:He shall take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
16:15:“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for [the sins of] the people and bring its blood within the veil [into the Most Holy Place] and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.
16:16:So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place (Holy of Holies) because of the uncleanness and transgressions of the Israelites, for all their sins. He shall also do this for the Tent of Meeting which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness (impurities).
16:17:There shall be no person in the Tent of Meeting when the high priest goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place [within the veil] until he comes out, so that he may make atonement for himself (his own sins) and for his household and for all the congregation of Israel.
16:18:Then he shall go out to the altar [of burnt offering in the court] which is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides.
16:19:With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on the altar of burnt offering seven times and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.
16:20:“When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place and the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat.
16:21:Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the wickedness of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat [the scapegoat, the sin-bearer], and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is prepared [for the task].
16:22:The goat shall carry on itself all their (the Israelites) wickedness, carrying them to a solitary (infertile) land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
16:23:“Then Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting and take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place (Holy of Holies), and shall leave them there.
16:24:He shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes, and come out and offer his burnt offering and that of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.
16:25:And he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
16:26:The man who released the goat as the [sin-bearing] scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
16:27:The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place (Holy of Holies), shall be taken outside the camp; their skins, their meat, and their waste shall be burned in the fire.
16:28:Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
16:29:An Annual Atonement
“This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month (nearly October) on the tenth day of the month you shall humble yourselves [by fasting] and not do any work, whether the native-born or the stranger who lives temporarily among you;
16:30:for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
16:31:It is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute.
16:32:So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve and minister as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall wear the holy linen garments,
16:33:and make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting, and for the altar [of burnt offering in the court]. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
16:34:This shall be a permanent statute for you, so that atonement may be made for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.” So he did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
17:1:Blood for Atonement
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
17:2:“Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded, saying,
17:3:“Any man from the house of Israel who kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp
17:4:and has not brought it to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting to offer it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, that man shall be guilty of bloodshed. He has shed blood and shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].
17:5:This is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing [to idols] in the open field [where they killed them], that they may bring them in to the Lord, at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord.
17:6:The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting and offer the fat up in smoke as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
17:7:So they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to goat-idols or demons or field spirits with which they have played the prostitute. This shall be a permanent statute for them throughout their generations.”’
17:8:“Then you shall say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel or any of the strangers living temporarily among you, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice
17:9:and does not bring it to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting to offer it to the Lord shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].
17:10:‘Any man from the house of Israel, or any stranger living temporarily among you, who eats any blood, against that person I shall set My face and I will cut him off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].
17:11:For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life [which it represents].’
17:12:Therefore I have said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, nor may any stranger living temporarily among you eat blood.’
17:13:So when any Israelite or any stranger living temporarily among them, catches any ceremonially clean animal or bird when hunting, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.
17:14:“For in regard to the life of all flesh, its blood is [the same] as its life; therefore I said to the Israelites, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off [excluding him from the atonement made for them].’
17:15:Every person who eats an animal which dies [of natural causes] or was torn by a predator, whether he is native-born or a stranger, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be [ceremonially] unclean until evening; then he will become clean.
17:16:But if he does not wash his clothes or bathe his body, he shall bear his guilt [for it will not be borne by the sacrifice of atonement].”
18:1:Laws on Immoral Relations
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
18:2:“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God.
18:3:You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, and you shall not do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes (practices, customs).
18:4:You are to follow My judgments (precepts, ordinances) and keep My statutes and live by them. I am the Lord your God.
18:5:So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which, if a person keeps them, he shall live; I am the Lord.
18:6:‘No one shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover nakedness (have intimate relations). I am the Lord.
18:7:You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother. You shall not uncover her nakedness.
18:8:You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness.
18:9:You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, either the daughter of your father or of your mother, whether born at home or born elsewhere.
18:10:You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; their nakedness you shall not uncover, for they are your own nakedness [that is, your own descendants].
18:11:You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter; born to your father, she is your sister.
18:12:You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative.
18:13:You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative.
18:14:You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother’s wife; you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.
18:15:You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness.
18:16:You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.
18:17:You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover their nakedness (have intimate relations with them); they are [her] blood relatives; it is an outrageous offense.
18:18:You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.
18:19:‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity and ceremonial uncleanness.
18:20:You shall not have intimate relations with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her.
18:21:You shall not give any of your children to offer them [by fire as a sacrifice] to Molech [the god of the Ammonites], nor shall you profane the name of your God [by honoring idols as gods]. I am the Lord.
18:22:You shall not lie [intimately] with a male as one lies with a female; it is repulsive.
18:23:You shall not have intimate relations with any animal to be defiled with it; nor shall a woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.
18:24:‘Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.
18:25:For the land has become defiled; therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants.
18:26:But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments (precepts) and shall not commit any of these repulsive acts, neither the native-born, nor the stranger who lives temporarily among you
18:27:(for all these repulsive acts have been done by the men who lived in the land before you, and the land has become defiled);
18:28:[do none of these things] so that the land will not vomit you out, should you defile it, as it has vomited out the nation which has been before you.
18:29:For whoever commits any of these repulsive acts, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people [excluding them from the atonement made for them].
18:30:So keep My command: do not practice any of the repulsive customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves by them; I am the Lord your God.’”
19:1:Idolatry Forbidden
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
19:2:“Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
19:3:Each of you shall respect his mother and his father, and you shall keep My Sabbaths; I am the Lord your God.
19:4:Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods (images cast in metal); I am the Lord your God.
19:5:‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.
19:6:It shall be eaten the same day you offer it and on the day following; and if anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire.
19:7:But if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is repulsive; it will not be accepted [by God as an offering].
19:8:Everyone who eats it will bear [the responsibility for] his wickedness, for he has profaned a holy thing of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].
19:9:Various Laws
‘Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings (grain left after reaping) of your harvest.
19:10:And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather its fallen grapes; you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.
19:11:‘You shall not steal, nor deal deceptively, nor lie to one another.
19:12:You shall not swear [an oath] falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.
19:13:‘You shall not oppress or exploit your neighbor, nor rob him. You shall not withhold the wages of a hired man overnight until morning.
19:14:You shall not curse a deaf man nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God [with profound reverence]; I am the Lord.
19:15:‘You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor show a preference for the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
19:16:You shall not go around as a gossip among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor [with slander or false testimony]; I am the Lord.
19:17:‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you may most certainly rebuke your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.
19:18:You shall not take revenge nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor (acquaintance, associate, companion) as yourself; I am the Lord.
19:19:‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear clothing of two kinds of material mixed together.
19:20:‘Now if a man has intimate relations with a woman who is a slave acquired for [marriage to] another man, but who has not been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment [after an investigation]; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free;
19:21:but he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, a ram as a guilt offering.
19:22:The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed; and he shall be forgiven for his sin.
19:23:‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall consider their fruit forbidden. For three years the fruit shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten.
19:24:In the fourth year all the fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord.
19:25:In the fifth year you may eat the fruit [of the trees], this is so that their yield may increase for you; I am the Lord your God.
19:26:‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination [using omens or witchcraft] or soothsaying.
19:27:You shall not trim and round off the side-growth of [the hair on] your heads, nor mar the edges of your beard.
19:28:You shall not make any cuts on your body [in mourning] for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves; I am the Lord.
19:29:‘Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land will not fall to prostitution and become full of wickedness.
19:30:You shall keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary. I am the Lord.
19:31:‘Do not turn to mediums [who pretend to consult the dead] or to spiritists [who have spirits of divination]; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.
19:32:‘You shall rise before the gray-headed and honor the aged, and you shall fear your God [with profound reverence]; I am the Lord.
19:33:‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress or mistreat him.
19:34:But the stranger who resides with you shall be to you like someone native-born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
19:35:‘You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight or quantity.
19:36:You shall have just and accurate balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
19:37:You shall observe and keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them. I am the Lord.’”
20:1:On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
20:2:“Moreover, you shall say to the children of Israel,
‘Any Israelite or any stranger residing in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech (the god of the Ammonites) [as a human sacrifice] shall most certainly be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
20:3:I will also set My face against that man [opposing him, withdrawing My protection from him] and will cut him off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them], because he has given some of his children to Molech, so as to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name.
20:4:If the people of the land should ever tolerate that man when he gives any of his children [as a burnt offering] to Molech, and fail to put him to death [as My law requires],
20:5:then I shall set My face against that man and against his [extended] family, and I will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in playing the prostitute (commit apostasy) with Molech.
20:6:‘As for the person who turns to mediums [who consult the dead] or to spiritists, to play the prostitute after them, I shall set My face against that person and will cut him off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].
20:7:You shall consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the Lord your God.
20:8:You shall keep My statutes and do them. I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
20:9:‘If anyone curses his father or mother, he shall most certainly be put to death; he has cursed his father or mother; his blood is on him [that is, he bears full responsibility for the consequences].
20:10:‘The man who commits adultery with another’s wife, even his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall most certainly be put to death.
20:11:The man who lies [intimately] with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them.
20:12:If a man lies [intimately] with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall most certainly be put to death; they have committed incest; their blood is on them.
20:13:If a man lies [intimately] with a male as if he were a woman, both men have committed a detestable (perverse, unnatural) act; they shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them.
20:14:It is immoral and shameful if a man marries a woman and her mother; all three shall be burned in fire, so that there will be no immorality among you.
20:15:If a man has intimate relations with an animal, he shall most certainly be put to death; you shall kill the animal also.
20:16:If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them.
20:17:‘If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears [responsibility for] his guilt.
20:18:If a man lies [intimately] with a woman during her menstrual cycle and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; both of them shall be cut off from their people [excluding them from the atonement made for them].
20:19:You shall not uncover the nakedness of (have intimate relations with) your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for such a one has uncovered his blood relative; they will bear their guilt.
20:20:If there is a man who lies [intimately] with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless.
20:21:If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is a hated and unclean thing; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.
20:22:‘Therefore keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out [as it did those before you].
20:23:You shall not follow the statutes (laws, practices, customs) of the nation which I am driving out before you; for they did all these things, and therefore I have loathed them.
20:24:But I have said to you, “You are to inherit and take possession of their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples (pagan nations).
20:25:You are therefore to make a distinction between the [ceremonially] clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that crawls on the ground, which I have set apart from you as unclean.
20:26:You are to be holy to Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples (nations) to be Mine.
20:27:‘A man or woman who is a medium [who pretends to consults the dead] or who is a spiritist shall most certainly be put to death, and be stoned with stones; their blood is on them.’”
21:1:Regulations concerning Priests
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:
‘No one shall defile himself [that is, become ceremonially unclean] for the dead among his people [by touching a corpse or assisting in preparing it for burial],
21:2:except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother,
21:3:also his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may become unclean.
21:4:He shall not become unclean as a relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself.
21:5:The priests shall not shave their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their body.
21:6:They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God; for they present the offerings by fire to the Lord, the food of their God; so they shall be holy.
21:7:They shall not take [as a wife] a woman who is a prostitute, nor a woman who is divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.
21:8:You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy.
21:9:The daughter of any priest who profanes herself by prostitution profanes her father; she shall be burned in fire.
21:10:‘But he who is the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the [sacred] garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes [in mourning],
21:11:nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself [by doing so, even] for his father or for his mother;
21:12:nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane (make ceremonially unclean) the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord.
21:13:He shall take a wife in her virginity.
21:14:He may not marry a widow or a divorced woman or one who is profaned by prostitution, but he is to marry a virgin from his own people,
21:15:so that he will not profane or dishonor his children among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies the high priest.’”
21:16:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
21:17:“Say to Aaron, ‘Throughout their generations none of your descendants who has any [physical] defect shall approach [the altar] to present the food of his God.
21:18:For no man who has a defect shall approach [God’s altar as a priest]: no man who is blind or lame, or who has a disfigured face, or any deformed limb,
21:19:or a man who has a broken foot or a broken hand,
21:20:or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles.
21:21:No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a [physical] defect and is disfigured or deformed is to approach [the altar] to present the offerings of the Lord by fire. He has a defect; he shall not approach [the altar] to present the food of his God.
21:22:He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things,
21:23:but he shall not go within the veil or approach the altar [of incense], because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
21:24:So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the Israelites.
22:1:Various Rules for Priests
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
22:2:“Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy things (offerings, gifts) which the children of Israel dedicate to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name; I am the Lord.
22:3:Say to them, ‘Any one of your descendants throughout your generations who approaches the holy things which the Israelites dedicate to the Lord, while he is [ceremonially] unclean, that person shall be cut off from My presence and excluded from the sanctuary; I am the Lord.
22:4:No man of the descendants of Aaron who is a leper or has a discharge may eat the holy things [the offerings and the showbread] until he is clean. And whoever touches any person or thing made unclean by contact with a corpse or a man who has had a seminal emission,
22:5:or whoever touches any crawling thing by which he is made unclean, or any person by whom he is made unclean, whatever it may be,
22:6:the person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water.
22:7:When the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he may eat the holy things, for it is his food.
22:8:He shall not eat that which dies [of natural causes] or is torn by a predator, becoming unclean by it; I am the Lord.
22:9:Therefore the priests shall observe My ordinance, so that they will not bear sin because of it and die if they profane it; I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
22:10:‘No layman [that is, someone outside of Aaron’s family] is to eat the holy gift [which has been offered to God]; a foreigner residing with the priest or a hired man shall not eat the holy thing.
22:11:But if a priest buys a slave as his property with his money, the slave may eat the holy thing, and those who are born in the priest’s house; they may eat his food.
22:12:If a priest’s daughter is married to a layman [one not part of the priestly tribe], she shall not eat the offering of the holy things.
22:13:But if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child, and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she shall eat her father’s food; but no layman shall eat it.
22:14:But if a person unknowingly eats a holy gift [which has been offered to God], then he shall add one-fifth of its value to it and give the holy gift to the priest.
22:15:The priests shall not profane the holy things the Israelites offer to the Lord,
22:16:and so cause them [by neglect of any essential observance] to bear the punishment of guilt when they eat their holy things; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
22:17:Flawless Animals for Sacrifice
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
22:18:“Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or any stranger in Israel who presents his offering, whether to fulfill any of their vows or as any of their freewill (voluntary) offerings which they presented to the Lord as a burnt offering—
22:19:so that you may be accepted—it must be a male without blemish from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats.
22:20:You shall not offer anything which has a blemish, because it will not be accepted for you.
22:21:Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a special vow to the Lord or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish in it.
22:22:Animals that are blind or fractured or mutilated, or have a sore or a running wound or an itch or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord nor make an offering of them by fire on the altar to the Lord.
22:23:For a freewill offering you may offer either a bull or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member (deformity), but for [the payment of] a vow it will not be accepted.
22:24:You shall not offer to the Lord any animal which has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut off, or sacrifice it in your land.
22:25:Nor shall you offer as the food of your God any such [animals obtained] from a foreigner, because their corruption and blemish makes them unfit; there is a defect in them, they shall not be accepted for you.’”
22:26:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
22:27:“When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain for seven days with its mother; and after the eighth day it shall be accepted as an offering by fire to the Lord.
22:28:And whether [the mother] is a cow or a sheep, you shall not kill both it and its young in one day.
22:29:When you sacrifice an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.
22:30:It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until the next morning; I am the Lord.
22:31:So you shall keep My commandments and do them; I am the Lord.
22:32:“You shall not profane My holy name [using it to honor an idol, or treating it with irreverence or contempt or as a byword]; but I will be sanctified (set apart as holy) among the Israelites. I am the Lord, who sanctifies and declares you holy,
22:33:who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord.”
23:1:Laws of Religious Festivals
The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying,
23:2:“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The appointed times (established feasts) of the Lord which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:
23:3:The Sabbath
‘For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation (calling together). You shall not do any work [on that day]; it is the Sabbath of the Lord wherever you may be.
23:4:The Passover and Unleavened Bread
‘These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times:
23:5:The Lord’s Passover is on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight.
23:6:The Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord is on the fifteenth day of the same month; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
23:7:On the first day you shall have a holy convocation (calling together); you shall not do any laborious work [on that day].
23:8:But you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord for seven days; on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work [on that day].’”
23:9:The Feast of First Fruits
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
23:10:“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am giving you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.
23:11:He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord so that you may be accepted; the priest shall wave it on the day after the Sabbath.
23:12:Now on the day when you wave the sheaf you shall offer a male lamb one year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord.
23:13:Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with [olive] oil, an offering by fire to the Lord for a sweet and soothing aroma, with its drink offering [to be poured out], a fourth of a hin of wine.
23:14:You shall not eat any bread or roasted grain or new growth, until this same day when you bring in the offering to your God; it is a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you may be.
23:15:The Feast of Weeks
‘You shall count from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf (tied bundle of grain) of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths (seven full weeks).
23:16:You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.
23:17:You shall bring in from your places two loaves of bread as a wave offering, made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven as first fruits to the Lord.
23:18:And you shall offer with the bread seven unblemished lambs, one year old, and one young bull and two rams. They are to be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
23:19:And you shall sacrifice one male goat as a sin offering and two male lambs, one year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings.
23:20:The priest shall wave them before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the first fruits and the two lambs. They are to be holy to the Lord for the priest.
23:21:On this same day you shall make a proclamation, you are to have a holy convocation (calling together); you shall not do any laborious work [on that day]. It is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you may be.
23:22:‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the edges of your field, nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.’”
23:23:The Feast of Trumpets
Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
23:24:“Say to the children of Israel, ‘On the first day of the seventh month (almost October), you shall observe a day of solemn sabbatical rest, a memorial day announced by the blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
23:25:You shall not do any laborious work [on that day], but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord.’”
23:26:The Day of Atonement
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
23:27:“Also the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble yourselves [by fasting] and present an offering by fire to the Lord.
23:28:You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God.
23:29:If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].
23:30:If there is any person who does any work on this same day, I will destroy that person from among his people.
23:31:You shall do no work at all [on that day]. It is a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you may be.
23:32:It is to be to you a Sabbath of complete rest, and you shall humble yourselves. On the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your Sabbath.”
23:33:The Feast of Booths
Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
23:34:“Say to the children of Israel, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, and for seven days, is the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) to the Lord.
23:35:The first day is a holy convocation (calling together); you shall not do any laborious work [on that day].
23:36:For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the Lord. It is a festive assembly; you shall not do any laborious work [on that day].
23:37:‘These are the appointed times (established feasts) of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to present an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its own day.
23:38:This is in addition to the [weekly] Sabbaths of the Lord, and in addition to your gifts and all your vowed offerings and all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.
23:39:‘On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month (nearly October), when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a Sabbath rest on the first day and a Sabbath rest on the eighth day.
23:40:Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick (leafy) trees, and willows of the brook [and make booths of them]; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.
23:41:You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
23:42:You shall live in booths (temporary shelters) for seven days; all native-born in Israel shall live in booths,
23:43:so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
23:44:So Moses declared to the Israelites the appointed feasts of the Lord.
24:1:The Lamp and the Bread of the Sanctuary
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
24:2:“Command the children of Israel to bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light [of the golden lampstand], to make a lamp burn continually.
24:3:Outside the veil of the Testimony [between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place] in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron shall always keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening until morning; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations.
24:4:He shall keep the lamps burning on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord continually.
24:5:“Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes (bread of the Presence, showbread) with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake (loaf).
24:6:You shall set the bread of the Presence (showbread) in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the Lord.
24:7:You shall put pure frankincense [in two censers, one] beside each row, so that it may be with the bread as a memorial portion, an offering by fire to the Lord.
24:8:Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange the showbread before the Lord continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the Israelites.
24:9:The bread of the Presence shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a sacred place, for it is for Aaron a most holy portion of the offerings by fire to the Lord, his portion forever.”
24:10:Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the Israelites, and he and a man of Israel quarreled and struggled with each other in the camp.
24:11:The Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name [of the Lord] and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)
24:12:They put him in custody until the will and command of the Lord might be made clear to them.
24:13:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
24:14:“Bring the one who has cursed [the Lord] outside the camp, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head [as witnesses to his guilt]; then let all the congregation stone him.
24:15:You shall speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘Whoever curses his God will bear his sin [through his own death].
24:16:Further, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall most certainly be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him. The stranger as well as the native-born shall be put to death when he blasphemes the Name [of the Lord].
24:17:“An Eye for an Eye”
‘If a man takes the life of any human being [unlawfully], he shall most certainly be put to death.
24:18:The one who kills an animal shall replace it, animal for animal.
24:19:If a man injures his neighbor (fellow citizen), whatever he has done shall be done to him:
24:20:fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so shall the same be done to him.
24:21:The one who kills an animal shall replace it; but he who kills a human being [unlawfully] shall be put to death.
24:22:You shall have one standard of law for the stranger among you as well as for the native, for I am the Lord your God.’”
24:23:Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they brought the one who had cursed [the Lord] outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
25:1:The Sabbatic Year and Year of Jubilee
The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying,
25:2:“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I am giving you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord.
25:3:For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop.
25:4:But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow [seed in] your field nor prune your vineyard.
25:5:Whatever reseeds itself (uncultivated) in your harvest you shall not reap, nor shall you gather the grapes from your uncultivated vine, it shall be a year of sabbatical rest for the land.
25:6:And all of you shall have for food whatever the [untilled] land produces during its Sabbath year; yourself, and your male and female slaves, your hired servant, and the foreigners who reside among you,
25:7:even your domestic animals and the [wild] animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.
25:8:The Year of Jubilee
‘You are also to count off seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven Sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years.
25:9:Then you shall sound the ram’s horn everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month (almost October); on the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout your land.
25:10:And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom [for the slaves] throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee (year of remission) for you, and each of you shall return to his own [ancestral] property [that was sold to another because of poverty], and each of you shall return to his family [from whom he was separated by bondage].
25:11:That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee for you; you shall not sow [seed], nor reap what reseeds itself, nor gather the grapes of the uncultivated vines.
25:12:For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its crops out of the field.
25:13:‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his own [ancestral] property.
25:14:If you sell anything to your friend or buy from your friend, you shall not wrong one another.
25:15:According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall buy from your friend. And he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops [which may be harvested before you must restore the property to him].
25:16:If the years [until the next Jubilee] are many, you shall increase the price, but if the years remaining are few, you shall reduce the price, because it is the number of crops that he is selling to you.
25:17:You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God [with profound reverence]; for I am the Lord your God.
25:18:‘Therefore you shall carry out My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them, so that you may live securely on the land.
25:19:Then the land will yield its produce, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it.
25:20:And if you say, “What are we going to eat in the seventh year if we do not sow [seed] or gather in our crops?”
25:21:then [this is My answer:] I will order My [special] blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will produce [sufficient] crops for three years.
25:22:When you are sowing the eighth year, you can still eat old things from the crops, eating the old until the ninth year when its crop comes in.
25:23:The Law of Redemption
‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; you are [only] foreigners and temporary residents with Me.
25:24:So in all the country that you possess, you are to provide for the redemption of the land [in the Year of Jubilee].
25:25:‘If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell some of his property, then his nearest relative is to come and buy back (redeem) what his relative has sold.
25:26:Or in case a man has no relative [to redeem his property], but he has become more prosperous and has enough to buy it back,
25:27:then he shall calculate the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his [ancestral] property.
25:28:But if he is unable to redeem it, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of the purchaser until the Year of Jubilee; but at the Jubilee it shall revert, and he may return to his property.
25:29:‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then his right of redemption remains valid for a full year after its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year.
25:30:But if it is not redeemed for him within a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently and irrevocably to the purchaser throughout his generations. It does not revert back in the Year of Jubilee.
25:31:The houses of the villages that have no surrounding walls, however, shall be considered as open fields. They may be redeemed, and revert in the Year of Jubilee.
25:32:As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses in the cities which they possess.
25:33:Therefore, what is [purchased] from the Levites may be redeemed [by a Levite], and the house that was sold in the city they possess reverts in the Year of Jubilee, for the houses in the Levite cities are their [ancestral] property among the Israelites.
25:34:But the pasture lands of their cities may not be sold, for that is their permanent possession.
25:35:Of Poor Countrymen
‘Now if your fellow countryman becomes poor and his hand falters with you [that is, he has trouble repaying you for something], then you are to help and sustain him, [with courtesy and consideration] like [you would] a stranger or a temporary resident [without property], so that he may live among you.
25:36:Do not charge him usurious interest, but fear your God [with profound reverence], so your countryman may [continue to] live among you.
25:37:You shall not give him your money at interest, nor your food at a profit.
25:38:I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
25:39:‘And if your fellow countryman becomes so poor [in his dealings] with you that he sells himself to you [as payment for a debt], you shall not let him do the work of a slave [who is ineligible for redemption],
25:40:but he is to be with you as a hired man, as if he were a temporary resident; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee,
25:41:and then he shall leave you, he and his children with him, and shall go back to his own family and return to the property of his fathers.
25:42:For the Israelites are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold in a slave sale.
25:43:You shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression), but you are to fear your God [with profound reverence].
25:44:As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you.
25:45:Moreover, from the children of the strangers who live as aliens among you, from them you may buy slaves and from their families who are with you, whom they have produced in your land; they may become your possession.
25:46:You may even bequeath them as an inheritance to your children after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. But in respect to your fellow countrymen, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with harshness (severity, oppression).
25:47:Of Redeeming a Poor Man
‘Now if the financial means of a stranger or temporary resident among you become sufficient, and your fellow countryman becomes poor in comparison to him and sells himself to the stranger who is living among you or to the descendants of the stranger’s family,
25:48:then after he is sold he shall have the right of redemption. One of his relatives may redeem him:
25:49:either his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or if he prospers, he may redeem himself.
25:50:Then he [or his redeemer] shall calculate with his purchaser from the year when he sold himself to the purchaser to the Year of Jubilee, and the [original] price of his sale shall be adjusted according to the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be considered as that of a hired man.
25:51:If there are still many years [before the Year of Jubilee], in proportion to them he must refund [to the purchaser] part of the price of his sale for his redemption and release.
25:52:And if only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he shall so calculate it with him. He is to refund the proportionate amount for his release.
25:53:Like a man hired year by year he shall deal with him; he shall not rule over him with harshness in your sight.
25:54:Even if he is not redeemed during these years and under these provisions, then he shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.
25:55:For the children of Israel are My servants; My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
26:1:Blessings of Obedience
‘You shall not make idols for yourselves, nor shall you erect an image, a sacred pillar or an obelisk, nor shall you place any figured stone in your land so that you may bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God.
26:2:You shall keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the Lord.
26:3:If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and [obediently] do them,
26:4:then I will give you rain in its season, and the land will yield her produce and the trees of the field bear their fruit.
26:5:And your threshing season will last until grape gathering and the grape gathering [time] will last until planting, and you will eat your bread and be filled and live securely in your land.
26:6:I will also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down and there will be no one to make you afraid. I will also eliminate harmful animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land.
26:7:And you will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword.
26:8:Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will put ten thousand to flight; your enemies will fall before you by the sword.
26:9:For I will turn toward you [with favor and regard] and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish and confirm My covenant with you.
26:10:You will eat the old supply of [abundant] produce, and clear out the old [to make room] for the new.
26:11:I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject nor separate itself from you.
26:12:I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
26:13:I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves; and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright [with heads held high as free men].
26:14:Penalties of Disobedience
‘But if you do not obey Me and do not [obediently] do all these commandments,
26:15:if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul rejects My ordinances, so that you will not [obediently] do all My commandments, and in this way break My covenant,
26:16:I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you sudden terror, consumption, and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to languish also. And you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat what you plant.
26:17:I will set My face against you so that you will be struck down before your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.
26:18:If in spite of all this you still will not listen to Me and be obedient, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
26:19:I will break your pride in your power, and I will make your sky like iron [giving no rain and blocking all prayers] and your ground like bronze [hard to plow and yielding no produce].
26:20:Your strength will be spent uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.
26:21:‘If then, you act with hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times in accordance with your sins.
26:22:I will let loose the [wild] animals of the field among you, which will bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you so few in number that your roads will lie deserted and desolate.
26:23:‘And if by these things you are not turned to Me, but act with hostility against Me,
26:24:then I also will act with hostility against you, and I will strike you seven times for your sins.
26:25:I will bring a sword on you that will execute vengeance for [breaking] the covenant; and when you gather together in your cities, I will send pestilence (virulent disease) among you, and you shall be handed over to the enemy.
26:26:When I break your staff of bread [that is, cut off your supply of food], ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will ration your bread; and you will eat and not be satisfied.
26:27:‘Yet if in spite of this you will not [attentively] listen to Me but act with hostility against me,
26:28:then I will act with hostility against you in wrath, and I also will punish you seven times for your sins.
26:29:You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.
26:30:I will destroy your high places [devoted to idolatrous worship], and cut down your incense altars, and heap your dead bodies upon the [crushed] bodies of your idols, and My soul will detest you [with deep and unutterable loathing].
26:31:I will lay waste your cities as well and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your sweet and soothing aromas [of offerings by fire].
26:32:I will make the land desolate, and your enemies who settle in it will be appalled at it.
26:33:I will scatter you among the nations and draw out the sword [of your enemies] after you; your land will become desolate and your cities will become ruins.
26:34:‘Then the land [of Israel] will enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.
26:35:As long as it lies desolate, it will have rest, the rest it did not have on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it.
26:36:As for those who are left of you, I will bring despair (lack of courage, weakness) into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a scattered leaf will put them to flight, and they will flee as if [running] from the sword, and will fall even when no one is chasing them.
26:37:They shall stumble over one another as if to escape from a sword when no one is chasing them; and you will have no power to stand before your enemies.
26:38:You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will consume you.
26:39:Those of you who are left will rot away because of their wickedness in the lands of your enemies; also because of the wickedness of their forefathers they will rot away like them.
26:40:‘If they confess their wickedness and the wickedness of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they have committed against Me—and also in their acting with hostility toward Me—
26:41:I also was acting with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—then if their uncircumcised (sin-filled) hearts are humbled and they accept the punishment for their wickedness,
26:42:then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham, and remember the land.
26:43:But the land will be abandoned by them and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; and they will accept the punishment for their wickedness and make amends because they rejected My ordinances and their soul rejected My statutes.
26:44:Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so despise them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God.
26:45:But I will, for their sake, [earnestly] remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I have brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.’”
26:46:These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws which the Lord established between Himself and the Israelites through Moses at Mount Sinai.
27:1:Rules concerning Valuations
Again, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
27:2:“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man makes a special vow [consecrating himself or a member of his family], he shall be valued according to your [established system of] valuation of people belonging to the Lord [that is, the priest accepts from the man making the vow a specified amount of money for the temple treasury in place of the actual person].
27:3:If your valuation is of a male between twenty and sixty years of age, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
27:4:Or if the person is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.
27:5:If the person is between five years and twenty years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels and for the female ten shekels.
27:6:But if the child is between one month and five years of age, then your valuation shall be five shekels of silver for the male and three shekels for the female.
27:7:If the person is sixty years old and above, your valuation shall be fifteen shekels for the male, and ten shekels for the female.
27:8:But if the person is too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall be placed before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the ability of the one who vowed, the priest shall value him.
27:9:‘Now if it is an animal of the kind which men can present as an offering to the Lord, any such that one gives to the Lord shall be holy.
27:10:He shall not replace it or exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; but if he does exchange an animal for an animal, then both the original offering and its substitute shall be holy.
27:11:If it is any unclean animal of the kind which men do not present as an offering to the Lord, then he shall bring the animal before the priest,
27:12:and the priest shall value it as either good or bad; it shall be as you, the priest, value it.
27:13:But if he ever wishes to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of it to your valuation.
27:14:‘If a man consecrates his house as sacred to the Lord, the priest shall appraise it as either good or bad; as the priest appraises it, so shall it stand.
27:15:If the one who consecrates his house should wish to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may be his.
27:16:‘And if a man consecrates to the Lord part of a field of his own property, then your valuation shall be proportionate to the seed needed for it; a homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.
27:17:If he consecrates his field during the Year of Jubilee, it shall stand according to your valuation.
27:18:But if he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall calculate the price for him in proportion to the years that remain until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your valuation.
27:19:If the one who consecrates the field should ever wish to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of the appraisal price to it, so that it may return to him.
27:20:If he does not redeem the field, but has sold it to another man, it may no longer be redeemed.
27:21:When the field reverts in the Jubilee, the field shall be holy to the Lord, like a field set apart (devoted); the priest shall possess it as his property.
27:22:Or if a man consecrates to the Lord a field which he has bought, which is not part of the field of his [ancestral] property,
27:23:then the priest shall calculate for him the amount of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and the man shall give that [amount] on that day as a holy thing to the Lord.
27:24:In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom it was purchased, to whom the land belonged [as his ancestral inheritance].
27:25:Every valuation of yours shall be in accordance with the sanctuary shekel; twenty gerahs shall make a shekel.
27:26:‘However, the firstborn among animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord, no man may consecrate, whether an ox or a sheep. It is [already] the Lord’s.
27:27:If it is among the unclean animals, the owner may redeem it in accordance with your valuation, and add one-fifth to it; or if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold in accordance with your valuation.
27:28:‘But nothing that a man sets apart [that is, devotes as an offering] to the Lord out of all that he has, of man or of animal or of the fields of his own property, shall be sold or redeemed. Anything devoted to destruction (banned, cursed) is most holy to the Lord.
27:29:No one who may have been set apart among men shall be ransomed [from death], he shall most certainly be put to death.
27:30:‘And all the tithe (tenth part) of the land, whether the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord.
27:31:If a man wishes to redeem any part of his tithe, he shall add one-fifth to it.
27:32:For every tithe of the herd or flock, whatever passes under the [shepherd’s] staff, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord.
27:33:The man is not to be concerned whether the animal is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it. But if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy; it shall not be redeemed.’”
27:34:These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai for the children of Israel.
numbers:1:1:The Census of Israel’s Warriors
The Lord spoke [by special revelation] to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) on the first day of the second month in the second year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, saying,
1:2:“Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head
1:3:from twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go out to war. You and Aaron shall number them, army by army.
1:4:And with you there shall be a man [to assist you] from each tribe, each being the head of his father’s household.
1:5:These then are the names of the men who shall stand with you: from [the tribe of] Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;
1:6:from [the tribe of] Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;
1:7:from [the tribe of] Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;
1:8:from [the tribe of] Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar;
1:9:from [the tribe of] Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;
1:10:from the sons (descendants) of Joseph: from [the tribe of] Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; from [the tribe of] Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;
1:11:from [the tribe of] Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni;
1:12:from [the tribe of] Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;
1:13:from [the tribe of] Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran;
1:14:from [the tribe of] Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel;
1:15:from [the tribe of] Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.
1:16:These men were the ones called from the congregation, the leaders of their fathers’ (ancestors’) tribes; they were the heads of thousands [the highest ranking officers] in Israel.”
1:17:So Moses and Aaron took these men who were designated by name,
1:18:and assembled all the congregation on the first day of the second month, and they registered by ancestry in their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head,
1:19:just as the Lord had commanded Moses. So he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai.
1:20:The sons of Reuben, Israel’s (Jacob’s) firstborn, their generations, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
1:21:those of the tribe of Reuben numbered 46,500.
1:22:Of the sons of Simeon, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, their numbered men according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
1:23:those of the tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300.
1:24:Of the sons of Gad, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
1:25:those of the tribe of Gad numbered 45,650.
1:26:Of the sons of Judah, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
1:27:those of the tribe of Judah numbered 74,600.
1:28:Of the sons of Issachar, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
1:29:those of the tribe of Issachar numbered 54,400.
1:30:Of the sons of Zebulun, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
1:31:those of the tribe of Zebulun numbered 57,400.
1:32:Of the sons of Joseph: the sons (descendants) of Ephraim, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
1:33:those of the tribe of Ephraim numbered 40,500.
1:34:Of the sons of Manasseh, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
1:35:those of the tribe of Manasseh numbered 32,200.
1:36:Of the sons of Benjamin, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
1:37:those of the tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400.
1:38:Of the sons of Dan, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
1:39:those of the tribe of Dan numbered 62,700.
1:40:Of the sons of Asher, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
1:41:those of the tribe of Asher numbered 41,500.
1:42:Of the sons of Naphtali, their descendants, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war:
1:43:those of the tribe of Naphtali numbered 53,400.
1:44:These were the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers’ household.
1:45:So all those numbered of the sons of Israel, by their fathers’ households, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war in Israel,
1:46:all who were numbered were 603,550.
1:47:Levites Exempted
The Levites, however, were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe.
1:48:For the Lord had said to Moses,
1:49:“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor shall you take their census among the sons of Israel [since they are unavailable to go to war].
1:50:But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle (sanctuary) of the Testimony, and over all its furnishings and all things that belong to it. They shall carry the tabernacle [when traveling] and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and camp around it.
1:51:When the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to [be set up for] camp, the Levites shall set it up. But the layman (non-Levite) who approaches the tabernacle shall be put to death.
1:52:The Israelites shall camp according to their armies, every man by his own camp and every man by his own [tribal] standard (banner).
1:53:But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, so that there will be no wrath against the congregation of the Israelites. The Levites shall be in charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony.”
1:54:Thus the sons of Israel did these things; according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so they did.
2:1:Arrangement of the Camps
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
2:2:“The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ households; they shall camp around the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), but at a distance.
2:3:Those who camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, by their armies; and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall lead the sons of Judah,
2:4:and his army as numbered totaled 74,600.
2:5:Next to Judah [on the east side] the tribe of Issachar shall encamp; and Nethanel the son of Zuar shall lead the sons of Issachar,
2:6:and his army as numbered totaled 54,400.
2:7:Then [also on the east side] the tribe of Zebulun; and Eliab the son of Helon shall lead the sons of Zebulun,
2:8:and his army as numbered totaled 57,400.
2:9:The total of the numbered men [in the three tribes on the east side] in the camp of Judah was 186,400, by their armies. They shall move out first [on the march].
2:10:“On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben, by their armies; and Elizur the son of Shedeur shall lead the sons of Reuben,
2:11:and his army as numbered totaled 46,500.
2:12:Those who camp next to Reuben [on the south side] shall be the tribe of Simeon; and Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai shall lead the sons of Simeon,
2:13:and his army as numbered totaled 59,300.
2:14:Then [completing the south side] the tribe of Gad; and Eliasaph the son of Reuel (Deuel) shall lead the sons of Gad,
2:15:and his army as numbered totaled 45,650.
2:16:The total of the numbered men [in the three tribes on the south side] in the camp of Reuben was 151,450, by their armies. They shall move out second [on the march].
2:17:“Then the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) shall move out with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the [other] camps; just as they camp so shall they move out, every man in his place by their standards.
2:18:“On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim, by their armies; and Elishama the son of Ammihud shall lead the sons of Ephraim,
2:19:and his army as numbered totaled 40,500.
2:20:Beside Ephraim [on the west side] shall be the tribe of Manasseh; and Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur shall lead the sons of Manasseh,
2:21:and his army as numbered totaled 32,200.
2:22:Then [completing the west side shall be] the tribe of Benjamin; and Abidan the son of Gideoni shall lead the sons of Benjamin,
2:23:and his army as numbered totaled 35,400.
2:24:The total of the numbered men [of the three tribes on the west side] in the camp of Ephraim was 108,100, by their armies. They shall move out in third place.
2:25:“On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan, by their armies; and Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai shall lead the sons of Dan,
2:26:and his army as numbered totaled 62,700.
2:27:Encamped next to Dan [on the north side] shall be the tribe of Asher; and Pagiel the son of Ochran shall lead the sons of Asher,
2:28:and his army as numbered totaled 41,500.
2:29:Then [completing the north side] comes the tribe of Naphtali; and Ahira the son of Enan shall lead the sons of Naphtali,
2:30:and his army as numbered totaled 53,400.
2:31:The total of the numbered men [of the three tribes on the north side] in the camp of Dan was 157,600. They shall move out last, standard after standard.”
2:32:These are the men of the Israelites [twenty years old and upward] as numbered by their fathers’ households. The total of the numbered men of the camps by their armies, 603,550.
2:33:But the Levites were not numbered with the [other] Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
2:34:Thus the Israelites did [as ordered]; according to everything the Lord had commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they moved out, everyone with his family (clan), according to his fathers’ household.
3:1:Levites to Be Priesthood
Now these are the records of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day when the Lord spoke [by special revelation] with Moses on Mount Sinai.
3:2:These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
3:3:These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom Aaron consecrated and ordained to minister in the priest’s office.
3:4:But Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of the Lord when they offered strange (unholy, unacceptable, inappropriate) fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the presence and under the supervision of Aaron their father.
3:5:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
3:6:“Bring the tribe of Levi near and present them before Aaron the priest, so that they may serve him.
3:7:They shall carry out the duties for him and for the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, doing the service of the tabernacle.
3:8:They shall also take care of all the furnishings and utensils of the Tent of Meeting, and [attend to] the duties of the Israelites, doing the service of the tabernacle.
3:9:You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons [as servants and helpers]; they are to be given wholly to him from among the Israelites.
3:10:So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall observe and attend to their priesthood; but the layman (non-Levite) who approaches [the holy things] shall be put to death.”
3:11:Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
3:12:“Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of and as a substitute for every firstborn, that is, the first that opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites shall be Mine,
3:13:for all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine; I am the Lord.”
3:14:Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying,
3:15:“Number the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families (clans). You shall number every male from a month old and upward.”
3:16:So Moses numbered them just as he was commanded by the word (mouth) of the Lord.
3:17:These are the [three] sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
3:18:These are the names of the [two] sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei;
3:19:and the [four] sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel;
3:20:and the [two] sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ households.
3:21:Of Gershon were the families of the Libnites and of the Shimeites. These are the families of the Gershonites.
3:22:The males who were numbered, every male from a month old and upward totaled 7,500.
3:23:The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west,
3:24:and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael.
3:25:Duties of the Priests
Now the responsibilities of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting involved the tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the curtain for the doorway of the Tent of Meeting,
3:26:and the hangings of the courtyard, the curtain for the doorway of the courtyard which is around the tabernacle and the altar, its tent ropes, and all the service concerning them.
3:27:Of Kohath were the families of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites.
3:28:The males who were numbered, every male from a month old and upward totaled 8,600, attending to the duties of the sanctuary.
3:29:The families of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle,
3:30:and the leader of the fathers’ households of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.
3:31:Now their responsibilities involved the ark, the table [on which the bread of the Presence was placed], the lampstand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the curtain, and all the service concerning them.
3:32:Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, was chief of the leaders of the Levites; he supervised those who performed the duties of the sanctuary.
3:33:Of Merari were the families of the Mahlites and the Mushites; these are the families of Merari.
3:34:The males who were numbered, every male from a month old and upward totaled 6,200.
3:35:The leader of the fathers’ households of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. The Merarites were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle.
3:36:Now the appointed responsibilities of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets or bases, and all the equipment, and all the service concerning them,
3:37:and the pillars around the courtyard with their bases and their pegs and their cords (tent ropes).
3:38:Now those to camp before the tabernacle toward the east, before the Tent of Meeting, toward the sunrise, were to be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, performing the duties of the sanctuary for whatever was required of the Israelites; and the layman (non-Levite) who approached [the sanctuary] was to be put to death.
3:39:All the men of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the command of the Lord, by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were 22,000.
3:40:Firstborn Redeemed
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Number every firstborn male of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and make a list of their names.
3:41:You shall take the Levites for Me instead of and as a substitute for all the firstborn among the Israelites. I am the Lord; and you shall take the cattle of the Levites instead of and as a substitute for all the firstborn among the cattle of the Israelites.”
3:42:So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded him;
3:43:and all the firstborn males from a month old and upward as numbered were 22,273 [273 more than the Levites].
3:44:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
3:45:“Take the Levites [for Me] instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. And the Levites shall be Mine. I am the Lord.
3:46:For the ransom (redemption price) of the 273 of the firstborn of the Israelites who outnumber the Levites,
3:47:you shall take five shekels apiece, per head, you shall take them in terms of the sanctuary shekel (the shekel is twenty gerahs),
3:48:and give the money, the ransom (redemption price) of those who outnumber the Levites to Aaron and to his sons.”
3:49:So Moses took the ransom (redemption) money from those who were in excess, beyond those ransomed by the Levites;
3:50:from the firstborn of the Israelites he took the money in terms of the sanctuary shekel, 1,365 shekels.
3:51:Then Moses gave the ransom money to Aaron and to his sons at the command of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
4:1:Duties of the Kohathites
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
4:2:“Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households,
4:3:from thirty years old and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).
4:4:This is the work and responsibility of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle): the most holy things.
4:5:“When the camp prepares to move out, Aaron and his sons shall come into the sanctuary and take down the veil (curtain) screening off the Holy of Holies, and cover the ark of the testimony with it;
4:6:and they shall put on it a covering of porpoise skin (fine leather), and shall spread over that a cloth of pure blue, and shall insert the carrying poles of the ark.
4:7:Over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue and put on it the plates, the dishes [for incense], the sacrificial bowls, the jars for the drink offering, and the continual bread [of the Presence] shall be on it.
4:8:They shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet, and cover that with a covering of porpoise skin, and they shall insert its carrying poles.
4:9:Then they shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light, along with its lamps, its wick cutters, its trays, and all the oil vessels, by which it is supplied;
4:10:and they shall put the lampstand and all its utensils in a covering of porpoise skin, and shall put it on the carrying bars.
4:11:Over the golden [incense] altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of porpoise skin, and shall insert its carrying poles;
4:12:and they shall take all the utensils of the service with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, and cover them with a covering of porpoise skin, and put them on the carrying bars.
4:13:Then they shall clean away the ashes from the altar [of burnt offering], and spread a purple cloth over it.
4:14:They shall also put on it all its utensils with which they minister in connection with it: the pans, the meat-forks, the shovels, the basins, and all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread a covering of porpoise skin over it, and insert its carrying poles.
4:15:When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all its furniture, as the camp sets out, after all that [is done, but not before], the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them [using the poles], so that they do not touch the holy things, and die. These are the things in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) which the sons of Kohath are to carry.
4:16:“The responsibility of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, is the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual grain offering, and the anointing oil—the responsibility of all the tabernacle and everything that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”
4:17:Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
4:18:“Do not cut off (eliminate, destroy) the tribe of the families of the Kohathites [who are only Levites and not priests], from among the Levites [by exposing them to the sin of touching the most holy things].
4:19:But deal with them in this way, so that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his [specific] work and to his load [to be carried on the march].
4:20:But the Kohathites shall not go in to see the holy things, even for an instant, or they will die.”
4:21:Duties of the Gershonites
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
4:22:“Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ households, by their families.
4:23:From thirty years and upward to fifty years old, you shall number them; all who enter for service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.
4:24:This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying [when on the march]:
4:25:they shall carry the tent curtains of the tabernacle, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering and the covering of porpoise skin (fine leather) that is on top of it, and the curtain for the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle),
4:26:and the hangings of the courtyard, and the curtain for the entrance of the gate of the courtyard which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their tent ropes, and all the equipment for their service; and all that is to be done, they shall perform.
4:27:Aaron and his sons shall direct all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, all they have to carry and all they have to do. You shall assign to them as a duty all that they are to carry [on the march].
4:28:This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle); and their duties shall be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron, the [high] priest.
4:29:Duties of the Merarites
“As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households;
4:30:from thirty years and upward to fifty years old, you shall number them, everyone who enters the service to do the work of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).
4:31:This is what they are assigned to carry [on the march], according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the boards [for the framework] of the tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its sockets or bases,
4:32:and the pillars around the courtyard with their sockets or bases and their pegs and their cords (tent ropes), with all their equipment and with all their [accessories for] service; and you shall assign each man by name the items he is to carry [on the march].
4:33:This is the work of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their tasks in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron, the priest.”
4:34:So Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families (clans) and by their fathers’ households,
4:35:from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who enters the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle);
4:36:the men who were numbered by their families were 2,750.
4:37:These were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who did service in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord through Moses.
4:38:The men who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families (clans), and by their fathers’ households,
4:39:from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle);
4:40:the men who were numbered by their families, by their fathers’ households, were 2,630.
4:41:These were numbered men of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who served in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), whom Moses and Aaron numbered just as the Lord had commanded.
4:42:The men who were numbered of the sons of Merari, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households,
4:43:from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle);
4:44:the men who were numbered by their families were 3,200.
4:45:These are the men who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered in accordance with the commandment of the Lord through Moses.
4:46:All the men who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted by their families (clans) and by their fathers’ households,
4:47:from thirty years and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of service and the work of carrying in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle);
4:48:the men that were numbered were 8,580.
4:49:According to the commandment of the Lord through Moses, they were numbered, each assigned to his work of serving and carrying. Thus they were numbered by him, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
5:1:On Defilement
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
5:2:“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp every leper and everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is defiled [that is, ceremonially unclean] by [coming in contact with] the dead.
5:3:You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they will not defile their camp where I dwell in their midst.”
5:4:The Israelites did so, and sent them outside the camp; just as the Lord had said to Moses, so the Israelites did.
5:5:And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
5:6:“Say to the Israelites, ‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind [against other people], thus breaking faith with the Lord, and that person is guilty,
5:7:then he shall confess the sin which he has committed, and he shall make restitution for his wrong in full, and add a fifth to it, and give it to [the person] whom he has wronged.
5:8:But if the man [who was wronged] has no redeemer (relative) to whom the restitution may be made, it is to be given to the Lord for the priest, besides the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for the offender.
5:9:Also every contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the Israelites which they offer to the priest, shall be his.
5:10:And every man’s holy gifts shall be the priest’s; whatever any man gives the priest, it becomes his.’”
5:11:The Adultery Test
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
5:12:“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray (deviates) and is unfaithful to him,
5:13:and a man is intimate with her, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and it is kept secret, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act,
5:14:and if a spirit (sense, attitude) of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous and angry at his wife who has defiled herself—or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself—
5:15:then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and he shall bring as an offering for her, a tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it [the symbols of favor and joy], because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a memorial grain offering, a reminder of [the consequences of] wickedness.
5:16:‘Then the priest shall have her approach and have her stand before the Lord,
5:17:and the priest shall take holy water [from the sacred basin] in an earthenware vessel; and he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water.
5:18:The priest shall then have the woman stand before the Lord, and let the hair of the woman’s head hang loose, and put the memorial grain offering in her hands, which is the jealousy offering, and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse.
5:19:Then the priest shall have her take an oath and say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness [while married], then be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse;
5:20:but if you have gone astray [while married] and you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has been intimate with you”
5:21:(then the priest shall have the woman swear the oath of the curse, and say to the woman), “The Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people when the Lord makes your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell;
5:22:and this water that brings a curse shall go into your stomach, and make your abdomen swell and your thigh waste away.” And the woman shall say, “Amen. Amen (so let it be).”
5:23:‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll and shall wash them off into the water of bitterness;
5:24:and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse will go into her and cause bitterness.
5:25:Then the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the Lord and offer it on the altar.
5:26:Then the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as the memorial portion of it and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water.
5:27:When he has made her drink the water, then it shall come about, that if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the curse water will go into her and cause bitterness and cause her abdomen to swell and her thigh to waste away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.
5:28:But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she will be free and conceive children.
5:29:‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife goes astray [while married] and defiles herself,
5:30:or when a spirit (sense, attitude) of jealousy and suspicion comes on a man and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest shall apply this law to her.
5:31:Further, the husband will be free from guilt, but that woman [if guilty] shall bear her guilt.’”
6:1:Law of the Nazirites
Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
6:2:“Say to the sons of Israel, ‘When a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, that is, one separated and dedicated to the Lord,
6:3:he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes.
6:4:All the time of his separation he shall not eat anything produced from the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.
6:5:‘All the time of the vow of his separation no razor shall be used on his head. Until the time of his separation to the Lord is completed, he shall be holy, and shall let the hair of his head grow long.
6:6:‘All the time that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body.
6:7:He shall not make himself [ceremonially] unclean for his father, mother, brother, or sister, when they die, because [the responsibility for] his separation to God is on his head.
6:8:All the time of his separation he is holy to the Lord.
6:9:‘If a man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his dedicated head, then he shall shave his head on the day that he becomes [ceremonially] clean; he shall shave it on the seventh day [the end of the purification period].
6:10:On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).
6:11:‘The priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering and make atonement for him concerning his sin because of the [dead] body. He shall consecrate his head the same day,
6:12:and he shall dedicate himself to the Lord for the time of his separation and shall bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering; but the previous days will be void and lost, because his separation was defiled.
6:13:‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the days of his separation and dedication are fulfilled: he shall bring the offering to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).
6:14:and he shall offer his gift to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering, and one female lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering,
6:15:and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread spread with oil, along with their grain offering and their drink offering.
6:16:Then the priest shall present them before the Lord and shall offer the person’s sin offering and his burnt offering.
6:17:He shall also offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering.
6:18:The Nazirite shall shave his dedicated head at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and take the dedicated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.
6:19:The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened [ring-shaped] loaf out of the basket, and one unleavened flat cake and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his dedicated hair.
6:20:Then the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord; they are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered by lifting up; and afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’
6:21:“This is the law for the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord for his separation, besides what else he is able to afford, according to the vow which he has vowed; so shall he do according to the law for his separation and abstinence [as a Nazirite].”
6:22:Aaron’s Benediction
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
6:23:“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them:
6:24:The Lord bless you, and keep you [protect you, sustain you, and guard you];
6:25:The Lord make His face shine upon you [with favor],
And be gracious to you [surrounding you with lovingkindness];
6:26:The Lord lift up His countenance (face) upon you [with divine approval],
And give you peace [a tranquil heart and life].’
6:27:So Aaron and his sons shall put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
7:1:Offerings of the Leaders
On the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle and had anointed and consecrated it and all its furniture, and the altar and all its utensils; he also anointed them and consecrated them [for holy use].
7:2:Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ households, made offerings. (These were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who were over the men who were numbered.)
7:3:They brought their offering before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen; a cart for each two of the leaders and an ox for each one; and they presented them before the tabernacle.
7:4:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
7:5:“Accept these things from them, so that they may be used in the service of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.”
7:6:So Moses took the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites.
7:7:He gave two carts and four oxen to the sons of Gershon, according to their service [in transporting the tabernacle];
7:8:and he gave four carts and eight oxen to the sons of Merari, according to their service [in transporting the tabernacle], under the supervision of Ithamar the son of Aaron, the [high] priest.
7:9:But to the sons of Kohath he gave nothing, because they were assigned the care of the holy things which they carried on their shoulders [when the tabernacle was moved].
7:10:The leaders offered the dedication sacrifices for the altar on the day that it was anointed; and they offered their sacrifice before the altar.
7:11:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Let them present their offerings, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.”
7:12:Now the one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah;
7:13:and his offering was one silver dish, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;
7:14:one golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;
7:15:one young bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering;
7:16:one male goat as a sin offering;
7:17:and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab [from the tribe of Judah].
7:18:On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader [of the tribe] of Issachar, presented [his offering];
7:19:he presented as his offering one silver dish, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;
7:20:one golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;
7:21:one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering;
7:22:one male goat as a sin offering;
7:23:and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar [from the tribe of Issachar].
7:24:On the third day [it was] Eliab the son of Helon, leader [of the tribe] of the sons of Zebulun [who presented his offering];
7:25:his offering was one silver dish, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;
7:26:one golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;
7:27:one young bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering;
7:28:one male goat as a sin offering;
7:29:and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon [from the tribe of Zebulun].
7:30:On the fourth day [it was] Elizur the son of Shedeur, leader [of the tribe] of the sons of Reuben [who presented his offering];
7:31:his offering was one silver dish, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
7:32:one golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;
7:33:one young bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering;
7:34:one male goat as a sin offering;
7:35:and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur [from the tribe of Reuben].
7:36:On the fifth day [it was] Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, leader [of the tribe] of the sons of Simeon [who presented his offering];
7:37:his offering was one silver dish, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;
7:38:one golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;
7:39:one young bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, for a burnt offering;
7:40:one male goat as a sin offering;
7:41:and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai [from the tribe of Simeon].
7:42:On the sixth day [it was] Eliasaph the son of Deuel, leader [of the tribe] of the sons of Gad [who presented his offering];
7:43:his offering was one silver dish the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, and a silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;
7:44:one golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;
7:45:one young bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering;
7:46:one male goat as a sin offering;
7:47:and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel [from the tribe of Gad].
7:48:On the seventh day [it was] Elishama the son of Ammihud, leader [of the tribe] of the sons of Ephraim [who presented his offering];
7:49:his offering was one silver dish, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;
7:50:one golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;
7:51:one young bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering;
7:52:one male goat as a sin offering;
7:53:and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud [from the tribe of Ephraim].
7:54:On the eighth day [it was] Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, leader [of the tribe] of the sons of Manasseh [who presented his offering];
7:55:his offering was one silver dish the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;
7:56:one golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;
7:57:one young bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering;
7:58:one male goat as a sin offering;
7:59:and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur [from the tribe of Manasseh].
7:60:On the ninth day [it was] Abidan the son of Gideoni, leader [of the tribe] of the sons of Benjamin [who presented his offering];
7:61:his offering was one silver dish, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;
7:62:one golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;
7:63:one young bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering;
7:64:one male goat as a sin offering;
7:65:and as the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni [from the tribe of Benjamin].
7:66:On the tenth day [it was] Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, leader [of the tribe] of the sons of Dan [who presented his offering];
7:67:his offering was one silver dish, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;
7:68:one golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;
7:69:one young bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering;
7:70:one male goat as a sin offering;
7:71:and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai [from the tribe of Dan].
7:72:On the eleventh day [it was] Pagiel the son of Ochran, leader [of the tribe] of the sons of Asher [who presented his offering];
7:73:his offering was one silver dish, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;
7:74:one golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;
7:75:one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering;
7:76:one male goat as a sin offering;
7:77:and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran [from the tribe of Asher].
7:78:On the twelfth day [it was] Ahira the son of Enan, leader [of the tribe] of the sons of Naphtali [who presented his offering];
7:79:his offering was one silver dish, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;
7:80:one golden bowl of ten shekels, full of incense;
7:81:one young bull, one ram, one male lamb one year old, as a burnt offering;
7:82:one male goat as a sin offering;
7:83:and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs one year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan [from the tribe of Naphtali].
7:84:This was the dedication offering for the altar from the leaders of Israel on the day when it was anointed: twelve dishes of silver, twelve silver basins, twelve golden bowls;
7:85:each dish of silver weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, each basin seventy [shekels]; all the silver vessels weighed 2,400 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary;
7:86:the twelve golden bowls, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, all the gold of the bowls being a hundred and twenty shekels;
7:87:all the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve bulls, the rams twelve, the male lambs one year old twelve, together with their grain offering; and the male goats as a sin offering twelve;
7:88:and all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace offerings were twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the male lambs one year old sixty. This was the dedication for the altar [of burnt offering] after it was anointed.
7:89:Now when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat (the gold cover) that was on the ark of the Testimony from between the two cherubim; and He spoke [by special revelation] to him.
8:1:The Seven Lamps
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
8:2:“Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you set up and light the lamps, the seven lamps will shine in front of the lampstand.’”
8:3:And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8:4:Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand: hammered work of gold; from its base to its flowers it was hammered work; according to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
8:5:Cleansing the Levites
Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
8:6:“Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and cleanse them.
8:7:This is what you shall do to them to [ceremonially] cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification on them, and let them use a razor over their whole body and wash their clothes, and they will be clean.
8:8:Then let them take a young bull and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull as a sin offering.
8:9:You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and you shall also assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel,
8:10:and present the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites shall lay their hands on the Levites.
8:11:“Aaron shall present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, so that they may perform the service of the Lord.
8:12:Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, then you are to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.
8:13:You shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and present them as a wave offering to the Lord.
8:14:“Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites shall be Mine [in a very special sense].
8:15:Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), but you shall cleanse them [first] and present them as a wave offering;
8:16:for they are wholly given to Me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for Myself instead of all who are born first, the firstborn of all the Israelites.
8:17:For all the firstborn among the Israelites are Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified and set the Israelites apart for Myself.
8:18:And I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the Israelites.
8:19:I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the Israelites, to perform the service of the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and to make atonement for them, so that there will be no plague among the Israelites if they should approach the sanctuary.”
8:20:Thus Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did [these things] to the Levites; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the Israelites did to them.
8:21:The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and they washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.
8:22:Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and his sons; just as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
8:23:Retirement
Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
8:24:“This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall enter to perform service in the work of the Tent of Meeting,
8:25:but at the age of fifty years, they shall retire from the service of the [tabernacle] work and serve no longer.
8:26:They may assist their brothers in the Tent of Meeting to keep an obligation, but they shall do no [heavy or difficult] work. Thus you shall deal with the Levites concerning their obligations.”
9:1:The Passover
The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
9:2:“The sons of Israel are to keep the Passover at its appointed time.
9:3:On the fourteenth day of this month at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and ordinances you shall keep it.”
9:4:So Moses told the Israelites to observe the Passover.
9:5:They observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight in the Wilderness of Sinai; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.
9:6:But there were certain men who were [ceremonially] unclean because of [touching] the dead body of a man, so they could not observe the Passover on that day; so they came before Moses and Aaron that same day.
9:7:Those men said to Moses, “We are [ceremonially] unclean because of [touching] a dead body. Why are we being restrained from presenting the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?”
9:8:Therefore, Moses said to them, “Wait, and I will listen to what the Lord will command concerning you.”
9:9:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
9:10:“Say to the Israelites, ‘If any one of you or of your descendants becomes [ceremonially] unclean because of [touching] a dead body or is on a distant journey, he may, however, observe the Passover to the Lord.
9:11:On the fourteenth day of the second month [thirty days later] at twilight, they shall observe it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
9:12:They shall leave none of it until morning nor break any of its bones; in accordance with all the statutes of the Passover they shall observe it.
9:13:But the man who is [ceremonially] clean and is not on a journey, and yet does not observe the Passover, that person shall be cut off from among his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them] because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time; that man will bear [the penalty of] his sin.
9:14:If a stranger lives among you as a resident alien and observes the Passover to the Lord, in accordance with its statutes and its ordinances, so shall he do; you shall have one statute, both for the resident alien and for the native of the land.’”
9:15:The Cloud on the Tabernacle
Now on the day that the tabernacle was erected, the cloud [of God’s presence] covered the tabernacle, that is, the tent of the Testimony; and in the evening it was over the tabernacle, appearing like [a pillar of] fire until the morning.
9:16:So it was continuously; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
9:17:Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent (tabernacle), afterward the Israelites would set out; and in the place where the cloud stopped, there the Israelites would camp.
9:18:At the Lord’s command the Israelites would journey on, and at His command they would camp. As long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle they remained camped.
9:19:Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites would keep their obligation to the Lord and not set out.
9:20:Sometimes the cloud remained only a few days over the tabernacle, and in accordance with the command of the Lord they remained camped. Then at His command they set out.
9:21:If sometimes the cloud remained [over the tabernacle] from evening only until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would journey on; whether in the daytime or at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out.
9:22:Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud [of the Lord’s presence] lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the Israelites remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they set out.
9:23:At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed on; they kept their obligation to the Lord, in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.
10:1:The Silver Trumpets
The Lord spoke further to Moses, saying,
10:2:“Make two trumpets of silver; you shall make them of hammered work. You shall use them to summon the congregation and to have the camps move out.
10:3:When both are blown, all the congregation [that is, all adult males] shall gather before you at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).
10:4:However, if a single trumpet is blown, then the leaders, heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.
10:5:When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side [of the tabernacle] shall set out.
10:6:When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps on the south side [of the tabernacle] shall set out. They shall blow an alarm whenever they are to move out [on their journeys].
10:7:When the assembly is to be gathered, you shall blow [the trumpets in short, sharp tones], but without sounding an alarm.
10:8:The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and the trumpets shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations.
10:9:When you go to war in your land against the enemy that attacks you, then sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.
10:10:Also in the day of rejoicing, and in your appointed feasts, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifice of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”
10:11:The Tribes Leave Sinai
On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year [since leaving Egypt], the cloud [of the Lord’s presence] was lifted from over the tabernacle of the Testimony,
10:12:and the Israelites set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud [of the Lord’s guiding presence] settled down in the Wilderness of Paran.
10:13:So they moved out for the first time in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.
10:14:The standard of the camp of the sons of Judah, according to their armies, moved out first, Nahshon the son of Amminadab was [commander] over its army,
10:15:and Nethanel the son of Zuar was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Issachar;
10:16:and Eliab the son of Helon was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Zebulun.
10:17:Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, moved out.
10:18:Next the standard of the camp of the sons of Reuben, according to their armies, moved out, with Elizur the son of Shedeur [commander] over its army,
10:19:and Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Simeon,
10:20:and Eliasaph the son of Deuel was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Gad.
10:21:Then the Kohathites moved out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before they arrived.
10:22:Next the standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim moved out, according to their armies, with Elishama the son of Ammihud [commander] over its army,
10:23:and Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Manasseh,
10:24:and Abidan the son of Gideoni was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Benjamin.
10:25:Then the standard of the camp of the sons of Dan, according to their armies, which formed the rear guard for all the camps, moved out, with Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai [commander] over its army,
10:26:and Pagiel the son of Ochran was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Asher,
10:27:and Ahira the son of Enan was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Naphtali.
10:28:This was the order of march of the sons of Israel by their armies as they moved out.
10:29:Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are going to the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will be good to you, for the Lord has promised good [things] concerning Israel.”
10:30:But Hobab [Moses’ brother-in-law] said to him, “I will not go; I will return to my own land and to my family.”
10:31:Then Moses said, “Please do not leave us, for you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us [as we make our trek through the desert].
10:32:So if you will go with us, it shall be that whatever good the Lord does for us, we will do the same for you.”
10:33:So they set out from the mountain of the Lord (Sinai) three days’ journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went in front of them during the three days’ journey to seek out a resting place for them.
10:34:The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.
10:35:Whenever the ark set out, Moses said,
“Rise up, O Lord!
Let Your enemies be scattered;
And let those who hate You flee before You.”
10:36:And when the ark rested, Moses said,
“Return, O Lord,
To the myriad (many) thousands of Israel.”
11:1:The People Complain
Now the people became like those who complain and whine about their hardships, and the Lord heard it; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp.
11:2:So the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire died out.
11:3:He named that place Taberah (the place of burning), because the fire of the Lord burned among them.
11:4:The rabble among them [who followed Israel from Egypt] had greedy desires [for familiar and delicious food], and the Israelites wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?
11:5:We remember the fish we ate freely and without cost in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.
11:6:But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing at all [in the way of food] to be seen but this manna.”
11:7:The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium.
11:8:The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes with it; and it tasted like cakes baked with fresh [olive] oil.
11:9:When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna fell with it.
11:10:The Complaint of Moses
Now Moses heard the people weeping [in self-pity] throughout their families, every man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses regarded their behavior as evil.
11:11:So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have placed the burden of all these people on me?
11:12:Was it I who conceived all these people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms as a nurse carries the nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’?
11:13:Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, so that we may eat.’
11:14:I am not able to carry all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.
11:15:So if this is the way You are going to deal with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”
11:16:Seventy Elders to Assist
Accordingly, the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from among the elders of Israel whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers; bring them to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and let them stand there with you.
11:17:Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take away some of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not have to bear it all alone.
11:18:Say to the people, ‘Consecrate (separate as holy) yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept [in self-pity] in the ears of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.
11:19:You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
11:20:but a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and is disgusting to you—because you have rejected and despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept [in self-pity] before Him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”
11:21:But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 [fighting men] on foot [besides all the women and children]; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat it for a whole month!’
11:22:Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be collected for them to be sufficient for them?”
11:23:The Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand (ability, power) limited (short, inadequate)? You shall see now whether My word will come to pass for you or not.”
11:24:So Moses went out and spoke to the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered seventy men from among the elders of the people and stationed them around the Tent (tabernacle).
11:25:Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took some of the Spirit who was upon Moses and put Him upon the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied [praising God and declaring His will], but they did not do it again.
11:26:But two men had remained in the camp; one named Eldad and the other named Medad. The Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the Tent), and they prophesied in the camp.
11:27:So a young man ran and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying [extolling the praises of God and declaring His will] in the camp.”
11:28:Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!”
11:29:But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”
11:30:Then Moses went back into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
11:31:The Quail and the Plague
Now there went forth a wind from the Lord and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall [so they flew low] beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits (three feet) deep on the surface of the ground.
11:32:The people spent all that day and all night and all the next day and caught and gathered the quail (the one who gathered least gathered ten homers) and they spread them out for themselves around the camp [to cure them by drying].
11:33:While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very severe plague.
11:34:So that place was named Kibroth-hattaavah (the graves of greediness), because there they buried the people who had been greedy [for more than the manna that God provided them].
11:35:From Kibroth-hattaavah the people set out for Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth.
12:1:The Murmuring of Miriam and Aaron
Now Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);
12:2:and they said, “Has the Lord really spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken also through us?” And the Lord heard it.
12:3:(Now the man Moses was very humble (gentle, kind, devoid of self-righteousness), more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)
12:4:Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).” And the three of them came out.
12:5:The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tabernacle, and He called Aaron and Miriam, and they came forward.
12:6:And He said,
“Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I the Lord will make Myself known to him in a vision
And I will speak to him in a dream.
12:7:“But it is not so with My servant Moses;
He is entrusted and faithful in all My house.
12:8:“With him I speak mouth to mouth [directly],
Clearly and openly and not in riddles;
And he beholds the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
12:9:And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Miriam and Aaron, and He departed.
12:10:But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned and looked at Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.
12:11:Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I plead with you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned.
12:12:Oh, do not let her be like one dead, already half decomposed when he comes from his mother’s womb.”
12:13:So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “Heal her please, O God, I plead with You!”
12:14:But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may return.”
12:15:So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought in again [and declared ceremonially clean from her leprosy].
12:16:Afterward the people moved on from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.
13:1:Spies View the Land
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
13:2:“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel. From each of their fathers’ tribes you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”
13:3:So Moses sent spies from the Wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the Israelites.
13:4:These were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;
13:5:from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;
13:6:from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;
13:7:from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;
13:8:from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea [that is, Joshua] the son of Nun;
13:9:from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;
13:10:from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;
13:11:from the tribe of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;
13:12:from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;
13:13:from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;
13:14:from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;
13:15:from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
13:16:These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua (the Lord is salvation).
13:17:Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the Negev (the South country); then go up into the hill country.
13:18:See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many,
13:19:and whether the land in which they live is good or bad, and whether the cities in which they live are [open] camps or fortifications,
13:20:and what the land is, whether it is fat (productive) or lean, whether there is timber on it or not. Make an effort to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.
13:21:So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob [a town in Lebanon], at Lebo-hamath [in the far north].
13:22:When they had gone up into the Negev (the South country), they came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai the descendants of Anak were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
13:23:Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol (cluster of grapes), and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two of them, with some of pomegranates and the figs.
13:24:That place was called the Valley of Eshcol (cluster of grapes) because of the cluster of grapes which the sons of Israel cut down there.
13:25:The Spies’ Reports
When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days,
13:26:they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the land’s fruit.
13:27:They reported to Moses and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
13:28:But the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified (walled) and very large; moreover, we saw there the descendants of Anak [people of great stature and courage].
13:29:[The people descended from] Amalek live in the land of the Negev (South country); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the [Dead] Sea and along the side of the Jordan.”
13:30:Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession of it; for we will certainly conquer it.”
13:31:But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people [of Canaan], for they are too strong for us.”
13:32:So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we went, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.
13:33:There we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
14:1:The People Rebel
Then all the congregation [of Israel] raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept that night.
14:2:All the Israelites murmured [in discontent] against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Oh that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness!
14:3:Why is the Lord bringing us to this land [of Canaan], to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
14:4:So they said one to another, “Let us appoint a [new] leader and return to Egypt.”
14:5:Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the Israelites.
14:6:Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes [as a sign of grief],
14:7:and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we passed as spies is an exceedingly good land.
14:8:If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey.
14:9:Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”
14:10:But all the congregation said to stone Joshua and Caleb with stones. But the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) before all the sons of Israel.
14:11:Moses Pleads for the People
The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me disrespectfully and reject Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the [miraculous] signs which I have performed among them?
14:12:I will strike them with the pestilence (plague) and dispossess them, and will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”
14:13:But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up these people from among them,
14:14:and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people [of Israel], that You, Lord, are seen face to face, while Your cloud stands over them; and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.
14:15:Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations (Gentiles) that have heard of Your fame will say,
14:16:‘Because the Lord was not able to bring these people into the land which He promised to give them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’
14:17:But now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying,
14:18:‘The Lord is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving wickedness and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting (avenging) the wickedness and guilt of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].’
14:19:Please pardon the wickedness and guilt of these people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You have forgiven these people, from Egypt even until now.”
14:20:The Lord Pardons and Rebukes
So the Lord said, “I have pardoned them according to your word;
14:21:but indeed as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.
14:22:Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My [miraculous] signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice,
14:23:will by no means see the land which I swore to [give to] their fathers; nor will any who treated me disrespectfully and rejected Me see it.
14:24:But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land into which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.
14:25:Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valley; tomorrow turn and set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.”
14:26:The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
14:27:“How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who murmur [in discontent] against Me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they are making against Me.
14:28:Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just what you have spoken in My hearing I will most certainly do to you;
14:29:your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, even all who were numbered of you, your entire number from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me.
14:30:Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, not one of you shall enter the land in which I swore [an oath] to settle you.
14:31:But your children whom you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they will know the land which you have despised and rejected.
14:32:But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness.
14:33:Your sons shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness (spiritual infidelity), until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness.
14:34:According to the number of days in which you spied out the land [of Canaan], forty days, for each day, you shall bear and suffer a year for your sins and guilt, for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure [the revoking of My promise and My estrangement because of your sin].
14:35:I, the Lord, have spoken. I will most certainly do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed [by war, disease, and plagues], and here they shall die.’”
14:36:As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and made all the congregation murmur and complain against him by bringing back a bad report concerning the land,
14:37:even those [ten] men who brought back the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the Lord.
14:38:But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.
14:39:Israel Repulsed
Moses spoke the Lord’s words to all the Israelites, and the people mourned greatly.
14:40:They got up early in the morning and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, “Look, here we are; we have indeed sinned, but we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised.”
14:41:But Moses said, “Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord, when it will not succeed?
14:42:Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the Lord is not among you.
14:43:For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, because you have turned away from following the Lord; therefore the Lord will not be with you.”
14:44:But [in their arrogance] they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country; however, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp.
14:45:Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and struck the Israelites and scattered them as far as Hormah.
15:1:Laws for Canaan
Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
15:2:“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When you come into the land where you are to live, which I am giving you,
15:3:then make an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or as a freewill offering or in your appointed feasts, to make a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord, from the herd or from the flock.
15:4:The one who presents his offering shall present to the Lord a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil,
15:5:and you shall prepare wine for the drink offering, a fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.
15:6:Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil.
15:7:And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
15:8:When you prepare a bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice, in fulfilling a special vow or peace offering to the Lord,
15:9:then you shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil;
15:10:and you shall bring as the drink offering one-half a hin of wine as an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
15:11:‘Thus shall it be done for each bull, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the goats.
15:12:According to the number that you prepare, so shall you do to everyone according to their number.
15:13:All who are native-born shall do these things in this way, in presenting an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
15:14:Law of the Stranger
If a stranger lives as a resident alien with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to make an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord, just as you do, so shall he do.
15:15:As for the assembly, there shall be one [and the same] statute for you [of the congregation] and for the stranger who is a resident alien with you, a permanent statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.
15:16:There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the stranger who lives with you as a resident alien.’”
15:17:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
15:18:“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When you enter the land to which I am bringing you,
15:19:then, when you eat the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering (heave offering) to the Lord.
15:20:You shall lift up a cake made of the first of your [ground grain which has been made into] dough as an offering [to the Lord]; as an offering from the threshing floor, so shall you lift it up.
15:21:From the first of your dough (ground grain) you shall give to the Lord an offering throughout your generations.
15:22:‘But when you unintentionally fail and do not observe all these commandments, which the Lord has spoken to Moses,
15:23:even all that the Lord has commanded you through Moses, from the day that the Lord gave commandments and onward throughout your generations,
15:24:then it shall be, if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat as a sin offering.
15:25:Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven, for it was an error and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their error.
15:26:So all the congregation of the Israelites will be forgiven as well as the stranger who lives among them as a resident alien, because all the people were involved in the error.
15:27:‘Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a female goat one year old as a sin offering.
15:28:The priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who commits an error when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him so that he may be forgiven.
15:29:You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, whether he is native-born among the Israelites or a stranger who is living among them as a resident alien.
15:30:But the person who does [anything wrong] willfully and defiantly, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one is blaspheming the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].
15:31:Because he has despised and rejected the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; [the responsibility for] his wickedness and guilt will be upon him.’”
15:32:Sabbath-breaking Punished
Now while the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man who was gathering wood on the Sabbath day.
15:33:Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation;
15:34:and they put him in custody, because it had not been explained [by God] what should be done to him.
15:35:Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall certainly be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”
15:36:So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
15:37:The Lord said to Moses,
15:38:“Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them to make for themselves tassels on the hems of their garments throughout their generations, and put a cord of blue on the tassel of each hem.
15:39:It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, so that you do not follow after [the desires of] your own heart and eyes, [desires] after which you used to follow and play the prostitute,
15:40:so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy (set apart) to your God.
15:41:I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.”
16:1:Korah’s Rebellion
Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben, took action,
16:2:and they rose up [in rebellion] before Moses, together with some of the Israelites, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation chosen in the assembly, men of distinction.
16:3:They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”
16:4:And when Moses heard this, he fell face downward;
16:5:and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to Him, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; the one whom He will choose He will bring near to Himself.
16:6:Do this: Take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company,
16:7:then put fire in them and place incense on them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi.”
16:8:Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi,
16:9:does it seem but a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;
16:10:and that He has brought you near [to Him], Korah and all your brothers, sons of Levi with you? Would you seek the priesthood also?
16:11:Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord; but as for Aaron, who is he that you murmur against him?”
16:12:Then Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said [defiantly], “We will not come up.
16:13:Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us?
16:14:Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
16:15:Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Pay no attention to their offering! I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them.”
16:16:Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company are to appear before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron.
16:17:Each of you take his censer and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer.”
16:18:So they each took his own censer and put fire on it and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), with Moses and Aaron.
16:19:Then Korah assembled all the congregation against Moses and Aaron at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). And the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.
16:20:Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
16:21:“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, so that I may consume them immediately.”
16:22:But they fell on their faces [before the Lord], and said, “O God, God of the spirits of all flesh! When one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”
16:23:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
16:24:“Say to the congregation, ‘Get away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”
16:25:Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
16:26:And he said to the congregation, “Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be swept away in all their sin.”
16:27:So they got back from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents with their wives and their sons and their little children.
16:28:Then Moses said, “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; for I do not act of my own accord.
16:29:If these men die the common death of all mankind or if what happens to everyone happens to them, then [you will know for sure that] the Lord has not sent me.
16:30:But if the Lord creates an entirely new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up, along with all that belongs to them, and they descend alive into Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), then you will understand that these men have spurned and rejected the Lord!”
16:31:As soon as Moses finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split open;
16:32:and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all the men who supported Korah, with all their possessions.
16:33:So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.
16:34:All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us also.”
16:35:Fire also came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.
16:36:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
16:37:“Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, that he is to pick up the censers from the midst of the blaze for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad.
16:38:As for the censers of these people who have sinned at the cost of their lives, have the censers made into hammered sheets as a plating for the altar [of burnt offering], for they were presented before the Lord and they are sacred. They shall be a [warning] sign to the sons of Israel.”
16:39:So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the Levites who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out [into broad sheets] as a plating for the [bronze] altar [of burnt offering],
16:40:as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that no layman—that is, one who is not of the descendants of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and as his company—just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.
16:41:Murmuring and Plague
But on the next day the entire congregation of the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have caused the death of the people of the Lord.”
16:42:When the congregation was assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned and looked at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared.
16:43:Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle),
16:44:and the Lord spoke to Moses saying,
16:45:“Get away from among this congregation, so that I may consume them immediately.” Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces [in silence before the Lord].
16:46:Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the Lord; the plague has begun!”
16:47:So Aaron took the burning censer as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had [already] begun among the people; and he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.
16:48:He stood between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to an end.
16:49:But those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died because of Korah.
16:50:Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), for the plague had been brought to an end.
17:1:Aaron’s Rod Buds
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
17:2:“Speak to the sons of Israel and get rods from them, a rod for each father’s household, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods. Write every man’s name on his rod,
17:3:and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi [his ancestor]; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households.
17:4:You shall then deposit them in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) in front of [the ark of] the Testimony, where I meet with you.
17:5:It shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will bud, and I will no longer hear the constant grumblings of the Israelites, who are grumbling against you.”
17:6:So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a rod, one for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
17:7:So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony (tabernacle).
17:8:Now on the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and the rod of Aaron of the tribe of Levi had sprouted and put out buds and produced blossoms and yielded [ripe] almonds.
17:9:Moses brought out all the rods from the presence of Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his rod.
17:10:But the Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony [in the ark], to be kept as a [warning] sign for the rebellious and contentious, so that you may put an end to their murmurings [of discontent] against Me, so that they do not die.”
17:11:And Moses did so; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.
17:12:The sons of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we perish, we are doomed, all doomed!
17:13:Everyone who approaches, who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”
18:1:Duties of Levites
So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household (family) with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary [that is, through your service as priests you will atone for the offenses which the people unknowingly commit when brought into contact with the manifestations of God’s presence]; and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood [that is, your own unintentional offenses].
18:2:But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father (ancestor), so that they may join with you and serve you [as assistants], while you and your sons with you are before the Tent of the Testimony [the Holy Place where only priests may go, and the Most Holy Place which only the high priest may enter].
18:3:And the Levites shall attend to your duty [as assistants] and to the duties of all the tent (tabernacle); only they shall not approach the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.
18:4:They shall join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting—all the service of the tent—and no stranger [no layman, anyone who is not a Levite] may approach you [and your sons].
18:5:So you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar [of burnt offering and the altar of incense], so that there will no longer be wrath on the Israelites [as with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram].
18:6:Behold, I Myself have taken your fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are a gift to you, given (dedicated) to the Lord, to do the service for the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).
18:7:Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar [of burnt offering and the altar of incense] and [of the Holy of Holies] within the veil, and you are to serve. I am giving you the priesthood as a bestowed service, but the stranger (outsider, layman) who approaches shall be put to death.”
18:8:The Priests’ Portion
Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I [the Lord] have entrusted you with My heave offerings, even all the holy gifts of the Israelites, I have given them to you as a portion, and to your sons as a continual allotment.
18:9:This shall be yours of the most holy things, [reserved] from the fire: every offering of the people, every grain offering and sin offering and guilt offering, which they shall render (give) to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.
18:10:You shall eat it as the most holy thing; every male [of your family] shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.
18:11:This also is yours: the heave offering of their gift, including all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you as a continual allotment; everyone in your household who is [ceremonially] clean may eat it.
18:12:All the best of the fresh [olive] oil, and all the best of the new wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to the Lord, I give them to you.
18:13:The first ripe fruits of all that is in the land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone in your household who is [ceremonially] clean may eat it.
18:14:Every devoted thing in Israel [everything that has been promised to the Lord with an oath] shall be yours.
18:15:Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether it is man or animal, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall most certainly redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.
18:16:And their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem, according to your valuation, for the [fixed] price of five shekels in silver, in accordance with the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
18:17:But the firstborn of a cow or of a sheep or of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy [and belong to the Lord]. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
18:18:Their meat shall be yours, like the breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh.
18:19:All the offerings of the holy things, which the Israelites offer to the Lord I have given to you and to your sons and your daughters with you as a continual allotment. It is an everlasting covenant of salt [that cannot be dissolved or violated] before the Lord to you and to your descendants with you.”
18:20:Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in the land [of the Israelites], nor have any portion [of land] among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.
18:21:“Behold, I have given the Levites all the tithe in Israel as an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).
18:22:The Israelites shall never again approach the Tent of Meeting [the covered sanctuary, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies], or they [who do] will incur sin and die.
18:23:Only the Levites shall perform the service of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that the Levites shall have no inheritance [of land] among the children of Israel.
18:24:But the tithe of the Israelites, which they present as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, ‘They shall have no inheritance among the children of Israel.’”
18:25:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
18:26:“Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the Israelites the tithe which I have given to you from them as your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe [paid by the people].
18:27:Your offering shall be credited to you as the grain from the threshing floor or as the full produce from the wine vat.
18:28:Likewise you shall also present an offering to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the Israelites; and from it you shall give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest.
18:29:Out of all your gifts, you shall present every offering due to the Lord, from all the best of it, even the sacred part from them.’
18:30:Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered the best from it, then the rest shall be credited to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor, and as the product of the wine vat.
18:31:You may eat it anywhere, you and [the members of] your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).
18:32:You will bear no sin because of it when you have offered the best of it; but you shall not profane the sacred gifts of the children of Israel, or you will die [because of it].’”
19:1:Ordinance of the Red Heifer
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
19:2:“This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Tell the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed.
19:3:You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence.
19:4:Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of it toward the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) seven times.
19:5:Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its waste, shall be burned (reduced to ash).
19:6:The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet [material] and cast them into the midst of the burning heifer.
19:7:Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; and afterward come into the camp, but he shall be [ceremonially] unclean until evening.
19:8:The one who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening.
19:9:Now a man who is [ceremonially] clean shall collect the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the Israelites shall keep it for water to remove impurity; it is [to be used for] purification from sin.
19:10:The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. This shall be a perpetual statute to the Israelites and to the stranger who lives as a resident alien among them.
19:11:‘The one who touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean for seven days.
19:12:That one shall purify himself from uncleanness with the water [made with the ashes of the burned heifer] on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.
19:13:Whoever touches a corpse, the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from Israel [that is, excluded from the atonement made for them]. Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.
19:14:‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be [ceremonially] unclean for seven days.
19:15:Every open container [in the tent], which has no covering tied down on it, is unclean.
19:16:Also, anyone in the open field who touches one who has been killed with a sword or who has died [of natural causes], or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.
19:17:Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for the purification from sin, and running water shall be added to them in a container.
19:18:A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the people who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one who was killed or the one who died [naturally] or the grave.
19:19:Then the clean person shall sprinkle [the water for purification] on the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day, and on the seventh day the unclean man shall purify himself, and wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be [ceremonially] clean at evening.
19:20:‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water for purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.
19:21:So it shall be a perpetual statute to them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity [on another] shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.
19:22:Furthermore, anything the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be [ceremonially] unclean until evening.’”
20:1:Death of Miriam
Then the Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month [in the fortieth year after leaving Egypt]. And the people lived in Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there.
20:2:Now there was no water for the congregation, and they gathered together against Moses and Aaron.
20:3:The people contended with Moses, and said, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished [in the plague] before the Lord!
20:4:Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness to die here, we and our livestock?
20:5:Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”
20:6:Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and fell on their faces [before the Lord in prayer]. Then the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared to them;
20:7:and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
20:8:The Water of Meribah
“Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock in front of them, so that it will pour out its water. In this way you shall bring water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their livestock drink [fresh water].”
20:9:So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him;
20:10:and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; must we bring you water out of this rock?”
20:11:Then Moses raised his hand [in anger] and with his rod he struck the rock twice [instead of speaking to the rock as the Lord had commanded]. And the water poured out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank [fresh water].
20:12:But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed (trusted) Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, you therefore shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
20:13:These are the waters of Meribah (contention, strife), where the sons of Israel contended with the Lord, and He showed Himself holy among them.
20:14:Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel, ‘You know all the hardship that has come upon us [as a nation];
20:15:that our fathers (ancestors) went down to Egypt, and we lived there for a long time, and the Egyptians treated [both] us and our fathers badly.
20:16:But when we cried out to the Lord [for help], He heard us and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.
20:17:Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through a field or through a vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s highway, not turning [off-course] to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’”
20:18:But [the king of] Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through my territory, or I will come out against you with the sword.”
20:19:Again, the Israelites said to him, “We will go by the highway [trade route], and if I and my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it. Only let me pass through on foot, nothing else.”
20:20:But the king of Edom said, “You shall not pass through [my territory].” And Edom came out against Israel with many people and a strong hand.
20:21:Thus [the king of] Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.
20:22:Now when they set out from Kadesh, the Israelites, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.
20:23:Death of Aaron
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying,
20:24:“Aaron will be gathered to his people [in death]; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you [both] rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.
20:25:Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor;
20:26:and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. So Aaron will be gathered to his fathers, and will die there.”
20:27:So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
20:28:After Moses stripped Aaron of his [priestly] garments and put them on Eleazar his son, Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.
20:29:When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept (mourned) for him thirty days.
21:1:Arad Conquered
When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev (the South country) heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim [the route traveled by the spies sent out by Moses], he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.
21:2:So Israel made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed hand over these people to me, then I will utterly destroy their cities.”
21:3:The Lord heard the voice of Israel and handed over the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah (dedicate to destruction).
21:4:Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the [branch of the] Red Sea [called the Gulf of Aqabah], to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient, because [of the challenges] of the journey.
21:5:So the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, nor is there any water, and we loathe this miserable food.”
21:6:The Bronze Serpent
Then the Lord sent fiery (burning) serpents among the people; and they bit the people, and many Israelites died.
21:7:So the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, so that He will remove the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
21:8:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent [of bronze] and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten will live when he looks at it.”
21:9:So Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it on the pole, and it happened that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
21:10:Now the sons of Israel moved out and camped at Oboth.
21:11:They journeyed on from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness facing Moab, toward the sunrise.
21:12:From there they set out and camped in the Wadi Zered.
21:13:From there they journeyed on and camped on the other side of [the river] Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the boundary of the Amorites; for [the river] Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
21:14:That is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord:
“Waheb in Suphah,
And the wadis of the Arnon [River],
21:15:And the slope of the wadis
That stretches toward the site of Ar
And leans to the border of Moab.”
21:16:From there the Israelites went on to Beer, that is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together and I will give them water.”
21:17:Then Israel sang this song,
“Spring up, O well! Sing to it,
21:18:The well which the leaders dug,
Which the nobles of the people hollowed out
With the scepter and with their staffs.”
And from the wilderness Israel journeyed to Mattanah,
21:19:and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
21:20:and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks down on the wasteland.
21:21:Two Victories
Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying,
21:22:“Let me pass through your land; we will not turn away [from the road] into field or vineyard; we will not drink the water of the wells. We will go by the king’s highway until we have crossed your border.”
21:23:But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border. Instead Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and he fought against Israel.
21:24:Then Israel struck the king of the Amorites with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the boundary of the Ammonites was strong.
21:25:Israel took all these cities, and settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its towns.
21:26:For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon.
21:27:That is why those who use proverbs say,
“Come to Heshbon,
Let the city of Sihon be built and established.
21:28:“For fire has gone out of Heshbon,
A flame from the city of Sihon;
It devoured Ar of Moab
And the lords of the heights of the Arnon.
21:29:“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Moab!
You are destroyed, O people of [the god] Chemosh!
Moab has given his sons as fugitives [that is, survivors of battle],
And his daughters into captivity
To Sihon king of the Amorites.
21:30:“We have shot them down [with arrows];
Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon,
And we have laid them waste as far as Nophah,
Which reaches to Medeba.”
21:31:Thus Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.
21:32:Now Moses sent men to spy out Jazer, and they overthrew its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.
21:33:Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.
21:34:But the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have handed over him and all his people and his land to you; and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”
21:35:So the sons of Israel killed Og and his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor left to him; and they took possession of his land.
22:1:Balak Sends for Balaam
The Israelites journeyed, and camped in the plains of Moab, on the east side of the Jordan [River] across from Jericho.
22:2:And Balak [the king of Moab] the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
22:3:So Moab was terrified because of the people, for they were numerous. Moab was overcome with fear because of the sons of Israel.
22:4:Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this horde will lick up all that is around us, just as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was the king of Moab at that time.
22:5:So he sent messengers to Balaam [a famous prophet-diviner] the son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the [Euphrates] River, in the land of the descendants of his people, to call for him, saying, “There is a people who have come out of Egypt; behold, they cover the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me.
22:6:Now please come, curse these people for me, for they are too powerful for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know [your reputation] that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
22:7:So the elders of Moab and of Midian departed with fees for divination (foretelling) in hand; and they came to Balaam and told him the words of Balak.
22:8:Balaam said to them, “Spend the night here and I will bring word back to you as the Lord may speak to me.” So the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam [that night].
22:9:God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?”
22:10:Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me:
22:11:Hear this, the people who came out of Egypt cover the surface of the land; come now, curse them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them out.’”
22:12:God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people [of Israel], for they are blessed.”
22:13:Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the leaders of Balak, “Go back to your own land [of Moab], for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”
22:14:The leaders of Moab arose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
22:15:Then Balak again sent leaders, more numerous and [men who were] more distinguished than the first ones.
22:16:They came to Balaam, and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘I beg you, let nothing hinder you from coming to me.
22:17:For I will give you a very great honor and I will do whatever you tell me; so please come, curse these people [of Israel] for me.’”
22:18:Balaam answered the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the Lord my God.
22:19:Now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the Lord will say to me.”
22:20:God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them, but you shall still do only what I tell you.”
22:21:So Balaam got up in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab.
22:22:The Angel and Balaam
But God’s anger was kindled because he was going, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
22:23:When the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way and His drawn sword in His hand, the donkey turned off the path and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back toward the path.
22:24:But the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a [stone] wall on this side and a [stone] wall on that side.
22:25:When the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pressed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against it, and he struck her again.
22:26:The Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.
22:27:When the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam, so Balaam was angry and he struck the donkey [a third time] with his staff.
22:28:And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?”
22:29:Then Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now!”
22:30:The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life until this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”
22:31:Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and lay himself face down.
22:32:The Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your behavior was obstinate and contrary to Me.
22:33:The donkey saw Me and turned away from Me these three times. If she had not turned away from Me, I would have certainly killed you now, and let her live.”
22:34:Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that You were standing in the way against me. But now, if my going displeases You, I will turn back.”
22:35:The Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak.
22:36:When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the border at the Arnon [River], at the farthest end of the border.
22:37:Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send word to you to call you? Why did you not come to me [immediately]? Am I really unable to honor (pay) you?”
22:38:So Balaam said to Balak, “Indeed I have come to you now, but am I able to say anything at all? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I shall speak.”
22:39:And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.
22:40:Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and to the leaders who were with him.
22:41:Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal; from there he saw a portion of the Israelites.
23:1:The Prophecies of Balaam
Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams here.”
23:2:Balak did just as Balaam had said, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
23:3:Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me; and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a desolate hill.
23:4:Now God met Balaam, who said to Him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”
23:5:Then the Lord put a speech in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.”
23:6:Balaam returned to Balak, and behold, he was standing by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the leaders of Moab.
23:7:Balaam took up his [first] discourse (oracle) and said:
“Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram (Syria),
from the mountains of the east, [saying,]
‘Come, curse [the descendants of] Jacob for me;
And come, [violently] denounce Israel.’
23:8:“How shall I curse those whom God has not cursed?
Or how can I [violently] denounce those the Lord has not denounced?
23:9:“For from the top of the rocks I see Israel,
And from the hills I look at him.
Behold, the people [of Israel] shall dwell alone
And will not be reckoned among the nations.
23:10:“Who can count the dust (the descendants) of Jacob
And the number of even the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God],
And let my end be like his!”
23:11:Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but here you have [thoroughly] blessed them instead!”
23:12:Balaam answered, “Must I not be obedient and careful to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”
23:13:Balak said to him, “Come with me, I implore you, to another place from where you can see them, although you will see only the nearest and not all of them; and curse them for me from there.”
23:14:So he took Balaam to the field of Zophim to the top of [Mount] Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
23:15:Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I go to meet the Lord over there.”
23:16:Then the Lord met Balaam and put a speech in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balak and you shall speak thus.”
23:17:When Balaam returned to Balak, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”
23:18:Balaam took up his [second] discourse (oracle) and said:
“Rise up, O Balak, and hear;
Listen [closely] to me, son of Zippor.
23:19:“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken and will He not make it good and fulfill it?
23:20:“Behold, I have received His command to bless [Israel].
He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
23:21:“God has not observed wickedness in Jacob [for he is forgiven],
Nor has He seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with Israel,
And the shout of their King is among the people.
23:22:“God brought them out of Egypt;
They have the strength of a wild ox.
23:23:“For there is no enchantment or omen against Jacob,
Nor is there any divination against Israel.
At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob
And to Israel, what has God done!
23:24:“Behold, a people rises up like a lioness
And lifts itself up like a lion;
He will not lie down until he devours the prey
And drinks the blood of the slain.”
23:25:Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
23:26:But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not say to you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, that I must do?’”
23:27:Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.”
23:28:So Balak brought Balaam to the top of [Mount] Peor, that overlooks the wasteland.
23:29:And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams here.”
23:30:Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
24:1:The Prophecy from Peor
When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as he had done each time before [superstitiously] to seek omens and signs [in the natural world], but he set his face toward the wilderness (desert).
24:2:And Balaam raised his eyes and he saw Israel living in their tents tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came on him.
24:3:He took up his [third] discourse (oracle) and said:
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened [at last, to see clearly the purpose and will of God],
24:4:The oracle of one who hears the words of God,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, but having his eyes open and uncovered,
24:5:How fair are your tents, O Jacob,
And your tabernacles, O Israel!
24:6:“Like valleys that stretch out,
Like gardens beside the river,
Like aloes planted by the Lord,
Like cedars beside the waters.
24:7:“Water [that is, great blessings] will flow from his buckets,
And his offspring will live by many waters,
And his king will be higher than Agag,
And his kingdom shall be exalted.
24:8:“God brought Israel out of Egypt;
Israel has strength like the wild ox;
He will devour [Gentile] nations, his adversaries (enemies),
And will crush their bones in pieces,
And shatter them with his arrows.
24:9:“He bowed down [to rest], he lies down as a lion;
And as a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
Blessed [of God] is he who blesses you,
And cursed [of God] is he who curses you.”
24:10:Then Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have done nothing but bless them these three times.
24:11:Therefore now flee to your place! I had intended to honor you greatly, but behold, the Lord has held you back from honor.”
24:12:Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me,
24:13:‘Even if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own accord. What the Lord speaks, that I will speak?’
24:14:And now, look, I am going to my people; come, I will advise you as to what this people [Israel] will do to your people [Moab] in the days to come.”
24:15:He took up his [fourth] discourse (oracle) and said:
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
The oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
24:16:The oracle of him who hears the words of God
And knows the knowledge of the Most High,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, but having his eyes open and uncovered:
24:17:“I see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not near.
A star shall come forth from [the descendants of] Jacob,
A scepter shall rise out of [the descendants of] Israel
And shall crush the forehead of Moab
And destroy all the sons of Sheth.
24:18:“Edom shall be [taken as] a possession,
[Mount] Seir, Israel’s enemies, also will be a possession,
While Israel performs valiantly.
24:19:“One from [the descendants of] Jacob shall have dominion
And will destroy the remnant from the city.”
24:20:Balaam looked at Amalek and took up his [fifth] discourse (oracle) and said:
“Amalek was the first of the [neighboring] nations [to oppose the Israelites after they left Egypt],
But his end shall be destruction.”
24:21:And Balaam looked at the Kenites and took up his [sixth] discourse (oracle) and said:
“Strong is your dwelling place,
And you set your nest in the cliff.
24:22:“Nevertheless the Kenites will be consumed.
How long will Asshur (Assyria) keep you (Israel) captive?”
24:23:Then he took up his [seventh] discourse (oracle) and said:
“Alas, who can live unless God has ordained it?
24:24:“But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,
And shall afflict Asshur (Assyria) and Eber;
So they (the victors) also will come to destruction.”
24:25:Then Balaam arose and departed and returned to his place, and Balak also went on his way.
25:1:The Sin of Peor
Israel settled and remained in Shittim, and the people began to play the prostitute with the women of Moab [by being unfaithful to God].
25:2:For they invited the Israelites to the sacrifices of their gods, and the Israelites ate [food offered to idols] and bowed down to Moab’s gods.
25:3:So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor [in worship]. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.
25:4:The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people [who have committed sin with the Moabites], and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”
25:5:So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each one of you must kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor [in worship].”
25:6:Then one of the Israelites came and presented to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and the whole congregation of the Israelites, while they were weeping [over God’s judgment] at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).
25:7:When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the congregation and took a spear in his hand,
25:8:and he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and pierced both of them through the body, the man of Israel and the woman. Then the plague on the Israelites stopped.
25:9:Nevertheless, those [Israelites] who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
25:10:The Zeal of Phinehas
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
25:11:“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Israelites because he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the Israelites in My jealousy.
25:12:Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to Phinehas My covenant of peace.
25:13:And it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous (impassioned) for [the unique honor and respect owed to] his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’”
25:14:Now the name of the man of Israel who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites.
25:15:The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a father’s household in Midian.
25:16:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
25:17:“Provoke hostilities with the Midianites and attack them,
25:18:for they harass you with their tricks, the tricks with which they have deceived you in the matter [of the Baal] of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague because [of the Baal] of Peor.”
26:1:Census of a New Generation
Then it happened after the plague that the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest,
26:2:“Take a census of all the [males in the] congregation of the sons of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ households, all in Israel who are able to go to war.”
26:3:So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with the people in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
26:4:“A census of the people shall be taken from twenty years old and upward, just as the Lord has commanded Moses.”
Now the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt were:
26:5:Reuben, the firstborn of Israel (Jacob), the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites;
26:6:of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.
26:7:These are the families (clans) of the Reubenites; and those who were numbered of them were 43,730.
26:8:The son of Pallu: Eliab.
26:9:The sons of Eliab: Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were called by the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the Lord,
26:10:and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, so that they became a [warning] sign.
26:11:But Korah’s sons did not die [because they did not participate in the rebellion].
26:12:The sons of Simeon according to their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites;
26:13:of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.
26:14:These are the families (clans) of the Simeonites, 22,200.
26:15:The sons of Gad according to their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites;
26:16:of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites;
26:17:of Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites.
26:18:These are the families (clans) of the sons of Gad according to those who were numbered, 40,500.
26:19:The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but Er and Onan [were judged by God and] died in the land of Canaan.
26:20:The sons of Judah according to their families: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites.
26:21:The sons of Perez: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites.
26:22:These are the families (clans) of Judah according to those who were numbered, 76,500.
26:23:The sons of Issachar according to their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites;
26:24:of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites.
26:25:These are the families (clans) of Issachar according to those who were numbered, 64,300.
26:26:The sons of Zebulun according to their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites.
26:27:These are the families (clans) of the Zebulunites according to those who were numbered, 60,500.
26:28:The sons of Joseph according to their families were Manasseh and Ephraim.
26:29:The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir was the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites.
26:30:These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites;
26:31:of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites;
26:32:of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites.
26:33:Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters, and the names of Zelophehad’s daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
26:34:These are the families (clans) of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were 52,700.
26:35:These are the sons of Ephraim according to their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites.
26:36:And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites.
26:37:These are the families (clans) of the sons of Ephraim according to those who were numbered, 32,500. These are the descendants of Joseph according to their families (clans).
26:38:The sons of Benjamin according to their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites;
26:39:of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites.
26:40:The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.
26:41:These are the sons of Benjamin according to their families (clans); and those who were numbered, 45,600.
26:42:These are the sons of Dan according to their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan according to their families.
26:43:All the families (clans) of the Shuhamites according to those who were numbered, 64,400.
26:44:Of the sons of Asher according to their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Beriites.
26:45:Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites.
26:46:And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah.
26:47:These are the families (clans) of the sons of Asher according to those who were numbered, 53,400.
26:48:Of the sons of Naphtali according to their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites;
26:49:of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites.
26:50:These are the families (clans) of Naphtali according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were 45,400.
26:51:This was the [total] number of the [male] Israelites, 601,730 [twenty years old and upward who were able to go to war].
26:52:And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
26:53:“Among these the land shall be divided as an inheritance according to the number of names.
26:54:To the larger tribe you shall give the larger inheritance, and to the smaller tribe the smaller inheritance; each tribe shall be given its inheritance according to its numbers.
26:55:But the land shall be divided by lot. They shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers (tribal ancestors).
26:56:According to the [location selected by] lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller [groups].”
26:57:These are those who were numbered of the Levites according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites.
26:58:These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. And Kohath was the father of Amram.
26:59:The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and to Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and Miriam their sister.
26:60:To Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
26:61:But Nadab and Abihu died [in the presence of God] when they offered [in their ceremonial censers] strange [unholy, unacceptable, unauthorized] fire before the Lord.
26:62:Those numbered of the Levites were 23,000, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not numbered among the sons of Israel, since no inheritance [of land] was given to them among the Israelites.
26:63:These are those numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel [for the second time] in the plains of Moab by the Jordan [River] at Jericho.
26:64:But among these there was not a man [left] of those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel [for the first time] in the Wilderness of Sinai.
26:65:For the Lord had said of them, “They shall certainly die in the wilderness.” And not a man was left of them except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
27:1:A Law of Inheritance
Then the [five] daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the tribes of Manasseh [who was] the son of Joseph, approached [with a request]. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
27:2:They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), saying,
27:3:“Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among those who assembled together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but he died for his own sin [as did all those who rebelled at Kadesh], and he had no sons.
27:4:Why should the name of our father be removed from his family because he had no son? Give to us a possession (land) among our father’s brothers.”
27:5:So Moses brought their case before the Lord.
27:6:Then the Lord said to Moses,
27:7:“The request of the daughters of Zelophehad is justified. You shall certainly give them a possession as an inheritance among their father’s brothers, and you shall transfer their father’s inheritance to them.
27:8:Further, you shall say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and has no son, you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.
27:9:If a man has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers.
27:10:If a man has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers.
27:11:If his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his nearest relative in his own family, and he shall take possession of it. It shall be a statute and ordinance to the Israelites, just as the Lord has commanded Moses.’”
27:12:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up to this mountain (Nebo) [in the] Abarim [range] and look at the land I have given to the sons of Israel.
27:13:When you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people [in death], just as Aaron your brother was gathered;
27:14:because in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to treat me as holy [by following My instruction] before their eyes at the water.” (These are the waters of Meribah in Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.)
27:15:Joshua to Succeed Moses
Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying,
27:16:“Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation
27:17:who will go out and come in before them, and will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be as sheep without a shepherd.”
27:18:The Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him;
27:19:and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the whole congregation, and give him a commission in their sight.
27:20:You shall put some of your authority and honor on him, so that all the congregation of the Israelites will obey him.
27:21:He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the Lord for him by the judgment (decision) of the Urim. At Joshua’s command the people shall go out and at his command they shall come in, he and all the congregation of Israel with him.”
27:22:Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation,
27:23:and Moses laid his hands on Joshua and commissioned him, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
28:1:Laws for Offerings
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
28:2:“Command the Israelites and say to them, ‘You shall be careful to present at its appointed time [during the year] My offering, My food for My offerings by fire as a sweet and soothing aroma to Me.’
28:3:You shall say to the people, ‘This is the offering by fire which you shall present to the Lord every day: two male lambs one year old without blemish as a continual burnt offering.
28:4:You shall offer one lamb in the morning and you shall offer the other lamb at twilight,
28:5:also a tenth of an ephah of finely-milled flour as a grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a hin of pressed oil.
28:6:It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained on Mount Sinai as a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
28:7:Its drink offering shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb, in the holy place you shall pour out a strong drink offering to the Lord.
28:8:The other lamb you shall offer at twilight; as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
28:9:‘Then on the Sabbath day two male lambs one year old without blemish, and two-tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering.
28:10:This is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.
28:11:‘Then at the beginning of [each of] your months you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old without blemish;
28:12:and three-tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, for each bull; and two-tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, for the one ram;
28:13:and a tenth [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for each lamb, as a burnt offering of a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
28:14:Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, and a third of a hin for a ram, and a fourth of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year.
28:15:And one male goat as a sin offering to the Lord; it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering.
28:16:‘The Lord’s Passover shall be on the fourteenth day of the first month [of each year].
28:17:There shall be a feast on the fifteenth day of this month; unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days.
28:18:On the first day there shall be a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work that day.
28:19:But you shall present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old, without blemish.
28:20:For their grain offering you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil; three-tenths [of an ephah] for the bull, and two-tenths for the ram;
28:21:you shall offer a tenth [of an ephah] for each of the seven male lambs;
28:22:and one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you.
28:23:You shall present these in addition to the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.
28:24:In this way you shall present daily, for seven days, the food of the offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord; it shall be presented with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering.
28:25:On the seventh day you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work.
28:26:‘Also on the day of the first fruits, when you offer a new grain offering to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work.
28:27:You shall present the burnt offering as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old;
28:28:and their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil; three-tenths [of an ephah] for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram,
28:29:a tenth for each of the seven male lambs,
28:30:and one male goat to make atonement for you.
28:31:In addition to the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall present them with their drink offerings. They shall be without blemish.
29:1:Offerings of the Seventh Month
‘On the first day of the seventh month, you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work. It will be for you a day of blowing the trumpets (the shophar, ram’s horn).
29:2:You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without blemish;
29:3:also their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths [of an ephah] for the bull, two-tenths for the ram,
29:4:and one-tenth [of an ephah] for each of the seven lambs,
29:5:and one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you.
29:6:These are in addition to the burnt offering of the New Moon and its grain offering, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to the ordinance for them, as a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
29:7:‘Then on the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly [for the Day of Atonement]; and you shall humble yourselves; you shall not do any work.
29:8:You shall present a burnt offering to the Lord as a sweet and soothing aroma: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old, which are without blemish;
29:9:and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths [of an ephah] for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram,
29:10:a tenth [of an ephah] for each of the seven lambs,
29:11:one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.
29:12:‘Then on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work, and you shall observe a Feast [of Booths] to the Lord for seven days.
29:13:You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord: thirteen bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old, which are without blemish;
29:14:and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths [of an ephah] for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams,
29:15:and a tenth [of an ephah] for each of the fourteen lambs;
29:16:also one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.
29:17:‘Then on the second day [of the Feast of Booths]: twelve bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish,
29:18:with their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, the rams, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance,
29:19:also one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.
29:20:‘Then on the third day [of the Feast of Booths]: eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish,
29:21:with their grain offering and drink offerings for the bulls, the rams, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance,
29:22:and one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.
29:23:‘Then on the fourth day [of the Feast of Booths]: ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish;
29:24:their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, the rams, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance,
29:25:and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.
29:26:‘Then on the fifth day [of the Feast of Booths]: nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish,
29:27:and their grain offering and drink offerings for the bulls, the rams, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;
29:28:and one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, and its grain offering, and its drink offering.
29:29:‘Then on the sixth day [of the Feast of Booths]: eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish;
29:30:and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, the rams, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance,
29:31:and one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offerings.
29:32:‘Then on the seventh day [of the Feast of Booths]: seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish,
29:33:and their grain offering and drink offerings for the bulls, the rams, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance;
29:34:and one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, and its grain offering, and its drink offering.
29:35:‘On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly [to mark the end of the feast]; you shall do no laborious work.
29:36:You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs one year old without blemish;
29:37:their grain offering and drink offerings for the bull, the ram, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance,
29:38:and one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, and its grain offering, and its drink offering.
29:39:‘You shall present these to the Lord at your appointed times, in addition the offerings you have vowed and your freewill offerings, as your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and as your peace offerings.’”
29:40:So Moses spoke to the Israelites in accordance with everything that the Lord had commanded him.
30:1:The Law of Vows
Then Moses spoke to the leaders of the tribes of the Israelites, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded:
30:2:If a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself with a pledge [of abstinence], he shall not break (violate, profane) his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
30:3:“Also if a woman makes a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge [of abstinence], while living in her father’s house in her youth,
30:4:and her father hears her vow and her pledge by which she has bound herself, and he offers no objection, then all her vows shall stand and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand.
30:5:But if her father disapproves of her [making her vow] on the day that he hears about it, none of her vows or her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the Lord will forgive her because her father has disapproved of her [making the vow].
30:6:“But if she marries while under her vows or if she has bound herself by a rash statement,
30:7:and her husband hears of it and says nothing about it on the day he hears it, then her vows shall stand and her pledge by which she bound herself shall stand.
30:8:But if her husband disapproves of her [making her vow or pledge] on the day that he hears of it, then he shall annul her vow which she is under and the rash statement of her lips by which she bound herself; and the Lord will forgive her.
30:9:“But the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, everything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.
30:10:However, if she vowed in her husband’s house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath,
30:11:and her husband heard it, but said nothing to her and did not disapprove of her [making the vow], then all her vows and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand.
30:12:But if her husband absolutely annuls them on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeds from her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge shall not stand. Her husband has annulled them, and the Lord will forgive her.
30:13:“Every vow and every binding oath to humble herself, her husband may confirm it or her husband may annul it.
30:14:But if her husband says nothing to her [concerning the matter] from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her pledges which are on her. He has confirmed them because he said nothing to her on the day he heard them.
30:15:But if he indeed nullifies them after he hears of them, then he shall be responsible for and bear her guilt [for breaking her promise].”
30:16:These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter while she is a youth in her father’s house.
31:1:The Slaughter of Midian
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
31:2:“Take vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people [in death].”
31:3:Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for war, so that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian [for seducing Israel to participate in idolatry].
31:4:A thousand [fighting men] from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.”
31:5:So out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe were selected, twelve thousand armed for war.
31:6:Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the war, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to war with them, and the sacred vessels [of the sanctuary] and the trumpets to blow the alarm in his hand.
31:7:They made war against Midian, just as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.
31:8:They killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur [the father of Cozbi] and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; also Balaam the son of Beor they killed with the sword.
31:9:The sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their children; and all their cattle, all their livestock, and all their property they took as spoil [of war].
31:10:They burned all the cities where they lived, and all their encampments with fire.
31:11:They took all the plunder and all the spoils of war, both people and livestock.
31:12:Then they brought the captives, the spoils, and the plunder to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the Israelites at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan [River] across from Jericho.
31:13:Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp.
31:14:But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, who served in the war.
31:15:And Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?
31:16:Look, these [are the women who] caused the Israelites, by the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and so a plague came among the congregation of the Lord.
31:17:Now therefore, kill every male among the children, and kill every woman who is not a virgin.
31:18:But all the young girls who have not known a man intimately, keep alive for yourselves [to marry].
31:19:Camp outside the camp for seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any dead body, purify yourselves and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day.
31:20:You shall purify every garment and every article made of leather and all the things made of goats’ hair, and every article made of wood.”
31:21:Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle, “This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded Moses:
31:22:only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
31:23:everything that can stand fire, you shall pass through fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water of purification [to remove its impurity]; and all that cannot stand fire [such as fabrics] you shall pass through water.
31:24:And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.”
31:25:Division of the Spoil of War
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
31:26:“You and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the fathers’ households of the congregation are to take a count of the spoil of war that was captured, both people and livestock.
31:27:Divide the spoil into two [equal] parts between those who were involved in the war, that is, those who went out to battle and all [the rest of] the congregation.
31:28:Levy a tax for the Lord from the warriors who went to battle, one in five hundred of the persons, the oxen, the donkeys, and the flocks.
31:29:Take this tribute from the warriors’ half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.
31:30:From the Israelites’ half [of the spoil] you shall take one out of every fifty of the persons, the oxen, the donkeys, the flocks, and of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who are in charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.”
31:31:Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
31:32:The plunder that remained from the spoil of war which the warriors had taken, was 675,000 sheep,
31:33:and 72,000 cattle,
31:34:and 61,000 donkeys,
31:35:and 32,000 persons in all, of the [Midianite] women who were virgins.
31:36:The half share, the portion of those who went to war, was 337,500 sheep in number,
31:37:and the Lord’s levy (tax) of the sheep was 675;
31:38:the cattle were 36,000, from which the Lord’s levy was 72;
31:39:the donkeys were 30,500, from which the Lord’s levy was 61;
31:40:the persons were 16,000, from whom the Lord’s levy was 32 persons.
31:41:Moses gave the levy which was the Lord’s offering to Eleazar the priest, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
31:42:As for the Israelites’ half, which Moses separated from that of the warriors—
31:43:now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep,
31:44:and 36,000 cattle,
31:45:and 30,500 donkeys,
31:46:and 16,000 people—
31:47:and from the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty, both of persons and animals, and gave them to the Levites, who were in charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
31:48:Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, approached Moses,
31:49:and they said to him, “Your servants have counted the warriors under our command, and not one man of us is missing.
31:50:So we have brought as an offering to the Lord what each man obtained—articles of gold, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”
31:51:Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all the handmade articles.
31:52:All the gold of the offering which they presented to the Lord from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds was 16,750 shekels.
31:53:For the men of war had taken plunder, every man for himself.
31:54:So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) as a memorial for the sons of Israel before the Lord.
32:1:Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead
Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had very large herds of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan River], and indeed, the place was suitable for raising livestock.
32:2:So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,
32:3:“[The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
32:4:the land which the Lord conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land [suitable] for livestock, and your servants have [very large herds of] livestock.”
32:5:They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan [River].”
32:6:But Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?
32:7:Now why are you discouraging the hearts of the Israelites from crossing over into the land which the Lord has given them?
32:8:This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land!
32:9:For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them.
32:10:And the Lord’s anger was kindled on that day and He swore an oath, saying,
32:11:‘None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not followed Me completely,
32:12:except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the Lord completely.’
32:13:So the Lord’s anger was kindled against the sons of Israel (Jacob) and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord was destroyed.
32:14:Now look, you [the tribes of Reuben and Gad] have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel.
32:15:For if you turn back from following Him [completely], He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”
32:16:But the people of Reuben and Gad approached Moses and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and [walled] cities for our children,
32:17:but we will be armed and ready to go to war before the [other tribes of the] Israelites, until we have brought them to their place, while our children live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
32:18:We will not return to our homes until every one of the [other] sons of Israel has taken possession of his inheritance.
32:19:For we will not inherit with them on the west side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan [River] toward the east.”
32:20:Moses replied, “If you will do as you say, if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for war,
32:21:and every armed man of yours will cross the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies before Him,
32:22:and the land [west of the Jordan] is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return and be blameless [in this matter] before the Lord and before Israel, and this land [east of the Jordan] shall be yours as a possession before the Lord.
32:23:But if you do not do this, behold, you will have sinned against the Lord; and be sure that your sin will find you out.
32:24:Build yourselves cities for your children, and folds for your sheep, and do that of which you have spoken.”
32:25:Then the descendants of Gad and of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands.
32:26:Our children, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead.
32:27:But your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to the battle, just as my lord says.”
32:28:So Moses gave the command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the leaders of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the Israelites.
32:29:Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben will cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead [east of the Jordan River] as a possession;
32:30:but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan [and surrender their right to their land east of the Jordan River].”
32:31:The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, “As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do.
32:32:We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, so that the possession of our inheritance on [the east] side of the Jordan may be ours.”
32:33:So Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities and territories, the cities of the surrounding land.
32:34:The sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
32:35:Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,
32:36:Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified (walled) cities, and sheepfolds for sheep.
32:37:The sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
32:38:Nebo, and Baal-meon (their names being changed) and Sibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built.
32:39:The sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and drove out the Amorites who were in it.
32:40:So Moses gave Gilead to [the tribe of] Machir the son of Manasseh, and they settled in it.
32:41:[The sons of] Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its towns (tent villages) and called them Havvoth-jair.
32:42:Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah after his own name.
33:1:Review of the Journey from Egypt to Jordan
These are the stages of the journeys of the Israelites, by which they came out of the land of Egypt by their [tribal] armies, under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.
33:2:Moses recorded their points of departure, as the Lord commanded, stage by stage; and these are their journeys according to their points of departure:
33:3:They set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the Israelites moved out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians,
33:4:while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the Lord had struck down among them. Upon their gods the Lord also executed judgments.
33:5:Then the Israelites moved out from Rameses [where they had all joined together], and camped in Succoth.
33:6:They moved out from Succoth and camped in Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.
33:7:They moved out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol.
33:8:They moved out from before Pi-hahiroth and passed through the midst of the [Red] Sea into the wilderness; and they went a three days’ journey in the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.
33:9:They moved out from Marah and came to Elim; in Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.
33:10:They moved out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds).
33:11:They moved out from the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin.
33:12:They moved out from the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
33:13:They moved out from Dophkah and camped at Alush.
33:14:They moved out from Alush and camped at Rephidim; now it was there that the people had no water to drink.
33:15:They moved out from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai [where they remained for about a year].
33:16:They moved out from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.
33:17:They moved out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.
33:18:They moved out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah [near Kadesh, the place from which the twelve spies were sent to spy out the land of Canaan].
33:19:They moved out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez.
33:20:They moved out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah.
33:21:They moved out from Libnah and camped at Rissah.
33:22:They moved out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.
33:23:They moved out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.
33:24:They moved out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.
33:25:They moved out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.
33:26:They moved out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.
33:27:They moved out from Tahath and camped at Terah.
33:28:They moved out from Terah and camped at Mithkah.
33:29:They moved out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.
33:30:They moved out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.
33:31:They moved out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan.
33:32:They moved out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad.
33:33:They moved out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.
33:34:They moved out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.
33:35:They moved out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber [or Elath on the gulf of Aqabah].
33:36:They moved out from Ezion-geber and camped in the Wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.
33:37:They moved out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.
33:38:Aaron the priest went up on Mount Hor at the command of the Lord, and died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.
33:39:Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.
33:40:The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev (the South country) in the land of Canaan, heard that the sons of Israel were coming.
33:41:They moved out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.
33:42:Then they moved out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.
33:43:They moved out from Punon and camped at Oboth.
33:44:They moved out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, on the border of Moab.
33:45:They moved out from Iyim (Iye-abarim) and camped at Dibon-gad.
33:46:They moved out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim.
33:47:They moved out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before [Mount] Nebo.
33:48:They moved out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho [their last stop on the journey to Canaan].
33:49:They camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.
33:50:Law of Possessing the Land
Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, saying,
33:51:“Say to the children of Israel, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
33:52:then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you and destroy all their sculpted images, and destroy all their cast idols and completely eliminate all their [idolatrous] high places,
33:53:and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess.
33:54:You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the large tribe you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the small tribe you shall give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be [the location of] his [inheritance]. According to the tribes of your fathers (ancestors) you shall inherit.
33:55:But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them will be like pricks in your eyes and like thorns in your sides, and they will attack you in the land in which you live.
33:56:And as I [the Lord] planned to do to them, so I will do to you.’”
34:1:Instruction for Apportioning Canaan
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
34:2:“Command the Israelites, ‘When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall be yours as an inheritance, the land of Canaan according to its boundaries,
34:3:your southern region shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern boundary from the end of the Salt (Dead) Sea eastward.
34:4:Your boundary shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and continue on to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar and pass on to Azmon.
34:5:Then the boundary shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-arish), and its limit shall be at the [Mediterranean] Sea.
34:6:‘As the western boundary you shall have the Great [Mediterranean] Sea and its coastline. This shall be your western boundary.
34:7:‘And this shall be your north border: from the Great [Mediterranean] Sea mark out your boundary line to Mount Hor;
34:8:from Mount Hor you shall mark out your boundary to the entrance of Hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad;
34:9:then the [northern] boundary shall go on to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern boundary.
34:10:‘You shall mark out your eastern boundary from Hazar-enan to Shepham;
34:11:the [eastern] boundary shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and shall descend and reach to the slope on the east of the Sea of Chinnereth [the Sea of Galilee];
34:12:and the [eastern] boundary shall go down to the Jordan [River], and its limit shall be at the Salt (Dead) Sea. This shall be your land according to its boundaries all around.’”
34:13:So Moses commanded the Israelites, saying, “This is the land you are to inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to be given to the nine tribes and the half-tribe [of Manasseh],
34:14:for the tribe of the sons of Reuben and the tribe of the sons of Gad have received their inheritance by their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their possession.
34:15:The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan [River] opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrise.”
34:16:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
34:17:“These are the names of the men who shall divide the land among you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun.
34:18:You shall take one leader from every tribe to divide the land for the inheritance.
34:19:These are the names of the men: From the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;
34:20:from the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud;
34:21:from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon;
34:22:from the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli;
34:23:of the sons of Joseph: from the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod;
34:24:from the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan;
34:25:from the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach;
34:26:from the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan;
34:27:from the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi;
34:28:from the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.”
34:29:These are the [twelve] men whom the Lord commanded [to work with Joshua and Eleazar] to divide the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.
35:1:Cities for the Levites
Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan [across from] Jericho, saying,
35:2:“Command the Israelites to give to the Levites cities to live in from the inheritance of their possession; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities.
35:3:The cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their herds and for all their livestock.
35:4:“The pasture lands around the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits (1,500 ft.) around.
35:5:You shall also measure outside the city on the east, south, west, and north sides two thousand cubits (3,000 ft.), with the city in the center. This shall belong to the Levites as pasture lands for the cities.
35:6:Cities of Refuge
[Among] the cities which you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall provide for the one who commits manslaughter to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities [to the Levites].
35:7:So you shall give to the Levites forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasture lands.
35:8:As for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the Israelites, from the larger tribes you shall take many and from the smaller tribes few; each tribe shall give [at least some] of its cities to the Levites in proportion to [the size of] its inheritance which it possesses.”
35:9:Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
35:10:“Tell the Israelites, ‘When you cross the Jordan [River] into the land of Canaan,
35:11:then you shall select for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge, so that the one who kills any person unintentionally may escape there.
35:12:The cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who has caused the death of another will not be killed until he has had a [fair] trial before the congregation.
35:13:The cities which you are to provide shall be your six cities of refuge.
35:14:You shall provide three cities on this [east] side of the Jordan [River], and three [more] cities in the land of Canaan; they are to be the cities of refuge.
35:15:These six cities shall be a refuge for the Israelites and for the stranger and the resident alien among them; so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may escape there.
35:16:‘But if he struck his victim down [intentionally] with an iron object so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall certainly be put to death.
35:17:If he struck his victim down [intentionally] with a stone in hand, which may cause a person to die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall certainly be put to death.
35:18:Or if he struck his victim down [intentionally] with a wooden object in hand, which may cause a person to die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall certainly be put to death.
35:19:The blood avenger shall himself put the murderer to death; he shall put him to death when he meets him.
35:20:But if he pushed his victim out of hatred or threw something at him with malicious intent, and he died,
35:21:or if, in enmity, he struck the victim down with his hand, and he died, the one that struck the victim shall certainly be put to death; he is a murderer. The blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
35:22:‘But if he pushed the victim suddenly, not in enmity, or threw anything at him without malicious intent,
35:23:or without seeing him hit him [accidentally] with a stone object that could kill him, and he died, and [the offender] was not his enemy nor intending to harm him,
35:24:then the congregation shall judge between the offender and the blood avenger according to these ordinances.
35:25:The congregation shall rescue the offender from the hand of the blood avenger and return him to his city of refuge, [the place] to which he had escaped; and he shall live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the sacred oil.
35:26:But if at any time the one guilty of manslaughter comes outside the border of his city of refuge to which he fled,
35:27:and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills the offender, the blood avenger will not be guilty of murder,
35:28:because the offender should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the high priest’s death the offender shall return to the land of his possession.
35:29:‘These things shall be a statute for you throughout your generations wherever you may be.
35:30:‘If anyone kills a person [intentionally], the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of [two or more] witnesses; but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of [only] one witness.
35:31:Moreover, you shall not accept a ransom [in exchange] for the life of a murderer guilty and sentenced to death; but he shall certainly be put to death.
35:32:You shall not accept a ransom for him who has escaped to his city of refuge, so that he may return to live in his [own] land before the death of the high priest.
35:33:So you shall not pollute and defile the land in which you live; for [the shedding of innocent] blood pollutes and defiles the land. No atonement (expiation) can be made for the land for the [innocent] blood shed in it, except by the blood (execution) of him who shed it.
35:34:You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I live, for I, the Lord, live among the people of Israel.’”
36:1:Inheritance by Marriage
The leaders of the fathers’ households of the family of the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, approached and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ households of the Israelites,
36:2:and they said, “The Lord commanded my lord [Moses] to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.
36:3:But if the daughters marry any of the men from any of the other tribes of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken away from that of our fathers (tribal ancestors) and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so it will be taken away from our allotted inheritance.
36:4:When the [year of] Jubilee of the Israelites comes, then their inheritance will be added [permanently] to that of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be taken away from that of the tribe of our fathers (tribal ancestors).”
36:5:Then Moses commanded the Israelites in accordance with the word of the Lord, saying, “The statement of the tribe of the sons of Joseph is correct.
36:6:This is what the Lord commands regarding the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they wish; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.’
36:7:So no inheritance of the Israelites shall be transferred from tribe to tribe, for every one of the Israelites shall hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers (tribal ancestors).
36:8:Every daughter who possesses an inheritance [of land] in any one of the tribes of the Israelites shall marry [only] a man whose family is of her father’s tribe, so that the Israelites may each possess the inheritance of his fathers (tribal ancestors).
36:9:So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, but each of the tribes of the Israelites shall hold to its own inheritance.”
36:10:The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses.
36:11:For Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father’s brothers.
36:12:They married into the families of the descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
36:13:These are the commandments and the ordinances (judgments) which the Lord commanded through Moses to the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan [across from] Jericho.
deuteronomy:1:1:Israel’s History after the Exodus
These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel [while they were still] beyond [that is, on the east side of] the Jordan [River] in the wilderness [across from Jerusalem], in the Arabah [the long, deep valley running north and south from the eastern arm of the Red Sea to beyond the Dead Sea] opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab (place of gold).
1:2:It is [only] eleven days’ journey from Horeb (Mount Sinai) by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea [on Canaan’s border; yet Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years before crossing the border and entering Canaan, the promised land].
1:3:In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded him to say to them,
1:4:after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived at Ashtaroth in Edrei.
1:5:Beyond (east of) the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying,
1:6:“The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough on this mountain.
1:7:Turn and resume your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland (the Shephelah), in the Negev (South country) and on the coast of the [Mediterranean] Sea, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
1:8:Look, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which the Lord swore (solemnly promised) to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.’
1:9:“I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘I am not able to bear the burden of you alone.
1:10:The Lord your God has multiplied you, and look, today you are as numerous as the stars of heaven.
1:11:May the Lord, the God of your fathers, add to you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, just as He has promised you!
1:12:How can I alone bear the weight and pressure and burden of you and your strife (contention) and complaining?
1:13:Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, experienced, and respected men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as heads (leaders) over you.’
1:14:And you answered me, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’
1:15:So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and made them leaders over you, commanders of thousands, and hundreds, and fifties, and tens, and officers (administrators) for your tribes.
1:16:“Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the matters between your brothers [your fellow countrymen], and judge righteously and fairly between a man and his brother, or the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) who is with him.
1:17:You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear and pay attention to the [cases of the] least [important] as well as the great. You shall not fear man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you [to judge], you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’
1:18:I commanded you at that time [regarding] all the things that you should do.
1:19:“Then we set out from Horeb (Sinai), and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.
1:20:And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which the Lord our God is about to give us.
1:21:Behold, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and take possession of it, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’
1:22:“Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men [into the land] before us, so that they may explore and search the area for us, and bring back to us word regarding the way we should go, and the cities we should enter.’
1:23:The plan pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe.
1:24:They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out.
1:25:Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they reported back to us, and said, ‘It is a good land which the Lord our God is about to give us.’
1:26:“Yet you were not willing to go up [to take possession of it], but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God.
1:27:You murmured and were ill-tempered (discontented) in your tents, and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us He has brought us from the land of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us.
1:28:Where can we go up? Our brothers (spies) have made our hearts melt [in fear] and demoralized us by saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large, and fortified [all the way up] to heaven. And besides, we saw the [giant-like] sons of the Anakim there.”’
1:29:Then I said to you, ‘Do not be shocked, nor fear them.
1:30:The Lord your God who goes before you will fight for you Himself, just as He did for you in Egypt before your [very] eyes,
1:31:and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried and protected you, just as a man carries his son, all along the way which you traveled until you arrived at this place.’
1:32:Yet in spite of this word, you did not trust [that is, confidently rely on and believe] the Lord your God,
1:33:who went before you along the way, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to seek a place for you to make camp and to show you the way in which you should go.
1:34:“And the Lord heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and took an oath, saying,
1:35:‘Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore (solemnly promised) to give to your fathers,
1:36:except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has walked, because he has followed the Lord completely [and remained true to Him].’
1:37:The Lord was angry with me also because of you, saying, ‘Not even you shall enter Canaan.
1:38:Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter there. Encourage and strengthen him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
1:39:Moreover, your little ones whom you said would become prey, and your sons, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter Canaan, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it.
1:40:But as for you, turn around and set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds).’
1:41:“Then you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God has commanded us.’ So you equipped every man with weapons of war, and regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country.
1:42:But the Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up and do not fight, for I am not among you [because of your rebellion]; otherwise you will be [badly] defeated by your enemies.”’
1:43:So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the Lord, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country.
1:44:Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do, and struck you down in Seir as far as Hormah.
1:45:And you returned and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not listen to your voice nor pay attention to you.
1:46:So you stayed in Kadesh; many days you stayed there.
2:1:Wanderings in the Wilderness
“Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, just as the Lord had told me; and we circled Mount Seir for many days.
2:2:And the Lord spoke to me, saying,
2:3:‘You have circled this mountain long enough; turn northward,
2:4:and command the people, saying, “You are passing through the territory of your brothers the sons of Esau (the Edomites), who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful;
2:5:do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even as little as a footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.
2:6:You shall buy food from them with money so that you may [have something to] eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money so that you may [have something to] drink.
2:7:For the Lord your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known about your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”’
2:8:“So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who lived in Seir, away from the Arabah (wilderness) road, away from Elath and from Ezion-geber. Then we turned and passed through by the way of the Wilderness of Moab.
2:9:And the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass [the descendants of] Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons (Moab and Ammon) of Lot as a possession.’
2:10:(The Emim lived there in times past, a people great and numerous, and as tall as the Anakim.
2:11:These also are regarded as Rephaim [an ancient people], as are the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
2:12:The Horites also used to live in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them. They destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land which the Lord gave them as their possession.)
2:13:‘Now arise and cross the valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed the Zered Valley.
2:14:Now thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley, until that entire generation of the men of war had died from within the camp, just as the Lord had sworn to them.
2:15:Moreover the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from within the camp, until they were all dead.
2:16:“So it came about when all the men of war had finally died from among the people,
2:17:that the Lord spoke to me, saying,
2:18:‘Today you are to pass through Ar, the border of Moab.
2:19:When you come opposite the territory of the sons of Ammon, do not harass them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.’
2:20:(It is also regarded as the land of the Rephaim [of giant stature], for Rephaim used to live there, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin,
2:21:a great, numerous people, and tall as the Anakim, but the Lord destroyed them before the sons of Ammon. And they dispossessed them and settled in their place,
2:22:just as He did for the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them; and the sons of Esau (the Edomites) dispossessed them and settled in their place [and remain there] even to this day.
2:23:As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim (Cretans, later Philistines) who came from Caphtor (Crete) destroyed them and settled in their place.)
2:24:Now arise, continue on, and go through the valley of the Arnon. Look, I have handed over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin! Take possession [of it] and fight with him in battle.
2:25:This day I will begin to put the dread and the fear of you on the peoples (pagans) under the whole heaven, who, when they hear the reports about you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you.’
2:26:“So I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,
2:27:‘Let me pass through your land [with my people]. I will travel [with them] only on the highway; I will not turn away to the right or to the left.
2:28:You will sell me food for money so that I [along with my people] will eat, and you will give me water for money so that I [along with my people] will drink; only let me [and my people] travel through [the land] on foot,
2:29:just as the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for me, until I cross the Jordan into the land which the Lord our God is giving us.’
2:30:But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to travel through his land; for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to hand him over to you, as he is today.
2:31:The Lord said to me, ‘Look, I have begun to hand over to you Sihon and his land. Begin! Take possession [of it], so that you may possess his land.’
2:32:“Then at Jahaz, Sihon and all his people came out to meet us in battle.
2:33:So the Lord our God handed him over to us [and gave us the victory], and we defeated him and his sons and all his people.
2:34:At the same time we took all his cities and utterly destroyed every city—men, women and children. We left no survivor.
2:35:We took only the cattle as plunder for ourselves and the spoil of the cities which we had captured.
2:36:From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Valley, and from the city which is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was no city [whose wall was] too high and too strong for us; the Lord our God handed over everything to us.
2:37:Only you did not go near the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever the Lord our God had forbidden us.
3:1:Conquests Recounted
“Then we turned and went up the road toward Bashan, and at Edrei, Og king of Bashan, with all his people came out to meet us in battle.
3:2:And the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you, him and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’
3:3:So the Lord our God also handed over Og king of Bashan, and all his people, into our hand and we struck him until no survivor was left.
3:4:We captured all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
3:5:All these cities were fortified and unassailable with their high walls, gates, and bars; in addition, [there were] a very great number of unwalled villages.
3:6:We utterly destroyed them, just as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every city—the men, women, and children.
3:7:But we took all the cattle and the spoil of the cities as plunder for ourselves.
3:8:“So we took the land at that time from the hand of the two kings [Sihon and Og] of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon
3:9:(the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir):
3:10:all the cities of the plain and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.”
3:11:(For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the [the giants known as the] Rephaim. Behold, his bed frame was a bed frame of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? It was nine cubits (12 ft.) long and four cubits (6 ft.) wide, using the cubit of a man [the forearm to the end of the middle finger].)
3:12:“So we took possession of this land at that time. I gave the territory from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, along with half of the hill country of Gilead and its cities to the Reubenites and to the Gadites.
3:13:The rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh, that is, all the region of Argob (concerning all Bashan, it is called the land of Rephaim.
3:14:Jair the son (descendant) of Manasseh took all the region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, that is Bashan, and called it after his own name, Havvoth (the villages of) Jair, as it is called to this day.)
3:15:I gave Gilead to Machir [of Manasseh].
3:16:To the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of Arnon, with the middle of the Valley as a boundary, and as far as the Jabbok River, the boundary of the sons of Ammon;
3:17:the Arabah also, with the Jordan as its boundary, from Chinnereth (the Sea of Galilee) as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea (Dead Sea), at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah on the east.
3:18:“Then I commanded you [Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh] at that time, saying, ‘The Lord your God has given you this land to possess; all you who are brave men shall cross over [the Jordan] armed before your brothers, the sons of Israel.
3:19:But your wives and your children and your cattle—I know that you have much livestock—shall remain in your cities which I have given you,
3:20:until the Lord gives rest to your fellow countrymen as [He has] to you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God has given them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to the land (possession) which I have given to you.’
3:21:I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen everything that the Lord your God has done to these two kings [Sihon and Og]; so the Lord shall do the same to all the kingdoms into which you are about to cross.
3:22:Do not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who is fighting for you.’
3:23:“Then I pleaded with the Lord at that time [for His favor], saying,
3:24:‘O Lord God, You have only begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth that can do such works and mighty acts (miracles) as Yours?
3:25:I pray, let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country [with Hermon] and Lebanon.’
3:26:But the Lord was angry with me because of you [and your rebellion at Meribah], and would not listen to me; and the Lord said to me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no longer about this matter.
3:27:Go up to the top of [Mount] Pisgah and raise your eyes toward the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross this Jordan.
3:28:But command Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go across and lead this people, and he will give them the land which you see as an inheritance.’
3:29:So we stayed in the Valley opposite Beth-peor.
4:1:Israel Urged to Obey God’s Law
“Now, O Israel, listen and pay attention to the statutes and the judgments (God’s legal decisions) which I am teaching you to do, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
4:2:You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I am commanding you.
4:3:Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor; for all the men who followed [and participated in the worship of] Baal of Peor, the Lord your God destroyed them from among you,
4:4:but you who held tightly to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.
4:5:“Look, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may do them in the land which you are entering to possess.
4:6:So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’
4:7:For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God [is to us] whenever we call on Him?
4:8:Or what great nation has statutes and judgments so righteous (upright, just) as this whole law which I am placing before you today?
4:9:“Only pay attention and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your grandchildren [impressing these things on their mind and penetrating their heart with these truths]—
4:10:especially the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb (Mount Sinai), when the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me and I will let them hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] all the days they live on the land, and so that they may teach their children.’
4:11:You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the [very] heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud and thick gloom.
4:12:Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of the words, but you saw no form—there was only a voice.
4:13:So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to follow, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.
4:14:The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you the statutes and judgments, so that you might do them in the land which you are going over to possess.
4:15:“So pay attention and watch yourselves carefully—for you did not see any form [of God] on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire—
4:16:so that you do not act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved or sculpted image [to worship] in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
4:17:the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, or of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
4:18:the likeness of anything that crawls on the ground, or of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth.
4:19:And beware that you do not raise your eyes toward heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and let yourselves be led astray and worship them and serve them, [mere created bodies] which the Lord your God has allotted to [serve and benefit] all the peoples under the whole heaven.
4:20:But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron [smelting] furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as [you are] this day.
4:21:“Now the Lord was angry with me [at the waters of Meribah] because of you, and He swore [an oath] that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
4:22:For I am going to die in this land, I am not going to cross the Jordan, but you shall cross over and take possession of this good land.
4:23:So be on your guard and watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He has made with you, and make for yourselves a carved or sculpted image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you.
4:24:For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; He is a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His].
4:25:“When you become the father of children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, then if you corrupt yourselves by making a carved or sculpted image in the form of anything [for the purpose of worship], and do evil [things] in the sight of the Lord your God, provoking Him to anger,
4:26:I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.
4:27:The Lord will scatter and disperse you among the peoples (pagan nations), and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you.
4:28:And there you will serve [false and foreign] gods, the work of human hands, [lifeless images of] wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell [the offerings of food given to them].
4:29:But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.
4:30:When you are in distress and tribulation and all these things come on you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice.
4:31:For the Lord your God is a merciful and compassionate God; He will not fail you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.
4:32:“Indeed, ask now about the days that are past, [those days] which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it?
4:33:Did [any] people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you heard, and [still] live?
4:34:Or has any [man-made] god ever tried to go and take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your [very] eyes?
4:35:It was shown to you so that you might have [personal] knowledge and comprehend that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him.
4:36:Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline and admonish you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire.
4:37:And because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants who followed them, and brought you from Egypt with His Presence, with His great and awesome power,
4:38:dispossessing and driving out from before you nations, [nations that were] greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day.
4:39:Therefore know and understand today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below; there is no other.
4:40:So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am commanding you today, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
4:41:Then Moses set apart three cities [of refuge] beyond the Jordan toward the rising of the sun (eastward),
4:42:so that someone who committed manslaughter could flee there, [that is, a person] who killed his neighbor unintentionally and without previously having hostility toward him, and that by escaping to one of these cities he might [claim the right of asylum and] save his life:
4:43:Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
4:44:This is the law which Moses placed before the sons of Israel;
4:45:these are the testimonies (legal provisions) and the statutes and the judgments which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel when they came out of Egypt,
4:46:beyond the Jordan in the Valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel defeated when they came out from Egypt.
4:47:They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who reigned across the Jordan to the east,
4:48:from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the [river] Arnon, as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon),
4:49:with all the Arabah (desert lowlands) across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea), at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.
5:1:The Ten Commandments Repeated
Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:
“Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments (legal decisions) which I am speaking today in your hearing, so that you may learn them and observe them carefully.
5:2:The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.
5:3:The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, all of us who are alive here today.
5:4:The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire.
5:5:I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said,
5:6:‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
5:7:‘You shall have no other gods before Me.
5:8:‘You shall not make for yourself an idol [as an object to worship], or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
5:9:You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
5:10:but showing graciousness and lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
5:11:‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the Lord will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].
5:12:‘Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God), as the Lord your God commanded you.
5:13:Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
5:14:but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock or the stranger who stays inside your [city] gates, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
5:15:You shall remember [with thoughtful concern] that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
5:16:‘Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that your days [on the earth] may be prolonged and so that it may go well with you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
5:17:‘You shall not murder.
5:18:‘You shall not commit adultery.
5:19:‘You shall not steal.
5:20:‘You shall not give false testimony [that is, lie, withhold, or manipulate the truth] against your neighbor (any person).
5:21:‘You shall not covet [that is, desire and seek to acquire] your neighbor’s wife, nor desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’
5:22:Moses Interceded
“The Lord spoke these words with a great voice to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, and He added no more. He wrote these commandments on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
5:23:And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you approached me, all the leaders (heads) of your tribes and your elders;
5:24:and you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he [still] lives.
5:25:Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die.
5:26:For who is there of all flesh (mankind) who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
5:27:You, Moses, go near and listen to everything that the Lord our God says; then speak to us everything that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will listen and do it.’
5:28:“The Lord heard your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken.
5:29:Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear [and worship Me with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] and keep all My commandments always, so that it may go well with them and with their children forever!
5:30:Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.”
5:31:But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will tell you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which you shall teach them, so that they may obey them in the land which I give them to possess.’
5:32:Therefore you shall pay attention and be careful to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left [deviating from My commandments].
5:33:You shall walk [that is, live each and every day] in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long in the land which you will possess.
6:1:Obey God and Prosper
“Now this is the command; the statutes and the judgments (precepts) which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you might do (follow, obey) them in the land which you are crossing over [the Jordan] to possess,
6:2:so that you and your son and your grandson may fear and worship the Lord your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], to keep [and actively do] all His statutes and His commandments which I am commanding you, all the days of your life, so that your days may be prolonged.
6:3:Therefore listen, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly [in numbers], as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
6:4:“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one [the only God]!
6:5:You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and with all your soul and with all your strength [your entire being].
6:6:These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be [written] on your heart and mind.
6:7:You shall teach them diligently to your children [impressing God’s precepts on their minds and penetrating their hearts with His truths] and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.
6:8:And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand (forearm), and they shall be used as bands (frontals, frontlets) on your forehead.
6:9:You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
6:10:“Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore (solemnly promised) to [give] your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give you, [a land with] great and splendid cities which you did not build,
6:11:and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn (excavated) cisterns (wells) which you did not dig out, and vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are full and satisfied,
6:12:then beware that you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
6:13:You shall fear [only] the Lord your God; and you shall serve Him [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] and swear [oaths] by His name [alone].
6:14:You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you,
6:15:for the Lord your God who is among you is a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]—otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled and burn against you, and He will destroy you from the face of the earth.
6:16:“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.
6:17:You shall diligently keep [foremost in your thoughts and actively do] the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you.
6:18:You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore to [give] your fathers,
6:19:by driving out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.
6:20:“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and statutes and judgments (precepts) which the Lord our God has commanded you?’
6:21:then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
6:22:Moreover, the Lord showed great and terrible signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household;
6:23:He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to [give] our fathers.’
6:24:So the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear [and worship] the Lord our God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] for our good always and so that He might preserve us alive, as it is today.
6:25:It will be [considered] righteousness for us [that is, right standing with God] if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God—just as He has commanded us.
7:1:Warnings
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you are entering to possess, and has cleared away many nations before you, the Hittite and the Girgashite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you,
7:2:and when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall not make a covenant (treaty) with them nor show mercy and compassion to them.
7:3:You shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son;
7:4:for they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled and burn against you and He will quickly destroy you.
7:5:But this is how you shall deal with them: you shall tear down their altars and smash to pieces their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah), and burn their carved or sculpted images in the fire.
7:6:For you are a holy people [set apart] to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be a people for His own possession [that is, His very special treasure].
7:7:“The Lord did not love you and choose you because you were greater in number than any of the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
7:8:But because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed (bought) you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
7:9:Therefore know [without any doubt] and understand that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who is keeping His covenant and His [steadfast] lovingkindness to a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
7:10:but repays those who hate Him to their faces, by destroying them; He will not hesitate with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.
7:11:Therefore, you shall keep (follow, obey) the commandment and the statutes and judgments (precepts) which I am commanding you today.
7:12:Promises of God
“Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the [steadfast] lovingkindness which He swore to your fathers.
7:13:He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your [olive] oil, the offspring of your cattle and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you.
7:14:You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren (childless, infertile) among you or among your cattle.
7:15:The Lord will take away from you all sickness; and He will not subject you to any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will impose them on all [those] who hate you.
7:16:And you shall consume all the peoples whom the Lord your God will give over to you; your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be a [deadly] trap to you.
7:17:“If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I am; how can I dispossess them?’
7:18:you shall not be afraid of them; you shall remember [with confidence] what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt—
7:19:the great trials which you saw with your own eyes, and the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.
7:20:Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet (His terror) against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish.
7:21:You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.
7:22:The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for [if you did] the wild animals would become too numerous for you.
7:23:But the Lord your God will hand them over to you, and will confuse them with a great panic until they are destroyed.
7:24:And He will hand over their kings to you, and you will make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them.
7:25:You shall burn the carved and sculpted images of their gods in the fire. You shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, so that you will not be ensnared by it [in a deadly trap], for it is an abomination (repulsive) to the Lord your God.
7:26:You shall not bring an abomination (idol) into your house, and like it come under the ban (doomed to destruction); you shall utterly detest and you shall utterly hate it, for it is something banned.
8:1:God’s Gracious Dealings
“Every commandment that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, so that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore [to give] to your fathers.
8:2:And you shall remember [always] all the ways which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart (mind), whether you would keep His commandments or not.
8:3:He humbled you and allowed you to be hungry and fed you with manna, [a substance] which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, so that He might make you understand [by personal experience] that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.
8:4:Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your feet swell these forty years.
8:5:Therefore, know in your heart (be fully cognizant) that the Lord your God disciplines and instructs you just as a man disciplines and instructs his son.
8:6:Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in His ways and fear [and worship] Him [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect].
8:7:For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills;
8:8:a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;
8:9:a land where you will eat bread without shortage, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
8:10:When you have eaten and are satisfied, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.
8:11:“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by failing to keep His commandments and His judgments (precepts) and His statutes which I am commanding you today;
8:12:otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them,
8:13:and when your herds and flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have increases,
8:14:then your heart will become lifted up [by self-conceit and arrogance] and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
8:15:“He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; it was He who brought water for you out of the flinty rock.
8:16:“He fed you manna in the wilderness, [a substance] which your fathers did not know, so that He might humble you [by dependence on Him] and that He might test you, to do good [things] for you at the end.
8:17:Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’
8:18:But you shall remember [with profound respect] the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore (solemnly promised) to your fathers, as it is this day.
8:19:And it shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will most certainly perish.
8:20:Like the nations which the Lord causes to perish before you, so shall you perish; because you would not listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God.
9:1:Israel Provoked God
“Hear, O Israel! You are crossing the Jordan today to go in to dispossess nations greater and more powerful than you, great cities fortified to heaven,
9:2:a people great and tall, sons of Anakim, whom you know and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’
9:3:So know today [with confident assurance] that the Lord your God is crossing [the Jordan] before you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, and you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, just as the Lord has promised you.
9:4:“Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord is dispossessing them before you.
9:5:It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out before you, and to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
9:6:“Know [without any doubt], that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked (stubborn, obstinate) people.
9:7:Remember [with remorse] and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day you left the land of Egypt until you arrived in this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.
9:8:And at Horeb (Sinai) you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you.
9:9:When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food or drink water.
9:10:The Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God; and on them were written all the words which the Lord had spoken to you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.
9:11:It came about at the end of forty days and forty nights that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
9:12:Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down from here quickly, for your people whom you brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made (cast) a molten image for themselves.’
9:13:Furthermore, the Lord said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, they are stiff-necked (stubborn, obstinate) people.
9:14:Let Me alone, so that I may destroy them and wipe out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’
9:15:“So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.
9:16:And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a molten calf (idol). You had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you.
9:17:So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my two hands and smashed them before your very eyes!
9:18:Then, as before, I fell down before the Lord for [another] forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food or drink water, because of all the sin you had committed by doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger.
9:19:For I was afraid of the anger and absolute fury which the Lord held against you, [enough divine fury] to destroy you, but the Lord listened to me that time also.
9:20:The Lord was very angry with Aaron, angry [enough] to destroy him, so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time.
9:21:I took your sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it in the fire and thoroughly crushed it, grinding the metal thoroughly until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain.
9:22:“At Taberah also and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath.
9:23:And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, and you did not believe and rely on Him, nor did you obey His voice.
9:24:You have been rebellious against the Lord from the [first] day that I knew you.
9:25:“So I fell down and lay face down before the Lord forty days and nights because the Lord had said He would destroy you.
9:26:Then I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought from Egypt with a mighty hand.
9:27:Remember [with compassion] Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people or at their wickedness or at their sin,
9:28:so that the [people of the] land from which You brought us will not say, “Because the Lord was not capable of bringing them into the land which He had promised them and because He hated them He has brought them out to the wilderness [in order] to kill them.”
9:29:Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm.’
10:1:The Tablets Rewritten
“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Cut out for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark (chest) of wood for yourself.
10:2:I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you shattered, and you shall put them in the ark.’
10:3:So I made an ark of acacia wood and cut out two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand.
10:4:The Lord wrote on the tablets, like the first writing, the Ten Commandments which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly; then the Lord gave them to me.
10:5:Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and they are there, just as the Lord commanded me.”
10:6:(Now the sons of Israel traveled from the wells of the sons of Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died and there he was buried and Eleazar his son ministered as priest in his place.
10:7:From there they traveled to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water.
10:8:At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day.
10:9:Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance [of tribal land] with his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God has promised him.)
10:10:“And I stayed on the mountain, like the first time, forty days and nights, and the Lord listened to me at that time also; the Lord was not willing to destroy you.
10:11:Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey ahead of the people, so that they may go in and take possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them.’
10:12:“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear [and worship] the Lord your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul [your choices, your thoughts, your whole being],
10:13:and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?
10:14:Behold, the heavens and the highest of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth and all that is in it.
10:15:Yet the Lord had a delight in loving your fathers and set His affection on them, and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.
10:16:So circumcise [that is, remove sin from] your heart, and be stiff-necked (stubborn, obstinate) no longer.
10:17:For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.
10:18:He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) by giving him food and clothing.
10:19:Therefore, show your love for the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
10:20:You shall fear [and worship] the Lord your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect]; you shall serve Him and cling to Him [hold tightly to Him, be united with Him], and you shall swear [oaths] by His name.
10:21:He is your praise and glory; He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which you have seen with your own eyes.
10:22:Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy persons [in all], and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
11:1:Rewards of Obedience
“Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and always keep His charge, His statutes, His precepts, and His commandments [it is your obligation to Him].
11:2:Know this day that I am not speaking to your children who have not known [by personal experience] and who have not seen [firsthand] the instruction and discipline of the Lord your God—His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm;
11:3:and His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land;
11:4:and what He did to the army of Egypt, to its horses and its chariots, when He made the water of the Red Sea engulf them as they pursued you, and how the Lord completely destroyed them;
11:5:and what He did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place;
11:6:and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel.
11:7:For your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.
11:8:“Therefore, you shall keep all the commandments which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and take possession of the land which you are crossing over [the Jordan] to possess;
11:9:so that you may live long on the land which the Lord swore (solemnly promised) to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land [of great abundance,] flowing with milk and honey.
11:10:For the land which you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot like a garden of vegetables.
11:11:But the land into which you are about to cross to possess, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven,
11:12:a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
11:13:“It shall come about, if you listen obediently and pay attention to My commandments which I command you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul [your choices, your thoughts, your whole being]—
11:14:that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early [fall] rain and the late [spring] rain, so that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your [olive] oil.
11:15:And He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
11:16:Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away [from the Lord] and serve other gods and worship them,
11:17:or [else] the Lord’s anger will be kindled and burn against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the land will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.
11:18:“Therefore, you shall impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul, and tie them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as bands (frontals, frontlets) on your forehead.
11:19:You shall teach them [diligently] to your children [impressing God’s precepts on their minds and penetrating their hearts with His truths], speaking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.
11:20:You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
11:21:so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
11:22:For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in all His ways and to hold tightly to Him—
11:23:then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than you.
11:24:Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall become yours; your territory shall be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea (the Mediterranean).
11:25:No man will be able to stand before you; the Lord your God will lay the fear and the dread of you on all the land on which you set foot, just as He has spoken to you.
11:26:“Behold, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse—
11:27:the blessing, if you listen to and obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today;
11:28:and the curse, if you do not listen to and obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following (acknowledging, worshiping) other gods which you have not known.
11:29:“It shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land which you are entering to possess, that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
11:30:Are they not across the Jordan, west of the road, toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?
11:31:For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall possess it and live in it,
11:32:and you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am setting before you today.
12:1:Laws of the Sanctuary
“These are the statutes and judgments (precepts) which you shall be careful to do in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth.
12:2:You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and the hills and under every green [leafy] tree.
12:3:You shall tear down their altars and smash their [idolatrous] pillars and burn their Asherim in the fire; you shall cut down the carved and sculpted images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place.
12:4:You shall not act like this toward the Lord your God.
12:5:But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to establish His Name there for His dwelling [place], and there you shall come [to worship Him].
12:6:There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive (pledged, vowed) offerings, your freewill (voluntary) offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.
12:7:And there you and your households shall eat before the Lord your God, and rejoice in all to which you put your hand, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
12:8:“You shall not do at all what we are doing here [in the camp] today, every man doing whatever is right in his [own] eyes.
12:9:For you have not yet come to the resting place and to the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you.
12:10:When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security,
12:11:then it shall come about that the place which the Lord your God will choose for His Name [and Presence] to dwell; there you shall bring everything that I am commanding you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes and the [voluntary] contribution of your hand [as a first gift from the fruits of the ground], and all your choice votive offerings which you vow to the Lord.
12:12:And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, and your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your [city] gates, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.
12:13:“Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every [cultic] place you see,
12:14:but [only] in the place which the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do everything that I am commanding you.
12:15:“However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your [city] gates, whatever you wish, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you [as His generous provision for daily life]. The [ceremonially] unclean and the clean may eat it, such as the gazelle and the deer.
12:16:Only you shall not eat the blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.
12:17:You are forbidden to eat within your [city] gates the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, or the firstborn of your herd or flock, or any of your votive offerings, or your freewill offerings, or the contribution of your hand.
12:18:But you shall eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter, and your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your [city] gates; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake.
12:19:Be careful that you do not neglect the Levite [who serves God] as long as you live in your land.
12:20:“When the Lord your God extends your territory, as He promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you want to eat meat, then you may eat meat, whatever you wish.
12:21:If the place which the Lord your God chooses to put His Name (Presence) is too far away from you, then you may slaughter [animals] from your herd or flock which the Lord has given you, just as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your [city] gates whatever you wish.
12:22:Just as the gazelle or the deer is eaten, so you may eat it [but not make it an offering]; the [ceremonially] unclean and the clean alike may eat it.
12:23:Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life (soul), and you shall not eat the life with the meat.
12:24:You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.
12:25:You shall not eat it, so that all may be well with you and with your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the sight of the Lord.
12:26:However, you shall take your holy things which you have [to offer] and your votive (pledged, vowed) offerings, you shall take them and go to the place which the Lord will choose.
12:27:And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, and you shall eat the meat.
12:28:“Be careful to listen to all these words which I am commanding you, so that it may be well with you and with your children after you forever, because you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.
12:29:“When the Lord your God cuts off and destroys before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and settle in their land,
12:30:beware that you are not lured (ensnared) into following them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods, so that I too may do likewise?’
12:31:You shall not behave this way toward the Lord your God, for they have done for their gods every repulsive thing which the Lord hates; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire [as sacrifices] to their gods.
12:32:“Everything I command you, you shall be careful to do it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
13:1:Shun Idolatry
“If a prophet arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder,
13:2:and the sign or the wonder which he spoke (foretold) to you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us follow after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve and worship them,’
13:3:you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and all your soul [your entire being].
13:4:You shall walk after the Lord your God and you shall fear [and worship] Him [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], and you shall keep His commandments and you shall listen to His voice, and you shall serve Him, and cling to Him.
13:5:But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to draw you away from the way in which the Lord your God has commanded you to walk. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
13:6:“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as [precious to you as] your own life (soul), entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (gods whom neither you nor your fathers have known,
13:7:of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other),
13:8:you shall not consent to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him.
13:9:Instead, you shall most certainly execute him; your hand shall be first [to be raised] against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
13:10:So you shall stone him to death with stones, because he has tried to draw you away from the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
13:11:Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.
13:12:“If you hear [it said] in one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you to live in,
13:13:that some worthless and evil men have gone out from among you and have tempted the inhabitants of their city [to sin], saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known),
13:14:then you shall investigate and search out [witnesses] and ask thorough questions. If it is true and the matter is established that this loathsome thing has been done among you,
13:15:you shall most certainly strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it, even its livestock with the edge of the sword.
13:16:Then you shall collect all its spoil (plunder) into the middle of its open square and burn the city and set fire to the spoil as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a ruin forever. It shall not be built again.
13:17:Nothing from that which is put under the ban (designated for destruction) shall cling to your hand, so that the Lord may turn away from His burning anger and show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and make you increase, just as He swore to your fathers,
13:18:because you have listened to and obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
14:1:Clean and Unclean Animals
“You are the sons of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead,
14:2:for you are a holy people [set apart] to the Lord your God; and the Lord has chosen you out of all the peoples who are on the earth to be a people for His own possession.
14:3:“You shall not eat anything that is detestable [to the Lord and forbidden by Him].
14:4:These are the animals that you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,
14:5:the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.
14:6:Among the animals, you may eat any animal that has the divided hoof [that is, a hoof] split into two parts [especially at its distal extremity] and that chews the cud.
14:7:However, you are not to eat any of these [animals] among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel, the hare and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not split the hoof; they are unclean for you.
14:8:The swine, because it has a divided hoof but does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You shall not eat their meat nor touch their carcasses.
14:9:“Of all [creatures] that are in the waters, you may eat these: anything that has fins and scales you may eat,
14:10:but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales; it is unclean for you.
14:11:“You may eat any clean bird.
14:12:But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, and the black buzzard,
14:13:and the red kite, the falcon, and the birds of prey of any variety,
14:14:and every raven of any variety,
14:15:and the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, the hawk of any variety,
14:16:the little owl, the great owl, the long-eared owl,
14:17:the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant,
14:18:the stork, and the heron of any variety, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
14:19:And all flying insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten.
14:20:You may eat any clean bird.
14:21:“You shall not eat anything that dies on its own. You may give it to the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) who is in your [city] gates, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner [since they are not under God’s law], but you are a people holy (set apart) to the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat or a lamb in its mother’s milk.
14:22:“Every year you shall certainly tithe [a tenth] of all the yield of your seed which is produced by your field.
14:23:You shall eat the tithe (tenth) of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock before the Lord your God in the place where He chooses to establish His Name (Presence), so that you may learn to fear [and worship] the Lord your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] always.
14:24:If the place where the Lord your God chooses to set His Name (Presence) is a great distance from you and you are not able to carry your tithe, because the Lord your God has blessed you [with such an abundance],
14:25:then you shall exchange your tithe for money, and take the money in your hand and go to the place [of worship] which the Lord your God chooses.
14:26:You may spend the money for anything your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or [other] strong drink, or anything else you want. You shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household.
14:27:Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your [city] gates, for he does not have a share [of land] or an inheritance among you.
14:28:“At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce for that year, and shall store it up within your [city] gates.
14:29:The Levite, because he has no share [of land] or an inheritance among you, and the stranger, and the orphan and the widow who are within your [city] gates, shall come and eat and be satisfied, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
15:1:The Sabbatical Year
“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release (remission, pardon) from debt.
15:2:This is the regulation for the release: every creditor shall forgive what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not require repayment from his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed.
15:3:You may require repayment from a foreigner, but whatever of yours is with your brother [Israelite] your hand shall release.
15:4:However, there will be no poor among you, since the Lord will most certainly bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess,
15:5:if only you will listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all these commandments which I am commanding you today.
15:6:When the Lord your God blesses you as He has promised you, then you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.
15:7:“If there is a poor man among you, one of your fellow Israelites, in any of your cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not be heartless, nor close-fisted with your poor brother;
15:8:but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend to him whatever he needs.
15:9:Beware that there is no wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release (remission, pardon), is approaching,’ and your eye is hostile (unsympathetic) toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing [since he would not have to repay you]; for he may cry out to the Lord against you, and it will become a sin for you.
15:10:You shall freely and generously give to him, and your heart shall not be resentful when you give to him, because for this [generous] thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings.
15:11:For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor in your land.’
15:12:“If your fellow Israelite, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you shall set him free [from your service].
15:13:When you set him free, you shall not let him go away empty-handed.
15:14:You shall give him generous provisions from your flock, from your threshing floor and from your wine press; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you.
15:15:And you shall remember and thoughtfully consider that you were [once] a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you these things today.
15:16:Now if the servant says to you, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is doing well with you;
15:17:then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall [willingly] be your servant always. Also you shall do the same for your maidservant.
15:18:“It shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has served you six years with double the service of a hired man; so the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
15:19:“You shall consecrate (set apart) to the Lord your God all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock. You shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.
15:20:You and your household shall eat it every year before the Lord your God in the place [for worship] which the Lord chooses.
15:21:But if it has any defect or injury, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.
15:22:You shall eat it within your [city] gates; the [ceremonially] unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as [if it were] a gazelle or a deer.
15:23:Only you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.
16:1:The Feast of Passover
“Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
16:2:You shall sacrifice the Passover [lamb] to the Lord your God from the flock or the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His Name (Presence).
16:3:You shall not eat leavened bread with it; instead, for seven days you shall eat the Passover with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you left the land of Egypt in haste); [do this] so that all the days of your life you may remember [thoughtfully] the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.
16:4:For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none of the meat which you sacrificed the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning.
16:5:You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover [lamb] in any of your cities which the Lord your God is giving you;
16:6:but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His Name (Presence), you shall sacrifice the Passover [lamb] in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt.
16:7:You shall cook and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents.
16:8:For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a celebration to the Lord your God; so you shall do no work [on that day].
16:9:The Feast of Weeks
“You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.
16:10:Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give [to Him] just as the Lord your God blesses you;
16:11:and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is within your [city] gates, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His Name (Presence).
16:12:You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to obey these statutes.
16:13:The Feast of Booths
“You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) seven days, when you have gathered in [the grain] from your threshing floor and [the wine] from your wine vat.
16:14:You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are within your city.
16:15:Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.
16:16:“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover) and at the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and at the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles), and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.
16:17:Every man shall give as he is able, in accordance with the blessing which the Lord your God has given you.
16:18:“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your cities (gates) which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
16:19:You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.
16:20:You shall pursue justice, and only justice [that which is uncompromisingly righteous], so that you may live and take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
16:21:“You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree or wood beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make.
16:22:You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the Lord your God hates.
17:1:Administration of Justice
“You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or sheep with a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God.
17:2:“If there is discovered among you, within any of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does evil in the sight of the Lord your God, by transgressing (violating) His covenant,
17:3:and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, [doing these things] which I have commanded not to do,
17:4:and if it is told to you and you hear about it, then you shall investigate thoroughly [all the charges]. If it is confirmed beyond doubt that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,
17:5:then you shall bring that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to the gates [of your city] and you shall stone the man or the woman to death.
17:6:On the evidence of two or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of [only] one witness.
17:7:The hand of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
17:8:“If any case is too difficult for you to judge—between one kind of homicide and another, between one kind of lawsuit and another, between one kind of assault and another, being controversial issues in your courts—then you shall arise and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses.
17:9:So you shall come to the Levitical priests or to the judge who is in office at that time, and you shall consult them and they will declare to you the verdict in the case.
17:10:You shall act in accordance with the terms of the verdict which they declare to you from that place which the Lord chooses. You shall be careful to act in accordance with all of their instructions.
17:11:“You shall act in accordance with the law which they teach you and the judgment which they tell you. You shall not turn aside from their verdict, to the right or to the left.
17:12:The man who acts presumptuously and insolently by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor to the judge, that man shall die; so you shall remove the evil from Israel.
17:13:Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act presumptuously again.
17:14:“When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you take possession of it and live there, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’
17:15:you shall most certainly set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses. You shall set a king over you from among your countrymen (brothers); you may not choose a foreigner [to rule] over you who is not your countryman.
17:16:Further, he shall not acquire many [war] horses for himself, nor make the people return to Egypt in order to acquire horses [to expand his military power], since the Lord said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’
17:17:He shall not acquire multiple wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away [from God]; nor [for the same reason] shall he acquire great amounts of silver and gold.
17:18:“Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.
17:19:And it shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear [and worship] the Lord his God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], by carefully obeying (keeping foremost in his thoughts and actively doing) all the words of this law and these statutes,
17:20:so that his heart will not be lifted up above his countrymen [by a false sense of self-importance and self-reliance] and that he will not turn away (deviate) from the commandment, to the right or to the left, so that he and his sons may continue [to reign] for a long time in his kingdom in Israel.
18:1:Portion of the Levites
“The Levitical priests, the entire tribe of Levi, shall own [privately] no portion [of land] or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the Lord’s offerings by fire and His portion.
18:2:They shall have no inheritance [of land] among their countrymen (brothers, brethren); the Lord is their inheritance, as He promised them.
18:3:“Now this shall be the priests’ portion from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach.
18:4:You shall also give him the first fruits of your grain, your new wine [the first of the season], and your [olive] oil, and the first sheared fleece of your sheep.
18:5:For the Lord your God has chosen him, him and his sons from all your tribes, to stand and serve in the name of the Lord forever.
18:6:“Now if a Levite comes from any of your cities throughout Israel where he resides, and comes whenever he wishes to [the sanctuary] the place which the Lord chooses;
18:7:then he shall serve in the name of the Lord his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord.
18:8:They shall have equal portions to eat, except what they receive from the sale of their fathers’ estates.
18:9:Spiritism Forbidden
“When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable (repulsive) practices of those nations.
18:10:There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire [as a sacrifice], one who uses divination and fortune-telling, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
18:11:or one who casts a charm or spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or a necromancer [who seeks the dead].
18:12:For everyone who does these things is utterly repulsive to the Lord; and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God is driving them out before you.
18:13:You shall be blameless (complete, perfect) before the Lord your God.
18:14:For these nations which you shall dispossess listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners and fortune-tellers, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.
18:15:“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me [Moses] from among you, from your countrymen (brothers, brethren). You shall listen to him.
18:16:This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb (Mount Sinai) on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear the voice of the Lord my God again, nor see this great fire anymore, so that I will not die.’
18:17:The Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well.
18:18:I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
18:19:It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him [and there will be consequences].
18:20:But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet shall die.’
18:21:If you say in your heart, ‘How will we know and recognize the word which the Lord has not spoken?’
18:22:When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and the thing does not happen or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
19:1:Cities of Refuge
“When the Lord your God cuts off (destroys) the nations whose land He is giving you, and you dispossess them and live in their cities and in their houses,
19:2:you shall designate three cities for yourself in the central area of the land, which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.
19:3:You shall prepare and maintain for yourself the roads [to these cities], and divide the territory of your land into three parts, so that anyone who kills another unintentionally may escape there [for asylum].
19:4:“Now this is the case of the offender (manslayer) who may escape there and live [protected from vengeance]: when he kills his neighbor unintentionally, not having hated him previously—
19:5:as [for example] when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, but the iron head slips off the wooden handle and hits his companion and he dies—the offender may escape to one of these cities and live;
19:6:otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the offender in the heat of anger, and overtake him, because it is a long way, and take his life, even though he did not deserve to die, since he did not hate his neighbor beforehand.
19:7:Therefore, I command you, saying, ‘You shall set aside three cities [of refuge] for yourself.’
19:8:“If the Lord your God enlarges your border, as He has sworn to your fathers to do, and gives you all the land which He promised to give to your fathers—
19:9:if you keep and carefully observe all these commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God, and to walk [that is, to live each and every day] always in His ways—then you shall add three more cities [of refuge] for yourself, besides these three,
19:10:so that innocent blood will not be shed [by blood avengers] in your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and blood guilt will not be on you [for the death of an innocent man].
19:11:“But if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait and ambush for him and attacks him and strikes him down so that he dies, and the assailant escapes to one of these cities,
19:12:then the elders of his own city shall send for him and have him taken back from there and turn him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may be put to death.
19:13:You shall not pity him [the guilty one], but you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, so that it may go well with you.
19:14:Laws of Landmark and Testimony
“You shall not move your neighbor’s boundary mark, which the forefathers [who first divided the territory] have set, in the land which you will inherit in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.
19:15:“A single witness shall not appear in a trial against a man for any wrong or any sin which he has committed; [only] on the testimony or evidence of two or three witnesses shall a charge be confirmed.
19:16:If a malicious witness rises up against a man to [falsely] accuse him of wrongdoing,
19:17:then both parties to the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office at that time.
19:18:The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness, and he has accused his brother falsely,
19:19:then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
19:20:Those who remain will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you.
19:21:You shall not show pity [to the guilty one]: it shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
20:1:Laws of Warfare
“When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.
20:2:When you approach the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people,
20:3:and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: you are advancing today to battle against your enemies. Do not lack courage. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble [in terror] before them,
20:4:for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’
20:5:The officers shall also speak to the soldiers, saying, ‘What man is there who has built a new house and has not yet dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would dedicate it.
20:6:What man has planted a vineyard and has not put it to use [harvesting its fruit]? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would begin to use its fruit.
20:7:And who is the man who is engaged (legally promised) to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would marry her.’
20:8:Then the officers shall speak further to the soldiers and say, ‘Who is the man who is afraid and lacks courage? Let him go and return to his house, so that he does not cause his brothers’ courage to fail like his own.’
20:9:And it shall be when the officers have finished speaking to the soldiers, they shall appoint commanders of armies over them.
20:10:“When you advance to a city to fight against it, you shall [first] offer it terms of peace.
20:11:If that city accepts your terms of peace and opens its gates to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you.
20:12:However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall lay siege to it.
20:13:When the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike down all the men in it with the edge of the sword.
20:14:Only the women and the children and the animals and everything that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourself; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the Lord your God has given you.
20:15:That is what you shall do to all the cities that are very far away from you, which are not among the cities of these nations nearby [which you are to dispossess].
20:16:Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes.
20:17:But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you,
20:18:so that they will not teach you to act in accordance with all the detestable practices which they have done [in worship and service] for their gods, and in this way cause you to sin against the Lord your God.
20:19:“When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its [fruit-bearing] trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged (destroyed) by you?
20:20:Only the trees which you know are not fruit trees shall you destroy and cut down, so that you may build siegeworks against the city that is making war with you until it falls.
21:1:Expiation of a Crime
“If someone is found slain, lying in the field, in the land which the Lord your God gives you to possess, and it is not known who has killed him,
21:2:then your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the dead person.
21:3:It shall be that the elders of the city which is nearest to the dead man shall take a heifer of the herd, one which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke;
21:4:and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a [river] valley with running water, which has not been plowed or planted, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.
21:5:Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall approach, for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the Name (Presence) of the Lord; and every dispute and every assault (violent crime) shall be settled by them.
21:6:All the elders of that city nearest to the dead man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;
21:7:and they shall respond, and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.
21:8:Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Lord, and do not put the guilt of innocent blood among Your people Israel.’ And the guilt of blood shall be forgiven them.
21:9:So shall you remove the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.
21:10:Domestic Relations
“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the Lord your God hands them over to you and you lead them away captive,
21:11:and you see a beautiful woman among the captives, and desire her and would take her as your wife,
21:12:then you shall bring her [home] to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails [in preparation for mourning].
21:13:She shall take off the clothes of her captivity and remain in your house, and weep (mourn) for her father and her mother a full month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.
21:14:But it shall be that if you have no delight and take no pleasure in her, then you shall let her go wherever she wishes. You certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not deal with her as a slave or mistreat her, because you have humbled her [by forced marriage].
21:15:“If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have born him sons, and the firstborn son belongs to the unloved wife,
21:16:then on the day when he wills his possessions to his sons, he cannot treat the son of his loved wife as firstborn in place of the son of the unloved wife—the [actual] firstborn.
21:17:Instead he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved as the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he was the beginning of his strength (generative power); to him belongs the right of the firstborn.
21:18:“If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or of his mother, and when they reprimand and discipline him, he will not listen to them,
21:19:then his father and mother shall take hold of him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown.
21:20:“They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’
21:21:Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
21:22:“And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death and [afterward] you hang him on a tree [as a public example],
21:23:his body shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall most certainly bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is cursed by God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.
22:1:Various Laws
“You shall not see your countryman’s ox or his sheep straying away or being stolen, and ignore [your duty to help] them; you shall certainly take them back to him.
22:2:If your countryman is not nearby or you do not know him, you shall bring the animal to your house, and it shall stay with you until he searches for it; then you shall return it to him.
22:3:You shall do this with his donkey or with his garment or with anything that your countryman has lost and you have found. You are not allowed to ignore [your duty to help] them.
22:4:You shall not see your countryman’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and ignore [your duty to help] them; you shall certainly help him lift it up.
22:5:“A woman shall not wear a man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is utterly repulsive to the Lord your God.
22:6:“If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the road, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother [bird] is sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young.
22:7:You shall certainly let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself, so that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
22:8:“When you build a new house, you shall make a railing (parapet) around your [flat] roof, so that you do not bring the guilt of [innocent] blood on your house if someone falls from it.
22:9:“You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or everything produced by the seed which you have sown and the yield of the vineyard will become defiled [and banned for use].
22:10:“You shall not plow with an ox [a clean animal] and a donkey [an unclean animal] together.
22:11:“You shall not wear a fabric made of wool and linen blended together [a fabric pagans believed to be magical].
22:12:“You shall make tassels for yourself on the four corners of your outer garment with which you cover yourself.
22:13:Laws on Morality
“If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then scorns and hates her,
22:14:and charges her [without cause] with shameful behavior and publicly defames her, and says, ‘I took this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’
22:15:then the young woman’s father and her mother shall get and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city at the gate [where court is held].
22:16:The father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he hates her and has turned against her;
22:17:and behold, he has made baseless charges against her, saying, “I did not find in your daughter the evidence of her virginity.” But this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread out the garment before the elders of the city.
22:18:“Then the elders of that city shall take the man and reprimand him,
22:19:and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the father of the young woman, because he publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he is not allowed to divorce her as long as he lives.
22:20:“But if this charge is true that the evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman,
22:21:then they shall bring her out to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed a deliberate sin in Israel by playing the prostitute in her father’s house. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
22:22:“If a man is intimate with a woman who is another man’s wife, they shall both be put to death, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall remove the evil from Israel.
22:23:“If a young woman who is a virgin is engaged (legally betrothed) to a man, and another man finds her in the city and is intimate with her,
22:24:then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out for help [though she was] in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s [promised] wife. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
22:25:“However, if the man finds the girl who is engaged (legally betrothed) in the [open] field, and seizes her and is intimate with her [by force], then only the man who lies with her shall be put to death.
22:26:But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no sin worthy of death, for this is the same as when a man attacks his neighbor and murders him.
22:27:When he found her in the [open] field, the engaged girl [may have] cried out for help, but there was no one to [hear and] save her.
22:28:“If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged, and seizes her and is intimate with her and they are discovered,
22:29:then the man who was intimate with her shall give fifty shekels of silver to the girl’s father, and she shall become his wife because he has violated her; he can never divorce her.
22:30:“A man shall not take his father’s [former] wife, so that he will not expose his father’s wife.
23:1:Persons Excluded from the Assembly
“He who has been castrated by having his testicles crushed or his male organ cut off shall not enter the congregation of the Lord.
23:2:A person of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation.
23:3:An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord,
23:4:because they did not meet you with bread (food) and water on the road as you came out of Egypt, and because they hired [to act] against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
23:5:Nevertheless, the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God has loved you.
23:6:You shall never seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days.
23:7:“You shall not detest an Edomite, for he is your brother [Esau’s descendant]. You shall not detest an Egyptian, because you were a stranger (resident alien, foreigner) in his land.
23:8:Their children of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.
23:9:“When you go out as an army [to fight] against your enemies, you shall keep yourselves from every evil [thing].
23:10:“If there is any man among you who is [ceremonially] unclean because of nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he shall not come back to the camp.
23:11:But when evening comes, he shall bathe in water, and at sundown he may return to the camp.
23:12:“You shall also have a place outside the camp to which you may go,
23:13:and you shall have a spade among your tools, and when you [prepare to] sit down outside [to relieve yourself], you shall dig a hole with it and shall turn and cover up your waste.
23:14:Since the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to rescue you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy (undefiled); and He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you.
23:15:“You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you.
23:16:He shall live among you, in the place he chooses in one of your cities where it pleases him; you shall not mistreat or oppress him.
23:17:“There shall be no cult prostitute among the daughters of Israel, nor shall there be a cult prostitute (a sodomite) among the sons of Israel.
23:18:You shall not bring the wages of a prostitute or the price of a dog [that is, a male prostitute] into the house of the Lord your God as payment for any vow, for both of these [the gift and the giver] are utterly repulsive to the Lord your God.
23:19:“You shall not charge interest to your fellow Israelite—interest on money, food or anything that may be loaned for interest.
23:20:You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your fellow Israelite you shall not charge interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess.
23:21:“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for He will most certainly require it of you, and a delay would cause you to sin.
23:22:But if you refrain from making a vow, that would not be [counted as] sin in you.
23:23:You shall be careful to perform that [vow] which passes your lips, just as you have made a voluntary vow to the Lord your God, just as you have promised with your own words (mouth).
23:24:“When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you please, but you shall not put any in your basket [to take with you].
23:25:“When you come into the standing grain of your neighbor, you may pluck the ears of grain with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain [to harvest it].
24:1:Law of Divorce
“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she loses his favor because he has found something indecent or unacceptable about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house,
24:2:and after she leaves his house, she goes and becomes another man’s wife,
24:3:and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife,
24:4:then her former husband who [first] sent her away may not take her again as his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an outrage before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.
24:5:“When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out [to fight] with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home for one year and shall bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken.
24:6:Various Laws
“No one shall take a handmill or an upper millstone [used to grind grain into bread] as security [for a debt], for he would be taking a [person’s] life in pledge.
24:7:“If a man is caught kidnapping any of his countrymen from the sons of Israel, and he treats him violently or sells him [as a slave], then that thief shall die. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
24:8:“Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy, that you diligently observe and do according to all that the Levitical priests teach you; just as I have commanded them, so you shall be careful to do.
24:9:Remember [with thoughtful concern] what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the road as you came out of Egypt.
24:10:“When you lend your neighbor anything, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge (security deposit).
24:11:You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out to you.
24:12:If the man is poor, you shall not keep his pledge overnight.
24:13:You shall certainly restore the pledge (security deposit) to him at sunset, so that he may sleep in his garment and bless you; and it will be credited to you as righteousness (right standing) before the Lord your God.
24:14:“You shall not take advantage of a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether [he is] one of your countrymen or one of the strangers (resident aliens, foreigners) who is in your land inside your cities.
24:15:You shall give him his wages on the day that he earns them before the sun sets—for he is poor and is counting on it—so that he does not cry out to the Lord against you, and it becomes a sin for you.
24:16:“The fathers shall not be put to death for [the sins of] their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; [only] for his own sin shall anyone be put to death.
24:17:“You shall not pervert the justice due a stranger or an orphan, nor seize (impound) a widow’s garment as security [for a loan].
24:18:But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.
24:19:“When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf [of grain] in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, for the orphan, and for the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
24:20:When you beat [the olives off of] your olive tree, do not search through the branches again; [whatever is left] shall be for the stranger, for the orphan, and for the widow.
24:21:“When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, for the orphan, and for the widow.
24:22:You shall [thoughtfully] remember [the fact] that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.
25:1:Various Laws
“If there is a controversy between men, and they go to court, and the judges decide [the issue] between them, and they judge in favor of the innocent and condemn the guilty,
25:2:then it shall be that if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with a [certain] number of stripes in proportion to his offense.
25:3:He may have him beaten forty times, but no more. He is not to be beaten with more stripes than these and he is not to be degraded [that is, treated like an animal] in your sight.
25:4:“You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing [to prevent him from eating any of the grain].
25:5:“If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, the widow of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall be intimate with her after taking her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.
25:6:It shall be that her firstborn [son] will be given the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out of Israel.
25:7:But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s [widowed] wife, then she shall go up to the gate [of the city, where court is held] to the elders, and say, ‘My brother-in-law refuses to continue his brother’s name in Israel; he is not willing to perform the duty of a husband’s brother.’
25:8:Then the elders of his city will summon him and speak to him. And if he stands firm and says, ‘I do not want to marry her,’
25:9:then his brother’s widow shall approach him in the presence of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, ‘So it is done to that man who does not build up his brother’s household.’
25:10:In Israel his [family] name shall be, ‘The house of him whose sandal was removed.’
25:11:“If [two] men, a man and his countryman, are fighting and the wife of one approaches to rescue her husband from the man who is striking him, and she reaches out with her hand and grabs the aggressor’s genitals,
25:12:then you shall cut off her hand; you shall not show pity [for her].
25:13:“You shall not have in your bag inaccurate weights, a heavy and a light [so you can cheat others].
25:14:You shall not have in your house inaccurate measures, a large and a small.
25:15:You shall have a perfect (full) and just weight, and a perfect and just measure, so that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
25:16:For everyone who does such things, everyone who acts unjustly [without personal integrity] is utterly repulsive to the Lord your God.
25:17:“Remember what Amalek did to you along the road when you came from Egypt,
25:18:how he met you along the road and attacked all the stragglers at your rear when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God.
25:19:Therefore when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.
26:1:Offering First Fruits
“Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and live in it,
26:2:that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His Name (Presence).
26:3:You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare this day to the Lord my God that I have entered the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’
26:4:Then the priest will take the basket from you and place it before the altar of the Lord your God.
26:5:And you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘My father [Jacob] was a wandering Aramean, and he [along with his family] went down to Egypt and lived there [as strangers], few in number; but while there he became a great, mighty and populous nation.
26:6:And the Egyptians treated us badly and oppressed us, and imposed hard labor on us.
26:7:Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers for help, and He heard our voice and saw our suffering and our labor and our [cruel] oppression;
26:8:and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror [suffered by the Egyptians] and with signs and with wonders;
26:9:and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
26:10:And now, look, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall place it before the Lord your God, and shall worship before the Lord your God;
26:11:and you and the Levite and the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) among you shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given you and your household.
26:12:“When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce the third year, [which is] the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat within the gates of your cities and be satisfied.
26:13:“You shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion (the tithe) from my house and also have given it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow, in accordance with all that You have commanded me. I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.
26:14:I have not eaten from the tithe while mourning, nor have I removed any of it when I was [ceremonially] unclean [making the tithe ceremonially unclean], nor offered any of it to the dead. I have listened to the voice of the Lord my God; I have done everything in accordance with all that You have commanded me.
26:15:Look down from Your holy dwelling above, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the land which You have given us, as You have sworn to our fathers, a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey.’
26:16:“This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and judgments (precepts). Therefore, you shall be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul (your entire being).
26:17:Today you have [openly] declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk [that is, live each and every day] in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments (precepts), and listen to His voice.
26:18:Today the Lord has declared that you are His people, His treasured possession, just as He promised you, and that you are to keep all His commandments;
26:19:and that He will set you high above all the nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor: and that you shall be a holy people [set apart and consecrated] to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.”
27:1:The Altar at Mount Ebal
Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep (remember, obey) all the commandments which I am commanding you today.
27:2:So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to [enter] the land which the Lord your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with plaster (lime, whitewash).
27:3:You shall write on the stones all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may go into the land which the Lord your God gives you, a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers has promised you.
27:4:Now when you cross the Jordan you shall set up these stones on Mount Ebal, just as I am commanding you today and coat them with plaster.
27:5:There you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; you shall not use an iron tool on them.
27:6:You shall build the altar of the Lord your God with whole [uncut] stones, and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God;
27:7:and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and shall rejoice before the Lord your God.
27:8:And you shall write very clearly on the stones all the words of this law.”
27:9:Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for the Lord your God.
27:10:So you shall obey the voice of the Lord your God, and do His commandments and statutes which I am commanding you today.”
27:11:The Curses of Mount Ebal
Moses also commanded the people that day, saying,
27:12:“These [tribes] shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people when you have crossed the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.
27:13:These [tribes] shall stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce the curse [for disobedience]: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
27:14:The Levites shall answer with a loud voice to all the men of Israel:
27:15:‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved or cast image (idol), a repulsive thing to the Lord, the work of the hands of the artisan, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
27:16:‘Cursed is he who dishonors (treats with contempt) his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
27:17:‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
27:18:‘Cursed is he who misleads a blind person on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
27:19:‘Cursed is he who distorts (perverts) the justice due to a stranger, an orphan, and a widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
27:20:‘Cursed is he who is intimate with his father’s [former] wife, because he has violated what belongs to his father.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
27:21:‘Cursed is he who is intimate with any animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
27:22:‘Cursed is he who is intimate with his [half] sister, whether his father’s or his mother’s daughter.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
27:23:‘Cursed is he who is intimate with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
27:24:‘Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
27:25:‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to strike down an innocent person.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
27:26:‘Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them [keeping them, taking them to heart as the rule of his life].’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
28:1:Blessings at Gerizim
“Now it shall be, if you diligently listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all of His commandments which I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
28:2:All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you pay attention to the voice of the Lord your God.
28:3:“You will be blessed in the city, and you will be blessed in the field.
28:4:“The offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your animals, the offspring of your herd and the young of your flock will be blessed.
28:5:“Your basket and your kneading bowl will be blessed.
28:6:“You will be blessed when you come in and you will be blessed when you go out.
28:7:“The Lord will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way, but flee before you seven ways.
28:8:The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your storehouses and in all that you undertake, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
28:9:The Lord will establish you as a people holy [and set apart] to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk [that is, live your life each and every day] in His ways.
28:10:So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you.
28:11:The Lord will give you great prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
28:12:The Lord will open for you His good treasure house, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.
28:13:The Lord will make you the head (leader) and not the tail (follower); and you will be above only, and you will not be beneath, if you listen and pay attention to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today, to observe them carefully.
28:14:Do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or to the left, to follow and serve other gods.
28:15:Consequences of Disobedience
“But it shall come about, if you do not listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
28:16:“You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field.
28:17:“Your basket and your kneading bowl will be cursed.
28:18:“The offspring of your body and the produce of your land, the offspring of your herd and the young of your flock will be cursed.
28:19:“You will be cursed when you come in and you will be cursed when you go out.
28:20:“The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed, perishing quickly because of the evil of your deeds, because you have turned away from Me.
28:21:The Lord will make the pestilence and plague cling to you until He has consumed and eliminated you from the land which you are entering to possess.
28:22:The Lord will strike you with consumption [causing you to waste away] and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew [on your crops]; and they will pursue you until you perish.
28:23:The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze [giving no rain and blocking all prayers], and the earth which is under you, iron [hard to plow and yielding no produce].
28:24:The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it will come down on you until you are destroyed.
28:25:“The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out against them one way, but flee before them seven ways, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth [when they see your destruction].
28:26:Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
28:27:“The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and the itch that you cannot heal.
28:28:The Lord will strike you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart and mind;
28:29:and you will be groping at noon [in broad daylight], just as the blind grope in the darkness, and nothing you do will prosper; but you will only be oppressed and exploited and robbed continually, with no one to save you.
28:30:You will be pledged to marry a wife, but another man will be intimate with her [before you]; you will build a house, but you will not live in it; you will plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit.
28:31:Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it; your donkey will be torn away from you, and it will not be returned to you; your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you.
28:32:Your sons and daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes look on and long for them continually; but there will be nothing you can do.
28:33:A people whom you do not know will eat the produce of your land and all the products of your labors, and you will never be anything but oppressed and exploited and crushed continually.
28:34:You shall be driven mad by the sight of the things you see.
28:35:The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs with sore boils that you cannot heal, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.
28:36:The Lord will bring you and your king, whom you appoint over you, to a nation which you and your fathers have never known; there you will [be forced to] serve other gods, [lifeless gods of] wood and stone.
28:37:And you will become a horror, a proverb [a mere object lesson], and a taunt [a derisive joke] among all the people to which the Lord drives you.
28:38:“You will bring out a great quantity of seed to the field, but you will gather in little, because the locusts will consume it.
28:39:You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because the worm will eat them.
28:40:You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourselves with the oil, because your olives will drop off.
28:41:You will have sons and daughters, but they will not be yours [for long], because they will go into captivity.
28:42:The cricket will take possession of all your trees and the produce of your ground.
28:43:The stranger who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, and you will go down lower and lower.
28:44:He will lend to you [out of his affluence], but you will not lend to him [because of your poverty]; he will be the head, and you the tail.
28:45:“So all these curses will come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He has commanded you.
28:46:They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.
28:47:“Because you did not serve the Lord your God with a heart full of joy and gladness for the abundance of all things [with which He blessed you],
28:48:you will therefore serve your enemies whom the Lord sends against you, in hunger and in thirst, in nakedness and in lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke [of slavery] on your neck until He has destroyed you.
28:49:“The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, [as swift] as the eagle swoops down [to attack], a nation whose language you will not understand,
28:50:a defiant nation who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young,
28:51:and it will eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who will leave you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the offspring of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish.
28:52:They will besiege you in all your cities until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land; and they will besiege you in all your cities throughout your land which the Lord your God has given you.
28:53:Then you will eat the offspring of your own body [to avoid starvation], the flesh of your sons and daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, during the siege and the misery by which your enemy will oppress you.
28:54:The man who is most refined and well-bred among you will be cruel and hostile toward his brother and toward the wife he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain,
28:55:so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, because he has nothing else left, during the siege and the misery by which your enemy will oppress you in all your cities.
28:56:The most refined and well-bred woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and pampered, will be cruel and hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter,
28:57:and toward her afterbirth that comes from between her legs and toward the children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the misery by which your enemy will oppress you in your cities.
28:58:“If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, to fear and honor with reverence this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God,
28:59:then the Lord will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses.
28:60:Moreover, He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you.
28:61:Also the Lord will bring on you every sickness and every plague which is not written in this book of this law, until you are destroyed.
28:62:Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, you who were as numerous as the stars of heaven shall be left few in number.
28:63:It shall come about that just as the Lord delighted over you to make you prosper and multiply, so the Lord will delight over you to bring you to ruin and destruction; and you will be uprooted [violently] from the land which you are entering to possess.
28:64:And the Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you will [be forced to] serve other gods, [lifeless gods of] wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
28:65:Among those nations you will find no peace (rest), and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
28:66:Your life will hang in doubt before you; night and day you will be filled with anxiety and have no assurance of living.
28:67:In the morning you will say, ‘I wish it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’—because of the dread in your heart with which you tremble, and because of the sight of your eyes which you will see.
28:68:The Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I said to you, ‘You will never see it again!’ And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no one to buy you.
29:1:The Covenant in Moab
These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which He made with them at Horeb (Sinai).
29:2:Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all his land;
29:3:the great trials [of Pharaoh] which your eyes have seen, the signs and those great wonders.
29:4:Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart and mind to understand, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.
29:5:I have led you in the wilderness forty years; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet.
29:6:You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink, so that you might know that I am the Lord your God [on whom you must depend].
29:7:When you reached this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out to meet us in battle, but we defeated them;
29:8:and we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
29:9:So keep the words of this covenant and obey them, so that you may prosper and be successful in everything that you do.
29:10:“All of you stand today before the Lord your God—your chiefs, your tribes, your elders and your officers, even all the men of Israel,
29:11:your little ones, your wives, and the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) who is in your camps, from the one who chops and gathers your firewood to the one who draws your water—
29:12:so that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, and into His oath and agreement which the Lord your God is making with you today,
29:13:so that He may establish you today as His people and that He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
29:14:“It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant and this oath,
29:15:but with those [future Israelites] who are not here with us today, as well as with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God
29:16:(for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we passed through the nations along the way;
29:17:and you have seen their detestable acts and their [repulsive] idols of wood and stone, [lifeless images] of silver and gold, which they had with them),
29:18:so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the [false] gods of these nations; so that there will not be among you a root [of idolatry] bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood (bitterness).
29:19:It will happen that when he (a renegade) hears the words of this oath, and he imagines himself as blessed, saying, ‘I will have peace and safety even though I walk within the stubbornness of my heart [rejecting God and His law], in order that the watered land dwindles away along with the dry [destroying everything],’
29:20:the Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him; the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven.
29:21:Then the Lord will single him out for disaster from all the tribes of Israel [making an example of him], according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law.
29:22:Now the next generation, your children who come after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of this land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it, will say,
29:23:‘The whole land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it; it is like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and wrath.’
29:24:All the nations will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’
29:25:Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned (broke) the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.
29:26:For they went and served other gods and worshiped them, [false] gods whom they have not known and whom He had not allotted (given) to them.
29:27:So the anger of the Lord burned against this land, bringing on it every curse that is written in this book;
29:28:and the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger and in wrath and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’
29:29:“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed and disclosed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may do all of the words of this law.
30:1:Restoration Promised
“So it shall be when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you,
30:2:and you have returned to the Lord your God and have listened to and obeyed His voice with all your heart and with all your soul, in accordance with everything that I am commanding you today, you and your children,
30:3:then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes [in your return from exile], and have compassion on you, and will gather you together again from all the peoples (nations) where He has scattered you.
30:4:Even if any of your dispersed are at the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you together from there, and from there He will bring you back.
30:5:The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it; and He shall make you prosper and multiply—even more than your fathers.
30:6:“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants [that is, He will remove the desire to sin from your heart], so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live [as a recipient of His blessing].
30:7:The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who have persecuted you.
30:8:And you shall again listen to and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all His commandments which I command you today.
30:9:Then the Lord your God shall make you abundantly prosperous in everything that you do, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your land; for the Lord will again delight over you for good, just as He delighted over your fathers,
30:10:if you listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul (your entire being).
30:11:“For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.
30:12:It is not [a secret hidden] in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?’
30:13:Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?’
30:14:But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.
30:15:Choose Life
“Listen closely, I have set before you today life and prosperity (good), and death and adversity (evil);
30:16:in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments (precepts), so that you will live and multiply, and that the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to possess.
30:17:But if your heart turns away and you will not hear and obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,
30:18:I declare to you today that you will certainly perish. You will not live long in the land which you cross the Jordan to enter and possess.
30:19:I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore, you shall choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,
30:20:by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding closely to Him; for He is your life [your good life, your abundant life, your fulfillment] and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord promised (swore) to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
31:1:Moses’ Last Counsel
So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.
31:2:And he said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to come in and go out [as your spiritual and military leader], and the Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’
31:3:It is the Lord your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will go across before you [to lead you], just as the Lord has said.
31:4:The Lord will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them.
31:5:The Lord will hand them over to you, and you shall do to them in accordance with all the commandments which I have commanded you.
31:6:Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble in dread before them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not fail you or abandon you.”
31:7:Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all [the people of] Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you will give it to them as an inheritance.
31:8:It is the Lord who goes before you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
31:9:So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.
31:10:Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of year when debts are forgiven, at the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles),
31:11:when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all [the people of] Israel so that they may hear.
31:12:Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) within your cities, so that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], and be careful to obey all the words of this law.
31:13:“Their children, who have not known [the law], will hear and learn to fear [and worship] the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
31:14:Israel Will Fall Away
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, so that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.
31:15:Then the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood beside the doorway of the tent.
31:16:The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down [in death] with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the prostitute (commit apostasy) with the foreign gods [of the people] of the land, where they go to be among them. They will abandon (turn away from) Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.
31:17:Then My anger will be kindled and burn against them in that day, and I will abandon (turn away from) them and hide My face from them. They will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will come on them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come on us?’
31:18:But I will certainly hide My face [from them] in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods [to worship lifeless idols, to honor handmade relics].
31:19:“Now then, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it in their mouth, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel.
31:20:For when I bring them into the land which I have sworn to their fathers, a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten and are satisfied and become prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise and reject Me and break My covenant.
31:21:Then it shall come about, when many evils and troubles have come on them, that this [sacred] song will confront them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten from the mouth of their descendants. For I know their inclination which is developing even now, before I bring them into the land which I have sworn to give them.”
31:22:So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.
31:23:Joshua Is Commissioned
Then He commanded and commissioned Joshua, the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the sons of Israel into the land which I have sworn to give them, and I will be with you.”
31:24:And when Moses completely finished writing the words of this law in a book,
31:25:he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,
31:26:“Take this Book of the Law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.
31:27:For I know your rebellion and contention and your stubbornness; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the Lord; how much more, then, after my death?
31:28:Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth as witnesses against them.
31:29:For I know that after my death you will behave corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will come upon you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands.”
31:30:Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended:
32:1:The Song of Moses
“Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
32:2:“Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
As the light rain upon the tender grass,
And as the spring showers upon the herb.
32:3:“For I proclaim the name [and presence] of the Lord;
Ascribe greatness and honor to our God!
32:4:“The Rock! His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A God of faithfulness without iniquity (injustice),
Just and upright is He.
32:5:“They (Israel) have acted corruptly toward Him.
They are not His children, because of their [moral] defect;
But are a perverse and crooked generation.
32:6:“Do you thus repay the Lord,
O foolish and unwise people?
Is not He your Father who has acquired you [as His own]?
He has made you and established you [as a nation].
32:7:“Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations.
Ask your father, and he will inform you,
Your elders, and they will tell you.
32:8:“When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
When He separated the sons of man,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the sons of Israel.
32:9:“For the Lord’s portion and chosen share is His people;
Jacob (Israel) is the allotment of His inheritance.
32:10:“He found him in a desert land,
In the howling wasteland of a wilderness;
He kept circling him, He took care of him,
He protected him as the apple of His eye.
32:11:“As an eagle that protects its nest,
That flutters over its young,
He spread out His wings and took them,
He carried them on His pinions.
32:12:“So the Lord alone led him;
There was no foreign god with him.
32:13:“He made him (Israel) ride on the high places of the earth,
And he ate the produce of the field;
And He made him suck honey from the rock,
And [olive] oil from the flinty rock,
32:14:Butter and curds of cows, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs,
And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the finest of the wheat;
And you drank wine, the blood of grapes.
32:15:“But Jeshurun (Israel) became fat and kicked [at God].
You became fat, thick, sleek, and obstinate!
Then he abandoned God who had made him,
And scorned the Rock of his salvation.
32:16:“They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods [by denying Him the honor and loyalty that is rightfully and uniquely His];
And with repulsive acts they provoked Him to anger.
32:17:“They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
To gods whom they have not known,
New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers never feared.
32:18:“You were unmindful of the Rock who bore you,
And you forgot the God who gave you birth.
32:19:“The Lord saw it, and rejected them,
Out of indignation with His sons and His daughters.
32:20:“Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end shall be;
For they are a perverse generation,
Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.
32:21:‘They have made Me jealous with what is not God;
They have provoked Me to anger with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
32:22:‘For a fire is kindled by My anger,
And it burns to the depths of Sheol (the place of the dead, the nether world),
It devours the earth with its yield,
And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
32:23:‘I will heap misfortunes on them;
I will use My arrows on them.
32:24:‘They will be wasted by hunger, and consumed by plague
And a bitter destruction;
And I will send the teeth of beasts against them,
With the venom of crawling things of the dust.
32:25:‘Outside the sword will bereave,
And inside [the chambers] terror—
For both young man and virgin,
For the nursing child and the man of gray hair.
32:26:‘I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces [scattering them far away],
I will remove the memory of them from men,”
32:27:Had I not feared the provocation of the enemy,
That their adversaries would misjudge,
That they would say, “Our [own] hand has prevailed,
And the Lord has not done all this.”’
32:28:“For they are a nation devoid of counsel,
And there is no understanding in them.
32:29:“O that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they could discern their future and ultimate fate!
32:30:“How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their Rock had sold them,
And the Lord had given them up?
32:31:“For their rock is not like our Rock,
Even our enemies themselves judge this.
32:32:“For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of poison,
Their clusters, bitter.
32:33:“Their wine is the venom of serpents,
And the deadly poison of vipers.
32:34:‘Is it not laid up in store with Me,
Sealed up in My treasuries?
32:35:‘Vengeance is Mine, and retribution,
In due time their foot will slip;
For the day of their disaster is at hand,
And their doom hurries to meet them.’
32:36:“For the Lord will vindicate His people,
And will have compassion on His servants,
When He sees that their strength (hand) is gone,
And none remains, whether bond or free.
32:37:“And He will say, ‘Where are their gods,
The rock in which they took refuge?
32:38:‘Who ate the fat of their sacrifices,
And drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise up and help you,
Let them be your hiding place!
32:39:‘See now that I, I am He,
And there is no god besides Me;
It is I who put to death and I who give life.
I have wounded and it is I who heal,
And there is no one who can deliver from [the power of] My hand.
32:40:‘Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven,
And say (swear an oath), as I live forever,
32:41:If I sharpen the lightning of My sword,
And My hand takes hold of judgment,
I will render vengeance on My adversaries,
And I will repay those who hate Me.
32:42:‘I will make My arrows drunk with blood,
And My sword will devour flesh,
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
From the heads of the leaders of the enemy.’
32:43:“Rejoice, O nations, with His people;
For He will avenge the blood of His servants,
And will render vengeance on His adversaries,
And will atone for His land and His people.”
32:44:Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.
32:45:When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all [the people of] Israel,
32:46:he said to them, “Take to heart all the words of warning which I am speaking to you today; and you shall command your children to observe them carefully—to do all the words of this law.
32:47:For it is not an empty or trivial matter for you; indeed it is your [very] life. By [honoring and obeying] this word you will live long in the land, which you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
32:48:And the Lord said to Moses that very same day,
32:49:“Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel as a possession.
32:50:Then die on the mountain which you climb, and be gathered to your people [in death], just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,
32:51:because you broke faith with Me among of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat Me as holy among of the sons of Israel.
32:52:For you shall see the land opposite you from a distance, but you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to the children of Israel.”
33:1:The Blessing of Moses
This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death.
33:2:He said,
“The Lord came from Sinai,
And dawned on them from Seir;
He shone forth from Mount Paran,
And He came from among ten thousand holy ones;
At His right hand was a flaming fire, a law, for them.
33:3:“Indeed, He loves His people;
All Your holy ones are in Your hand.
They followed in Your steps;
They accept and receive direction from You.
33:4:“Moses commanded us with a law,
As a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
33:5:“The Lord was King in Jeshurun (Israel),
When the heads of the people were gathered,
The tribes of Israel together.
33:6:“May [the tribe of] Reuben live and not die out,
But let his men be few.”
33:7:And [Moses said] this of Judah:
“Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,
And bring him to his people.
With his hands he contended for them,
And may You be a help against his enemies.”
33:8:Of Levi he said,
“Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your godly man [Aaron],
Whom You tested and proved at Massah,
With whom You contended at the waters of Meribah;
33:9:Who said of his father and mother,
‘I did not consider them’;
Nor did he acknowledge his brothers,
Nor did he regard his own sons,
For the priests observed Your word,
And kept Your covenant.
33:10:“The priests shall teach Your ordinances (judgments) to Jacob,
And Your law to Israel.
They shall put incense before You,
And whole burnt offerings on Your altar.
33:11:“O Lord, bless Levi’s substance (ability),
And accept and take pleasure in the work of his hands;
Crush and shatter the loins of those who rise up against him,
And of those who hate him, so that they do not rise again.”
33:12:Of Benjamin he said,
“May the beloved of the Lord dwell in safety by Him;
He shields and covers him all the day long,
And he dwells between His shoulders.”
33:13:And of Joseph he said,
“Blessed by the Lord be his land,
With the precious things of heaven, with the dew,
And from the deep water that lies beneath,
33:14:With the precious fruits of the sun,
And with the precious produce of the months.
33:15:“With the best things of the ancient mountains,
And with the precious things of the everlasting hills,
33:16:With the precious things of the earth and its fullness,
And the favor and goodwill of Him who dwelt in the bush.
Let these blessings come upon the head of Joseph,
And upon the crown of the head of him who was distinguished [as a prince] among his brothers.
33:17:“His majesty is like a firstborn young bull,
And his horns like the horns of the wild ox;
With them he will gore the peoples,
All of them together, to the ends of the earth.
And those are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
And those are the thousands of Manasseh.”
33:18:Of Zebulun he said,
“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your interests abroad,
And, Issachar, in your tents [at home].
33:19:“They will call the peoples to the mountain (Mount Carmel);
There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness;
For they will draw out the abundance of the seas,
And the hidden treasures of the sand.”
33:20:Of Gad he said,
“Blessed is the one who enlarges Gad;
He lurks like a lioness,
And tears the arm and the crown of the head.
33:21:“He selected the best [land] for himself,
For there the leader’s portion was reserved;
Yet he came with the leaders of the people;
He carried out the justice (righteous will) of the Lord,
And His ordinances (judgments) with Israel.”
33:22:Of Dan he said,
“Dan is a lion’s cub,
That leaps forth from Bashan.”
33:23:Of Naphtali he said,
“O Naphtali, satisfied with favor,
And full of the blessing of the Lord,
Take possession of the sea [of Galilee] and the south.”
33:24:Of Asher he said,
“More blessed than sons is Asher;
May he be favored by his brothers,
And may he dip his foot in oil.
33:25:“Your strongholds will be iron and bronze,
And as your days are, so will your strength, your rest and security be.
33:26:“There is none like the God of Jeshurun (Israel),
Who rides the heavens to your help,
And through the skies in His majestic glory.
33:27:“The eternal God is your refuge and dwelling place,
And underneath are the everlasting arms;
He drove out the enemy from before you,
And said, ‘Destroy!’
33:28:“So Israel dwells in safety and security,
The fountain of Jacob alone and secluded,
In a land of grain and new wine;
His heavens also drop down dew.
33:29:“Happy and blessed are you, O Israel;
Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord,
The Shield of your help,
And the Sword of your majesty!
Your enemies will cringe before you,
And you will tread on their high places [tramping down their idolatrous altars].”
34:1:The Death of Moses
Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, from Gilead to Dan,
34:2:and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah to the western sea (Mediterranean Sea),
34:3:and the Negev (South country) and the plain in the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.
34:4:Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.”
34:5:So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.
34:6:And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows where his burial place is to this day.
34:7:Although Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eyesight was not dim, nor his natural strength abated.
34:8:So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
34:9:Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord commanded Moses.
34:10:Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,
34:11:[none equal to him] in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land,
34:12:and in all the mighty power and all the great and terrible deeds which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
joshua:1:1:God’s Commission to Joshua
Now it happened after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant (attendant), saying,
1:2:“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise [to take his place], cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.
1:3:I have given you every place on which the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised to Moses.
1:4:From the wilderness [of Arabia in the south] and this Lebanon [in the north], even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates [in the east], all the land of the Hittites (Canaan), and as far as the Great [Mediterranean] Sea toward the west shall be your territory.
1:5:No man will [be able to] stand before you [to oppose you] as long as you live. Just as I was [present] with Moses, so will I be with you; I will not fail you or abandon you.
1:6:Be strong and confident and courageous, for you will give this people as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers (ancestors) to give them.
1:7:Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do [everything] in accordance with the entire law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper and be successful wherever you go.
1:8:This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read [and meditate on] it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be successful.
1:9:Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed (intimidated), for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
1:10:Joshua Assumes Command
Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
1:11:“Go throughout the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to cross this [river] Jordan, to go in to take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess [as an inheritance].’”
1:12:To the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said,
1:13:“Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is giving you rest (peace) and will give you this land [east of the Jordan].’
1:14:Your wives, your children, and your cattle shall [be allowed to] stay in the land which Moses gave you on this [eastern] side of the Jordan, but you shall go across [the river] before your brothers (the other tribes) armed for battle, all your brave warriors, and you shall help them [conquer and take possession of their land],
1:15:until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as He has given you, and they also take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall [be allowed to] return to your own land, and take possession of that which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.”
1:16:They answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.
1:17:Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey you; only may the Lord your God be with you as He was with Moses.
1:18:Any man who rebels against your command and does not obey everything that you command him, shall be put to death; only be strong and courageous.”
2:1:Rahab Shelters Spies
Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as scouts secretly from Shittim, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho [the walled city].” So they went and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and lodged there.
2:2:Now the king of Jericho was told, “Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to spy and search out the land.”
2:3:So the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, because they have come [as spies] to search out all the land.”
2:4:But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them; so she said, “Yes, two men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.
2:5:When it was time to close the [city] gate at dark, the men left; I do not know where they went. Pursue them quickly, for [if you do] you will overtake them.”
2:6:But [in fact] she had brought the scouts up to the roof and had hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof [to dry].
2:7:So the [king’s] men pursued them on the road to the Jordan as far as the fords [east of Jericho]; as soon as the pursuers had gone out after them, the gate [of the city] was shut.
2:8:Now before the two men lay down [to sleep], Rahab came up to them on the roof,
2:9:and she said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror and dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted [in despair] because of you.
2:10:For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan [on the east], to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
2:11:When we heard it, our hearts melted [in despair], and a [fighting] spirit no longer remained in any man because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
2:12:And now, please swear [an oath] to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s household (family), and give me a pledge of truth and faithfulness,
2:13:and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, along with everyone who belongs to them, and let us all live.”
2:14:So the men said to her, “Our lives for yours if you do not tell [anyone about] this business of ours; then when the Lord gives us the land we will show you kindness and faithfulness [and keep our agreement with you].”
2:15:The Promise to Rahab
Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she was living on the wall.
2:16:And she said to them, “Go [west] to the hill country, so that the pursuers [who have headed east] will not encounter you; hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you can go your way.”
2:17:The men said to her, “We shall be blameless and free from this oath which you have made us swear,
2:18:unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and bring into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household [so that they will be safe].
2:19:But if anyone goes out the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head [that is, his own responsibility], and we shall be blameless and free [from our oath]; however, if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head.
2:20:But if you tell [anyone] this business of ours, we shall be blameless and free from the oath which you made us swear.”
2:21:She said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then Rahab sent them off, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
2:22:They left and went [on their way] to the hill country [west of Jericho], and stayed there [hidden in the caves] three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers had searched all along the road but had not found them.
2:23:Then the two men turned back and came down from the hill country and crossed over [the Jordan] and came to Joshua the son of Nun [at Shittim], and told him everything that had happened to them.
2:24:They said to Joshua, “Certainly the Lord has given all the land into our hands; for all the inhabitants of the land have melted [in despair] because of us.”
3:1:Israel Crosses the Jordan
Joshua got up early in the morning; then he and all the children of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they spent the night there before they crossed [the river].
3:2:And it happened at the end of three days that the officers went throughout the camp,
3:3:and they commanded the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from where you are and follow it.
3:4:However, there shall be a distance between you and it of about 2,000 cubits (3,000 ft.) by measurement. Do not come near it, so that you may [be able to see the ark and] know the way you are to go, for you have not passed this way before.”
3:5:Then Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves [for His purpose], for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders (miracles) among you.”
3:6:Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over [the river] ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went on ahead of the people.
3:7:The Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to magnify and exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that just as I was with Moses, I will [also] be with you.
3:8:You shall command the priests who carry the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’”
3:9:Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here, and listen to the words of the Lord your God.”
3:10:Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will, without fail, drive out from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.
3:11:Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you [leading the way] into the Jordan.
3:12:So now take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe.
3:13:When the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, [come to] rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing down from above will be cut off, and they will stand in one mass [of water].”
3:14:So when the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan with the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,
3:15:and when those who were carrying the ark came up to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were submerged at the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all of its banks throughout the time of harvest),
3:16:the waters which were flowing down from above stopped and rose up in one mass a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan. Those [waters] flowing downward toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed [the river] opposite Jericho.
3:17:And while all [the people of] Israel crossed over on dry ground, the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan [riverbed], until all the nation had finished crossing over the Jordan.
4:1:Memorial Stones from Jordan
So it was when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,
4:2:“Take for yourselves the twelve men [chosen] from among the people, one man from each tribe,
4:3:and command them, ‘Pick up for yourselves twelve stones [one each] from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm; carry them over with you and lay them down at the place where you will spend the night tonight.’”
4:4:Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe;
4:5:and Joshua said to them, “Cross over again to the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel,
4:6:so that this may be a sign among you; when your children ask later, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’
4:7:then you shall say to them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall become a memorial for Israel forever.”
4:8:So the [twelve men chosen from the] sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had spoken to Joshua; and they carried them over with them to the place where they were spending the night and put them down there.
4:9:Then Joshua set up [a second monument of] twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.
4:10:For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people, in accordance with everything that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried and crossed [the dry riverbed];
4:11:and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people.
4:12:The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed for battle before the [other] sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them;
4:13:about 40,000 [men] armed and equipped for war crossed for battle before the Lord to the desert plains of Jericho.
4:14:On that day the Lord magnified and exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; so they feared him [with profound awe and reverence], just as they had feared Moses all the days of his life.
4:15:Now the Lord said to Joshua,
4:16:“Order the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan.”
4:17:So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up out of the Jordan.”
4:18:When the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of their feet were raised up to the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and flowed over all its banks as before.
4:19:Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth [day] of the first month and encamped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.
4:20:And those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.
4:21:He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’
4:22:then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’
4:23:For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed;
4:24:so that all the peoples of the earth may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that the hand of the Lord is mighty and extraordinarily powerful, so that you will fear the Lord your God [and obey and worship Him with profound awe and reverence] forever.”
5:1:Israel Is Circumcised
Now it happened when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted [in despair], and there was no [fighting] spirit in them any longer because of the Israelites [and what God had done for them].
5:2:At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise the [new generation of the] sons of Israel as [was done] before.”
5:3:So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.
5:4:This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness along the way after they left Egypt.
5:5:All the males who came out were circumcised, but all the males who were born in the wilderness on the way as they left Egypt had not been circumcised.
5:6:For the Israelites walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, died because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord; to them the Lord had sworn [an oath] that He would not let them see the land which He had promised to their fathers to give us, a land [of abundance] flowing with milk and honey.
5:7:So it was their uncircumcised sons whom He raised up in their place, whom Joshua circumcised, because circumcision had not been performed on the way.
5:8:Then, when they had finished circumcising all [the males of] the nation, they stayed in their places in the camp until they were healed.
5:9:Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach (derision, ridicule) of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called Gilgal (rolling) to this day.
5:10:While the Israelites camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho.
5:11:On the day after Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened bread, and roasted grain.
5:12:And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the Israelites no longer had manna, but they ate some of the produce of the land of Canaan during that year.
5:13:Now when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his drawn sword in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”
5:14:He said, “No; rather I have come now as captain of the army of the Lord.” Then Joshua fell with his face toward the earth and bowed down, and said to him, “What does my lord have to say to his servant?”
5:15:The captain of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy (set apart to the Lord).” And Joshua did so.
6:1:The Conquest of Jericho
Now Jericho [a fortified city with high walls] was tightly closed because [of the people’s fear] of the sons of Israel; no one went out or came in.
6:2:The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty warriors.
6:3:Now you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do this [once each day] for six days.
6:4:Also, seven priests shall carry seven trumpets [made] of rams’ horns ahead of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
6:5:When they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall cry out with a great shout (battle cry); and the wall of the city will fall down in its place, and the people shall go up, each man [going] straight ahead [climbing over the rubble].”
6:6:So Joshua the son of Nun called for the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets made of rams’ horns ahead of the ark of the Lord.”
6:7:He said to the people, “Go forward! March around the city, and let the armed men go ahead of the ark of the Lord.”
6:8:And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets made of rams’ horns went on before the Lord and blew the trumpets; then the ark of the covenant of the Lord went behind them.
6:9:The armed men went in front of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued to blow the trumpets.
6:10:But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout [the battle cry] nor let your voice be heard nor let a word come out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout!”
6:11:So Joshua had the ark of the Lord taken around the city [on the first day], circling it once; then they came back into the camp and spent the night in the camp.
6:12:Then Joshua got up early in the morning [on the second day], and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.
6:13:The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets made of rams’ horns ahead of the ark of the Lord went on continually, blowing the trumpets; and the armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the priests continued to blow the trumpets.
6:14:On the second day they marched around the city once, and returned to the camp; they did this for six days.
6:15:Then on the seventh day they got up early at daybreak and marched around the city in the same way seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times.
6:16:And the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city.
6:17:The city and everything that is in it shall be under the ban [that is, designated to be destroyed as a form of tribute] to the Lord; only Rahab the prostitute and all [the people] who are with her in her house shall [be allowed to] live, because she hid and protected the messengers (scouts) whom we sent.
6:18:But as for you, keep yourselves [away] from the things under the ban [which are to be destroyed], so that you do not covet them and take some of the things under the ban [for personal gain], and put the camp of Israel under the ban (doomed to destruction), and bring disaster upon it.
6:19:All the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy (consecrated) to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.”
6:20:So the people shouted [the battle cry], and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, they raised a great shout and the wall [of Jericho] fell down, so that the sons of Israel went up into the city, every man straight ahead [climbing over the rubble], and they overthrew the city.
6:21:Then they utterly destroyed everything that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
6:22:But Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring the woman and all that she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.”
6:23:So the young men, the spies, went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and everything that she had; they also brought out all her relatives and allowed them to stay outside the camp of Israel [at Gilgal during the time required for ceremonial cleansing].
6:24:Then they completely burned the city and everything that was in it. They put only the silver and the gold, and the articles of bronze and of iron, into the treasury of the house (tabernacle) of the Lord.
6:25:So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and everything that she had; and she has lived among Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers (scouts) whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
6:26:Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.”
6:27:So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.
7:1:Israel Is Defeated at Ai
But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully and violated their obligation in regard to the things [off limits] under the ban [those things belonging to the Lord], for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban [for personal gain]. Therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the Israelites.
7:2:Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.
7:3:Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not make all the people go up [to fight]; have only about two thousand or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not make the entire army go up there, for they [of Ai] are few.”
7:4:So about three thousand men from the sons of Israel went up there, but they fled [in retreat] from the men of Ai.
7:5:The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of Israel’s men, and chased them from the gate as far as [the bluffs of] Shebarim and struck them down as they descended [the steep pass], so the hearts of the people melted [in despair and began to doubt God’s promise] and became like water (disheartened).
7:6:Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and [with great sorrow] they put dust on their heads.
7:7:Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, why have You brought this people across the Jordan at all, only to hand us over to the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to live beyond the Jordan!
7:8:O Lord, what can I say now that [the army of] Israel has turned back [in retreat and fled] before their enemies?
7:9:For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear about it, and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name [to keep it from dishonor]?”
7:10:So the Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?
7:11:Israel has sinned; they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them [to keep]. They have even taken some of the things under the ban, and they have both stolen and denied [the theft]. Moreover, they have also put the stolen objects among their own things.
7:12:That is why the soldiers of Israel could not stand [and defend themselves] before their enemies; they turned their backs [and ran] before them, because they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from among you.
7:13:Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “There are things under the ban among you, O Israel. You cannot stand [victorious] before your enemies until you remove the things under the ban from among you.”
7:14:In the morning you shall come forward by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord chooses by lot shall come forward by families, and the family which the Lord chooses shall come forward by [separate] households, and the household which the Lord chooses shall come forward man by man.
7:15:It shall be that the one who is chosen with the things under the ban shall be [killed and his body] burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done a disgraceful and disobedient thing in Israel.’”
7:16:The Sin of Achan
So Joshua got up early in the morning and had Israel come forward by tribes, and the tribe of Judah was chosen [by lot].
7:17:He had the families of Judah come forward, and the family of the Zerahites was chosen; and he had the family of the Zerahites come forward man by man, and Zabdi was chosen.
7:18:He brought his household forward man by man; and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was chosen.
7:19:Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him [in recognition of His righteous judgments]; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.”
7:20:So Achan answered Joshua and said, “In truth, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this is what I have done:
7:21:when I saw among the spoils [in Jericho] a beautiful robe from Shinar (southern Babylon) and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I wanted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
7:22:So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and they saw the stolen objects hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.
7:23:And they took them from the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel, and spread them out before the Lord.
7:24:Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the [royal] robe, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything that he had; and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor (Disaster).
7:25:Joshua said, “Why have you brought disaster on us? The Lord will bring you disaster this day.” Then all Israel stoned them [to death] with stones; afterward they burned their bodies in the fire.
7:26:Then they piled up over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor (Disaster) to this day.
8:1:The Conquest of Ai
Now the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed (intimidated). Take all the men of war with you and set out, go up to Ai; see, I have given the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land into your hand.
8:2:You shall do [the same] to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king; [except that] you shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set up an ambush for the city behind it [on the west side].”
8:3:So Joshua set out with all the people of war to go up against Ai; then Joshua chose thirty thousand valiant men, and sent them out at night.
8:4:He commanded them, saying, “Listen closely, you are going to lie in wait and ambush the city from behind it. Do not go very far away from the city, but all of you be ready.
8:5:Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out to meet us [for battle] as [they did] the first time, we will run away from them.
8:6:They will come out after us until we have lured them away from the city, because they will say, ‘They are running from us as [they did] before.’ So we will run from them.
8:7:Then you will emerge from the ambush and take possession of the city, for the Lord your God will hand it over to you.
8:8:When you have taken the city, you shall set it on fire; you shall do [exactly] as the Lord commanded. See, I have commanded you.”
8:9:So Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place for the ambush and stayed [hidden] between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people [in Gilgal].
8:10:Now Joshua got up early in the morning and assembled the people, and went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai.
8:11:Then all the fighting men who were with him went up and advanced and arrived in front of the city, and camped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a ravine between them and Ai.
8:12:And Joshua took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
8:13:So they stationed the people, all the army—the main encampment that was north of the city, and their rear guard on the west side of the city—and Joshua spent that night in the valley.
8:14:Now when the king [and the people] of Ai saw it, the men of the city hurried and got up early and went out to meet Israel in battle, the king and all his people at the appointed [time and] place before the desert plain (the Arabah). But he did not know that there was an ambush against him [waiting] behind the city [on the west side].
8:15:So Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them, and ran toward the wilderness.
8:16:Then all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city.
8:17:Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel; so they left the city open and unguarded and they pursued Israel.
8:18:Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Reach out with the spear that is in your hand [and point it] toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” So Joshua reached out with the spear in his hand [and pointed it] toward the city.
8:19:The [men in] ambush emerged quickly from their [hiding] place, and when Joshua stretched out his hand they ran and entered the city and captured it, and quickly set the city on fire.
8:20:When the men of Ai turned back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city was ascending toward the sky, and they had no opportunity to run this way or that way. Then the people who had been running to the wilderness turned back toward the pursuers.
8:21:When Joshua and all Israel saw that the [men in] ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city was ascending, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.
8:22:Then the others came out of the city to confront the men of Ai [as they returned], so that they were trapped in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side; then Israel struck them until none of them survived or escaped.
8:23:But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
8:24:When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and they had all fallen by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed, then all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.
8:25:And all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.
8:26:For Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the spear until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
8:27:Israel took only the livestock and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves, according to the word of the Lord which He had commanded Joshua.
8:28:So Joshua burned Ai and made it a rubbish heap forever, a desolation until this day.
8:29:He hanged [the body of] the king of Ai on a tree [leaving it there] until evening; at sunset Joshua gave a command and they took the body down from the tree and dumped it at the entrance of the city gate, and piled a great heap of stones over it that stands to this day.
8:30:Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,
8:31:just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones on which no one has wielded an iron tool; and they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings.
8:32:And there, in the presence of the sons of Israel, Joshua wrote on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses which Moses had written.
8:33:All Israel, the stranger as well as the native born [among them], with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on either side of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at first to bless the people of Israel.
8:34:Then afterward Joshua read all the words of the law, the blessing and curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.
8:35:There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and the children and the foreigners who were living among them.
9:1:Guile of the Gibeonites
Now when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland [at the western edge of the hills of Judea], and all along the coast of the Great [Mediterranean] Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of this [army and its victories over Jericho and Ai],
9:2:they gathered together with one purpose to fight with Joshua and with Israel.
9:3:But when the people of Gibeon [the Hivites] heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
9:4:they too acted craftily and cunningly, and set out and took along provisions, but took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins (leather bottles) that were worn out and split open and patched together,
9:5:and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes; and all their supply of food was dry and had turned to crumbs.
9:6:They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; so now, make a covenant (treaty) with us.”
9:7:But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you are living within our land; how then can we make a covenant (treaty) with you?”
9:8:They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” Then Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?”
9:9:They said to him, “Your servants have come from a country that is very far away because of the fame of the Lord your God; for we have heard the news about Him and all [the remarkable things] that He did in Egypt,
9:10:and everything that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon and to Og the king of Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth.
9:11:So our elders and all the residents of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions for the journey and go to meet the sons of Israel and say to them, “We are your servants; now make a covenant (treaty) with us.”’
9:12:This bread of ours was hot (fresh) when we took it along as our provision from our houses on the day we left to come to you; now look, it is dry and has turned to crumbs.
9:13:These wineskins which we filled were new, and look, they are split; our clothes and our sandals are worn out because of the very long journey [that we had to make].”
9:14:So the men [of Israel] took some of their own provisions [and offered them in friendship], and [foolishly] did not ask for the counsel of the Lord.
9:15:Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant (treaty) with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation [of Israel] swore an oath to them.
9:16:It happened that three days after they had made a covenant (treaty) with them, the Israelites heard that they were [actually] their neighbors and that they were living among them.
9:17:Then the sons of Israel set out and came to their cities on the third day. Now the cities [of the Hivites] were Gibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim.
9:18:But the sons of Israel did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord the God of Israel [to spare them]. And all the congregation murmured [expressing great dissatisfaction] against the leaders.
9:19:But all the leaders said to the whole congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, so now we cannot touch them.
9:20:This [is what] we will do to them: we will let them live, so that the wrath [of God] does not come upon us for [violating] the oath which we have sworn to them.”
9:21:The leaders said to them, “Let them live [as our slaves].” So they became the cutters and gatherers of firewood and water carriers for the entire congregation, just as the leaders had said of them.
9:22:Joshua called the [Hivite] men and said, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We live very far away from you,’ when [in fact] you live among us?
9:23:Now therefore, you are cursed, and you shall always be slaves, both cutters and gatherers of firewood and water carriers for the house of my God.”
9:24:They replied to Joshua and said, “Because your servants were told in no uncertain terms that the Lord your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the land’s inhabitants before you, we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and so we did this [deceptive] thing.
9:25:Now look, we are in your hands; do to us as it seems good and right in your sight.”
9:26:So that is what he did to them; he rescued them from the hands of the Israelites and they did not kill them.
9:27:Now on that day Joshua made them cutters and gatherers of firewood and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, to this day, in the place which He would choose.
10:1:Five Kings Attack Gibeon
When Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai, and had utterly destroyed it—as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king—and that the residents of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were [living] among them,
10:2:he [and his people] feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
10:3:So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,
10:4:“Come up to me and help me, and let us attack Gibeon [with a combined army], because it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons (people) of Israel.”
10:5:Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they with all their armies, and they camped by Gibeon and fought against it.
10:6:So the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not abandon your servants; come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all [five of] the kings of the Amorites who live in the hill country have assembled against us.”
10:7:So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the men of valor.
10:8:The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, because I have given them into your hand; not one of them shall stand before you.”
10:9:So Joshua came upon them suddenly, [surprising them] by marching [uphill] all night from Gilgal.
10:10:And the Lord caused them to panic and be confused before Israel, and He struck them dead in a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
10:11:As they fled before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down large stones [of hail] from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. More [Amorites] died because of the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.
10:12:Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord handed over the Amorites to the sons of Israel, and Joshua said in the sight of Israel,
“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
And moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
10:13:So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
Until the nation [of Israel] took vengeance upon their enemies.
Is it not written in the Book of Jashar? So the sun stood still in the middle of the sky and was in no hurry to go down for about a whole day.
10:14:There has not been a day like that before it or after it, when the Lord listened to (heeded) the voice of a man; for the Lord was fighting for Israel.
10:15:Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.
10:16:Victory at Makkedah
Now these five [Amorite] kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah.
10:17:And Joshua was told, “The five kings have been found and are hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”
10:18:Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and assign men by it to guard them,
10:19:but do not stay there yourselves; pursue your enemies and attack them from the rear. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.”
10:20:Now when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking the Amorites dead in a very great defeat, until they were wiped out, and the surviving remnant among them had entered the fortified cities,
10:21:all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace. No one uttered a [threatening] word against any of the sons of Israel.
10:22:Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring out to me those five [Amorite] kings from the cave.”
10:23:They did so, and brought these five [Amorite] kings out of the cave to him—the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
10:24:When they brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and told the commanders of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come up close, put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and put their feet on the necks [of the five kings].
10:25:Joshua said to them, “Do not fear or be dismayed (intimidated)! Be strong and courageous, for this is what the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you [are about to] fight.”
10:26:Then afterward Joshua struck them [with his sword] and put them to death, and he hung them on five trees; and they hung on the trees until evening.
10:27:At sunset Joshua gave a command, and they took the bodies down from the trees and threw them into the cave where the kings had hidden themselves, and placed large stones over the mouth of the cave, [where they remain] to this very day.
10:28:Now Joshua captured Makkedah on that day, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword; he utterly destroyed it and everyone who was in it. He left no survivor. So he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.
10:29:Joshua’s Conquest of Southern Canaan
Then Joshua and all Israel with him went on from Makkedah to Libnah, and fought against Libnah.
10:30:The Lord gave it also along with its king into the hands of Israel, and Joshua struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor in it. So he did to the king of Libnah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.
10:31:And Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish, and they camped by it and fought against it.
10:32:The Lord gave Lachish into the hands of Israel; and Joshua captured it on the second day, and struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, just as he had done to Libnah.
10:33:Then Horam king of Gezer went up to help Lachish, and Joshua struck him and his people down until he had left him no survivor.
10:34:And Joshua and all Israel with him went on from Lachish to Eglon, and they camped by it and fought against it.
10:35:They captured it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword; and on that day he utterly destroyed every person who was in it, just as he had done to Lachish.
10:36:Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron, and they fought against it
10:37:and captured it and struck it and its king and all its cities and all the persons who were in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor, just as he had done to Eglon. He utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it.
10:38:Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to Debir, and fought against it.
10:39:He captured it with its king and all its cities, and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed every person who was in it. He left no survivor. Just as he had done to Hebron, so Joshua did to Debir and its king, as he had done also to Libnah and its king.
10:40:So Joshua struck all the land, the hill country, the Negev (South country) and the lowland and the slopes [that descend to the Dead Sea] and all their kings. He left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded.
10:41:Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea even as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen even as far as Gibeon.
10:42:Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
10:43:So Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.
11:1:Northern Canaan Taken
Then when Jabin king of Hazor heard [of Israel’s other victories] he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,
11:2:and to the kings who were in the north, in the hill country, and in the Arabah [the plain] south of Chinnereth (the Sea of Galilee) and in the lowland and on the hills of Dor on the west;
11:3:to the Canaanite in the east and in the west, and to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the hill country, and the Hivite at the foot of [Mount] Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.
11:4:They went out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.
11:5:So all these kings met and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.
11:6:Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow by this time I am going to hand over all of them slain [by the sword] to Israel; you shall hamstring (disable) their horses and set fire to their chariots.”
11:7:So Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and attacked them.
11:8:The Lord handed them over to Israel, who struck them and pursued them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh; they struck them down until no survivor was left.
11:9:Joshua did to them as the Lord had told him; he hamstrung (disabled) their horses and set fire to their chariots.
11:10:At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and struck its king dead with the sword; for Hazor previously was the head of all these kingdoms.
11:11:They struck all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathed. And he set fire to Hazor.
11:12:Joshua captured all the cities of these kings, and all their kings, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded.
11:13:But Israel did not burn any of the cities that stood [walled and fortified] on their mounds, except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned.
11:14:The sons of Israel took as their plunder all the spoil of these cities and the cattle; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They left no one alive.
11:15:Just as the Lord had commanded Moses His servant, so Moses had commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.
11:16:So Joshua took all this land: the hill country, all the Negev (South country), all the land of Goshen, the lowland, the Arabah [plain], the hill country of Israel and its lowland
11:17:from Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir [in the south], even as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon [in the north]. He captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death.
11:18:Joshua waged war with all these kings a long time [at least five years].
11:19:There was no city that made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites living in Gibeon; they took all the others in battle.
11:20:For it was [the purpose] of the Lord to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle so that Israel would utterly destroy them, that they would receive no mercy, but that Israel would destroy them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
11:21:Then Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab and from all the hill country of Judah and all the hill country of Israel. Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.
11:22:There were no Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel; only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod [of Philistia] some remained.
11:23:So Joshua took the whole land [of Canaan], according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. So the land had rest from war.
12:1:Kings Defeated by Israel
Now these are the kings of the land whom the sons of Israel defeated, and whose land they possessed beyond the Jordan toward the east, from the valley of the [river] Arnon to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah [plain] to the east:
12:2:Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the [river] Arnon, both the middle of the valley and half of Gilead, and as far as the brook Jabbok, [which is] the border of the sons of Ammon;
12:3:and the Arabah [plain] as far as the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) eastward, and as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Salt (Dead) Sea, eastward toward Beth-jeshimoth, and southward to the foot of the slopes of [Mount] Pisgah;
12:4:and the territory of Og king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei,
12:5:and ruled over Mount Hermon and Salecah and all of Bashan to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and over half of Gilead, as far as the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.
12:6:Moses the servant of the Lord and the sons of Israel defeated them; and Moses the servant of the Lord gave their land as a possession to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
12:7:These are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the sons of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir. Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions,
12:8:in the hill country, in the lowland (foothills), in the Arabah [plain], on the slopes [descending to the Dead Sea], and in the wilderness, and in the Negev (South country)—the [lands of the] Hittite, the Amorite and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite:
12:9:the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;
12:10:the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;
12:11:the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;
12:12:the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;
12:13:the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;
12:14:the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;
12:15:the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
12:16:the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
12:17:the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;
12:18:the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;
12:19:the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;
12:20:the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;
12:21:the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;
12:22:the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;
12:23:the king of Dor in the heights of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one;
12:24:the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.
13:1:Canaan Divided among the Tribes
Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, “You have grown old and advanced in years, and very substantial portions of the land remain to be possessed.
13:2:This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and all those of the Geshurites;
13:3:from the Shihor [waterway] which is east of Egypt [at the southern end of Canaan], northward to the border of Ekron (all of it regarded as Canaanite); the five rulers of the Philistines: the Gazite, Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gittite, the Ekronite; and the Avvite
13:4:in the south, all the land of the Canaanite, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorite;
13:5:and the land of the Gebalite, and all Lebanon, toward the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath.
13:6:As for all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, even all the Sidonians, I will drive them out before Israel; only allot the land to Israel as an inheritance just as I have commanded you.
13:7:So now, divide this land [west of the Jordan] as an inheritance for the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”
13:8:With the other half-tribe [of Manasseh], the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance which Moses gave them beyond the Jordan eastward, just as Moses the servant of the Lord gave to them;
13:9:from Aroer on the edge of the valley of the [river] Arnon, and the city in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba, as far as Dibon;
13:10:and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the Ammonites;
13:11:and Gilead, and the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salecah;
13:12:the entire kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei—he alone was left of the remnant of the Rephaim [giants]—for Moses had struck them and dispossessed them.
13:13:But the sons of Israel did not dispossess the Geshurites or the Maacathites; for Geshur and Maacath live among Israel to this day.
13:14:It was only to the tribe of Levi that Moses gave no [territory as an] inheritance; the offerings by fire to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as He told him.
13:15:So Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the sons of Reuben according to their families.
13:16:Their territory was from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the [river] Arnon, and the city which is in the middle of the valley and all the plain by Medeba;
13:17:with Heshbon, and all its cities which are on the plain: Dibon and Bamoth-baal and Beth-baal-meon,
13:18:and Jahaz and Kedemoth and Mephaath,
13:19:and Kiriathaim and Sibmah and Zereth-shahar on the hill of the valley,
13:20:and Beth-peor and the slopes of Pisgah and Beth-jeshimoth,
13:21:even all the cities of the plain and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck down along with the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land.
13:22:The sons of Israel also killed Balaam the son of Beor, the diviner (soothsayer), with the sword among [the rest of] their slain.
13:23:The border of the sons of Reuben was the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the sons of Reuben according to their families, with their cities and villages.
13:24:Moses also gave an inheritance to the tribe of Gad, to the sons of Gad, according to their families.
13:25:Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the sons of Ammon, as far as Aroer east of Rabbah;
13:26:and from Heshbon as far as Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim as far as the border of Debir;
13:27:and in the valley, Beth-haram and Beth-nimrah and Succoth and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, with the Jordan as a border, as far as the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) east of the Jordan.
13:28:This is the inheritance of the sons of Gad according to their families, with their cities and their villages.
13:29:Moses also gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh; and it was for the half-tribe of the sons of Manasseh according to their families.
13:30:Their region extended from Mahanaim, all Bashan, the entire kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities;
13:31:also half of Gilead, with Ashtaroth and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan; these were for the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh, for half of the sons of Machir according to their families (clans).
13:32:These are the territories which Moses distributed as an inheritance in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho to the east.
13:33:But to the tribe of Levi, Moses did not give an inheritance; the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as He told them.
14:1:Caleb’s Request
Now these are the territories which the tribes of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the households of the tribes of Israel apportioned to them as an inheritance,
14:2:by the lot of their inheritance, as the Lord had commanded through Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe.
14:3:For Moses had given an inheritance to the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan; but he did not give [any territory as] an inheritance to the Levites among them.
14:4:For the sons of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and no portion was given in the land to the Levites except cities in which to live, with their pasture lands for their livestock and for their property.
14:5:The Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they divided the land.
14:6:Then the [tribe of the] sons of Judah approached Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning me and you in Kadesh-barnea.
14:7:I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to scout the land [of Canaan], and I brought a report back to him as it was in my heart.
14:8:My brothers (fellow spies) who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God completely.
14:9:So Moses swore [an oath to me] on that day, saying, ‘Be assured that the land on which your foot has walked will be an inheritance to you and to your children always, because you have followed the Lord my God completely.’
14:10:And now, look, the Lord has let me live, just as He said, these forty-five years since the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, look at me, I am eighty-five years old today.
14:11:I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so is my strength now, for war and for going out and coming in.
14:12:So now, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke that day, for you heard on that day that the [giant-like] Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”
14:13:So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance.
14:14:Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, completely.
14:15:The name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba [city of Arba]; for Arba was the greatest man among the [giant-like] Anakim. Then the land had rest from war.
15:1:Territory of Judah
Now the lot (allotment) for the tribe of the sons of Judah according to their families reached [southward to] the border of Edom, southward to the wilderness of Zin at its most southern part.
15:2:Their southern border was from the lower end of the Salt (Dead) Sea, from the bay that turns southward.
15:3:Then it proceeded southward to the ascent of Akrabbim and continued along to Zin, and then went by the south of Kadesh-barnea and continued along to Hezron, and went up to Addar and turned about to Karka.
15:4:It continued along to Azmon and proceeded to the Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish), and the border ended at the [Mediterranean] sea. This was their southern border.
15:5:The eastern border was the Salt (Dead) Sea, as far as the mouth of the Jordan. The northern border was from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan.
15:6:Then the border went up to Beth-hoglah, and continued along north of Beth-arabah, and the border went up to the [landmark of the] stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.
15:7:The border went up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and turned northward toward Gilgal which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley; and the border continued on to the waters of En-shemesh and ended at En-rogel.
15:8:Then the border went up by the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom) at the southern slope of the Jebusite [city] (that is, Jerusalem); and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the Valley of Hinnom to the west, which is at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.
15:9:Then the border extended from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah and proceeded to the cities of Mount Ephron; then the border curved to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim).
15:10:The border went around west from Baalah to Mount Seir, and passed along to the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and went down to Beth-shemesh and then continued on through Timnah.
15:11:The border proceeded to the slope [of the hill] of Ekron northward, then curved to Shikkeron and continued to Mount Baalah and proceeded to Jabneel. Then the border ended at the [Mediterranean] sea.
15:12:The western border was at the Great Sea, with its coastline. This is the border around the tribe of the sons of Judah according to their families.
15:13:Now to Caleb the son of Jephunneh Joshua gave a portion among the sons of Judah, as the Lord commanded him, namely, Kiriath-arba, Arba being the father of Anak (that is, Hebron).
15:14:So Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the children of Anak.
15:15:Then he went up from there against the people of Debir; Debir was formerly named Kiriath-sepher.
15:16:Caleb said, “I will give Achsah my daughter as wife to the man who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it.”
15:17:And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother, captured it; so he gave him Achsah his daughter as a wife.
15:18:Now it came about that when Achsah came to Othniel, she persuaded him [to allow her] to ask her father for a field. Then she [rode up to Caleb and] dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”
15:19:Achsah answered, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me the [dry] land of the Negev (South country), give me springs of water, too.” So he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
15:20:This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Judah according to their families (clans).
15:21:The cities of the tribe of the sons of Judah in the extreme south toward the border of Edom were Kabzeel and Eder and Jagur,
15:22:and Kinah and Dimonah and Adadah,
15:23:and Kedesh and Hazor and Ithnan,
15:24:Ziph and Telem and Bealoth,
15:25:and Hazor-hadattah and Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor),
15:26:Amam and Shema and Moladah,
15:27:and Hazar-gaddah and Heshmon and Beth-pelet,
15:28:and Hazar-shual and Beersheba and Biziothiah,
15:29:Baalah and Iim and Ezem,
15:30:and Eltolad and Chesil and Hormah,
15:31:and Ziklag and Madmannah and Sansannah,
15:32:and Lebaoth and Shilhim and Ain and Rimmon; in all twenty-nine cities with their villages.
15:33:In the lowland: Eshtaol and Zorah and Ashnah,
15:34:and Zanoah and En-gannim, Tappuah and Enam,
15:35:Jarmuth and Adullam, Socoh and Azekah,
15:36:and Shaaraim and Adithaim and Gederah and Gederothaim; fourteen cities with their villages.
15:37:Zenan and Hadashah and Migdal-gad,
15:38:and Dilean and Mizpeh and Joktheel,
15:39:Lachish and Bozkath and Eglon,
15:40:and Cabbon and Lahmas and Chitlish,
15:41:and Gederoth, Beth-dagon and Naamah and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages.
15:42:Libnah and Ether and Ashan,
15:43:and Iphtah and Ashnah and Nezib,
15:44:and Keilah and Achzib and Mareshah; nine cities with their villages.
15:45:Ekron, with its towns and villages;
15:46:from Ekron even to the sea, all that were beside Ashdod, with their villages;
15:47:Ashdod, with its towns and its villages; Gaza, with its towns and its villages; as far as the Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish) and the Great [Mediterranean] Sea with its coastline.
15:48:In the hill country: Shamir and Jattir and Socoh,
15:49:and Dannah and Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir),
15:50:and Anab and Eshtemoh and Anim,
15:51:and Goshen and Holon and Giloh; eleven cities with their villages.
15:52:Arab and Dumah and Eshan,
15:53:and Janum and Beth-tappuah and Aphekah,
15:54:and Humtah and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior; nine cities with their villages.
15:55:Maon, Carmel and Ziph and Juttah,
15:56:and Jezreel and Jokdeam and Zanoah,
15:57:Kain, Gibeah and Timnah; ten cities with their villages.
15:58:Halhul, Beth-zur and Gedor,
15:59:and Maarath and Beth-anoth and Eltekon; six cities with their villages.
15:60:Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah; two cities with their villages.
15:61:In the wilderness [that slopes downward toward the Dead Sea]: Beth-arabah, Middin and Secacah,
15:62:and Nibshan and the City of Salt and Engedi; six cities with their villages.
15:63:But as for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the [tribe of the] sons of Judah were not able to drive them out; so the Jebusites live with the sons of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.
16:1:Territory of Ephraim
Then the lot (allotment) for the sons of Joseph went from the Jordan Valley at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east into the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel.
16:2:Then it went from Bethel to Luz, and continued to Ataroth, the border of the Archites.
16:3:It went down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the outskirts of lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ended at the sea.
16:4:The sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance.
16:5:Now this was the territory of the sons of Ephraim according to their families: on the east side the border of their inheritance was Ataroth-addar, as far as upper Beth-horon.
16:6:Then the border went westward at Michmethath on the north, and turned eastward to Taanath-shiloh and continued beyond it to the east of Janoah.
16:7:It went down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, touched Jericho and ended at the Jordan.
16:8:The border continued from Tappuah westward to the Brook Kanah, and it ended at the [Mediterranean] sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families (clans),
16:9:with the cities which were set apart for the sons of Ephraim within the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.
16:10:But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live among Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers.
17:1:Territory of Manasseh
Now this was the lot (allotment) for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war.
17:2:So the lot was also made for the rest of the sons of Manasseh according to their families—for the sons of Abiezer and for the sons of Helek and for the sons of Asriel and for the sons of Shechem and for the sons of Hepher and for the sons of Shemida; these were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families (clans).
17:3:But Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.
17:4:They came before Eleazar the priest and before Joshua the son of Nun and before the leaders and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” So according to the command of the Lord Joshua gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers.
17:5:So ten portions fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan [on the east side of the river],
17:6:because the daughters of [Zelophehad, a descendant of] Manasseh had received an inheritance among his [other] sons [whose inheritance went to their male descendants]. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.
17:7:The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to Michmethath which was east of Shechem; then the border went southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah.
17:8:The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but [the city of] Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim.
17:9:Then the border went down to the brook of Kanah, south of the brook (these cities belonged to Ephraim, among the cities of Manasseh), and Manasseh’s border was on the north side of the brook and it ended at the sea.
17:10:The land on the south side belonged to Ephraim and that on the north side was Manasseh’s, and the sea was their border; they reached to [the territory of] Asher on the north and to [the territory of] Issachar on the east.
17:11:Also, in Issachar and in Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean and its towns and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; the third is Napheth.
17:12:But the sons of Manasseh were not able to [drive out the inhabitants and] take possession of these cities, because the Canaanites persisted in living in that land.
17:13:When the Israelites became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.
17:14:The sons of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given us only one lot and one portion as an inheritance, when we are a numerous people whom the Lord has so far blessed?”
17:15:Then Joshua replied, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest and clear ground for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.”
17:16:The sons of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the valley have iron chariots, both those who are in Beth-shean and its towns and those in the Valley of Jezreel.”
17:17:Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot,
17:18:but the hill country shall be yours. For though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and though they are strong.”
18:1:Rest of the Land Divided
Then the whole congregation of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh [in the tribal territory of Ephraim], and set up the Tent of Meeting there; and the land was subdued before them.
18:2:There remained among the Israelites seven tribes who had not yet divided their inheritance.
18:3:So Joshua asked them, “How long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?
18:4:Provide for yourselves three men from each tribe so that I may send them, and that they may go through the land and write a description of it with regard to their [tribal] inheritance; then they shall return to me.
18:5:They shall divide it into seven parts; [the tribe of] Judah shall remain in its territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in its territory on the north.
18:6:You shall describe the land in seven divisions, and bring the description here to me. I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God.
18:7:But the Levites have no portion among you, because the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh also have received their inheritance eastward beyond the Jordan, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”
18:8:So the men arose and went [on their way], and Joshua commanded those who went to describe the land, saying, “Go and walk throughout the land and describe it, and return to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.”
18:9:So the men set out and passed through the land, and described it by cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came back to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh.
18:10:Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there Joshua divided the land to the sons of Israel, [to each tribe] according to their portions.
18:11:The Territory of Benjamin
Now the lot (allotment) of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot fell between [the tribes of] the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.
18:12:On the north side their border began at the Jordan, then it went up the slope of Jericho on the north, and up through the hill country westward, and it ended at the Beth-aven wilderness.
18:13:Then the border continued southward toward Luz, to the slope of Luz (that is, Bethel); then the border went down to Ataroth-addar, by the hill that lies south of lower Beth-horon.
18:14:The border changed course [from there] and turned around on the western side southward, from the hill that lies to the south opposite Beth-horon; it ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of [the tribe of] the sons of Judah. This formed the western side [of Benjamin’s territory].
18:15:The southern side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went on westward and went to the source of the waters of Nephtoah.
18:16:Then the border went down to the edge of the hill overlooking the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), which is at the north end of the Valley of Rephaim; and it descended to the Valley of Hinnom, south to the slope of the Jebusite, and went on down to En-rogel.
18:17:Then it turned toward the north and went on to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.
18:18:It continued to the north to the side opposite [Beth-] Arabah and went down to the Arabah.
18:19:The border continued along to the north of the slope of Beth-hoglah; and the border ended at the northern bay of the Salt (Dead) Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.
18:20:And the Jordan River was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, according to their families and according to its borders all around.
18:21:Now the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho and Beth-hoglah and Emek-keziz,
18:22:and Beth-arabah and Zemaraim and Bethel,
18:23:and Avvim and Parah and Ophrah,
18:24:and Chephar-ammoni and Ophni and Geba; twelve cities with their villages;
18:25:Gibeon and Ramah and Beeroth,
18:26:and Mizpeh and Chephirah and Mozah,
18:27:and Rekem and Irpeel and Taralah,
18:28:and Zelah, Haeleph and the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of [the tribe of] the sons of Benjamin according to their families (clans).
19:1:Territory of Simeon
Then the second lot fell to Simeon, to the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families (clans), and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the sons of Judah.
19:2:So they had as their inheritance Beersheba or Sheba and Moladah,
19:3:and Hazar-shual and Balah and Ezem,
19:4:and Eltolad and Bethul and Hormah,
19:5:and Ziklag and Beth-marcaboth and Hazar-susah,
19:6:and Beth-lebaoth and Sharuhen; thirteen cities with their villages;
19:7:Ain, Rimmon and Ether and Ashan; four cities with their villages;
19:8:and all the villages which were around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negev (South country). This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families.
19:9:The inheritance of the sons of Simeon was taken from the portion of the sons of Judah, for the share of the sons of Judah was too large for them; so the sons of Simeon received an inheritance within Judah’s inheritance.
19:10:Territory of Zebulun
The third lot came up for [the tribe of] the sons of Zebulun according to their families. The territory of their inheritance extended to Sarid.
19:11:Then its border went up westward and on to Maralah, and reached to Dabbesheth and reached to the brook east of Jokneam.
19:12:Then it turned from Sarid east toward the sunrise as far as the border of Chisloth-tabor, and it proceeded to Daberath and on up to Japhia.
19:13:From there it continued east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher and to Eth-kazin, and proceeded to Rimmon which turns toward Neah.
19:14:The border circled it on the north to Hannathon, ending at the Valley of Iphtahel.
19:15:Included were Kattah and Nahalal and Shimron and Idalah and Bethlehem; twelve cities with their villages.
19:16:This was the inheritance of the sons of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.
19:17:Territory of Issachar
The fourth lot fell to [the tribe of] Issachar, to the sons of Issachar according to their families.
19:18:Their territory included: Jezreel and Chesulloth and Shunem,
19:19:and Hapharaim and Shion and Anaharath,
19:20:and Rabbith and Kishion and Ebez,
19:21:and Remeth and En-gannim and En-haddah and Beth-pazzez.
19:22:The border reached to Tabor and Shahazumah and Beth-shemesh, and their border ended at the Jordan; sixteen cities with their villages.
19:23:This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.
19:24:Territory of Asher
The fifth lot fell to the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their families.
19:25:Their territory was Helkath and Hali and Beten and Achshaph,
19:26:and Allammelech and Amad and Mishal; and on the west it reached to Carmel and to Shihor-libnath.
19:27:Then it turned eastward to Beth-dagon and reached Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel, and continued in the north to Cabul,
19:28:and Ebron and Rehob and Hammon and Kanah, as far as Great Sidon.
19:29:Then the border turned to Ramah, [reaching] to the fortified city of Tyre; and it turned to Hosah, and it ended at the [Mediterranean] sea at the region of Achzib.
19:30:Included were Ummah, and Aphek and Rehob; twenty-two cities with their villages.
19:31:This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.
19:32:Territory of Naphtali
The sixth lot fell to [the tribe of] the sons of Naphtali according to their families.
19:33:Their border ran from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim and Adami-nekeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan.
19:34:Then the border turned westward to Aznoth-tabor and went from there to Hukkok; and it reached Zebulun on the south and reached Asher on the west, and to Judah toward the east at the Jordan.
19:35:The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, Rakkath and Chinnereth,
19:36:and Adamah and Ramah and Hazor,
19:37:and Kedesh and Edrei and En-hazor,
19:38:and Yiron and Migdal-el, Horem and Beth-anath and Beth-shemesh; nineteen cities with their villages.
19:39:This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages.
19:40:Territory of Dan
The seventh lot fell to the tribe of the sons of Dan according to their families.
19:41:The territory of their inheritance included Zorah and Eshtaol and Ir-shemesh,
19:42:and Shaalabbin and Aijalon and Ithlah,
19:43:and Elon and Timnah and Ekron,
19:44:and Eltekeh and Gibbethon and Baalath,
19:45:and Jehud and Bene-berak and Gath-rimmon,
19:46:and Me-jarkon and Rakkon, with the territory opposite Joppa.
19:47:The territory of the sons of Dan went beyond these; so the sons of Dan went up to fight against Leshem (Laish) and captured it. Then they struck it with the edge of the sword and took possession of it and settled there [between the tribes of Naphtali and Manasseh]; they renamed Leshem, Dan, after the name of their father (ancestor) Dan.
19:48:This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Dan according to their families (clans), these cities with their villages.
19:49:When they had finished dividing the land for inheritance by its borders, the Israelites gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.
19:50:According to the command of the Lord they gave him the city for which he asked—Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. So he built the city and settled in it.
19:51:These are the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel distributed by lot in Shiloh before the Lord at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. So they finished dividing the land.
20:1:Six Cities of Refuge
The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,
20:2:“Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge (asylum), of which I spoke to you through Moses,
20:3:so that the person (manslayer) who kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall be your refuge from the blood avenger.
20:4:He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city; and they shall take him into [the protection of] the city and give him a place [to stay], so that he may live among them.
20:5:If the blood avenger pursues him, they shall not hand the offender (manslayer) over to him, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally and without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand.
20:6:He shall live in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment [and if acquitted of murder he must stay there], until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then the offender (manslayer) shall return to his own city and his own house from which he fled.’”
20:7:So they set apart and consecrated Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
20:8:Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.
20:9:These were the appointed cities for all the Israelites and for the stranger sojourning (living temporarily) among them, so that whoever killed any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the blood avenger until he had stood before the congregation [for judgment].
21:1:Forty-eight Cities of the Levites
Then the heads of the households of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel.
21:2:They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle.”
21:3:So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these [forty-eight] cities and their pasture lands, in accordance with the command of the Lord.
21:4:The [first] lot (allotment) came out for the families of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were sons (descendants) of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of Simeon and from the tribe of Benjamin.
21:5:The rest of the sons of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim and from the tribe of Dan and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.
21:6:The sons of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar and from the tribe of Asher and from the tribe of Naphtali and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
21:7:The sons of Merari according to their families received twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben and from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulun.
21:8:The sons of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
21:9:They gave these cities which are mentioned here by name from the tribe of the sons of Judah and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon;
21:10:and they were for the sons of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi, because the lot fell to them first.
21:11:They gave them [the city of] Kiriath-arba, Arba being the father of Anak (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah, with its surrounding pasture lands.
21:12:But the fields of the city and its villages they had given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his property.
21:13:So to the sons of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands, and Libnah with its pasture lands,
21:14:and Jattir with its pasture lands and Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,
21:15:and Holon with its pasture lands and Debir with its pasture lands,
21:16:and Ain with its pasture lands and Juttah with its pasture lands and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes (Judah and Simeon).
21:17:From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, and Geba with its pasture lands,
21:18:Anathoth with its pasture lands and Almon with its pasture lands; four cities.
21:19:All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.
21:20:Then the cities from the tribe of Ephraim were allotted to the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, even to the rest of the sons of Kohath.
21:21:They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands,
21:22:and Kibzaim with its pasture lands and Beth-horon with its pasture lands; four cities.
21:23:From the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands,
21:24:Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; four cities.
21:25:From the half-tribe of Manasseh, they allotted Taanach with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; two cities.
21:26:All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the rest of the sons of Kohath totaled ten.
21:27:To the sons of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, they gave from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, [the city of] Golan in Bashan, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands, and Be-eshterah with its pasture lands; two cities.
21:28:From the tribe of Issachar, they gave Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands,
21:29:Jarmuth with its pasture lands, and En-gannim with its pasture lands; four cities.
21:30:From the tribe of Asher, they gave Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands,
21:31:Helkath with its pasture lands and Rehob with its pasture lands; four cities.
21:32:From the tribe of Naphtali, they gave Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands and Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands and Kartan with its pasture lands; three cities.
21:33:All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.
21:34:To the families of the sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands and Kartah with its pasture lands,
21:35:Dimnah with its pasture lands and Nahalal with its pasture lands; four cities.
21:36:From the tribe of Reuben, they gave Bezer with its pasture lands and Jahaz with its pasture lands,
21:37:Kedemoth with its pasture lands and Mephaath with its pasture lands; four cities.
21:38:From the tribe of Gad, they gave Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands and Mahanaim with its pasture lands,
21:39:Heshbon with its pasture lands and Jazer with its pasture lands; four cities in all.
21:40:All [these were] the cities of the sons of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.
21:41:All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the property of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands.
21:42:These cities each had its surrounding pasture lands; so it was with all these cities.
21:43:So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers (ancestors), and they took possession of it and lived in it.
21:44:The Lord gave them rest [from conflict] on every side, in accordance with everything that He had sworn to their fathers, and not one of all their enemies stood before them [in battle]; the Lord handed over all their enemies to them.
21:45:Not one of the good promises which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel failed; all had come to pass.
22:1:Tribes beyond Jordan Return
Then Joshua called the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
22:2:and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have listened to and obeyed my voice in everything that I commanded you.
22:3:You have not deserted your brothers these many days to this day, but have [carefully] kept the obligation of the commandment of the Lord your God.
22:4:And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as He has promised them; so turn now and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the [east side of the] Jordan.
22:5:Only be very careful and diligently observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord has commanded you to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul [your very life].”
22:6:So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.
22:7:Now to the one-half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua gave a possession on the west side of the Jordan among their brothers. So when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them,
22:8:and he said to them, “Return to your tents with great riches and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and with very many clothes; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers (fellow tribesmen).”
22:9:So the sons (descendants) of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home and departed from the [other] sons (western tribes) of Israel at Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their own which they had possessed, in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.
22:10:The Offensive Altar
When they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, an altar that was great to behold.
22:11:And the [other] sons of Israel heard it said, “Look, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the edge of the land of Canaan, in the region [west] of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.”
22:12:When the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.
22:13:Then the sons of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead,
22:14:and with him ten leaders, one leader from each father’s household from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one was the head of his father’s household among the thousands of Israel.
22:15:They came to the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them,
22:16:“This is what the entire congregation of the Lord says, ‘What is this disloyal and unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, so as to turn away from following the Lord this day, by building yourselves an altar, to rebel against the Lord this day?
22:17:Is the wrongdoing (idolatry) of Peor not enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, even though the affliction [in which twenty-four thousand died] came on the congregation of the Lord,
22:18:that you would turn away this day from following the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, He will be angry with the entire congregation of Israel tomorrow.
22:19:If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then cross into the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle is situated, and settle down among us. But do not rebel against the Lord, or rebel against us by building an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of the Lord our God [at Shiloh].
22:20:Did not Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things under the ban, and [as a result God’s] wrath came on the entire congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his wrongdoing.’”
22:21:Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the families of Israel,
22:22:“The Mighty One, God, the Lord, the Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows, and may Israel itself know. If it was in rebellion, or if in an unfaithful act against the Lord, do not save us this day!
22:23:If we have built an altar for ourselves to turn away from following the Lord, or if [we did so] to offer a burnt offering or grain offering on it, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings on it, may the Lord Himself require it [of us and hold us responsible].
22:24:But in truth we have done this out of concern, for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your sons (descendants) may say to our sons, “What claim do you have to the Lord, the God of Israel?
22:25:For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no part in the Lord.” So your sons (descendants) may cause our sons to stop fearing the Lord.’
22:26:“So we said, ‘Let us prepare and build an altar, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice,
22:27:but to be a witness between us and you and between the generations after us, that we are to perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, so that your sons (descendants) will not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no part in the Lord.”’
22:28:“So we said, ‘If your descendants should say this to us or to our descendants in time to come, then we can reply, “See the copy of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice, but rather it is a witness between us and you.”’
22:29:Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away from following the Lord this day, by building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle [in Shiloh].”
22:30:So when Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation and heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them.
22:31:Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this unfaithful act against the Lord; indeed you have saved Israel from the hand of the Lord.”
22:32:Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders returned from the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought back word to them.
22:33:The report pleased the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel blessed God; and they said no more about going to battle against them to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were living.
22:34:The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad called the altar Witness; “For it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”
23:1:Joshua’s Farewell Address
A long time after that, when the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies on every side, and Joshua had grown old and advanced in years,
23:2:that Joshua called all Israel, their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, “I am old and advanced in years.
23:3:And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; for the Lord your God is He who has been fighting for you.
23:4:See, I have allotted to you these nations that remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan [on the east] to the Great [Mediterranean] Sea toward the setting sun.
23:5:The Lord your God will push them away from before you and drive them out of your sight and you will take possession of their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.
23:6:Be steadfast and very determined to keep and to do everything that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, so that you do not turn aside from it to the right or the left,
23:7:so that you do not associate with these nations which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear [an oath by them], or serve them, or bow down to them.
23:8:But you are to cling to the Lord your God, just as you have done to this day.
23:9:For the Lord has driven out great and mighty nations from before you; and as for you, no man has been able to stand [in opposition] before you to this day.
23:10:One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who is fighting for you, just as He promised you.
23:11:So be very careful and watchful of yourselves to love the Lord your God.
23:12:For if you ever turn back and cling to the rest of these nations, these that are left among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,
23:13:know and understand with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.
23:14:“Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God has promised concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.
23:15:It shall come about that just as every good word which the Lord your God spoke and promised to you has been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you every bad thing [about which He warned you], until He has destroyed and eliminated you from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.
23:16:When you transgress (violate) the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you [to follow], and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”
24:1:Joshua Reviews Israel’s History
Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and for their judges and for their officers; they presented themselves before God.
24:2:Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, lived beyond the [Euphrates] River in ancient times; and they served other gods.
24:3:Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the [Euphrates] River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants, and I gave him Isaac.
24:4:To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave [the hill country of] Mount Seir to possess; but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
24:5:Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out.
24:6:Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.
24:7:When they cried out to the Lord [for help], He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time (forty years).
24:8:Then I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land and I destroyed them before you.
24:9:Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.
24:10:But I would not listen to Balaam. Therefore he had to bless you, so I saved you from Balak’s hand.
24:11:You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite; and so I gave them into your hand.
24:12:I sent the hornet [that is, the terror of you] before you, which drove the two kings of the Amorites out before you; but it was not by your sword or by your bow.
24:13:I gave you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you live in them; you eat from vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
24:14:“Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; remove the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the [Euphrates] River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
24:15:If it is unacceptable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
24:16:The people answered, “Far be it from us to abandon (reject) the Lord to serve other gods;
24:17:for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs (miracles) in our sight and kept us safe all along the way that we went and among all the peoples among whom we passed.
24:18:The Lord drove all the peoples out from before us, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”
24:19:Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord [if you serve any other gods], for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]. He will not forgive your transgression [of His law] or your sins.
24:20:If you do abandon (reject) the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume and destroy you after He has done you good.”
24:21:The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve [only] the Lord.”
24:22:Joshua then said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”
24:23:“Now then, remove the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your hearts toward the Lord, the God of Israel.”
24:24:The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and we will listen to and obey His voice.”
24:25:So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance at Shechem.
24:26:And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was in [the courtyard of] the sanctuary of the Lord.
24:27:Joshua then said to all the people, “Look, this stone shall serve as a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us; so it shall be a witness against you, so that [afterward] you do not deny your God.”
24:28:Then Joshua sent the people away, each to [the territory of] his inheritance.
24:29:Joshua’s Death and Burial
It happened after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, at the age of a hundred and ten years.
24:30:They buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.
24:31:Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the works of the Lord which He had done for Israel.
24:32:Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the plot of land which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money; and it became the inheritance of the sons of Joseph.
24:33:And Eleazar [the priest], the son of Aaron died; and they buried him at Gibeah [on the hill] of Phinehas his son, which had been given to him in the hill country of Ephraim.
judges:1:1:Jerusalem Is Captured
Now it came about after the death of Joshua, that the sons (descendants) of Israel (Jacob) asked the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”
1:2:And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up [first]; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”
1:3:And [the tribe of the sons of] Judah said to [the tribe of the sons of] Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into my allotted territory, so that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your allotted territory.” So Simeon went with him.
1:4:Then Judah went up, and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they struck down in defeat ten thousand men at Bezek.
1:5:Then they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they struck down in defeat the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
1:6:But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.
1:7:Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather up scraps of food under my table; as I have done [to others], so God has repaid me.” So they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
1:8:Then the sons of Judah fought against [Jebusite] Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.
1:9:Afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negev (South country) and in the lowland.
1:10:So Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba); and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
1:11:Capture of Other Cities
From there [the tribe of] Judah went against the inhabitants of Debir (the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher [city of books and scribes]).
1:12:And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will even give him my daughter Achsah as a wife.”
1:13:Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife.
1:14:When she came to Othniel, she persuaded him to [allow her to] ask her father [Caleb] for a field. Then she [rode up to Caleb and] dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”
1:15:She said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me the land of the Negev (South country), give me springs of water, too.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
1:16:The sons of [Jethro] the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms (Jericho) with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness of Judah which is in the Negev (South country) near Arad; and they went and lived with the people.
1:17:Then [the warriors of the tribe of] Judah went with [the warriors of the tribe of] Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites living in Zephath and utterly destroyed it. So the city was called Hormah (destruction).
1:18:Also [the warriors of] Judah captured Gaza with its territory and Ashkelon with its territory and Ekron with its territory.
1:19:The Lord was with Judah, and [the tribe of] Judah took possession of the hill country, but they could not dispossess and drive out those inhabiting the valley because they had iron chariots.
1:20:Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak.
1:21:But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
1:22:The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.
1:23:The house of Joseph spied out Bethel (now the name of the city was formerly Luz).
1:24:The spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city and we will treat you kindly.”
1:25:So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free.
1:26:The man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz, which is its name to this day.
1:27:Places Not Conquered
But [the tribe of] Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; so the Canaanites remained in that land.
1:28:It happened when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.
1:29:Neither did [the warriors of] Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
1:30:[The warriors of the tribe of] Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or of Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and were put to forced labor.
1:31:[The warriors of the tribe of] Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob.
1:32:So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out.
1:33:Neither did [the warriors of] Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became forced labor for them.
1:34:Then the Amorites forced the sons of Dan [back] into the hill country, for they would not allow them to come down into the valley;
1:35:yet the Amorites persisted in living on Mount Heres (the mountain of the sun), in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; but when the power of the house (descendants) of Joseph became strong and prevailed, they became forced labor.
1:36:The border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela (rock) and upward.
2:1:Israel Rebuked
Now the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you to the land which I swore [to give] to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you,
2:2:and as for you, you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this that you have done?
2:3:So I also said, ‘I will not drive your enemies out before you; but they will be like thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’”
2:4:When the Angel of the Lord had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people raised their voices and wept.
2:5:So they named that place Bochim (weepers); and there they offered sacrifices to the Lord.
2:6:Joshua Dies
And when Joshua had sent the people away, the [tribes of the] Israelites went each to his inheritance, to take possession of the land.
2:7:The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord which He had done for Israel.
2:8:Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten.
2:9:And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
2:10:Also, all [the people of] that generation were gathered to their fathers [in death]; and another generation arose after them who did not know (recognize, understand) the Lord, nor even the work which He had done for Israel.
2:11:Israel Serves Baals
Then the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and worshiped and served the Baals,
2:12:and they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods from the gods of the peoples who were around them, and they bowed down to them, and offended and provoked the Lord to anger.
2:13:So they abandoned the Lord and served Baal [the pagan god of the Canaanites] and the Ashtaroth.
2:14:So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands (power) of plunderers who robbed them; and He sold them into the hands of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer stand [in opposition] before their enemies.
2:15:Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil (misfortune), as the Lord had spoken, and as the Lord had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.
2:16:Then the Lord raised up judges who rescued them from the hands of those who robbed them.
2:17:Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the prostitute after other gods and they bowed down to them. They quickly turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do as their fathers.
2:18:When the Lord raised up judges for them, He was with the judge and He rescued them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them.
2:19:But when the judge died, they turned back and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, in following and serving other gods, and bowing down to them. They did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways.
2:20:So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed (violated) My covenant (binding agreement) which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to My voice,
2:21:I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left [to be conquered] when he died,
2:22:in order to test [the loyalty of] Israel by them, whether Israel will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it, as their fathers did, or not.”
2:23:So the Lord allowed those nations to remain, not driving them out at once; and He did not give them into the hand of Joshua.
3:1:Idolatry Leads to Servitude
Now these are the nations which the Lord left [in order] to test Israel by them (that is, all [the people of Israel] who had not [previously] experienced any of the wars in Canaan;
3:2:only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, at least those who had not experienced it previously).
3:3:The remaining nations are: the five lords (governors) of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of Hamath.
3:4:They were [allowed to remain] for the testing of Israel, to determine whether Israel would listen to and obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers (ancestors) through Moses.
3:5:And the Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites;
3:6:and they took their daughters for themselves as wives and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their [pagan] gods.
3:7:And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
3:8:So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.
3:9:The First Judge Rescues Israel
But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord [for help], the Lord raised up a man to rescue the people of Israel, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
3:10:The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand, and he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.
3:11:And the land was at rest [from oppression for] forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
3:12:Now the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, since they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
3:13:And Eglon gathered to him the sons of Ammon and Amalek, and went and struck down Israel [in defeat], and they took possession of the City of Palm Trees (Jericho).
3:14:And the Israelites served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
3:15:Ehud Rescues Israel from Moab
But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord [for help], the Lord raised up a man to rescue them, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the Israelites sent a gift of tribute by him to Eglon king of Moab.
3:16:Now Ehud made for himself a sword a cubit long, which had two edges, and he bound it on his right thigh under his robe.
3:17:And he brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.
3:18:And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried it.
3:19:But Ehud himself turned back from the sculptured stones at Gilgal, [and he returned to Eglon] and said [to him], “I have a secret message for you, O king.” Eglon said “Keep silence.” And all who attended him left him.
3:20:Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his [private] cool upper chamber, and Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And the king got up from his seat.
3:21:Then Ehud reached out with his left hand and took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly.
3:22:And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, because Ehud did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the refuse came out.
3:23:Then Ehud went out into the vestibule and shut the doors of the upper chamber behind him, and locked them.
3:24:When Ehud departed, Eglon’s servants came. And when they saw that the doors of the upper room were locked, they said, “He is only relieving himself in the cool room.”
3:25:They waited [a very long time] until they became embarrassed and uneasy, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. So [finally] they took the key and opened them, and behold, their master had fallen to the floor, dead.
3:26:Now Ehud escaped while they lingered, and he passed beyond the sculptured stones and escaped to Seirah.
3:27:When he had arrived, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was in front of them.
3:28:And he said to them, “Pursue them, for the Lord has handed over your enemies the Moabites to you.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan opposite Moab and did not allow anyone to cross.
3:29:They struck down at that time about ten thousand Moabite men, all strong, courageous men; not a man escaped.
3:30:So Moab was subdued and humbled that day under the hand of Israel, and the land was at rest for eighty years.
3:31:Shamgar Rescues from Philistines
After Ehud came Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistine men with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.
4:1:Deborah and Barak Rescue from Canaanites
But the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died.
4:2:So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.
4:3:Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord [for help], for Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots and had oppressed and tormented the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.
4:4:Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
4:5:She used to sit [to hear and decide disputes] under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment.
4:6:Now she sent word and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, “Behold, the Lord, the God of Israel, has commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men [of war] from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun.
4:7:I will draw out Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his infantry to meet you at the river Kishon, and I will hand him over to you.’”
4:8:Then Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”
4:9:She said, “I will certainly go with you; nevertheless, the journey that you are about to take will not be for your honor and glory, because the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.
4:10:And Barak summoned [the fighting men of the tribes of] Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and ten thousand men went up under his command; Deborah also went up with him.
4:11:Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the terebinth tree in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
4:12:When someone told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,
4:13:Sisera called together all his chariots, nine hundred iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon.
4:14:Deborah said to Barak, “Arise! For this is the day when the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Has the Lord not gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.
4:15:And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and [confused] all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera dismounted from his chariot and fled away on foot.
4:16:But Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and the entire army of Sisera fell by the sword; not even one man was left.
4:17:But Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
4:18:Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me! Have no fear.” So he turned aside to her [and went] into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.
4:19:And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink because I am thirsty.” And she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him.
4:20:And he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is there anyone here?’ tell him, ‘No.’”
4:21:But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand, and came up quietly to him and drove the peg through his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died.
4:22:And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he entered [her tent] with her, and behold Sisera lay dead with the tent peg in his temple.
4:23:So on that day God subdued and humbled Jabin king of Canaan before the sons of Israel.
4:24:And the hand of the sons of Israel pressed down heavier and heavier on Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed him.
5:1:The Song of Deborah and Barak
Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
5:2:“For the leaders who took the lead in Israel,
For the people who volunteered [for battle],
Bless the Lord!
5:3:“Hear, O kings; listen, O rulers!
I will sing to the Lord,
I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.
5:4:“Lord, when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from the field of Edom,
The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,
Yes, the clouds dripped water.
5:5:“The mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord,
Yes, this Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.
5:6:“In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, the highways were deserted,
And travelers went by roundabout ways.
5:7:“The villagers ceased to be; they ceased in Israel
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Until I arose, a mother in Israel.
5:8:“They chose new gods;
Then war was in the gates.
Was there a shield or spear seen
Among forty thousand in Israel?
5:9:“My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel,
The volunteers among the people;
Bless the Lord!
5:10:“Sing of it, you who ride on white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
And you who walk by the way.
5:11:“At the sound of those who divide flocks among the watering places,
There they shall recount the righteous acts of the Lord,
The righteous acts toward His villagers in Israel.
Then the people of the Lord went down to the gates.
5:12:“Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam.
5:13:“Then down marched the survivors to the nobles;
The people of the Lord marched down for Me against the mighty.
5:14:“From Ephraim those whose root is in Amalek came down,
After you, Benjamin, with your relatives;
From Machir came down commanders and rulers,
And from Zebulun those who handle the scepter of the [office of] scribe.
5:15:“And the heads of Issachar came with Deborah;
As Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed at his heels;
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
5:16:“Why [Reuben] did you linger among the sheepfolds,
To hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
5:17:“Gilead remained beyond the Jordan;
And why did Dan live as an alien on ships?
Asher sat [still] on the seacoast,
And remained by its landings.
[These did not come to battle for God’s people.]
5:18:“But Zebulun was a people who risked their lives to the [point of] death;
Naphtali also, on the heights of the field.
5:19:“The kings came and fought;
Then the kings of Canaan fought
At Taanach by the waters of Megiddo.
Spoils of silver they did not obtain.
5:20:“From the heavens the stars fought,
From their courses they fought against Sisera.
5:21:“The torrent Kishon swept the enemy away,
The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
O my soul, march on with strength.
5:22:“Then the horses’ hoofs beat [loudly]
Because of the galloping—the galloping of his valiant and powerful steeds.
5:23:‘Curse Meroz,’ said the messenger of the Lord,
‘Utterly curse its inhabitants;
Because they did not come to the help of the Lord,
To the help of the Lord against the mighty.’
5:24:“Most blessed of women is Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Most blessed is she of women in the tent.
5:25:“Sisera asked for water and she gave him milk;
She brought him curds in a magnificent bowl.
5:26:“She reached out her [left] hand for the tent peg,
And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.
Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head;
And she shattered and pierced his temple.
5:27:“He bowed, he fell, he lay [still] at her feet;
At her feet he bowed, he fell;
Where he bowed, there he fell dead.
5:28:“Out of the window she looked down and lamented (cried out in a shrill voice),
The mother of Sisera through the lattice,
‘Why is his chariot delayed in coming?
Why have the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed?’
5:29:“Her wise ladies answered her,
Indeed, she repeated her words to herself,
5:30:‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil?
A maiden (concubine) or two for every man;
A spoil of dyed garments for Sisera,
A spoil of dyed garments embroidered,
Two pieces of dyed garments embroidered for the neck of the plunderer?’
5:31:“So let all Your enemies perish, O Lord;
But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.”
And the land was at rest for forty years.
6:1:Israel Oppressed by Midian
Then the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years.
6:2:The [powerful] hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens (hideouts) which were in the mountains, and the caves and the [mountain] strongholds.
6:3:For it was whenever Israel had sown [their seed] that the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the people of the east and go up against them.
6:4:So they would camp against them and destroy the crops of the land as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey.
6:5:For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, and they would come in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were innumerable. So they came into the land to devastate it.
6:6:So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord [for help].
6:7:Now it came about when they cried out to the Lord because of Midian,
6:8:that the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites, and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery.
6:9:And I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land,
6:10:and I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live.” But you have not listened to and obeyed My voice.’”
6:11:Gideon Is Visited
Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon was beating wheat in the wine press [instead of the threshing floor] to [hide it and] save it from the Midianites.
6:12:And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O brave man.”
6:13:But Gideon said to him, “Please my lord, if the Lord is with us, then why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wondrous works which our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”
6:14:The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”
6:15:But Gideon said to Him, “Please Lord, how am I to rescue Israel? Behold, my family is the least [significant] in Manasseh, and I am the youngest (smallest) in my father’s house.”
6:16:The Lord answered him, “I will certainly be with you, and you will strike down the Midianites as [if they were only] one man.”
6:17:Gideon replied to Him, “If I have found any favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speaks with me.
6:18:Please do not depart from here until I come back to You, and bring my offering and place it before You.” And He said, “I will wait until you return.”
6:19:Then Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket and the broth in a pot, and he brought the food to Him under the oak (terebinth) and presented it.
6:20:The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth [over them].” And he did so.
6:21:Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
6:22:When Gideon realized [without any doubt] that He was the Angel of the Lord, he declared, “Oh no, Lord God! For now I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face [and I am doomed]!”
6:23:The Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not be afraid; you shall not die.”
6:24:Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it The Lord is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah, of the Abiezrites.
6:25:Now on that same night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;
6:26:and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this mountain stronghold [with stones laid down] in an orderly way. Then take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice using the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.”
6:27:Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did just as the Lord had told him; but because he was too afraid of his father’s household (relatives) and the men of the city to do it during daylight, he did it at night.
6:28:The Altar of Baal Destroyed
Early the next morning when the men of the city got up, they discovered that the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built.
6:29:So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” When they searched about and inquired, they were told, “Gideon the son of Joash did it.”
6:30:Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so that he may be executed, because he has torn down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah which was beside it.”
6:31:But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you plead for Baal? Will you save him? Whoever pleads for Baal shall be put to death while it is still morning. If Baal is a god, let him defend himself, because someone has torn down his altar.”
6:32:Therefore on that day he named Gideon Jerubbaal, meaning, “Let Baal plead,” because he had torn down his altar.
6:33:Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east assembled together; and they crossed over [the Jordan] and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
6:34:So the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon [and empowered him]; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together [as a militia] to follow him.
6:35:He sent messengers throughout [the tribe of] Manasseh, and the fighting men were also called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to [the tribes of] Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.
6:36:Sign of the Fleece
Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to rescue Israel through me, as You have spoken,
6:37:behold, I will put a fleece of [freshly sheared] wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and it is dry on all the ground [around it], then I will know that You will rescue Israel through me, as You have said.”
6:38:And it was so. When he got up early the next morning and squeezed the dew out of the fleece, he wrung from it a bowl full of water.
6:39:Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let your anger burn against me, so that I may speak once more. Please let me make a test once more with the fleece; now let only the fleece be dry, and let there be dew on all the ground.”
6:40:God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and there was dew on all the ground [around it].
7:1:Gideon’s 300 Chosen Men
Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him got up early and camped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was north of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.
7:2:Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are too many people with you for Me to hand over Midian to them, otherwise Israel will boast [about themselves] against Me, saying, ‘My own power has rescued me.’
7:3:So now, proclaim in the hearing of the people, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men returned [home], but ten thousand remained.
7:4:Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many people; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
7:5:So he brought the people down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, “You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels down to drink.”
7:6:Now the number of those who lapped [the water], putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men, but all the rest of the people kneeled down to drink water.
7:7:And the Lord told Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will rescue you, and will hand over the Midianites to you. Let all the other people go, each man to his home.”
7:8:So the three hundred men took people’s provisions [for the journey] and their trumpets [made of rams’ horns] in their hands. And Gideon sent [away] all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but kept the three hundred men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
7:9:Now on that same night the Lord said to Gideon, “Arise, go down against their camp, for I have given it into your hand.
7:10:But if you are afraid to go down [by yourself], go with Purah your servant down to the camp,
7:11:and you will hear what they say; and afterward you will have the courage to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the army that was in the camp.
7:12:Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying [camped] in the valley, as countless as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
7:13:When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling a dream to his friend. And he said, “Listen carefully, I had a dream: there was a loaf of barley bread tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat.”
7:14:And his friend replied, “This [dream] is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has given Midian and the entire camp into his hand.”
7:15:When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the camp of Midian into your hand.”
7:16:He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers.
7:17:And he said to them, “Look at me, then do likewise. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do.
7:18:When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet (ram’s horn), then all around the camp you also blow the trumpets and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
7:19:Confusion of the Enemy
So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when the guards had just been changed, and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands.
7:20:When three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow, and they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”
7:21:Then each stood in his place around the camp; and the entire [Midianite] army ran, crying out as they fled.
7:22:When Gideon’s men blew the three hundred trumpets, the Lord set the sword of one [Midianite] against another even throughout the whole army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.
7:23:The men of Israel were summoned together from [the tribes of] Naphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.
7:24:Then Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of [the tribe of] Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and take [control of] the waters before them [thereby cutting off the Midianites], as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan [River].” So all the men of Ephraim were assembled together and they took control of the waters, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.
7:25:Then the men of Ephraim took the two leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, and pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from across the Jordan.
8:1:Zebah and Zalmunna Routed
And the men of [the tribe of] Ephraim said to Gideon, “What is this thing that you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight with Midian?” And they quarreled with him vehemently.
8:2:But he said to them, “What have I done now [that is so significant] in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning (leftovers) of the grapes of [your tribe of] Ephraim better than the vintage (entire harvest) of [my clan of] Abiezer?
8:3:God has given the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb into your hands; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger toward him subsided when he made this statement.
8:4:So Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over [the river], he and the three hundred men who were with him—exhausted, yet [still] pursuing [the enemy].
8:5:He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me since they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”
8:6:But the leaders of Succoth said, “Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands, that we should give bread to your army?”
8:7:Gideon said, “For that [response], when the Lord has handed over Zebah and Zalmunna to me, I will thrash your bodies with the thorns and briars of the wilderness.”
8:8:He went from there up to Penuel and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered.
8:9:So Gideon said also to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will tear down this tower.”
8:10:Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies, about fifteen thousand [fighting] men, all who were left of the entire army of the sons of the east; for a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.
8:11:Gideon went up by the route of those who lived in tents to the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their camp when the camp was unsuspecting.
8:12:When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and terrified the entire army.
8:13:Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.
8:14:He captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And the youth wrote down for him [the names of] the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.
8:15:He came to the men of Succoth and said, “Look here, Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’”
8:16:He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briars, and with them he punished the men of Succoth.
8:17:He tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
8:18:Then Gideon said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” And they replied, “They were like you, each one of them resembled the son of a king.”
8:19:He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
8:20:So [to humiliate them] Gideon said to Jether his firstborn, “Stand up, and kill them!” But the youth did not draw his sword, because he was afraid, for he was still [just] a boy.
8:21:Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise up yourself and strike us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent amulets that were on their camels’ necks.
8:22:Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule [as king] over us, both you and your son, also your son’s son, for you have rescued us from the hand of Midian.”
8:23:But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.”
8:24:And Gideon said to them, “I would make a request of you, that each one of you give me an earring from his spoil.” For the Midianites had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites [who customarily wore them].
8:25:They answered, “We will certainly give them to you.” And they spread out a garment, and every one of them threw an earring there from his spoil.
8:26:And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was seventeen hundred shekels of gold, apart from the crescent amulets and pendants and the purple garments which were worn by the kings of Midian, and apart from the chains that were on their camels’ necks.
8:27:Gideon made [all the golden earrings into] an ephod [a sacred, high priest’s garment], and put it in his city of Ophrah, and all Israel worshiped it as an idol there, and it became a trap for Gideon and his household.
8:28:Forty Years of Peace
So Midian was subdued and humbled before the sons of Israel, and they no longer lifted up their heads [in pride]. And the land was at rest for forty years in the days of Gideon.
8:29:Jerubbaal (Gideon) the son of Joash went and lived in his own house.
8:30:Now Gideon had seventy sons born to him, because he had many wives.
8:31:And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech.
8:32:Gideon the son of Joash died at a good advanced age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
8:33:Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the Israelites again played the prostitute with the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god.
8:34:And the Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side;
8:35:nor did they show kindness to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done for Israel.
9:1:Abimelech’s Conspiracy
Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal (Gideon) went to Shechem to his mother’s relatives, and said to them and to the whole clan of the household of his mother’s father,
9:2:“Speak now in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that seventy men, all of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one man rule over you?’ Also, remember that I am your own bone and flesh.”
9:3:So his mother’s relatives spoke all these words concerning him so that all the leaders of Shechem could hear; and their hearts were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our relative.”
9:4:And they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and undisciplined men, and they followed (supported) him.
9:5:Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and murdered his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, [in a public execution] on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left alive, because he had hidden himself.
9:6:All the men of Shechem and all of Beth-millo assembled together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak (terebinth) of the pillar (memorial stone) at Shechem.
9:7:When they told Jotham, he went and stood at the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, “Hear me, O men of Shechem, so that God may hear you.
9:8:Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’
9:9:But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I give up my fatness by which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’
9:10:Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us!’
9:11:But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I give up my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?’
9:12:Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’
9:13:And the vine replied, ‘Should I give up my new wine, which makes God and men happy, and go to wave over the trees?’
9:14:Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’
9:15:So the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’
9:16:“Now then, if you acted in truth and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have dealt with him as he deserved—
9:17:for my father fought for you and risked his life and rescued you from the hand of Midian;
9:18:but you have risen against my father’s house today and have murdered his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, son of his maidservant, king over the people of Shechem, because he is your relative—
9:19:if then you have acted in truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.
9:20:But if not, may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the people of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out from the people of Shechem and Beth-millo, and devour Abimelech.”
9:21:Then Jotham escaped and fled, and went to Beer and lived there because of Abimelech his brother.
9:22:Shechem and Abimelech Fall
Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years.
9:23:Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem; and the leaders of Shechem acted treacherously against Abimelech,
9:24:so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal (Gideon) might come [on the guilty], and that their [innocent] blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who had killed them, and on the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands (encouraged him) to kill his brothers.
9:25:The leaders of Shechem set men in ambush against Abimelech on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along the road; and it was reported to Abimelech.
9:26:Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his relatives, and moved into Shechem; and the leaders of Shechem trusted him.
9:27:They went out into the field, gathered the grapes of their vineyard and trod them, and held a festival; and they entered the house of their god, and they ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.
9:28:Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not [merely] the son of Jerubbaal and is Zebul not his lieutenant? Serve the men of Hamor the father (founder) of Shechem. Why then should we serve Abimelech?
9:29:If only this people were under my authority! Then I would remove Abimelech and say to him, ‘Increase [the size of] your army and come out [to fight].’”
9:30:When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger burned.
9:31:He sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem; and they are stirring up the city against you.
9:32:Now then, get up during the night, you and the people who are with you, and set up an ambush in the field.
9:33:Then in the morning, at sunrise, you will get up early and rush upon and attack the city; and when Gaal and the people who are with him come out against you, you shall do to them whatever you can.”
9:34:So Abimelech and all the people who were with him got up during the night, and set up an ambush against Shechem, in four companies.
9:35:Now Gaal the son of Ebed came out and stood in the entrance of the city gate; then Abimelech and the people who were with him got up from the ambush.
9:36:When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the mountaintops.” But Zebul said to him, “You are only seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.”
9:37:Gaal spoke again and said, “Look! People are coming down from the highest part of the land, and one company is coming by way of the sorcerers’ oak tree.”
9:38:Then Zebul said to Gaal, “Where is your [boasting] mouth now, you who said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them!”
9:39:So Gaal went out ahead of the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech.
9:40:Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him; and many fell wounded as far as the entrance of the gate.
9:41:Then Abimelech stayed at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives so that they could not remain in Shechem.
9:42:The next day the people went out to the field, and it was reported to Abimelech.
9:43:So he took his people and divided them into three companies, and set an ambush in the field; and he looked and saw the people coming out of the city. And he rose up against them and struck them down.
9:44:Then Abimelech and the company with him advanced forward and stood in the entrance of the city gate; the two other companies attacked all who were in the field and killed them.
9:45:Abimelech fought against the city that entire day. He took the city and killed the people who were in it; he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.
9:46:When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard about it, they entered the inner chamber (stronghold) of the temple of El-berith (the god of a covenant).
9:47:Abimelech was told that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were assembled together.
9:48:So Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees, picked it up, and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the people with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do just as I have done.”
9:49:So everyone of the people also cut down his branch and followed Abimelech, and they put the branches on top of the inner chamber and set it on fire over those inside, so that all the people in the Tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women.
9:50:Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and camped against Thebez and took it.
9:51:But there was a strong (fortified) tower in the center of the city, and all the men and women with all the leaders of the city fled to it and shut themselves in; and they went up on the roof of the tower.
9:52:So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it down with fire.
9:53:But a certain woman threw an upper millstone [down] on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.
9:54:Then he called quickly to the young man who was his armor bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So the young man pierced him through, and he died.
9:55:When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each departed to his home.
9:56:In this way God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father [Jerubbaal] by killing his seventy brothers.
9:57:Also God repaid all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal (Gideon) came upon them.
10:1:Oppression of Philistines and Ammonites
After Abimelech died, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose to save Israel; and he lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim.
10:2:Tola judged Israel for twenty-three years; then he died and was buried in Shamir.
10:3:After him, Jair the Gileadite arose, and he judged Israel for twenty-two years.
10:4:He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead that are called Havvoth-jair (towns of Jair) to this day.
10:5:And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.
10:6:Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; they served the Baals, the Ashtaroth (female deities), the gods of Aram (Syria), the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. They abandoned the Lord and did not serve Him.
10:7:So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites,
10:8:and they oppressed and crushed Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
10:9:The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was greatly distressed.
10:10:Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord [for help], saying, “We have sinned against You, because we have abandoned (rejected) our God and have served the Baals.”
10:11:The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines?
10:12:Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed and crushed you, you cried out to Me, and I rescued you from their hands.
10:13:Yet you have abandoned (rejected) Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer rescue you.
10:14:Go, cry out to the gods you have chosen; let them rescue you in your time of distress.”
10:15:The Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only please rescue us this day.”
10:16:So they removed the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer.
10:17:Then the Ammonites were assembled together and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel assembled and camped at Mizpah.
10:18:The people, the leaders of Gilead (Israel) said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
11:1:Jephthah the Ninth Judge
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
11:2:Gilead’s wife bore him sons, and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.”
11:3:Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob; and worthless and unprincipled men gathered around Jephthah, and went out [on raids] with him.
11:4:Now it happened after a while that the Ammonites fought against Israel.
11:5:When the Ammonites fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob;
11:6:and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, so that we may fight against the Ammonites.”
11:7:But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me from the house of my father? Why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?”
11:8:The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “This is why we have turned to you now: that you may go with us and fight the Ammonites and become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
11:9:So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back [home] to fight against the Ammonites and the Lord gives them over to me, will I [really] become your head?”
11:10:The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord is the witness between us; be assured that we will do as you have said.”
11:11:So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah repeated everything that he had promised before the Lord at Mizpah.
11:12:Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What is [the problem] between you and me, that you have come against me to fight in my land?”
11:13:The Ammonites’ king replied to the messengers of Jephthah, “It is because Israel took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the [river] Arnon as far as the Jabbok and [east of] the Jordan; so now, return those lands peaceably.”
11:14:But Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the Ammonites,
11:15:and they said to him, “This is what Jephthah says: ‘Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.
11:16:For when they came up from Egypt, Israel walked through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh;
11:17:then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us pass through your land,” but the king of Edom would not listen. Also they sent word to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.
11:18:Then they went through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab, and they camped on the other side of the [river] Arnon; but they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the [northern] boundary of Moab.
11:19:Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our place.”
11:20:But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered together all his people and camped at Jahaz and fought against Israel.
11:21:The Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
11:22:They took possession of all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness [westward] as far as the Jordan.
11:23:And now the Lord God of Israel has dispossessed and driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, so [why] should you possess it?
11:24:Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And everything that the Lord our God dispossessed before us, we will possess.
11:25:Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever go to war against them?
11:26:While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon for three hundred years, why did you not recover your lost lands during that time?
11:27:So I have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me; may the Lord, the [righteous] Judge, judge this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.’”
11:28:But the king of the Ammonites disregarded the message of Jephthah, which he sent to him.
11:29:Jephthah’s Tragic Vow
Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.
11:30:Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the Ammonites into my hand,
11:31:then whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
11:32:Then Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight with them; and the Lord gave them into his hand.
11:33:And from Aroer to the entrance of Minnith he struck them, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim (brook by the vineyard), with a very great defeat. So the Ammonites were subdued and humbled before the Israelites.
11:34:Then Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, and this is what he saw: his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. And she was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.
11:35:And when he saw her, he tore his clothes [in grief] and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me great disaster, and you are the cause of ruin to me; for I have made a vow to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.”
11:36:And she said to him, “My father, you have made a vow to the Lord; do to me as you have vowed, since the Lord has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, the Ammonites.”
11:37:And she said to her father, “Let this one thing be done for me; let me alone for two months, so that I may go to the mountains and weep over my virginity, I and my companions.”
11:38:And he said, “Go.” So he sent her away for two months; and she left with her companions, and wept over her virginity on the mountains.
11:39:At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did to her as he had vowed; and she had no relations with a man. It became a custom in Israel,
11:40:that the daughters of Israel went yearly to tell the story of the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year.
12:1:Jephthah and His Successors
The men of [the tribe of] Ephraim were summoned [to action], and they crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight with the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? [For that] we will burn your house down upon you.”
12:2:And Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were in a major conflict with the Ammonites, and when I called you [for help], you did not rescue me from their hand.
12:3:So when I saw that you were not coming to help me, I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. So why have you come up to me this day to fight against me?”
12:4:Then Jephthah assembled all the men of Gilead and fought with [the tribe of] Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they had said, “You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim, in the midst of [the tribes of] Ephraim and Manasseh.”
12:5:And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan opposite the Ephraimites; and when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,”
12:6:they said to him, “Then say ‘Shibboleth.’” And he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites fell.
12:7:Jephthah judged Israel for six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
12:8:And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.
12:9:He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage outside the family, and he brought in thirty daughters [-in-law] from outside for his sons. He judged Israel for seven years.
12:10:Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem.
12:11:After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; and he judged Israel for ten years.
12:12:Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
12:13:Now after him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel.
12:14:He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy donkeys; and he judged Israel for eight years.
12:15:Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
13:1:Philistines Oppress Again
Now Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
13:2:And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had no children.
13:3:And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are infertile and have no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son.
13:4:Therefore, be careful not to drink wine or [any other] intoxicating drink, and do not eat anything [ceremonially] unclean.
13:5:For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite [dedicated] to God from birth; and he shall begin to rescue Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
13:6:Then the woman went and told her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the Angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask Him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.
13:7:But He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or [any other] intoxicating drink, nor eat anything [ceremonially] unclean, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death.’”
13:8:Then Manoah pleaded with the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do for the boy who is to be born.”
13:9:And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the Angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.
13:10:So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the Man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.”
13:11:Then Manoah got up and followed his wife, and came to the Man and said to him, “Are you the Man who spoke to this woman?” He said, “I am.”
13:12:And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what shall be the boy’s manner of life, and his vocation?”
13:13:The Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “The woman must pay attention to everything that I said to her.
13:14:She may not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or [any other] intoxicating drink, nor eat anything [ceremonially] unclean. She shall observe everything that I commanded her.”
13:15:Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you and let us prepare a young goat for you [to eat].”
13:16:The Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the Angel of the Lord.
13:17:Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that when your words come true, we may honor you?”
13:18:But the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful (miraculous)?”
13:19:So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, and He performed miracles while Manoah and his wife looked on.
13:20:For when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the Angel of the Lord ascended in the altar flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this they fell on their faces to the ground.
13:21:The Angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah or his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the Angel of the Lord.
13:22:So Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die, because we have seen God.”
13:23:But his [sensible] wife said to him, “If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have announced such things as these at this time.”
13:24:So the woman [in due time] gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the boy grew and the Lord blessed him.
13:25:And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him at times in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
14:1:Samson’s Marriage
Samson went down to Timnah and at Timnah he saw a woman, one of the daughters of the Philistines.
14:2:So he went back and told his father and his mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now get her for me as a wife.”
14:3:But his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised (pagan) Philistines?” And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, because she looks pleasing to me.”
14:4:His father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, and that He was seeking an occasion [to take action] against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.
14:5:Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother [to arrange the marriage], and they came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and suddenly, a young lion came roaring toward him.
14:6:The Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he tore the lion apart as one tears apart a young goat, and he had nothing at all in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.
14:7:So he went down and talked with the woman; and she looked pleasing to Samson.
14:8:When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion.
14:9:So he scraped the honey out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave them some, and they ate it; but he did not tell them he had taken the honey from the body of the lion.
14:10:His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for that was the customary thing for young men to do.
14:11:When the people saw him, they brought thirty companions (wedding attendants) to be with him.
14:12:Samson’s Riddle
Then Samson said to them, “Let me now ask you a riddle; if you can tell me what it is within the seven days of the feast, and solve it, then I will give you thirty linen tunics (undergarments) and thirty changes of [outer] clothing.
14:13:But if you are unable to tell me [the answer], then you shall give me thirty linen tunics (undergarments) and thirty changes of [outer] clothing.” And they said to him, “Ask your riddle, so that we may hear it.”
14:14:So he said to them,
“Out of the eater came something to eat,
And out of the strong came something sweet.”
And they could not solve the riddle in three days.
14:15:Then on the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Persuade your husband to tell us [through you] the [answer to the] riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s household with fire. Have you invited us to make us poor? Is this not true?”
14:16:So Samson’s wife wept before him and said, “You only hate me, you do not love me; you have asked my countrymen a riddle, and have not told [the answer] to me.” And he said to her, “Listen, I have not told my father or my mother [either], so [why] should I tell you?”
14:17:However Samson’s wife wept before him seven days while their [wedding] feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. Then she told the [answer to the] riddle to her countrymen.
14:18:So the men of the city said to Samson on the seventh day before sundown,
“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”
And he said to them,
“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
You would not have solved my riddle.”
14:19:Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their gear, and gave changes of clothes to those who had explained the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house.
14:20:But Samson’s wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.
15:1:Samson Burns Philistine Crops
But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat [as a gift of reconciliation]; and he said, “I will go in to my wife in her room.” But her father would not allow him to go in.
15:2:Her father said, “I really thought you utterly hated her; so I gave her to your companion. Is her younger sister not more beautiful than she? Please take her [as your wife] instead.”
15:3:Samson said to them, “This time I shall be blameless in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm.”
15:4:So Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches and turning the foxes tail to tail, he put a torch between each pair of tails.
15:5:When he had set the torches ablaze, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and he burned up the heap of sheaves and the standing grain, along with the vineyards and olive groves.
15:6:Then the Philistines said, “Who did this?” And they were told, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took Samson’s wife and gave her to his [chief] companion [at the wedding feast].” So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.
15:7:Samson said to them, “If this is the way you act, be certain that I will take revenge on you, and [only] after that I will stop.”
15:8:Then he struck them without mercy, a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
15:9:Then the [army of the] Philistines came up and camped in [the tribal territory of] Judah, and overran Lehi (Jawbone).
15:10:The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” And they answered, “We have come up to bind Samson, in order to do to him as he has done to us.”
15:11:Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Have you not known that the Philistines are rulers over us? What is this that you have done to us?” He said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”
15:12:They said to him, “We have come down to bind you, so that we may hand you over to the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not kill me.”
15:13:So they said to him, “No, we will [only] bind you securely and place you into their hands; but we certainly will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock [of Etam].
15:14:When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and the ropes on his arms were like flax (linen) that had been burned, and his bonds dropped off his hands.
15:15:He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out his hand and took it and killed a thousand men with it.
15:16:Then Samson said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey,
Heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have struck down a thousand men.”
15:17:When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi (hill of the jawbone).
15:18:Then Samson was very thirsty, and he called out to the Lord and said, “You have given this great victory through the hand of Your servant, and now am I to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised (pagans)?”
15:19:So God split open the hollow place that was at Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his spirit (strength) returned and he was revived. Therefore he named it En-hakkore (spring which is calling), which is at Lehi to this day.
15:20:And Samson judged Israel in the days of [occupation by] the Philistines for twenty years.
16:1:Samson’s Weakness
Then Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute there, and went in to her.
16:2:The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” So they surrounded the place and waited all night at the gate of the city to ambush him. They kept quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is light, we will kill him.”
16:3:But Samson lay [resting] until midnight, then at midnight he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two door-posts, and pulled them up, [security] bar and all, and he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the hill which is opposite Hebron.
16:4:After this he fell in love with a [Philistine] woman [living] in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
16:5:So the [five] lords (governors) of the Philistines came to her and said to her, “Persuade him, and see where his great strength lies and [find out] how we may overpower him so that we may bind him to subdue him. And each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
16:6:So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be bound and subdued.”
16:7:Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh cords (tendons) that have not been dried, then I will be weak and be like any [other] man.”
16:8:Then the Philistine lords brought her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
16:9:Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he broke the cords as a string of tow breaks when it touches fire. So [the secret of] his strength was not discovered.
16:10:Then Delilah said to Samson, “See now, you have mocked me and told me lies; now please tell me [truthfully] how you may be bound.”
16:11:He said to her, “If they bind me tightly with new ropes that have not been used, then I will become weak and be like any [other] man.”
16:12:So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in ambush were in the inner room. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like [sewing] thread.
16:13:Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies; tell me [truthfully] with what you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair with the web [and fasten it with a pin, then I will become weak and be like any other man.”
16:14:So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks (braids) of his hair and wove them into the web]. And she fastened it with the pin [of the loom] and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the [weaver’s] loom and the web.
16:15:Delilah Extracts His Secret
Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times and have not told me where your great strength lies.”
16:16:When she pressured him day after day with her words and pleaded with him, he was annoyed to death.
16:17:Then [finally] he told her everything that was in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never been used on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like any [other] man.”
16:18:Then Delilah realized that he had told her everything in his heart, so she sent and called for the Philistine lords, saying, “Come up this once, because he has told me everything in his heart.” Then the Philistine lords came up to her and brought the money [they had promised] in their hands.
16:19:She made Samson sleep on her knees, and she called a man and had him shave off the seven braids of his head. Then she began to abuse Samson, and his strength left him.
16:20:She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as I have time after time and shake myself free.” For Samson did not know that the Lord had departed from him.
16:21:Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with [two] bronze chains; and he was forced to be a grinder [of grain into flour at the mill] in the prison.
16:22:But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved off.
16:23:Now the Philistine lords gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to celebrate, for they said,
“Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands!”
16:24:When the people saw Samson, they praised their god, for they said,
“Our god has handed over our enemy to us,
The ravager of our country,
Who has killed many of us.”
16:25:Now when they were in high spirits, they said, “Call for Samson, so that he may amuse us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars.
16:26:Then Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the [roof of the] house rests, so that I may lean against them.”
16:27:Now the house was full of men and women; all the Philistine lords were there, and on the flat roof were about three thousand men and women who looked on while Samson was entertaining them.
16:28:Samson Is Avenged
Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this one time, O God, and let me take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes.”
16:29:Samson took hold of the two middle [support] pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, one with his right hand and the other with his left.
16:30:And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he stretched out with all his might [collapsing the support pillars], and the house fell on the lords and on all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.
16:31:Then his brothers and his father’s entire [tribal] household came down, took him, and brought him up; and they buried him in the tomb of Manoah his father, [which was] between Zorah and Eshtaol. So Samson had judged Israel for twenty years.
17:1:Micah’s Idolatry
There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.
17:2:And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you cursed [the thief] and also spoke about in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son before the Lord.”
17:3:He returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and she said, “I had truly dedicated the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son (in his name) to make an image [carved from wood and plated with silver] and a cast image [of solid silver]; so now, I will return it to you.”
17:4:So when he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made of it an image [of silver-plated wood] and a cast image [of solid silver]; and they were in the house of Micah.
17:5:Now the man Micah had a house of gods (shrine), and he made an ephod and teraphim and dedicated and installed one of his sons, who became his [personal] priest.
17:6:In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
17:7:Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, from the family [of the tribe] of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there [temporarily].
17:8:Then the man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he could find a place; and as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah.
17:9:Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I can find a place.”
17:10:And Micah said to him, “Live here with me and be a father and a [personal] priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver each year, a supply of clothing, and your sustenance (room and board).” So the Levite went in.
17:11:The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to Micah like one of his sons.
17:12:So Micah dedicated (installed) the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah.
17:13:Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will favor me and make me prosper because I have a Levite as my priest.”
18:1:Danites Seek Territory
In those days there was no king in Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance [of land] for themselves to live in, for until then an inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel.
18:2:So the sons of Dan sent from the total number of their [extended] family five brave men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to scout the land and to explore it; and they said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.
18:3:When they passed near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite, and they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?”
18:4:And he said to them, “Micah has done this and that for me, and he has hired me and I have become his priest.”
18:5:And they said to him, “Please ask of God, so that we may know whether our journey on which we are going will be successful.”
18:6:The priest said to them, “Go in peace; the journey on which you are going is acceptable to the Lord.”
18:7:Then the five men went on and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, [how they were] living securely in the style of the Sidonians, quiet and peaceful; and there was no oppressive magistrate in the land humiliating them in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.
18:8:The five men came back [home] to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, “What do you have to report?”
18:9:They said, “Arise, let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good (fertile). Will you sit still and do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, to enter, to take possession of the land.
18:10:When you enter, you will come to people [feeling] safe and secure with a spacious land [widely extended on all sides]; for God has given it into your hands—a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”
18:11:Then from the [tribal] family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war set out.
18:12:They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore they have called that place Mahaneh-dan to this day; it is west of Kiriath-jearim.
18:13:They went on from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.
18:14:Danites Take Micah’s Idols
Then the five men who had gone to scout the country of Laish said to their relatives, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, teraphim, an image [of silver-plated wood], and a cast image [of solid silver]? Now therefore, consider what you should do.”
18:15:So they turned in that direction and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him how he was doing.
18:16:Now the six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, stood at the entrance of the gate.
18:17:Now the five men who had gone to scout the land went up and entered the house and took the image [of silver-plated wood], the ephod, the teraphim, and the cast image [of solid silver], while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.
18:18:When these [five men] went into Micah’s house and took the [plated] image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the cast image, the priest asked them, “What are you doing?”
18:19:They said to him, “Keep quiet, put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be a priest to a tribe and family in Israel?”
18:20:The priest’s heart was glad [to hear that], and he took the ephod, the teraphim, and the image, and went among the people.
18:21:So they turned and left, and they put the children, the livestock, and the valuables and supplies in front of them.
18:22:When they had gone some distance from the house of Micah, the men who were [living] in the houses near Micah’s house assembled [as a militia] and overtook the sons of Dan.
18:23:They shouted to the Danites, who turned and said to Micah, “What is your reason for assembling [against us]?”
18:24:He said, “You have taken away my gods which I have made, and the priest, and have gone away; what else do I have left? How can you say to me, ‘What is your reason?’”
18:25:The sons of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice [of complaint] be heard among us, or else angry men will assault you and you will lose your life, along with the lives of [everyone in] your household.”
18:26:Then the Danites went on their way; and Micah saw that they were too strong for him, so he turned and went back to his house.
18:27:They took the [idolatrous] things that Micah had made, and his priest, and they came to Laish, to a people who were quiet and secure; and they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.
18:28:And there was no one to rescue them because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley which belongs to Beth-rehob. And they rebuilt the city and lived in it.
18:29:They named the city Dan, after Dan their forefather who was born to Israel (Jacob); however, the original name of the city was Laish.
18:30:The [tribe of] the sons of Dan set up the image [of silver-plated wood] for themselves; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity and exile from the land.
18:31:So they set up for themselves Micah’s [silver-plated wooden] image which he had made, and kept it throughout the time that the house (tabernacle) of God was at Shiloh.
19:1:A Levite’s Concubine Degraded
Now it happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that a certain Levite living [as an alien] in the most remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah.
19:2:But his concubine was unfaithful to him, and left him and went to her father’s house in Bethlehem of Judah, and stayed there for a period of four months.
19:3:Then her husband arose and went after her to speak kindly and tenderly to her in order to bring her back, taking with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father’s house, and when the father of the girl saw him, he was happy to meet him.
19:4:So his father-in-law, the girl’s father, detained him; and he stayed there with him for three days. So they ate and drank, and he lodged there.
19:5:On the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and the Levite prepared to leave; but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen yourself with a piece of bread, and afterward go your way.”
19:6:So both men sat down and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, “Please be willing to spend the night and enjoy yourself.”
19:7:Then the man got up to leave, but his father-in-law urged him [strongly to remain]; so he spent the night there again.
19:8:On the fifth day he got up early in the morning to leave, but the girl’s father said, “Please strengthen yourself, and wait until the end of the day.” So both of them ate.
19:9:When the man and his concubine and his servant got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has drawn to a close; please spend the night. Look, now the day comes to an end; spend the night here and celebrate, enjoy yourself. Then tomorrow you may get up early for your journey and go home.”
19:10:But the man was not willing to stay the night; so he got up and left and came to a place opposite Jebus (that is Jerusalem). With him were two saddled donkeys [and his servant] and his concubine.
19:11:When they were near Jebus, the day was almost gone, and the servant said to his master, “Please come and let us turn aside into this Jebusite city and spend the night in it.”
19:12:But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners who are not of the sons (descendants) of Israel. We will go on as far as Gibeah.”
19:13:And he said to his servant, “Come and let us approach one of these places: and we will spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah.”
19:14:So they passed by and went on their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which belongs to [the tribe of] Benjamin,
19:15:and they turned aside there to go in and spend the night in Gibeah. And the Levite went in and sat down in the open square of the city, because no man invited them into his house to spend the night.
19:16:Then behold, there was an old man who was coming out of the field from his work at evening. He was from the hill country of Ephraim but was staying in Gibeah, and the men of the place were sons (descendants) of Benjamin.
19:17:When he looked up, he saw the traveler [and his companions] in the city square; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?”
19:18:The Levite replied, “We are passing through from Bethlehem [in the territory] of Judah to the most remote part of the hill country of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to Bethlehem of Judah, but I am now going [home] to my house, and there is no man [in the city] who will take me into his house [for the night].
19:19:Yet we have both straw and feed for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, and for your handmaid, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything.”
19:20:Then the old man said, “Peace be to you. Only leave all your needs to me; and do not spend the night in the open square.”
19:21:So he brought him into his house and fed the donkeys; and they washed their feet and ate and drank.
19:22:While they were celebrating, behold, men of the city, certain worthless and evil men, surrounded the house, pounding on the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came to your house so that we may have relations with him.”
19:23:Then the man, the master of the house, went out and said to them, “No, my fellow citizens, please do not act so wickedly. Since this man has come to my house [as my guest], do not commit this sacrilege.
19:24:Here is my virgin daughter and this man’s concubine. I will bring them out now; abuse and humiliate them and do to them whatever you want, but do not commit this act of sacrilege against this man.”
19:25:But the men would not listen to him. So the man took the Levite’s concubine and brought her outside to them; and they had relations with her and abused her all night until morning; and when daybreak came, they let her go.
19:26:At daybreak the woman came and collapsed at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was [fully] light.
19:27:When her master got up in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, he saw his concubine lying at the door of the house, and her hands were on the threshold.
19:28:He said to her, “Get up, and let us go.” But there was no answer [for she had died]. Then he put her [body] on the donkey; and the man left and went home.
19:29:When he arrived at his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his [dead] concubine, he cut her [corpse] limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her [body parts] throughout all the territory of Israel.
19:30:All who saw the dismembered parts said, “Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen from the day that the sons of Israel came up from the land of Egypt to this day. Consider it, take counsel, and speak [your minds]!”
20:1:Resolve to Punish the Guilty
Then all the sons of Israel from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], including the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at Mizpah.
20:2:The chiefs of all the people of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand men on foot who drew the sword.
20:3:(Now the Benjamites [in whose territory the crime was committed] heard that the [other tribes of the] sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the sons of Israel said, “How did this evil thing happen?”
20:4:So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, replied, “I had come with my concubine to spend the night in Gibeah, [a town] which belongs to [the tribe of] Benjamin.
20:5:But the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they raped my concubine [so brutally] that she died.
20:6:So I took my concubine and cut her [corpse] in pieces and sent her [body parts] throughout the land of the inheritance of Israel; for the men of Gibeah have committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.
20:7:Now then, all you sons of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here [regarding what should be done].”
20:8:Then all the people stood [unified] as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his home [until this is settled].
20:9:But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it,
20:10:and we will take ten men out of a hundred throughout the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand to bring provisions for the men, so that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, they may punish them for all the despicable acts which they have committed in Israel.”
20:11:So all the men of Israel assembled against the city, united as one man.
20:12:Then the tribes of Israel sent men through the entire tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this evil thing that has been done among you?
20:13:Now therefore, turn over the men [involved], the worthless and wicked men in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death and remove this wickedness from Israel.” But the Benjamites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel.
20:14:Then the [tribe of the] sons of Benjamin gathered from the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the [other] sons of Israel.
20:15:And the Benjamites assembled out of their cities at that time twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who assembled seven hundred chosen men.
20:16:Out of all these people were seven hundred choice left-handed men; each one could sling stones at [a target no wider than] a hair and not miss.
20:17:Then the men of Israel, other than Benjamin, assembled four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.
20:18:Civil War, Benjamin Defeated
The men of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and asked of God and said, “Which of us shall take the lead to battle against the sons [tribe] of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Judah [shall go up] first.”
20:19:Then the [fighting men of the] sons of Israel arose in the morning and camped against Gibeah.
20:20:The men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and assembled in battle formation against them at Gibeah.
20:21:The sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and struck to the ground on that day twenty-two thousand [fighting] men of Israel.
20:22:But the people, the [fighting] men of Israel, took courage and strengthened themselves and again set their battle line in the same place where they formed it the first day.
20:23:The sons of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and asked of the Lord, “Shall we advance again to battle against the sons of our brother Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up against them.”
20:24:So the sons of Israel came against the sons of Benjamin the second day.
20:25:And [the fighting men from the tribe of] Benjamin went out of Gibeah against them the second day and again struck to the ground the sons of Israel, eighteen thousand men, all of whom were swordsmen.
20:26:Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
20:27:And the sons of Israel inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there [at Bethel] in those days,
20:28:and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin, or shall I quit?” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”
20:29:So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah.
20:30:The [fighting men of the] sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day and placed themselves in battle formation against Gibeah as at other times.
20:31:The Benjamites went out against their army and were lured away from the city, and they began to strike and kill some of the people as at other times, on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel.
20:32:And the Benjamites said, “They are defeated before us, as at the first.” But the sons of Israel said, “Let us flee and lure them away from the city to the highways.”
20:33:Then all the men of Israel got up from their places and placed themselves in battle formation at Baal-tamar; and the men of Israel [who were] in ambush rushed from their place in the plain of Maareh-geba.
20:34:When the ten thousand choice [fighting] men from all Israel came against Gibeah, the battle was hard and fierce; but the Benjamites did not realize that disaster was about to strike them.
20:35:And the Lord struck down [the tribe of] Benjamin before Israel, so that the sons of Israel destroyed twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin that day, all of whom were swordsmen.
20:36:So the Benjamites realized that they were defeated. Then men of Israel gave ground to the Benjamites, because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had placed against Gibeah.
20:37:Then the men in ambush quickly rushed and attacked Gibeah; and the men in ambush also deployed and struck the entire city with the edge of the sword.
20:38:Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise from the city.
20:39:So the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel, for they said, “Certainly they are defeated before us as in the first battle!”
20:40:But when the [signal] cloud began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and behold, the entire city went up in smoke to heaven.
20:41:When the men of Israel turned back again, the men of Benjamin were terrified, for they saw that disaster had fallen upon them.
20:42:Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel [and fled] toward the direction of the wilderness, but the battle followed and overtook them. As the [fighting men of the] sons of Benjamin ran among them, the Israelites of the cities came out and destroyed them.
20:43:They surrounded [the men of] Benjamin, pursued them relentlessly, and overtook them opposite Gibeah toward the east.
20:44:Thus eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of these brave and able warriors.
20:45:The survivors [of Benjamin] turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel caught five thousand of them on the roads and overtook them at Gidom and killed two thousand of them.
20:46:So all of Benjamin who fell that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword, all of them brave and able warriors.
20:47:But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months.
20:48:The men of Israel turned back against [the tribe of] the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city [of Gibeah] and the livestock and all that they found. They also set on fire all the [surrounding] towns which they found.
21:1:Mourning the Lost Tribe
Now the men of Israel had sworn [an oath] at Mizpah, “None of us shall give his daughter in marriage to [a man of] Benjamin.”
21:2:So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.
21:3:They said, “O Lord, God of Israel, why has this come about in Israel, that there should be today one tribe missing from Israel?”
21:4:And the next day the people got up early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
21:5:Then the sons of Israel said, “Which one from all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord at Mizpah, saying, “He shall certainly be put to death.”
21:6:And the sons of Israel felt sorry [and had compassion] for their brother Benjamin and said, “One tribe has been cut off from Israel today.
21:7:What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn [an oath] by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?”
21:8:Provision for Their Survival
And they said, “Which one is there of the tribes from Israel that did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord?” And behold, [it was discovered that] no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly.
21:9:For when the people were assembled, behold, there was not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
21:10:And the congregation sent twelve thousand of the most courageous men there, and commanded them saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including the women and the children.
21:11:And this is the thing that you shall do; you shall utterly destroy every male and every woman who is not a virgin.”
21:12:And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
21:13:Then the whole congregation sent word to the [surviving] sons of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.
21:14:So [the survivors of] Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead; but there were not enough [to provide wives] for them.
21:15:And the people were sorry [and had compassion] for [the survivors of the tribe of] Benjamin because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.
21:16:Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those [men] who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?”
21:17:They said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be wiped out from Israel.
21:18:But we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” For the sons of Israel had sworn [an oath], “Cursed is he who gives a wife to [a man from the tribe of] Benjamin.”
21:19:So they said, “Listen, there is the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah.”
21:20:So they instructed the sons of Benjamin, saying, “Go, set an ambush in the vineyards,
21:21:and watch; if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of [the tribe of] Benjamin.
21:22:When their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we shall say to them, ‘Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take a wife for each man of Benjamin in battle, nor did you give wives to them, for that would have made you guilty [of breaking your oath].’”
21:23:So the sons of [the tribe of] Benjamin did as instructed and took wives according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried away. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and rebuilt the towns and lived in them.
21:24:The sons of Israel departed from there at that time, each man to his tribe and family, and each man went from there to his inheritance.
21:25:In those days [when the judges governed] there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
ruth:1:1:Naomi Widowed
In the days when the judges governed [Israel], there was a famine in the land [of Canaan]. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live temporarily in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons.
1:2:The man’s name was Elimelech and his wife’s name was Naomi and his two sons were named Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went to the country of Moab and stayed there.
1:3:Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left [a widow] with her two sons.
1:4:They took wives from the Moabite women; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years;
1:5:and then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so the woman [Naomi] was left without her two sons and her husband.
1:6:Then she set out with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in Moab how the Lord had taken care of His people [of Judah] in giving them food.
1:7:So she left the place where she was living, her two daughters-in-law with her, and they started on the way back to the land of Judah.
1:8:But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you return to your mother’s house. May the Lord show kindness to you as you have shown kindness to the dead and to me.
1:9:May the Lord grant that you find rest, each one in the home of her husband.” Then she kissed them [goodbye], and they wept aloud.
1:10:And they said to her, “No, we will go with you to your people [in Judah].”
1:11:But Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters, why should you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that may become your husbands?
1:12:Go back, my daughters, go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, and if I actually had a husband tonight and even gave birth to sons,
1:13:would you wait until they were grown? Would you go without marrying? No, my daughters; for it is much more difficult for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has gone against me.”
1:14:Ruth’s Loyalty
Then they wept aloud again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law [goodbye], but Ruth clung to her.
1:15:Then Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; turn back and follow your sister-in-law.”
1:16:But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God.
1:17:Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do the same to me [as He has done to you], and more also, if anything but death separates me from you.”
1:18:When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.
1:19:So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred because of them, and the women asked, “Is this Naomi?”
1:20:She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi (sweetness); call me Mara (bitter), for the Almighty has caused me great grief and bitterness.
1:21:I left full [with a husband and two sons], but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
1:22:So Naomi returned from the country of Moab, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law. And they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
2:1:Ruth Gleans in Boaz’ Field
Now Naomi had a relative of her husband, a man of great wealth and influence, from the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
2:2:And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one [of the reapers] in whose sight I may find favor.” Naomi said to her, “Go, my daughter.”
2:3:So Ruth went and picked up the leftover grain in a field after the reapers; and she happened to stop at the plot of land belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
2:4:It was then that Boaz came back from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered him, “The Lord bless you!”
2:5:Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”
2:6:The servant in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.
2:7:And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has continued [gathering grain] from early morning until now, except when she sat [resting] for a little while in the [field] house.”
2:8:Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but stay here close by my maids.
2:9:Watch which field they reap, and follow behind them. I have commanded the servants not to touch you. And when you are thirsty, go to the [water] jars and drink from what the servants draw.”
2:10:Then she kneeled face downward, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should notice me, when I am a foreigner?”
2:11:Boaz answered her, “I have been made fully aware of everything that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you did not know before.
2:12:May the Lord repay you for your kindness, and may your reward be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
2:13:Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not as one of your maidservants.”
2:14:At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here and eat some bread and dip your bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate until she was satisfied and she had some left [for Naomi].
2:15:When she got up to glean, Boaz ordered his servants, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her.
2:16:Also you shall purposely pull out for her some stalks [of grain] from the sheaves and leave them so that she may collect them, and do not rebuke her.”
2:17:So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.
2:18:She picked it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Ruth also took out and gave to Naomi what she had saved after she [had eaten and] was satisfied.
2:19:Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”
2:20:Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed of the Lord who has not ceased his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Again Naomi said to her, “The man is one of our closest relatives, one who has the right to redeem us.”
2:21:Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘Stay close to my servants until they have harvested my entire crop.’”
2:22:Naomi said to Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, for you to go out [to work] with his maids, so that others do not assault you in another field.”
2:23:So she stayed close to the maids of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
3:1:Boaz Will Redeem Ruth
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to Ruth, “My daughter, shall I not look for security and a home for you, so that it may be well with you?
3:2:Now Boaz, with whose maids you were [working], is he not our relative? See now, he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight.
3:3:So wash and anoint yourself [with olive oil], then put on your [best] clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but stay out of the man’s sight until he has finished eating and drinking.
3:4:When he lies down, notice the place where he is lying, and go and uncover his feet and lie down. Then he will tell you what to do.”
3:5:Ruth answered her, “I will do everything that you say.”
3:6:So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had told her.
3:7:When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was happy, he went to lie down at the end of the stack of grain. Then Ruth came secretly, and uncovered his feet and lay down.
3:8:In the middle of the night the man was startled and he turned over, and found a woman lying at his feet.
3:9:So he said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maid. Spread the hem of your garment over me, for you are a close relative and redeemer.”
3:10:Then he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made your last kindness better than the first; for you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.
3:11:Now, my daughter, do not be afraid. I will do for you whatever you ask, since all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.
3:12:It is true that I am your close relative and redeemer; however, there is a relative closer [to you] than I.
3:13:Spend the night [here], and in the morning if he will redeem you, fine; let him do it. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”
3:14:So she lay at his feet until the morning, but got up before anyone could recognize another; Boaz said, “Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor [last night].”
3:15:He also said, “Give me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” So Ruth held it and he measured out six measures of barley [into it] and placed it on her. And she went into the city.
3:16:When she came home, her mother-in-law said, “How did it go, my daughter?” And Ruth told her everything that the man had done for her.
3:17:She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, and he said to me, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
3:18:Then Naomi said, “Sit and wait, my daughter, until you learn how this matter turns out; for the man will not rest until he has settled it today.”
4:1:The Marriage of Ruth
Then Boaz went up to the city gate [where business and legal matters were settled] and sat down, and then the close relative (redeemer) of whom Boaz had spoken came by. He said to him, “Come over here, friend, and sit down.” So he came and sat down.
4:2:Then Boaz took ten men from the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” And they sat down.
4:3:He said to the closest relative (redeemer), “Naomi, who has returned from the country of Moab, must sell the plot of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.
4:4:So I thought to let you hear of it, saying, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if not, then tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I am [next of kin] after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.”
4:5:Then Boaz said, “The day that you buy the field from Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, to restore the name of the deceased to his inheritance.”
4:6:The closest relative (redeemer) said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because [by marrying a Moabitess] I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption (purchase) yourself, because I cannot redeem it.”
4:7:Now formerly in Israel this was the custom concerning redeeming and exchanging property. To confirm a transaction, a man pulled off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the way of confirming and attesting in Israel.
4:8:So, when the closest relative (redeemer) said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he pulled off his sandal [and gave it to Boaz to confirm the agreement].
4:9:Then Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought everything that was Elimelech’s and everything that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s from the hand of Naomi.
4:10:I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife to restore the name of the deceased to his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased will not be cut off from his brothers or from the gate of his birthplace. You are witnesses today.”
4:11:All the people at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the household of Israel. May you achieve wealth and power in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem.
4:12:Further, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman.”
4:13:So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
4:14:Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer (grandson, as heir) today, and may his name become famous in Israel.
4:15:May he also be to you one who restores life and sustains your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
4:16:The Line of David Began Here
Then Naomi took the child and placed him in her lap, and she became his nurse.
4:17:The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son (grandson) has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed (worshiper). He is the father of Jesse, the father of David [the ancestor of Jesus Christ].
4:18:Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron,
4:19:Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab,
4:20:Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,
4:21:Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed,
4:22:Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David [the king of Israel and the ancestor of Jesus Christ].
1_samuel:1:1:Elkanah and His Wives
There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, named Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
1:2:He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
1:3:This man went up from his city each year to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh. Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests to the Lord there.
1:4:When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions [of the sacrificial meat] to Peninnah his wife and all her sons and daughters.
1:5:But to Hannah he would give a double portion, because he loved Hannah, but the Lord had given her no children.
1:6:Hannah’s rival provoked her bitterly, to irritate and embarrass her, because the Lord had left her childless.
1:7:So it happened year after year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, Peninnah provoked her; so she wept and would not eat.
1:8:Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you cry and why do you not eat? Why are you so sad and discontent? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
1:9:So Hannah got up after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat beside the doorpost of the temple (tabernacle) of the Lord.
1:10:Hannah was greatly distressed, and she prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.
1:11:She made a vow, saying, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction (suffering) of Your maidservant and remember, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life; a razor shall never touch his head.”
1:12:Now it happened as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her mouth.
1:13:Hannah was speaking in her heart (mind); only her lips were moving, and her voice was not heard, so Eli thought she was drunk.
1:14:Eli said to her, “How long will you make yourself drunk? Get rid of your wine.”
1:15:But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman with a despairing spirit. I have not been drinking wine or any intoxicating drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord.
1:16:Do not regard your maidservant as a wicked and worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and [bitter] provocation.”
1:17:Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him.”
1:18:Hannah said, “Let your maidservant find grace and favor in your sight.” So the woman went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
1:19:Samuel Is Born to Hannah
The family got up early the next morning, worshiped before the Lord, and returned to their home in Ramah. Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her [prayer].
1:20:It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.”
1:21:Then the man Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow.
1:22:But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned; and then I will bring him, so that he may appear before the Lord and remain there as long as he lives.”
1:23:Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may the Lord establish and confirm His word.” So the woman remained [behind] and nursed her son until she weaned him.
1:24:Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a leather bottle of wine [to pour over the burnt offering for a sweet fragrance], and she brought Samuel to the Lord’s house in Shiloh, although the child was young.
1:25:Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the child to Eli.
1:26:Hannah said, “Oh, my lord! As [surely as] your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood beside you here, praying to the Lord.
1:27:For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my request which I asked of Him.
1:28:Therefore I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.” And they worshiped the Lord there.
2:1:Hannah’s Song of Thanksgiving
Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart rejoices and triumphs in the Lord;
My horn (strength) is lifted up in the Lord,
My mouth has opened wide [to speak boldly] against my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Your salvation.
2:2:“There is no one holy like the Lord,
There is no one besides You,
There is no Rock like our God.
2:3:“Do not go on boasting so very proudly,
Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth;
For the Lord is a God of knowledge,
And by Him actions are weighed (examined).
2:4:“The bows of the mighty are broken,
But those who have stumbled equip themselves with strength.
2:5:“Those who were full hire themselves out for bread,
But those who were hungry cease [to hunger].
Even the barren [woman] gives birth to seven,
But she who has many children withers away.
2:6:“The Lord puts to death and makes alive;
He brings down to Sheol (the grave) and raises up [from the grave].
2:7:“The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
He brings low and He lifts up.
2:8:“He raises up the poor from the dust,
He lifts up the needy from the ash heap
To make them sit with nobles,
And inherit a seat of honor and glory;
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
And He set the land on them.
2:9:“He guards the feet of His godly (faithful) ones,
But the wicked ones are silenced and perish in darkness;
For a man shall not prevail by might.
2:10:“The adversaries of the Lord will be broken to pieces;
He will thunder against them in the heavens,
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
And He will give strength to His king,
And will exalt the horn (strength) of His anointed.”
2:11:Elkanah [and his wife Hannah] returned to Ramah to his house. But the child [Samuel] served the Lord under the guidance of Eli the priest.
2:12:The Sin of Eli’s Sons
The sons of Eli [Hophni and Phinehas] were worthless (dishonorable, unprincipled) men; they did not know [nor respect] the Lord
2:13:and the custom of the priests with [the sacrifices of] the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged [meat] fork in his hand;
2:14:then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; everything that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did in Shiloh to all [the sacrifices of] the Israelites who came there.
2:15:Also, before they burned (offered) the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat to roast, since he will not accept boiled meat from you, only raw.”
2:16:If the man said to him, “Certainly they are to burn (offer) the fat first, and then you may take as much as you want,” then the priest’s servant would say, “No! You shall give it to me now or I will take it by force.”
2:17:So the sin of the [two] young men [Hophni and Phinehas] was very great before the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord disrespectfully.
2:18:Samuel before the Lord as a Boy
Now Samuel was ministering before the Lord, as a child dressed in a linen ephod [a sacred item of priestly clothing].
2:19:Moreover, his mother would make him a little robe and would bring it up to him each year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
2:20:Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman in place of the one she asked for which was dedicated to the Lord.” Then they would return to their own home.
2:21:And [the time came when] the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the Lord.
2:22:Eli Rebukes His Sons
Now Eli was very old; and he heard about everything that his sons were doing to all [the people of] Israel, and how they were lying with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).
2:23:Eli said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people?
2:24:No, my sons; for the report that I keep hearing from the passers-by among the Lord’s people is not good.
2:25:If one man does wrong and sins against another, God will intercede (arbitrate) for him; but if a man does wrong to the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.
2:26:But the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men.
2:27:Then a man of God (prophet) came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Did I not plainly reveal Myself to the house of your father (ancestor) when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house?
2:28:Moreover, I selected him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before Me. And [from then on] I gave to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel.
2:29:Why then do you kick at (despise) My sacrifice and My offering which I commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, by fattening yourselves with the choicest part of every offering of My people Israel?’
2:30:Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and that of [Aaron] your father would walk [in priestly service] before Me forever.’ But now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be insignificant and contemptible.
2:31:Behold, the time is coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.
2:32:You will look at the distress of My house (the tabernacle), in spite of all the good which God will do for Israel, and there will never again be an old man in your house.
2:33:Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar; your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul will grieve, and all those born in your house will die as men [in the prime of life].
2:34:This will be the sign to you which shall come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them shall die.
2:35:But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him a permanent and enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed forever.
2:36:And it will happen that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread and say, “Please assign me to one of the priest’s offices so I may eat a piece of bread.”’”
3:1:The Prophetic Call to Samuel
Now the boy Samuel was attending to the service of the Lord under the supervision of Eli. The word of the Lord was rare and precious in those days; visions [that is, new revelations of divine truth] were not widespread.
3:2:Yet it happened at that time, as Eli was lying down in his own place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well).
3:3:and the [oil] lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was,
3:4:that the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.”
3:5:He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call you; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.
3:6:Then the Lord called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”
3:7:Now Samuel did not yet know [or personally experience] the Lord, and the word of the Lord was not yet revealed [directly] to him.
3:8:So the Lord called Samuel a third time. And he stood and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.” Then Eli understood that it was the Lord [who was] calling the boy.
3:9:So Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and it shall be that if He calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
3:10:Then the Lord came and stood and called as at the previous times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”
3:11:The Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will ring.
3:12:On that day I will carry out against Eli everything that I have spoken concerning his house (family), from beginning to end.
3:13:Now I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the sinful behavior which he knew [was happening], because his sons were bringing a curse on themselves [dishonoring and blaspheming God] and he did not rebuke them.
3:14:Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the sinful behavior of Eli’s house (family) shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
3:15:So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
3:16:But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he answered, “Here I am.”
3:17:Then Eli said, “What is it that He said to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do the same to you, and more also, if you hide from me anything of all that He said to you.”
3:18:So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. And Eli said, “It is the Lord; may He do what seems good to Him.”
3:19:Now Samuel grew; and the Lord was with him and He let none of his words fail [to be fulfilled].
3:20:And all Israel from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south] knew that Samuel was appointed as a prophet of the Lord.
3:21:And the Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
4:1:Philistines Take the Ark in Victory
And the word of [the Lord through] Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and they camped beside Ebenezer while the Philistines camped at Aphek.
4:2:The Philistines assembled in battle formation to meet Israel, and when the battle was over, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.
4:3:When the people (soldiers) came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, so that He may come among us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”
4:4:So the people sent word to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of the covenant of God.
4:5:So it happened that as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all [the people of] Israel shouted with a great shout, and the earth resounded.
4:6:When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp.
4:7:The Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe [disaster is coming] to us! For nothing like this has happened before.
4:8:Woe to us! Who will rescue us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.
4:9:Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, so that you do not become servants to the Hebrews, as they have been servants to you; act like men and fight!”
4:10:So the Philistines fought; Israel was defeated and every man fled to his tent. It was a very great defeat, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.
4:11:Also the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed.
4:12:Now a man [from the tribe] of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh that same day with his clothes torn and dust on his head [as signs of mourning over the disaster].
4:13:When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road, keeping watch, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. When the man arrived to report [the news] in the city, everyone in the city cried out [to God, for help].
4:14:When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he asked, “What is the noise of this uproar?” And the man came hurriedly and told Eli.
4:15:Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; his eyes were dim so that he could not see.
4:16:The man said to Eli, “I have come from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped from the battle line today.” Eli said, “How did things go, my son?”
4:17:The messenger replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken.”
4:18:When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backwards by the side of the [city] gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.
4:19:Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was pregnant, and was about to give birth; so when she heard the news that the ark of God had been taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, because her [labor] pains began.
4:20:And about the time of her death [following the sudden birth] the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay any attention.
4:21:And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has left Israel,” because the ark of God had been taken and because of [the deaths of] her father-in-law and her husband.
4:22:She said, “The glory has left Israel, for the ark of God has been taken.”
5:1:Capture of the Ark Provokes God
Then the Philistines took the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
5:2:They took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it beside [the image of] Dagon [their chief idol].
5:3:When the people of Ashdod got up early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place.
5:4:But when they got up early the next morning, behold, Dagon had [again] fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and his head and both palms of his hands were [lying] cut off on the threshold; only the trunk [portion] of [the idol of] Dagon was left on him.
5:5:This is the reason neither the priests of Dagon nor any who enter Dagon’s house step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
5:6:Then the hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He caused them to be dumbfounded and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.
5:7:When the men of Ashdod saw what had happened, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.”
5:8:So they sent word and gathered all the lords (governors) of the Philistines to them and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” So they took the ark of the God of Israel there.
5:9:But it happened that after they had taken it to Gath, the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing an extremely great panic [because of the deaths from the plague], for He struck the people of the city, both young and old, and tumors broke out on them.
5:10:So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel [from Gath] to us, to kill us and our people.”
5:11:So they sent word and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel; let it be returned to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly panic throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy (severe) there.
5:12:The men who had not died were stricken with tumors and the cry of the city [for help] went up to heaven.
6:1:The Ark Returned to Israel
Now the ark of the Lord had been in the country of the Philistines for seven months.
6:2:And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners (seers), saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Let us know how we can send it back to its place.”
6:3:They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty [without a gift]; but be sure to return [it] to Him [together with] a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”
6:4:Then they said, “What shall the guilt offering be which we shall return to Him?” They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords (governors) of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords.
6:5:“So you shall make replicas of your tumors and of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand [of judgment] on you and your gods and your land.
6:6:“Why then do you harden your hearts [allowing pride to cause your downfall] just as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them and mocked them, did they not allow the people [of Israel] to go, and they departed?
6:7:“Now then, make a new cart and prepare two milk cows on which a yoke has never been placed; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves back home, away from them.
6:8:“Then take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a guilt offering in a box beside it. Then send it away [without a driver].
6:9:“But watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then [you will know that] He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; this disaster happened to us by chance.”
6:10:And the men did so, and took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and corralled their calves at home.
6:11:They put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the box containing the golden mice and the replicas of their tumors.
6:12:And the cows went straight toward Beth-shemesh along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn away to the right or the left. And the Philistine lords (governors) followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.
6:13:Now the men of Beth-shemesh were gathering their wheat harvest in the valley, and they looked up and saw the ark and rejoiced to see it.
6:14:The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A large stone was there; and the men split up the wood of the cart [for firewood] and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.
6:15:The Levites had taken down the ark of the Lord and the box beside it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices that day to the Lord.
6:16:When the five lords of the Philistines saw what happened, they returned to Ekron that day.
6:17:These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath and one for Ekron [the five chief cities of the Philistines];
6:18:also the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and [unwalled] country villages. The large stone on which the Levites set the ark of the Lord remains a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.
6:19:The Lord struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck down 50,070 men among the people, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.
6:20:The men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?”
6:21:So they sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you.”
7:1:Rescue from the Philistines
So the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and they consecrated Eleazar his son to care for the ark of the Lord.
7:2:And from that day the ark remained in Kiriath-jearim for a very long time, for it was twenty years [until the reign of King David]; and all the house of Israel lamented (wailed) and grieved after the Lord.
7:3:Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth (pagan goddesses) from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only; and He will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.”
7:4:So the Israelites removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the Lord alone.
7:5:Samuel said, “Gather all Israel together at Mizpah and I will pray to the Lord for you.”
7:6:So they gathered at Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.
7:7:Now when the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the lords (governors) of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the Israelites heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
7:8:And the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, so that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
7:9:So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel and the Lord answered him.
7:10:As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines approached for the battle against Israel. Then the Lord thundered with a great voice that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated and fled before Israel.
7:11:And the men of Israel came out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as [the territory] below Beth-car.
7:12:Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it Ebenezer (stone of help), saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
7:13:So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come anymore into Israelite territory. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
7:14:The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered the cities’ territory from the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
7:15:Samuel’s Ministry
Now Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
7:16:He used to go annually on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places.
7:17:Then he would return to Ramah, because his home was there; and there he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
8:1:Israel Demands a King
And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.
8:2:Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in Beersheba.
8:3:His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
8:4:Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
8:5:and said to him, “Look, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint us a king to judge us [and rule over us] like all the other nations.”
8:6:But their demand displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge and rule over us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord.
8:7:The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being King over them.
8:8:Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have abandoned (rejected) Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also.
8:9:So now listen to their voice; only solemnly warn them and tell them the ways of the king who will reign over them.”
8:10:Warning concerning a King
So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.
8:11:He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them for himself to his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots.
8:12:He will appoint them for himself to be commanders over thousands and over fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and equipment for his chariots.
8:13:He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.
8:14:He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants.
8:15:He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.
8:16:He will take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work.
8:17:He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves shall be his servants.
8:18:Then you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you on that day [because you have rejected Him as King].”
8:19:Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us,
8:20:so that we too may be like all the nations [around us], that our king may judge [and govern] us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
8:21:Samuel had heard all the words of the people and repeated them to the Lord.
8:22:And the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to their request and appoint a king for them.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go, each man to his own city.”
9:1:Saul’s Search
There was a man of [the tribe of] Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of influence and wealth.
9:2:Kish had a son named Saul, a choice and handsome man; among the sons of Israel there was not a man more handsome than he. From his shoulders and up he was [a head] taller than any of the people.
9:3:Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, had wandered off and were lost. Kish said to his son Saul, “Please take one of the servants with you and arise, go look for the donkeys.”
9:4:And they passed through the hill country of Ephraim and the land of Shalishah, but did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there and the land of the Benjamites, but they [still] did not find them.
9:5:When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us return, otherwise my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and become anxious about us.”
9:6:The servant said to him, “Look here, in this city there is a man of God, and the man is held in honor; everything that he says comes true. Now let us go there; perhaps he can advise us about our journey [and tell us where we should go].”
9:7:Then Saul said to his servant, “But look, if we go [to see him], what shall we bring to the man? For the bread from our sacks is gone and there is no gift to bring to the man of God. What do we have [to offer]?”
9:8:The servant replied again to Saul, “Here in my hand I have a quarter of a shekel of silver; I will give that to the man of God, and he will advise us as to [where we should go on] our journey [to find the donkeys].”
9:9:(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say, “Come, let us go to the seer”; for he who is called a prophet today was formerly called a seer.)
9:10:Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was living.
9:11:As they went up the hill to the city, they met some young women going out to draw water, and said to them, “Is the seer (prophet) here?”
9:12:They answered them, “He is; look, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today because the people have a sacrifice on the high place today.
9:13:As you enter the city you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat, for the people will not eat until he comes, because he must ask the blessing on the sacrifice; afterward, those who are invited will eat. So go up now, for about now you will find him.”
9:14:So they went up to the city. And as they came into the city, there was Samuel coming out toward them to go up to the high place.
9:15:God’s Choice for King
Now a day before Saul came, the Lord had informed Samuel [of this], saying,
9:16:“About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him as leader over My people Israel; and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon [the distress of] My people, because their cry [for help] has come to Me.”
9:17:When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, “There is the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall rule over My people [as their king].”
9:18:Then Saul approached Samuel in the [city] gate and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”
9:19:Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go on ahead of me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and in the morning I will let you go, and will tell you all that is on your mind.
9:20:As for your donkeys which were lost three days ago, do not be concerned about them, for they have been found. And for whom are all things that are desirable in Israel? Are they not for you and for all your father’s household (family)?”
9:21:Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And is not my family the smallest of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken this way to me [as if I were very important]?”
9:22:Then Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall [at the high place] and gave them a place [to sit] at the head of the persons—about thirty men—who were invited [while the rest ate outside].
9:23:Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the [priests’] portion that I gave you, regarding which I told you, ‘Set it aside.’”
9:24:Then the cook lifted up the leg (thigh) with the meat that was on it [indicating that it was the priest’s honored portion] and placed it before Saul. Samuel said, “Here is what has been reserved [for you]. Set it before you and eat, because it has been kept for you until the appointed time, ever since I invited the people.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
9:25:When they came down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof [of his house].
9:26:They got up early [the next day]; and at dawn Samuel called Saul [who was sleeping] on the roof, saying, “Get up, so that I may send you on your way.” Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went outside.
9:27:As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us so that he may pass by but you stand still now so that I may proclaim the word of God to you.”
10:1:Saul among Prophets
Then Samuel took the flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has the Lord not anointed you as ruler over His inheritance (Israel)?
10:2:When you leave me today, you will meet two men beside Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; they will say to you, ‘The donkeys you went to look for have been found. And your father has stopped caring about them and is worried about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’
10:3:Then you will go on further from there, and you will come to the terebinth tree of Tabor, and three men going up to [sacrifice to] God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine.
10:4:They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand.
10:5:After that you will come to the hill of God where the garrison of the Philistines is; and when you come there to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place [of worship] with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, and they will be prophesying.
10:6:Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you will prophesy with them, and you will be changed into another man.
10:7:When these signs come to you, do for yourself whatever the situation requires, for God is with you.
10:8:You shall go down ahead of me to Gilgal; and behold, I will be coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you must do.”
10:9:Then it happened when Saul turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came to pass that day.
10:10:When they came to the hill [Gibeah], behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came on him mightily, and he prophesied [under divine guidance] among them.
10:11:Now when all who knew Saul previously saw that he actually prophesied now [by inspiration] with the prophets, the people said one to another, “What has happened to [Saul, who is nobody but] the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
10:12:And a man from there answered, “But who is the father of the others?” So it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
10:13:When Saul had finished prophesying, he went to the high place [of worship].
10:14:Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And Saul said, “To look for the donkeys. And when we saw that they were nowhere to be found, we went to Samuel [for help].”
10:15:Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me, what did Samuel say to you?”
10:16:And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned.
10:17:Saul Publicly Chosen King
Then Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah,
10:18:and he said to Israel, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought Israel up from Egypt, and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’
10:19:But today you have rejected your God, who Himself saves you from all your disasters and distresses; yet you have said, ‘No! Set a king over us.’ Now then, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your families (clans).”
10:20:And when Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot.
10:21:Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families, and the family of Matri was chosen by lot. And Saul the son of Kish was chosen by lot; but when they looked for him, he could not be found.
10:22:So they inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?” And the Lord answered, “He is there, hiding himself by the provisions and supplies.”
10:23:So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.
10:24:Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? For there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!”
10:25:Then Samuel told the people the requirements of the kingdom, and wrote them in a book and placed it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home.
10:26:Saul also went home to Gibeah; and the brave men whose hearts God had touched went with him.
10:27:But some worthless men said, “How can this man save and rescue us?” And they regarded Saul with contempt and did not bring him a gift. But he ignored the insult and kept silent.
11:1:Saul Defeats the Ammonites
Now Nahash the Ammonite [king] went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty [of peace] with us and we will serve you.”
11:2:But Nahash the Ammonite told them, “I will make a treaty with you on this condition, that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, and make it a disgrace upon all Israel.”
11:3:The elders of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Give us seven days so that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out [and surrender] to you.”
11:4:Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told the news to the people; and all the people raised their voices and wept aloud.
11:5:Now Saul was coming out of the field behind the oxen, and he said, “What is the matter with the people that they are weeping?” So they told him about the report of the men of Jabesh.
11:6:The Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became extremely angry.
11:7:He took a team of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out to follow Saul and Samuel, the same shall be done to his oxen.” Then fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out [united] as one man [with one purpose].
11:8:He assembled and counted them at Bezek; and the sons of Israel numbered 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000.
11:9:They said to the messengers who had come, “You shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have help [against the Ammonites].’” So the messengers came and reported this to the men of Jabesh; and they were overjoyed.
11:10:So the men of Jabesh said [to Nahash the Ammonite], “Tomorrow we will come out to you [to surrender], and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.”
11:11:The next morning Saul put the men into three companies; and they entered the [Ammonites’] camp during the [darkness of the early] morning watch and killed the Ammonites until the heat of the day; and the survivors were scattered, and no two of them were left together.
11:12:The people said to Samuel, “Who is the one who said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, and we will put them to death.”
11:13:But Saul said, “No man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has brought victory to Israel.”
11:14:Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there restore the kingdom.”
11:15:So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they also sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
12:1:Samuel Addresses Israel
Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice in everything that you have said to me and have appointed a king over you.
12:2:And now, here is the king walking before you. As for me, I am old and gray, and here are my sons with you. I have walked before you from my childhood to this day.
12:3:Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and [Saul] His anointed [if I have done someone wrong]. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes [to the truth]? [Tell me and] I will restore it to you.”
12:4:They said, “You have not exploited us or oppressed us or taken anything at all from a man’s hand.”
12:5:Samuel said to them, “The Lord is a witness against you, and [Saul] His anointed is a witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they answered, “He is a witness.”
12:6:Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers (ancestors) up from the land of Egypt.
12:7:Now then, take your stand, so that I may plead and contend with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which He did for you and for your fathers.
12:8:When Jacob [and his sons] had come into Egypt [and later when the Egyptians oppressed them] and your fathers cried out to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
12:9:But when they forgot the Lord their God, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of Hazor’s army, and into the hand of the Philistines and of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.
12:10:They cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘We have sinned because we have abandoned (rejected) the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now rescue us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’
12:11:Then the Lord sent Jerubbaal (Gideon) and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and He rescued you from the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in security.
12:12:The King Confirmed
But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites had come against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us’—although the Lord your God was your King.
12:13:Now therefore, here is [Saul] the king whom you have chosen, and for whom you asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you.
12:14:If you will fear the Lord [with awe and profound reverence] and serve Him and listen to His voice and not rebel against His commandment, then both you and your king will follow the Lord your God [and it will be well].
12:15:But if you do not listen to the Lord’s voice, but rebel against His command, then the hand of the Lord will be against you [to punish you], as it was against your fathers.
12:16:So now, take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes.
12:17:Is it not [the beginning of the] wheat harvest today? I will call to the Lord and He will send thunder and rain; then you will know [without any doubt], and see that your evil which you have done is great in the sight of the Lord by asking for yourselves a king.”
12:18:So Samuel called to the Lord [in prayer], and He sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
12:19:Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants, so that we will not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil—to ask for a king for ourselves.”
12:20:Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid. You have [indeed] done all this evil; yet do not turn away from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
12:21:You must not turn away, for then you would go after futile things which cannot profit or rescue, because they are futile.
12:22:The Lord will not abandon His people for His great name’s sake, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.
12:23:Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.
12:24:Only fear the Lord [with awe and profound reverence] and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.
12:25:But if you still do evil, both you and your king will be swept away [to destruction].”
13:1:War with the Philistines
Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty-two years over Israel.
13:2:Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel; of whom 2,000 were with him in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. But he sent the rest of the people away, each one to his own tent.
13:3:Jonathan attacked and defeated the Philistine garrison which was at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.”
13:4:All Israel heard that Saul had defeated the Philistine garrison, and also that Israel had become despicable to the Philistines. And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
13:5:Now the Philistines gathered to fight against Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and troops in multitude, like sand on the seashore. They came up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.
13:6:When the men of Israel saw that they were in a tight situation (for their troops were hard-pressed), they hid in caves, in thickets, in cellars, and in [dry] cisterns (pits).
13:7:Also some of the Hebrews had crossed the [river] Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling [in fear and anticipation].
13:8:Now Saul waited seven days, according to the appointed time which Samuel had set, but Samuel had not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering away from Saul.
13:9:So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering [which he was forbidden to do].
13:10:As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel finally came; Saul went out to meet and to welcome him.
13:11:But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “Since I saw that the people were scattering away from me, and that you did not come within the appointed time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash,
13:12:therefore, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked for the Lord’s favor [by making supplication to Him].’ So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”
13:13:Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for [if you had obeyed] the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
13:14:But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man (David) after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as leader and ruler over His people, because you have not kept (obeyed) what the Lord commanded you.”
13:15:Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul assembled and counted the people who were still with him, [only] about six hundred [fighting] men.
13:16:Saul and his son Jonathan and the people with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Michmash.
13:17:And the raiding party came from the Philistine camp in three companies: one company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual,
13:18:another company turned toward Beth-horon, and another toward the border overlooking the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
13:19:Now no blacksmith (metal-worker) could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears.”
13:20:So all [the men of] Israel went down to the Philistines, each to get his plowshare, pick, axe, or sickle sharpened.
13:21:The fee [for sharpening] was a pim (two-thirds of a shekel) for the plowshares, the picks, the pitchforks, and the axes, and to straighten the goads (cattle prods).
13:22:So it came about on the day of battle that neither sword nor spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan; but Saul and Jonathan his son had them.
13:23:And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass at Michmash.
14:1:Jonathan’s Victory
One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to his young armor bearer, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.
14:2:Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron; and with him were about six hundred men,
14:3:and Ahijah the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest at Shiloh, was wearing the ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.
14:4:Between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to get to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side; one [crag] was named Bozez, and the other, Seneh.
14:5:The one crag was on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.
14:6:Jonathan said to his young armor bearer, “Come, let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For there is nothing to prevent the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”
14:7:And his armor bearer said to him, “Do everything that is in your heart (mind); here I am with you in whatever you think [best].”
14:8:Jonathan said, “See now, we are going to cross over to the [Philistine] men and reveal ourselves to them.
14:9:If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand in our place and not go up to them.
14:10:But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will go up, for the Lord has handed them over to us; and this shall be the sign to us.”
14:11:When both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.”
14:12:So the men of the garrison responded to Jonathan and his armor bearer, “Come up to us and we will tell you something.” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Climb up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hands of Israel.”
14:13:Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, his armor bearer following after him. The enemy fell before Jonathan [in combat], and his armor bearer killed some of them after him.
14:14:That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty men within about half a [plow] furrow in a plot of land [the area of which a yoke of oxen could plow in a day].
14:15:And there was trembling in the [Philistine] camp, in the field, and among all the people; even the garrison and the raiding party trembled [in fear], and the earth quaked and it became a trembling and terror from God.
14:16:Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude melted away and they went here and there.
14:17:Then Saul said to the people with him, “Take a count and see who has left us.” When they had taken a count, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were missing.
14:18:Saul said to Ahijah [the priest], “Bring the ark of God here.” For at that time the ark of God was with the sons of Israel.
14:19:While Saul talked to the priest, the commotion in the Philistine camp continued and increased, so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
14:20:Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle; and behold, every [Philistine] man’s sword was against his companion, in wild confusion.
14:21:Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines previously, who went up with them all around in the camp, they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.
14:22:When all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, they too pursued them closely in the battle.
14:23:So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle spread beyond Beth-aven.
14:24:Saul’s Foolish Order
But the men of Israel were hard-pressed that day, because Saul had put the people under a curse, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food before evening, and before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the people ate any food.
14:25:All the people of the land came to a forest, and there was honey on the ground.
14:26:When the people entered the forest, the honey was dripping, but no man put his hand to his mouth [to taste it], because the people feared the oath [of Saul].
14:27:But Jonathan had not heard when his father put the people under the oath. So he put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into a honeycomb, and then he put his hand to his mouth, and his energy was restored.
14:28:But one of the people told him, “Your father strictly put the people under an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today.’” And the people were exhausted [and hungry].
14:29:Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land [with his foolish curse]. See how my energy is restored because I tasted a little of this honey.
14:30:How much better [it would have been] if only the people had eaten freely today from the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great.”
14:31:They struck the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very tired.
14:32:[When night came and the oath ended] the people rushed greedily upon the spoil. They took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and they ate them [raw] with the blood [still in them].
14:33:Then Saul was told, “Look, the people are sinning against the Lord by eating [the meat] with the blood.” And he said, “You have violated [the Law] and acted treacherously; roll a large stone to me today.”
14:34:Saul said, “Spread out among the people and tell them, ‘Each one of you bring me his ox or his sheep, and butcher it [properly] here and eat; and do not sin against the Lord by eating [the meat with] the blood.’” So that night each one brought his ox with him and butchered it there.
14:35:And Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first altar that he built to the Lord.
14:36:Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them [alive].” They said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” Then the priest said, “Let us approach God here.”
14:37:Saul asked [counsel] of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You hand them over to Israel?” But He did not answer him that day.
14:38:Then Saul said, “Come here, all you who are leaders of the people, and let us find out how this sin [causing God’s silence] happened today.
14:39:For as the Lord lives, who saves Israel, for even if the guilt is in my son Jonathan, he shall most certainly die.” But not one of all the people answered him.
14:40:Then he said to all the Israelites, “You shall be on one side; I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.” The people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.”
14:41:Therefore, Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, “Give a perfect lot [identifying the transgressor].” Then Saul and Jonathan were selected [by lot], but the other men went free.
14:42:Saul said, “Cast [lots] between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was selected.
14:43:Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” So Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must die!”
14:44:Saul answered, “May God do so [to me], and more also [if I do not keep my word], for you shall most certainly die, Jonathan.”
14:45:But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan, who has brought about this great victory in Israel, be put to death? Far from it! As the Lord lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people rescued Jonathan and he was not put to death.
14:46:Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.
14:47:Constant Warfare
When Saul assumed control of the kingdom of Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side: Moab, the sons (descendants) of Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment.
14:48:He acted valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, and rescued Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.
14:49:Now Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua. The names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was Merab, and the name of the younger, Michal.
14:50:The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. The commander of his army was named Abner, the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.
14:51:Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.
14:52:Now the war against the Philistines was severe (brutal, relentless) all the days of Saul; and whenever Saul saw any mighty or courageous man, he recruited him for his staff.
15:1:Saul’s Disobedience
Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now listen and pay close attention to the words of the Lord.
15:2:Thus says the Lord of hosts (armies), ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way when Israel came up from Egypt.
15:3:Now go and strike Amalek and completely destroy everything that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
15:4:So Saul summoned the people and numbered them at Telaim—200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.
15:5:Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.
15:6:Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, leave, go down from the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they went up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
15:7:Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt.
15:8:He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, though he totally destroyed all [the rest of] the people with the sword.
15:9:Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and everything that was good, and they were not willing to destroy them entirely; but everything that was undesirable or worthless they destroyed completely.
15:10:Samuel Rebukes Saul
Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,
15:11:“I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” Samuel was angry [over Saul’s failure] and he cried out to the Lord all night.
15:12:When Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul, he was told, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up for himself a monument [commemorating his victory], then he turned and went on and went down to Gilgal.”
15:13:So Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord. I have carried out the command of the Lord.”
15:14:But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
15:15:Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have destroyed completely.”
15:16:Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” Saul said to him, “Speak.”
15:17:Samuel said, “Is it not true that even though you were small (insignificant) in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel,
15:18:and the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, totally destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are eliminated.’
15:19:Why did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but [instead] swooped down on the plunder [with shouts of victory] and did evil in the sight of the Lord?”
15:20:Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites.
15:21:“But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things [that were] to be totally destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
15:22:Samuel said,
“Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As in obedience to the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed [is better] than the fat of rams.
15:23:“For rebellion is as [serious as] the sin of divination (fortune-telling),
And disobedience is as [serious as] false religion and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you as king.”
15:24:Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
15:25:Now, please, pardon my sin and return with me, so that I may worship the Lord.”
15:26:But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
15:27:As Samuel turned to go [away], Saul grabbed the hem of his robe [to stop him], and it tore.
15:28:So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.
15:29:Also the Splendor and Glory and Eminence of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”
15:30:Saul said, “I have sinned; but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.”
15:31:So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
15:32:Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death has come to an end.”
15:33:Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
15:34:Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.
15:35:Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
16:1:Samuel Goes to Bethlehem
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve for Saul, when I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have chosen a king for Myself among his sons.”
16:2:But Samuel said, “How can I go? When Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer from the herd with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’
16:3:You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do [after that]; and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I designate.”
16:4:So Samuel did what the Lord said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “Do you come in peace?”
16:5:And he said, “In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
16:6:So it happened, when they had come, he looked at Eliab [the eldest son] and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.”
16:7:But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
16:8:Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass before Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”
16:9:Next Jesse had Shammah pass by. And Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen him either.”
16:10:Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen [any of] these.”
16:11:Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” Jesse replied, “There is still one left, the youngest; he is tending the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send word and bring him; because we will not sit down [to eat the sacrificial meal] until he comes here.”
16:12:David Anointed
So Jesse sent word and brought him in. Now he had a ruddy complexion, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. The Lord said [to Samuel], “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.”
16:13:Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
16:14:Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented and terrified him.
16:15:Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you.
16:16:“Let our lord now command your servants who are here before you to find a man who plays skillfully on the harp; and when the evil spirit from God is on you, he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.”
16:17:So Saul told his servants, “Find me a man who plays well and bring him to me.”
16:18:One of the young men said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a brave and competent man, a warrior, discerning (prudent, eloquent) in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him.”
16:19:So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the flock.”
16:20:Jesse took a donkey [loaded with] bread and a jug of wine and a young goat, and sent them to Saul with David his son.
16:21:Then David came to Saul and attended him. Saul loved him greatly and [later] David became his armor bearer.
16:22:Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Please let David be my attendant, for he has found favor in my sight.”
16:23:So it came about that whenever the [evil] spirit from God was on Saul, David took a harp and played it with his hand; so Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would leave him.
17:1:Goliath’s Challenge
Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle and were assembled at Socoh, which belongs to Judah; and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
17:2:Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and they camped in the Valley of Elah, and assembled in battle formation to meet the Philistines.
17:3:The Philistines were standing on the mountain on one side and Israel was standing on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.
17:4:Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
17:5:He had a bronze helmet on his head, and wore a coat of scale-armor (overlapping metal plates) which weighed 5,000 shekels of bronze.
17:6:He had bronze shin protectors on his legs and a bronze javelin hung between his shoulders.
17:7:The [wooden] shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; the blade-head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And a shield-bearer walked in front of him.
17:8:Goliath stood and shouted to the battle lines of Israel, saying to them, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not the Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and have him come down to me.
17:9:If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.”
17:10:Again the Philistine said, “I defy the battle lines of Israel this day; give me a man so that we may fight together.”
17:11:When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
17:12:Now David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men.
17:13:His three older sons had followed Saul into battle. The names of his three sons who went to battle were Eliab, the firstborn; next, Abinadab; and third, Shammah.
17:14:David was the youngest. Now the three oldest followed Saul,
17:15:but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock at Bethlehem.
17:16:The Philistine [Goliath] came out morning and evening, and took his stand for forty days.
17:17:Then Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread and run quickly to the camp to your brothers.
17:18:Also take these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of the unit. See how your brothers are doing and bring back news of them.
17:19:Now they are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”
17:20:David Accepts the Challenge
So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, picked up the provisions and went just as Jesse had directed him. And he came to the encampment as the army was going out in battle formation shouting the battle cry.
17:21:Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle formation, army against army.
17:22:Then David left his provisions in the care of the supply keeper, and ran to the ranks and came and greeted his brothers.
17:23:As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words again; and David heard him.
17:24:When the men of Israel all saw the man, they fled from him, and were very frightened.
17:25:The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. The king will reward the man who kills him with great riches, and will give him his daughter [in marriage] and make his father’s house (family) free [from taxes and service] in Israel.”
17:26:Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes the disgrace [of his taunting] from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he has taunted and defied the armies of the living God?”
17:27:The men told him, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
17:28:Now Eliab his oldest brother heard what he said to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said, “Why have you come down here? With whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption (overconfidence) and the evil of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.”
17:29:But David said, “What have I done now? Was it not just a [harmless] question?”
17:30:Then David turned away from Eliab to someone else and asked the same question; and the people gave him the same answer as the first time.
17:31:David Kills Goliath
When the words that David spoke were heard, the men reported them to Saul, and he sent for him.
17:32:David said to Saul, “Let no man’s courage fail because of him (Goliath). Your servant will go out and fight with this Philistine.”
17:33:Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight him. For you are [only] a young man and he has been a warrior since his youth.”
17:34:But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,
17:35:I went out after it and attacked it and rescued the lamb from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I seized it by its whiskers and struck and killed it.
17:36:Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted and defied the armies of the living God.”
17:37:David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”
17:38:Then Saul dressed David in his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and put a coat of mail (armor) on him.
17:39:Then David fastened his sword over his armor and tried to walk, [but he could not,] because he was not used to them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, because I am not used to them.” So David took them off.
17:40:Then he took his [shepherd’s] staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the stream bed, and put them in his shepherd’s bag which he had, that is, in his shepherd’s pouch. With his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
17:41:The Philistine came and approached David, with his shield-bearer in front of him.
17:42:When the Philistine looked around and saw David, he derided and disparaged him because he was [just] a young man, with a ruddy complexion, and a handsome appearance.
17:43:The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with [shepherd’s] staffs?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
17:44:The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.”
17:45:Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.
17:46:This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
17:47:and that this entire assembly may know that the Lord does not save with the sword or with the spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will hand you over to us.”
17:48:When the Philistine rose and came forward to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
17:49:David put his hand into his bag and took out a stone and slung it, and it struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.
17:50:So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck down the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand.
17:51:So he ran and stood over the Philistine, grasped his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their [mighty] champion was dead, they fled.
17:52:The men of Israel and Judah stood with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance to the valley and the gates of Ekron. And the [fatally] wounded Philistines fell along the way to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron.
17:53:The sons of Israel returned from their pursuit of the Philistines and plundered their camp.
17:54:Then David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.
17:55:When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the captain of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” And Abner answered, “By your life, O king, I do not know.”
17:56:The king said, “Ask whose son the young man is.”
17:57:When David returned from killing [Goliath] the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
17:58:Saul asked him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”
18:1:Jonathan and David
When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bonded to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.
18:2:Saul took David that day and did not let him return to his father’s house.
18:3:Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.
18:4:Jonathan stripped himself of the outer robe that he was wearing and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword, his bow, and his belt.
18:5:So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and he acted wisely and prospered; and Saul appointed him over the men of war. And it pleased all the people and also Saul’s servants.
18:6:As they were coming [home], when David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul with tambourines, [songs of] joy, and musical instruments.
18:7:The women sang as they played and danced, saying,
“Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.”
18:8:Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed [only] thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?”
18:9:Saul looked at David with suspicion [and jealously] from that day forward.
18:10:Saul Turns against David
Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul, and he raved [madly] inside his house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and there was a spear in Saul’s hand.
18:11:Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.
18:12:Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul.
18:13:So Saul had David removed from his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and he publicly associated with the people.
18:14:David acted wisely and prospered in all his ways, and the Lord was with him.
18:15:When Saul saw that he was prospering greatly, he was afraid of him.
18:16:But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he publicly associated with them.
18:17:Then Saul said to David, “Behold I will give you my older daughter Merab as a wife; only be brave for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”
18:18:David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?”
18:19:But at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, she was [instead] given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.
18:20:David Marries Saul’s Daughter
Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David; and when they told Saul, it pleased him.
18:21:Saul said, “I will give her to him so that she may become a snare (bad influence, source of trouble) to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David for a second time, “You shall be my son-in-law today.”
18:22:Then Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David secretly, saying, ‘Listen, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now then, become the king’s son-in-law.’”
18:23:So Saul’s servants spoke these words to David. But David said, “Is it a trivial thing in your sight to become a king’s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man and insignificant?”
18:24:The servants of Saul told him what David said.
18:25:Then Saul said, “This is what you shall say to David: ‘The king wants no dowry except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul’s intention was to cause David’s death at the hand of the Philistines.
18:26:When his servants told David these words, it pleased him to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the time [for the marriage] arrived,
18:27:David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred Philistine men, and David brought their foreskins [as proof of death] and presented every one of them to the king, so that he might become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave him Michal, his [younger] daughter, as a wife.
18:28:When Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, his daughter, loved him,
18:29:Saul was even more afraid of David; and Saul became David’s constant enemy.
18:30:Then the Philistine commanders (princes) came out to battle, and it happened as often as they did, that David acted more wisely and had more success than all Saul’s servants. So his name was highly esteemed.
19:1:David Protected from Saul
Now Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David, but Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David.
19:2:So he told David, “Saul my father is seeking to kill you. Now then, please be on guard in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself.
19:3:As for me, I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you, and if I learn anything, then I will tell you.”
19:4:Then Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “May the king not sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you.
19:5:For he took his life in his hand and killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. Why then would you sin against innocent blood by killing David without a cause?”
19:6:Saul listened to Jonathan and swore [an oath], “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.”
19:7:So Jonathan called David and told him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence [serving him] as previously.
19:8:Then there was war again, and David went out and fought with the Philistines and defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled before him.
19:9:Then an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand.
19:10:Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence, so that Saul only stuck the spear into the wall. Then David fled and escaped that night.
19:11:Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch for him, so that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”
19:12:So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled and escaped.
19:13:And Michal took the household idol and laid it on the bed, put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes.
19:14:And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”
19:15:Then Saul sent the messengers [again] to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed [if necessary], so that I may kill him.”
19:16:When the messengers came in, there was the household idol on the bed with a quilt of goats’ hair at its head.
19:17:Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”
19:18:So David fled and escaped and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him everything that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth.
19:19:Saul was told, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.”
19:20:Then Saul sent messengers to take David; but when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came on the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied.
19:21:When Saul was informed, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again, the third time, and they prophesied as well.
19:22:Then Saul went to Ramah himself and came to the great well that is in Secu; and he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And he was told, “They are at Naioth [with the prophets] in Ramah.”
19:23:So he went on to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him too, and he went along continually prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah.
19:24:He also took off his [royal] robes [and armor] and prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and night. So they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
20:1:David and Jonathan’s Covenant
David fled from Naioth in Ramah and he came and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? What is my sin before (against) your father, that he is seeking my life?”
20:2:Jonathan said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing important or insignificant without telling me. So why would he hide this thing from me? It is not so!”
20:3:But David vowed again, saying “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be worried.’ But truly as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is hardly a step between me and death.”
20:4:Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
20:5:David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the New Moon [observance], and I should sit at the table to eat [the sacrificial meal] with the king; but let me go, so that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening.
20:6:If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked permission from me to go to Bethlehem, his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the entire family.’
20:7:If he says, ‘All right,’ your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, then be certain that he has decided on evil.
20:8:Therefore show kindness to your servant, because you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is iniquity (guilt) in me, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father [to be killed]?”
20:9:Jonathan said, “Far be it from [happening to] you! In fact, if I indeed learn that my father has decided to harm you, would I not tell you about it?”
20:10:Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
20:11:Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field [to talk].” So they went out to the field.
20:12:Then Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, is my witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he has a good feeling toward you, shall I not then send word to you and make it known to you?
20:13:But if it pleases my father to do you harm, may the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more if I do not let you know about it and send you away, so that you may go in safety. And may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father.
20:14:If I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness and faithfulness of the Lord, so that I will not die?
20:15:“You shall never cut off your lovingkindness and faithfulness from my house, not even when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”
20:16:So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David. [He added,] “May the Lord require it at the hands of David’s enemies. [that is, hold them accountable for any harm they inflict on David].”
20:17:Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, for Jonathan loved him as himself.
20:18:Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon [festival], and you will be missed because your seat will be empty.
20:19:When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on that eventful day [when my father tried to kill you], and shall stay by the stone Ezel.
20:20:I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a target.
20:21:And I will send a boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I specifically say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,’ then come [back to my father’s table]; for it is safe for you and there is no danger, as the Lord lives.
20:22:But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away.
20:23:As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever [making sure that we each keep our word].”
20:24:So David hid in the field; and when the New Moon [festival] came, the king sat down to eat food.
20:25:The king sat on his seat as on previous occasions, on his seat by the wall; then Jonathan stood up, and Abner [his commander] sat down by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty.
20:26:Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “It is an incident [of some kind] and he is not [ceremonially] clean—surely he is unclean.”
20:27:But on the next day, the second day of the new moon, David’s place was empty [again]; and Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”
20:28:Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem.
20:29:He said, ‘Please let me go because our family is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to attend. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me slip away so that I may see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”
20:30:Saul Is Angry with Jonathan
Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a wayward, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse [over me] to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?
20:31:For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you [as heir to the throne] nor your kingdom will be established. So now, send [someone] and bring him to me, for he must die.”
20:32:Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why must he be put to death? What has he done?”
20:33:Then Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him down, so Jonathan knew [without any doubt] that his father had decided to put David to death.
20:34:Then Jonathan stood up from the table in the heat of anger, and ate no food on that second day of the new moon (month), for he grieved and worried about David because his father had dishonored him.
20:35:In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the meeting with David, and a young boy was with him.
20:36:And he said to his boy, “Run, please find the arrows which I am about to shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow past him.
20:37:When the boy came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called to him, “Is the arrow not beyond you?”
20:38:And Jonathan called out after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy picked up the arrow and came back to his master.
20:39:But the boy was not aware of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter.
20:40:Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, take them to the city.”
20:41:As soon as the boy was gone, David got up from the south side [beside the mound of stones] and fell on his face to the ground [in submission and respect], and bowed three times. Then they kissed one another and wept together, but David wept more.
20:42:Jonathan told David, “Go in safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and yours forever.’” Then he stood and left, while Jonathan went into the city.
21:1:David Takes Consecrated Bread
Then David went to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling [in fear] to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?”
21:2:David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has told me, ‘Let no one know anything about the matter for which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you. I have directed the young men to a certain place.’
21:3:Now what [food] do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”
21:4:The priest answered David, “There is no ordinary (unconsecrated) bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; [you may have it] if only the young men have kept themselves from women.”
21:5:David answered the priest, “Be assured that women have been kept from us in these three days since I set out, and the bodies of the young men were consecrated (ceremonially clean), although it was an ordinary (unconsecrated) journey; so how much more will their vessels be holy today?”
21:6:So the priest gave him the consecrated bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the Lord in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away.
21:7:Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.
21:8:David said to Ahimelech, “Do you not have a sword or spear here on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my [other] weapons with me, because the king’s business was urgent.”
21:9:Then the priest said, “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 would take it for yourself, do so. For there is no other here except for it.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”
21:10:Then David arose and fled from Saul that day, and went to Achish king of Gath.
21:11:The servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing in praise of this one as they danced, saying,
‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”
21:12:David took these words to heart and was greatly afraid of Achish king of Gath.
21:13:So [fearing for his life] he changed his behavior in their sight, and acted insanely in their hands, and he scribbled on the doors of the gate, and drooled on his beard.
21:14:Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see that the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me?
21:15:Do I lack madmen, that you bring this one to behave like a madman in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?”
22:1:The Priests Slain at Nob
So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s house heard about it, they went down there to him.
22:2:Everyone who was suffering hardship, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. There were about four hundred men with him.
22:3:And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come [out of Judah] and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.”
22:4:Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.
22:5:Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; leave, and go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went into the forest of Hereth.
22:6:But Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered. Now Saul was in Gibeah, sitting under the tamarisk tree on the high place with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him.
22:7:Saul said to his servants who were standing around him, “Listen now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse also give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all commanders of thousands and hundreds?
22:8:For all of you have conspired against me so that no one informs me when my son [Jonathan] makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you cares about me or informs me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in ambush, as he does this day?”
22:9:Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s servants, replied, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech [the priest] the son of Ahitub.
22:10:Ahimelech inquired of the Lord for him, and gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
22:11:Then the king sent someone to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s household, the priests who were at Nob; and all of them came to the king.
22:12:Then Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” He replied, “Here I am [at your service], my lord.”
22:13:Saul said to him, “Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so he would rebel against me by lying in ambush, as he does this day?”
22:14:Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is as faithful and trustworthy as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and who is captain over your guard [and your confidant], and is honored in your house?
22:15:Did I just begin to inquire of God for him today? Far be it from me! Do not let the king impute any guilt to his servant or to any of the household of my father, for your servant knows nothing at all about this entire matter.”
22:16:But Saul said, “Be assured that you shall die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s household (extended family).”
22:17:And the king said to the guards who stood around him, “Turn around and kill the priests of the Lord, because their loyalty also is with David, and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not inform me.” But the servants of the king were not willing to put out their hands to attack the Lord’s priests.
22:18:So the king said to Doeg, “You turn around and attack the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests, and that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the [priest’s] linen ephod.
22:19:And he struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants; also he struck oxen and donkeys and sheep with the edge of the sword.
22:20:But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to David.
22:21:Abiathar told David that Saul had murdered the Lord’s priests.
22:22:Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would certainly tell Saul. I have brought about the death of everyone in your father’s household (extended family).
22:23:Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life, but you are safe with me.”
23:1:David Rescues Keilah
Then they told David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are plundering (robbing) the threshing floors [of the grain].”
23:2:So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
23:3:But David’s men said to him, “Listen, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the battle lines of the Philistines?”
23:4:Then David inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will hand over the Philistines to you.”
23:5:So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines; he drove away their cattle and struck them with a great slaughter. So David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah.
23:6:When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand.
23:7:Now when Saul was informed that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has handed him over to me, for he shut himself in by entering a city that has double gates and bars.”
23:8:So Saul summoned all the people (soldiers) for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.
23:9:But David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”
23:10:Then David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul intends to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account.
23:11:Will the men of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? O Lord, God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.”
23:12:Then David asked, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?” The Lord said, “They will surrender you.”
23:13:Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and left Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit.
23:14:David stayed in the wilderness in strongholds, in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him.
23:15:Saul Pursues David
Now David became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the Wilderness of Ziph [in the woods] at Horesh.
23:16:And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went [into the woods] to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God.
23:17:He said to him, “Do not be afraid; the hand of my father Saul will not find you. You will be king over Israel and I will be second in command to you; my father Saul knows this too.”
23:18:So the two of them made a covenant before the Lord; and David stayed [in the woods] at Horesh and Jonathan went to his house.
23:19:Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds of Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon?
23:20:Now then, O king, come down [to Ziph] in accordance with all your heart’s desire to do so [and capture him]; and our part shall be to hand him over to the king.”
23:21:Saul said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, because you have had compassion on me.
23:22:Go now, be very persistent and investigate, and see where his haunt is and who has seen him there; for I am told he is very cunning.
23:23:So look, and take note of all the places where he hides and come back to me with the established facts, then I will go with you. If he is [anywhere] in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”
23:24:So they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon.
23:25:Then Saul and his men went to search for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed [there] in the Wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard it, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon.
23:26:Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men to capture them.
23:27:But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, because the Philistines have attacked the land.”
23:28:So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape.
23:29:David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi.
24:1:David Spares Saul’s Life
When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the Wilderness of Engedi.”
24:2:Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to search for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
24:3:On the way he came to the sheepfolds where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the cave’s innermost recesses.
24:4:David’s men said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will hand over your enemy to you, and you shall do to him as seems good to you.’” Then David arose [in the darkness] and stealthily cut off the hem (edge) of Saul’s robe.
24:5:Afterward, David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the hem of Saul’s robe.
24:6:He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, since he is the anointed of the Lord.”
24:7:So David strongly rebuked his men with these words and did not let them rise up against Saul. Saul got up, left the cave and went on his way.
24:8:Then David also got up afterward and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and lay himself face down.
24:9:David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘David seeks to harm you?’
24:10:Behold, your eyes have seen today how the Lord had given you into my hand in the cave. Some told me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not reach out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’
24:11:Look, my father! Indeed, see the hem of your robe in my hand! Since I cut off the hem of your robe and did not kill you, know and understand [without question] that there is no evil or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait to take my life.
24:12:May the Lord judge between me and you; and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you.
24:13:As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you.
24:14:After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue [with three thousand men]? A dead dog, a single flea?
24:15:May the Lord be the judge and render judgment between me and you; and may He see and plead my cause and vindicate me by saving me from your hand.”
24:16:When David had finished saying these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul raised his voice and wept.
24:17:He said to David, “You are more righteous and upright [in God’s eyes] than I; for you have done good to me, but I have done evil to you.
24:18:You have declared today the good that you have done to me, for when the Lord put me into your hand, you did not kill me.
24:19:For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? So may the Lord reward you with good in return for what you have done for me this day.
24:20:Now, behold, I know that you will certainly be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.
24:21:So now swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household (extended family).”
24:22:David gave Saul his oath; and Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the mountain stronghold.
25:1:Samuel’s Death
Now Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him at his house in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.
25:2:Nabal and Abigail
Now there was a man in Maon whose business and possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel
25:3:(now the man’s name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings; he was a Calebite).
25:4:David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
25:5:So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name;
25:6:and this is what you shall say, ‘Have a long life! Peace be to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have.
25:7:Now I have heard that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us and we have not harmed them, nor were they missing anything all the time they were in Carmel.
25:8:Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your sight [and be well-treated], for we have come on a good (festive) day. Please, give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”
25:9:When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David; then they waited.
25:10:But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today, each of whom is breaking away from his master.
25:11:So should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?”
25:12:So David’s young men made their way back and returned; and they came and told him everything that was said [to them by Nabal].
25:13:David said to his men, “Each man put on your sword.” So each man put on his sword. David also put on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed back with the provisions and supplies.
25:14:But one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Listen, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless (greet) our master, and he shouted at them [in contempt].
25:15:But David’s men were very good to us, and we were not harmed or treated badly, nor did we miss anything as long as we were with them, when we were in the fields.
25:16:They were a wall [of protection] to us both night and day, all the time that we were with them tending the sheep.
25:17:Now then, know this and consider what you should do, for evil is [already] planned against our master and against all his household; but he is such a worthless and wicked man that one cannot speak [reasonably] to him.”
25:18:Abigail Intercedes
Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two jugs of wine, five sheep already prepared [for roasting], five measures of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.
25:19:She said to her young men (servants), “Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
25:20:It happened that as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by [way of] the hidden part of the mountain, that suddenly David and his men were coming down toward her, and she met them.
25:21:Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected and guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missing of all that belonged to him; and he has repaid me evil for good.
25:22:May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave [alive] even one male of any who belong to him.”
25:23:When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from the donkey, and kneeled face downward before David and bowed down to the ground [in respect].
25:24:Kneeling at his feet she said, “My lord, let the blame and guilt be on me alone. And please let your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant.
25:25:Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal (fool) is his name and foolishness (stupidity) is with him; but I your maidservant did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.
25:26:So now, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, since the Lord has prevented you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord, be as [self-destructive as] Nabal.
25:27:Now this gift, which your maidservant has brought my lord, let it be given to the young men who accompany and follow my lord.
25:28:Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a secure and enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil will not be found in you all your days.
25:29:Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound in the [precious] bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the lives of your enemies—those He will hurl out as from the center of a sling.
25:30:And it will happen when the Lord does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken (promised) concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel,
25:31:that this [incident] will not cause grief or [bring] a troubled conscience to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember [with favor] your maidservant.”
25:32:David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day.
25:33:And blessed be your discretion and discernment, and blessed be you, who has kept me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself by my own hand.
25:34:Nevertheless, as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has prevented me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, most certainly by the morning light there would not have been left to Nabal so much as one male.”
25:35:So David accepted what she had brought to him and said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and have granted your request.”
25:36:Then Abigail came to Nabal, and he was holding a feast in his house [for the shearers], like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s mood was joyous because he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light.
25:37:But in the morning, when Nabal was sober, and his wife told him these things, his heart died within him and he became [paralyzed and helpless] like a stone.
25:38:About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
25:39:David Marries Abigail
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach [suffered] at the hand of Nabal and has kept His servant from [retaliating with] evil. For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, proposing to take her as his wife.
25:40:When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David sent us to you to take you [to him] to be his wife.”
25:41:And she stood and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is [ready to be] a maid to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.”
25:42:Then Abigail quickly got up, and rode on a donkey, with five of her maidens who attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.
25:43:David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.
25:44:But Saul had given Michal his [younger] daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
26:1:David Again Spares Saul
The Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding on the hill of Hachilah, east of Jeshimon?”
26:2:So Saul arose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, taking with him three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search for David [there] in the wilderness of Ziph.
26:3:Saul camped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road east of Jeshimon, but David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came into the wilderness after him,
26:4:David sent out spies, and he learned that Saul was definitely coming.
26:5:So David arose and went to the place where Saul had camped, and saw the spot where Saul lay, as well as Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army; and Saul was lying inside the circle of the camp, with the army camped around him.
26:6:Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.”
26:7:So David and Abishai went to the army during the night, and there was Saul lying asleep inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head; and Abner and the people were lying around him.
26:8:Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day; now then, please let me strike him with the spear driving it to the ground with one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time.”
26:9:But David said to Abishai, “Do not kill him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed [king] and be guiltless (innocent)?”
26:10:David also said, “As the Lord lives, most certainly the Lord will strike him [in His own time and way], or his day will come and he will die, or he will go down into battle and be carried off [dead].
26:11:The Lord forbid that I would put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed; but now take the spear that is by his head and the jug of water, and let us go.”
26:12:So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul’s head, and they left, and no one saw or knew nor did anyone awaken, because they were all sound asleep, for a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.
26:13:Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on the top of the mountain at a distance, with a large area between them.
26:14:David called to the army and to Abner the son of Ner, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Abner replied, “Who are you who calls [and disturbs] the king?”
26:15:David said to Abner, “Are you not a [brave] man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came [into your camp] to kill the king your lord.
26:16:This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you surely deserve to die, because you have not guarded your lord, the Lord’s anointed. And now, see where the king’s spear is, and the jug of water that was by his head.”
26:17:Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord the king!”
26:18:And David said, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand?
26:19:Now therefore, please let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the Lord has incited you against me, let Him accept an offering [from me]; but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, because they have driven me out this day to keep me from sharing in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’
26:20:Now then, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of the Lord; for the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea, just as when one hunts a [defenseless] partridge in the mountains.”
26:21:Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Hear me, I have played the fool and have done a very great wrong [to you].”
26:22:David answered, “Look, here is the king’s spear! Now let one of the young men come over and get it.
26:23:The Lord will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord handed you over to me today, but I refused to put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed.
26:24:Now behold, just as your life was precious in my sight this day, so let my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may He rescue me from all distress.”
26:25:Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed, my son David; you will both accomplish much and certainly prevail.” So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.
27:1:David Flees to the Philistines
But David said in his heart, “Now I will die one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me inside the borders of Israel, and I will escape from his hand [once and for all].”
27:2:So David and the six hundred men who were with him arose and crossed over to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
27:3:And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, [who was] Nabal’s widow.
27:4:When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
27:5:Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your sight, let me be given a place [of my own] in one of the cities in the country, so that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”
27:6:Then Achish gave David [the town of] Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.
27:7:The number of days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.
27:8:Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites [the enemies of Israel that Joshua had failed to annihilate]; for they had inhabited the land from ancient times, as one comes to Shur even as far as the land of Egypt.
27:9:David attacked the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive, but he took the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing, and returned to Achish.
27:10:When Achish asked, “Where did you raid today?” David replied, “Against the Negev (the South country) of Judah, and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites, and against the Negev of the Kenites.”
27:11:David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring news to Gath, saying [to himself], “Otherwise they will tell about us, saying, ‘This is what David has done, and this has been his practice all the time that he has lived in the country of the Philistines.’”
27:12:Achish believed David, saying, “He has certainly become hated by his people in Israel; so he will always be my servant.”
28:1:Saul and the Spirit Medium
In those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “Understand for certain that you and your men will go out with me to battle.”
28:2:David said to Achish, “All right, you shall know what your servant can do.” So Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
28:3:Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed the mediums and the spiritists (soothsayers) from the land.
28:4:The Philistines assembled and came and camped at Shunem; and Saul gathered all the Israelites and they camped at Gilboa.
28:5:When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid and badly shaken.
28:6:So Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim [used like lots by the priest to determine the will of God] or by prophets.
28:7:Then Saul said to his servants, “Find for me a woman who is a medium [between the living and the dead], so that I may go to her and ask her advice.” His servants said to him, “There is a woman who is a medium at En-dor.”
28:8:So Saul disguised himself by wearing different clothes, and he left with two men, and they came to the woman at night. He said to her, “Conjure up for me, please, and bring up [from the dead] for me [the spirit] whom I shall name to you.”
28:9:But the woman said to him, “See here, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off (eliminated) those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. So why are you laying a trap for my life, to cause my death?”
28:10:Then Saul swore [an oath] to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this.”
28:11:So the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”
28:12:When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed with a loud voice; and she said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”
28:13:The king said to her, “Do not be afraid; but [tell me] what do you see?” The woman said to Saul, “I see a divine [superhuman] being coming up from the earth.”
28:14:He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, wrapped in a robe.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid respect [to him].
28:15:Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am greatly distressed; for the Philistines are making war against me, and God has left me and no longer answers me, either through prophets or by dreams; therefore I have called you to make known to me what I should do.”
28:16:Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has left you and has become your enemy?
28:17:The Lord has done [to you] just as He said through me [when I was with you]; for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David.
28:18:Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day.
28:19:Moreover, the Lord will also put Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me [among the dead]. Indeed, the Lord will put the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”
28:20:Then Saul immediately fell full length on the earth [floor of the medium’s house], and was very afraid because of Samuel’s words; and he was thoroughly exhausted because he had not eaten all day and all night.
28:21:The woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly troubled, and she said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed you, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to everything you said to me.
28:22:So now, please listen to the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of bread before you, and eat, so that you may have strength when you go on your way.”
28:23:But he refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants together with the woman urged him, and he [finally] listened to them. So he got up from the ground and sat on the bed.
28:24:The woman had a fattened calf in the house; she quickly killed it, and took flour, kneaded it and baked unleavened bread.
28:25:She brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and went away that night.
29:1:The Philistines Mistrust David
Now the Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek, while Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel.
29:2:As the Philistine lords (governors) were proceeding on [marching] by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were proceeding on in the rear with Achish [the king of Gath],
29:3:the Philistine commanders [having noticed David] said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” Achish said to the Philistine commanders, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days and years, and I have found no fault in him from the day he deserted to me to this day?”
29:4:But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and they said to him, “Make this man return, so that he may go back to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, or in the battle he may [turn and] become our adversary. For how could David reconcile himself to his lord [Saul]? Would it not be with the heads of these [Philistine] men?
29:5:Is this not David, of whom they used to sing in dances,
‘Saul killed his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”
29:6:Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have been upright (righteous), and your behavior in the army is pleasing in my sight. For from the day you came to me to this day I have found no evil in you. Nevertheless, the [Philistine] lords do not approve of you.
29:7:So return now and go in peace [to your place], so that you do not displease the Philistine lords.”
29:8:David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day when I [first] came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”
29:9:Achish answered David, “I know that you are blameless in my sight, like an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us to the battle.’
29:10:So now, get up early in the morning with your master’s servants who have come with you, and as soon as you are up in the morning and have light, leave.”
29:11:So David and his men got up early to leave in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel [to fight against Israel].
30:1:David’s Victory over the Amalekites
Now it happened when David and his men came [home] to Ziklag on the third day, [they found] that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev (the South country) and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire;
30:2:and they had taken captive the women [and all] who were there, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off [to be used as slaves] and went on their way.
30:3:When David and his men came to the town, it was burned, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive.
30:4:Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they were too exhausted to weep [any longer].
30:5:Now David’s two wives had been captured, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
30:6:Further, David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all of them were embittered, each man for his sons and daughters. But David felt strengthened and encouraged in the Lord his God.
30:7:David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought him the ephod.
30:8:David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this band [of raiders]? Will I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them, and you will certainly rescue [the captives].”
30:9:So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor; there those [who could not continue] remained behind.
30:10:But David pursued [the Amalekites], he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor stayed behind.
30:11:They found an Egyptian [who had collapsed] in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they gave him water to drink,
30:12:and they gave him a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins; and when he had eaten, his energy returned, for he had not eaten bread or had any water to drink for three days and three nights.
30:13:David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man from Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master abandoned me [as useless] when I fell sick three days ago.
30:14:We made a raid on the Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.”
30:15:Then David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band [of raiders]?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or turn me over to the hand of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.”
30:16:When he brought David down, the Amalekites had disbanded and spread over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
30:17:Then David [and his men] struck them down [in battle] from twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode camels and fled.
30:18:So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives.
30:19:Nothing of theirs was missing whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken; David recovered it all.
30:20:So David captured all the flocks and herds [which the enemy had], and [the people] drove those animals before him and said, “This is David’s spoil.”
30:21:The Spoils Are Divided
David came to the two hundred men who were so exhausted that they could not follow him and had been left at the brook Besor [with the provisions]. They went out to meet David and the people with him, and when he approached the people, he greeted them.
30:22:Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will give them none of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may take his wife and children away and leave.”
30:23:David said, “You must not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has kept us safe and has handed over to us the band [of Amalekites] that came against us.
30:24:And who will listen to you in regard to this matter? For as is the share of him who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the provisions and supplies; they shall share alike.”
30:25:So from that day forward he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
30:26:When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to the elders of Judah, his friends, saying, “Here is a blessing (gift) for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord:
30:27:For those in Bethel, Ramoth of the Negev, Jattir,
30:28:Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,
30:29:Racal, the cities of the Jerahmeelites, the cities of the Kenites,
30:30:Hormah, Bor-ashan, Athach,
30:31:Hebron, and for [those elders in] all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to go.”
31:1:Saul and His Sons Slain
Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
31:2:The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and they killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons.
31:3:The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was severely wounded by the archers.
31:4:Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised [Philistines] will come and pierce me through and abuse and mock me.” But his armor bearer would not, because he was terrified [of doing such a thing]. So Saul took his sword and fell on it.
31:5:When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him.
31:6:So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men died together on that day.
31:7:When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley [of Jezreel], and those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the other men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and lived in them.
31:8:The next day, when the Philistines came to plunder the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
31:9:So they cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his weapons and armor and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to bring the good news to the house of their idols and to the people.
31:10:And they put Saul’s weapons and armor in the temple of the Ashtaroth (female goddesses), and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
31:11:When the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
31:12:all the brave men stood and walked all night, and they took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and cremated them there.
31:13:They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted [as a sign of mourning and respect] for seven days.
2_samuel:1:1:David Learns of Saul’s Death
Now it happened after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, that he stayed two days in Ziklag.
1:2:On the third day a man came [unexpectedly] from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head [as in mourning]. When he came to David, he bowed to the ground and lay himself face down [in an act of great respect and submission].
1:3:Then David asked him, “Where do you come from?” He said, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”
1:4:David said to him, “How did it go? Please tell me.” He answered, “The people have fled from the battle. Also, many of the people have fallen and are dead; Saul and Jonathan his son are also dead.”
1:5:So David said to the young man who informed him, “How do you know Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
1:6:And the young man who told him explained, “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and the chariots and horsemen [of the Philistines] were close behind him.
1:7:When he turned to look behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’
1:8:He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’
1:9:He said to me, ‘Stand up facing me and kill me, for [terrible] agony has come over me, yet I still live [and I will be taken alive].’
1:10:So I stood facing him and killed him, because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. Then I took the crown which was on his head and the band which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”
1:11:Then David grasped his own clothes and tore them [in mourning]; so did all the men who were with him.
1:12:They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and Jonathan his son, and for the Lord’s people and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword [in battle].
1:13:David said to the young man who informed him, “Where are you from?” He answered, “I am the son of a foreigner (resident alien, sojourner), an Amalekite.”
1:14:David said to him, “How is it that you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”
1:15:David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” So he struck the Amalekite and he died.
1:16:David said to the [fallen] man, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’”
1:17:David’s Dirge for Saul and Jonathan
Then David sang this dirge (funeral song) over Saul and his son Jonathan,
1:18:and he told them to teach the sons of Judah, the song of the bow. Behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar:
1:19:“Your glory and splendor, O Israel, is slain upon your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!
1:20:“Tell it not in Gath,
Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
Or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,
The daughters of the uncircumcised (pagans) will exult.
1:21:“O mountains of Gilboa,
Let not dew or rain be upon you, nor fields with offerings;
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
The shield of Saul, [dry, cracked] not anointed with oil.
1:22:“From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty,
The bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
And the sword of Saul did not return empty.
1:23:“Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely and friends in their lives,
And in their death they were not separated;
They were swifter than eagles,
They were stronger than lions.
1:24:“O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
Who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet,
Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
1:25:“How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle!
Jonathan lies slain upon your high places.
1:26:“I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
You have been a good friend to me.
Your love toward me was more wonderful
Than the love of women.
1:27:“How the mighty have fallen,
And the weapons of war have perished!”
2:1:David Made King over Judah
So it happened after this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David asked, “Where shall I go?” And He said, “To Hebron.”
2:2:So David went up there [to Hebron] with his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel [in Judah].
2:3:And David brought up his men who were with him, each one with his household; and they lived in the cities of Hebron.
2:4:Then the men of Judah came and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
Then they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”
2:5:So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you showed this graciousness and loyalty to Saul your lord (king), and buried him.
2:6:Now may the Lord show lovingkindness and truth and faithfulness to you. I too will show this goodness to you, because you have done this thing.
2:7:So now, let your hands be strong and be valiant; for your lord Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”
2:8:Ish-bosheth Made King over Israel
Now [Saul’s cousin] Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim.
2:9:He made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, even over all Israel [except Judah].
2:10:Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned for two years. But the house of Judah followed David.
2:11:And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
2:12:Civil War
Now Abner the son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
2:13:Joab [David’s nephew] the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David also went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. They sat down, with one group on one side of the pool and the other group on the other side of the pool.
2:14:Then Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men now stand and have a contest before us.” And Joab said, “Let them stand.”
2:15:So they stood up and went over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
2:16:Each one of them seized his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponents side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim [that is, the Field of Sides], which is in Gibeon.
2:17:There was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.
2:18:Three sons of Zeruiah [the half sister of David] were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as light and swift-footed as one of the [wild] gazelles in the field.
2:19:Asahel pursued Abner and did not turn to the right or to the left as he followed him.
2:20:Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” He answered, “It is I.”
2:21:So Abner said to him, “Turn to your right or to your left, and grab one of the young men and take his armor for yourself.” But Asahel was not willing to turn away from pursuing Abner.
2:22:Abner repeated again, “Turn away from following me. Why should I have to strike you to the ground? How would I be able to face Joab your brother [and look him in the eye]?”
2:23:But Asahel refused to turn away; so Abner struck him in the abdomen with the butt end of his spear, and the spear came out his back; and he fell there and died on that spot. And it came about that everyone who came to the place where Asahel fell and died, stood still [and reflected].
2:24:But Joab and Abishai [Asahel’s brothers] pursued Abner. When the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah, which is in front of Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.
2:25:And the sons of [the tribe of] Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one troop, and took their stand on the top of a hill.
2:26:Then Abner called to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? How long [will it be] before you tell the people to stop pursuing their brothers?”
2:27:Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, then the people certainly would have stopped pursuing their brothers in the morning.”
2:28:So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people halted and no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore.
2:29:Then Abner and his men went through the Arabah (desert region) all that night, crossed the Jordan, went through Bithron and walked the whole morning and came to Mahanaim [where Ish-bosheth ruled Israel].
2:30:Joab returned from pursuing Abner; and when he had gathered all the people together, nineteen of David’s servants were missing, besides Asahel.
2:31:But the servants of David had struck down many of Benjamin and Abner’s men; so that three hundred and sixty men died.
2:32:And they picked up [the body of] Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men walked all night and they arrived in Hebron at daybreak.
3:1:The House of David Strengthened
There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; but David grew steadily stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker [to the point of being powerless].
3:2:Sons were born to David in Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel;
3:3:his second, Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; the third, Absalom the son of [his wife] Maacah, daughter of Talmai the king of Geshur;
3:4:the fourth, Adonijah the son of [his wife] Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of [his wife] Abital;
3:5:and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These [sons] were born to David in Hebron.
3:6:Abner Joins David
Now while war continued between the houses of Saul and David, Abner was proving himself strong in the house of Saul.
3:7:Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah the daughter of Aiah; and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?”
3:8:Then Abner was very angry at the words of Ish-bosheth, and he said, “Am I a dog’s head [a despicable traitor] that belongs to Judah? Today I show loyalty and kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and his friends, by not having you handed over to David; and yet you charge me today with guilt concerning this woman.
3:9:May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David just as the Lord has sworn to him,
3:10:to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and establish the throne of David over Israel and Judah from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south].”
3:11:And Ish-bosheth could not say another word to Abner, because he was afraid of him.
3:12:Then Abner sent messengers to David [who was] in his place [at Hebron], saying, “Whose is the land? Make your covenant (treaty) with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel over to you.”
3:13:David said, “Good! I will make a covenant (treaty) with you, but I require one thing of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see me.”
3:14:So David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, to whom I was betrothed for [the price of] a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.”
3:15:So Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband, from Paltiel the son of Laish [to whom Saul had given her].
3:16:But her husband went with her, weeping continually behind her as far as Bahurim. Then Abner told him, “Go, return.” And he did so.
3:17:Abner talked with the elders (tribal leaders) of Israel, saying, “In times past you were seeking for David to be king over you.
3:18:Now then, do it [and make him king]! For the Lord has spoken of David, saying, ‘By the hand of My servant David I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and the hand of all their enemies.’”
3:19:Abner also spoke to [the men of] Benjamin. Then he also went to tell David at Hebron everything that seemed good to Israel and to the entire house of Benjamin.
3:20:So Abner came to David at Hebron, and [brought] twenty men along with him. And David prepared a feast for Abner and the men with him.
3:21:Abner said to David, “Let me stand up and go, and gather all Israel to my lord the king, so that they may make a covenant (treaty) with you, and that you may reign over all that your soul desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.
3:22:Then the servants of David came with Joab from a raid and brought a great quantity of spoil with them; but Abner was not with David at Hebron, because David had sent him away, and he had gone in peace.
3:23:When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, they told Joab, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he has gone in peace.”
3:24:Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why did you send him away, so that he is already gone?
3:25:You know Abner the son of Ner, that he [only] came to deceive you [with flattering words] and to learn of your going out and coming in, and to find out what you are doing.”
3:26:Joab Murders Abner
When Joab left David, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David knew nothing [about Joab’s action].
3:27:So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside to the middle of the gate to speak to him privately, and there he struck Abner in the abdomen so that he died, to avenge the blood of Asahel, Joab’s brother.
3:28:Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord of the blood of Abner the son of Ner.
3:29:Let the guilt fall on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house (family); and may there never disappear from the house of Joab one who suffers with a discharge or one who is a leper or one who walks with a crutch [being unfit for war], or one who falls by the sword, or one who lacks food.”
3:30:So Joab and Abishai his brother murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.
3:31:David Mourns Abner
Then David said to Joab and to all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David walked behind the bier.
3:32:They buried Abner in Hebron; and the king raised his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept.
3:33:And the king sang a dirge (funeral song) over Abner and said,
“Should Abner [the great warrior] die as a fool dies?
3:34:“Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put in fetters;
As a man falls before the wicked, so you have fallen.”
And all the people wept again over him.
3:35:All the people came to urge David to eat food while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets.”
3:36:And all the people took notice of it and it pleased them, just as everything that the king did pleased all the people.
3:37:So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the will of the king to put Abner the son of Ner to death.
3:38:Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?
3:39:Today I am weak, though anointed king; these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too difficult for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer [Joab] in accordance with his wickedness!”
4:1:Ish-bosheth Murdered
When Saul’s son Ish-bosheth [king of Israel], heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was horrified.
4:2:Saul’s son had two men who were commanders of [raiding] bands [of soldiers]. One was named Baanah and the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of the sons (tribe) of Benjamin (for Beeroth is also considered part of [the tribe of] Benjamin,
4:3:and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have been resident aliens there to this day).
4:4:Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the news [of the deaths] of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. And the boy’s nurse picked him up and fled; but it happened that while she was hurrying to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.
4:5:So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, left and came to the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest.
4:6:They came into the interior of the house as if to get wheat [for the soldiers], and they struck him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped [unnoticed].
4:7:Now when they entered the house he was lying on his bed in his bedroom. They [not only] struck and killed him, [but] they also beheaded him. Then they took his head and traveled all night by way of the Arabah.
4:8:They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, “Look, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the Lord has granted my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and on his descendants.”
4:9:David replied to Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every adversity,
4:10:when a man told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ thinking that he was bringing good news, I seized and killed him in Ziklag, to reward him for his news.
4:11:How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous and just man in his own house on his bed, shall I not require his blood from your hand and remove you from the earth?”
4:12:So David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them beside the pool in Hebron. But they took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Hebron in the tomb of Abner [his relative].
5:1:David King over All Israel
Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.
5:2:In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel out [to war] and brought Israel in [from battle]. And the Lord told you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel and be ruler over them.’”
5:3:So all the elders (tribal leaders) of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed him king over Israel.
5:4:David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.
5:5:In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.
5:6:Now the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You shall not enter here, for the blind and the lame [even the weakest among us] will turn you away”; they thought, “David cannot come in here [because the walls are impenetrable].”
5:7:Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold (fortress) of Zion, that is, the City of David.
5:8:Then David said on that day, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites, let him go up through the [underground] water shaft to strike the lame and the blind, who are detested by David’s soul [because of their arrogance].” So [for that reason] they say, “The blind or the lame (Jebusites) shall not come into the [royal] house [of Israel].”
5:9:So David lived in the stronghold and called it the City of David. And he built all around [the surrounding area] from the Millo [fortification] and inward.
5:10:David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts (armies), was with him.
5:11:Now Hiram the king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar trees, carpenters, and stonemasons; and they built a house (palace) for David.
5:12:And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for His people Israel’s sake.
5:13:David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron; and more sons and daughters were born to him.
5:14:And these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,
5:15:Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,
5:16:Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
5:17:War with the Philistines
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to look for him, but he heard about it and went down to the stronghold.
5:18:Now the Philistines had come and spread out [for battle] in the Valley of Rephaim.
5:19:David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You hand them over to me?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly hand them over to you.”
5:20:So David came to Baal-perazim, and he defeated them there, and said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” So he named that place Baal-perazim (master of breakthroughs).
5:21:The Philistines abandoned their [pagan] idols there, so David and his men took them away [to be burned].
5:22:The Philistines came up once again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
5:23:When David inquired of the Lord, He said, “You shall not go up, but circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.
5:24:And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall pay attention and act promptly, for at that time the Lord will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.”
5:25:David did just as the Lord had commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.
6:1:Peril in Moving the Ark
Again David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
6:2:And David arose and went with all those who were with him to Baale-judah [Kiriath-jearim], to bring up from there [to Jerusalem] the ark of God which is called by the Name—the very Name of the Lord of hosts, who dwells enthroned above the cherubim.
6:3:They placed the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart.
6:4:So they brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Ahio was walking in front of the ark.
6:5:Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating and dancing before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of fir or cypress wood, with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.
6:6:When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out [with his hand] to the ark of God and took hold of it, because the oxen [stumbled and] nearly overturned it.
6:7:And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.
6:8:David became angry and grieved and offended because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, and that place has been called Perez-uzzah (outburst against Uzzah) to this day.
6:9:So David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”
6:10:David was unwilling to move the ark of the Lord into the City of David with him; instead he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
6:11:So the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household (family).
6:12:The Ark Is Brought to Jerusalem
Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing and gladness.
6:13:And when those who were carrying the ark of the Lord [by its poles] had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
6:14:And David was dancing before the Lord with great enthusiasm, and David was wearing a linen ephod [a priest’s upper garment].
6:15:So David and all the house of Israel were bringing the ark of the Lord up [to the City of David] with shouts [of joy] and with the sound of the trumpet.
6:16:Then, as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter [David’s wife], looked down from the window above and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she felt contempt for him in her heart [because she thought him undignified].
6:17:They brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
6:18:When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts (armies),
6:19:and distributed to all the people, the entire multitude of Israel, both to men and women, to each a [ring-shaped] loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people departed, each to his house.
6:20:Then David returned to bless his household. But [his wife] Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How glorious and distinguished was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself and stripped [off his kingly robes] in the eyes of his servants’ maids like one of the riffraff who shamelessly uncovers himself!”
6:21:So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord [that I did this], who chose me above your father and all his house, to appoint me as ruler over Israel, the people of the Lord. Therefore I will celebrate [in pure enjoyment] before the Lord.
6:22:Yet I will demean myself even more than this, and will be humbled (abased) in my own sight [and yours, as I please], but by the maids whom you mentioned, by them I shall be held in honor.”
6:23:Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.
7:1:David Plans to Build a Temple
When King David lived in his house (palace) and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,
7:2:the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.”
7:3:And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do everything that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
7:4:But it happened that night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying,
7:5:“Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Should you be the one to build Me a house in which to dwell?
7:6:For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought the sons (descendants) of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle.
7:7:Wherever I have gone with all the Israelites, did I speak a word to any from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, asking, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’
7:8:God’s Covenant with David
So now, say this to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel.
7:9:I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like that of the great men of the earth.
7:10:I will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in a place of their own and not be disturbed again. The wicked will not afflict them again, as formerly,
7:11:even from the day that I appointed judges over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that He will make a house (royal dynasty) for you.
7:12:When your days are fulfilled and you lie down [in death] with your fathers (ancestors), I will raise up your descendant after you, who shall be born to you, and I will establish his kingdom.
7:13:He [is the one who] shall build a house for My Name and My Presence, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
7:14:I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. When he commits iniquity (wrongdoing), I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the strokes of the sons of man.
7:15:But My lovingkindness and mercy will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
7:16:Your house (royal dynasty) and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever.”’”
7:17:Nathan spoke to David in accordance with all these words and all of this vision.
7:18:David’s Prayer
Then King David went in and sat [in prayer] before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house (family), that You have brought me this far?
7:19:Yet this was very insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, for You have spoken also of Your servant’s house (royal dynasty) in the distant future. And this is the law and custom of man, O Lord God.
7:20:What more can David say to You? For You know (acknowledge, choose) Your servant, O Lord God.
7:21:Because of Your word (promise), and in accordance with Your own heart, You have done all these great and astounding things to let Your servant know (understand).
7:22:Therefore You are great, O Lord God; for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
7:23:What one nation on earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and to do great and awesome things for Yourself and for Your land, before Your people whom You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods?
7:24:You established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your people forever, and You, O Lord, have become their God.
7:25:Now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word [of the covenant] that You have spoken in regard to Your servant and his house (royal dynasty); and do just as You have spoken,
7:26:so that Your Name may be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts (armies) is God over Israel;’ and may the house (royal dynasty) of Your servant David be established before You.
7:27:For You, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house (royal dynasty).’ For that reason Your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to You.
7:28:And now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth, and You have promised this good thing to Your servant.
7:29:Therefore now, may it please You to bless the house (royal dynasty) of Your servant, so that it may continue forever before You; for You, O Lord God, have spoken it, and with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”
8:1:David’s Triumphs
Now it came about after this that David defeated the Philistines and subdued (humbled) them, and he took control of Metheg-ammah [the main city] from the hand of the Philistines.
8:2:He defeated Moab, and measured them with a length of rope, making them lie down on the ground; he measured two lengths to [choose those to] put to death, and one full length to [choose those to] be kept alive. And the [surviving] Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.
8:3:Then David defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the River [Euphrates].
8:4:David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers. David also hamstrung all the chariot horses (making them lame), but reserved enough of them for a hundred chariots.
8:5:When the Arameans (Syrians) of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 Arameans.
8:6:Then David put garrisons among the Arameans in Damascus, and the Arameans became his servants and brought tribute. The Lord helped David wherever he went.
8:7:David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.
8:8:And from Betah and Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took an immense quantity of bronze.
8:9:When Toi king of Hamath heard about David’s defeat of all the forces of Hadadezer,
8:10:Toi sent Joram his son to King David to greet and congratulate him for his battle and defeat of Hadadezer; for Hadadezer had been at war with Toi. Joram brought with him articles of silver, gold, and bronze [as gifts].
8:11:King David also dedicated these [gifts] to the Lord, along with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he subdued:
8:12:from Aram (Syria), Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
8:13:So David made a name for himself when he returned from killing 18,000 Arameans (Syrians) in the Valley of Salt.
8:14:He put garrisons in Edom; in all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord helped him wherever he went.
8:15:So David reigned over all Israel, and continued to administer justice and righteousness for all his people.
8:16:Joab the son of Zeruiah was [commander] over the army; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder (secretary);
8:17:Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were the [chief] priests, and Seraiah was the scribe;
8:18:Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was [head] over both the Cherethites and Pelethites [the king’s bodyguards]; and David’s sons were chief [confidential] advisers (officials) [to the king].
9:1:David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth
And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house (family) of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
9:2:There was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, so they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” He said, “I am your servant.”
9:3:And the king said, “Is there no longer anyone left of the house (family) of Saul to whom I may show the goodness and graciousness of God?” Ziba replied to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan, [one] whose feet are crippled.”
9:4:So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba replied to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar.”
9:5:Then King David sent word and had him brought from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar.
9:6:Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David and fell face down and lay himself down [in respect]. David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he answered, “Here is your servant!”
9:7:David said to him, “Do not be afraid, for I will certainly show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul; and you shall always eat at my table.”
9:8:Again Mephibosheth lay himself face down and said, “What is your servant, that you would be concerned for a dead dog like me?”
9:9:Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and to all his house (family).
9:10:You and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat; but Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
9:11:Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do according to everything that my lord the king commands.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table as one of the king’s sons.
9:12:Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house were servants to Mephibosheth.
9:13:So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he always ate at the king’s table. And he was lame in both feet.
10:1:Ammon and Aram Defeated
Now it happened later that [Nahash] the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place.
10:2:Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, just as his father did to me.” So David sent [a letter along with] some of his servants to console him in regard to his father’s death; and David’s servants came into the land of the Ammonites.
10:3:But the princes of the Ammonites [were suspicious and] said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think that David is honoring your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?”
10:4:So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half their beards, and cut off their robes in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away.
10:5:When David was informed, he sent [messengers] to meet them [before they reached Jerusalem], for the men were greatly ashamed and humiliated. And the king said, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”
10:6:When the Ammonites saw that they had become an object of hatred to David, they sent word and hired the Arameans (Syrians) of Beth-rehob and the Arameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob with 12,000 men [to fight for them].
10:7:When David heard about it, he sent Joab and the entire army, the strong and brave men.
10:8:The Ammonites came out and lined up for battle at the entrance of the [city] gate, but the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were [stationed] by themselves in the field.
10:9:Now when Joab saw that the battlefront was against him in front and in the rear, he selected some of all the choice men in Israel and set them in battle formation to meet the Arameans (Syrians).
10:10:But he placed the rest of the men in the hand of his brother Abishai, and he placed them in battle formation to meet the Ammonites.
10:11:Joab said [to Abishai], “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come to help you.
10:12:Be courageous, and let us show ourselves courageous for the benefit of our people and the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.”
10:13:So Joab and the people who were with him approached the battle against the Arameans, and they fled before him.
10:14:When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled before Abishai and entered the city. So Joab returned from battling against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
10:15:When the Arameans saw that they were defeated by Israel, they gathered together.
10:16:Hadadezer sent word and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the River [Euphrates]; and they came to Helam; and Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer led them.
10:17:When David was informed, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. Then the Arameans assembled in battle formation to meet David and fought against him.
10:18:But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed 700 Aramean charioteers and 40,000 horsemen, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there.
10:19:When all the kings serving Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Arameans (Syrians) were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.
11:1:Bathsheba, David’s Great Sin
Then it happened in the spring, at the time when the kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all [the fighting men of] Israel, and they destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
11:2:One evening David got up from his couch and was walking on the [flat] roof of the king’s palace, and from there he saw a woman bathing; and she was very beautiful in appearance.
11:3:David sent word and inquired about the woman. Someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
11:4:David sent messengers and took her. When she came to him, he lay with her. And when she was purified from her uncleanness, she returned to her house.
11:5:The woman conceived; and she sent word and told David, “I am pregnant.”
11:6:Then David sent word to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David.
11:7:When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the people were doing, and how the war was progressing.
11:8:Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet (spend time at home).” Uriah left the king’s palace, and a gift from the king was sent out after him.
11:9:But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s palace with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.
11:10:When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not [just] come from a [long] journey? Why did you not go to your house?”
11:11:Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in huts (temporary shelters), and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.”
11:12:Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today as well, and tomorrow I will let you leave.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.
11:13:Now David called him [to dinner], and he ate and drank with him, so that he made Uriah drunk; in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, and [still] did not go down to his house.
11:14:In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
11:15:He wrote in the letter, “Put Uriah in the front line of the heaviest fighting and leave him, so that he may be struck down and die.”
11:16:So it happened that as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew the [enemy’s] valiant men were positioned.
11:17:And the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among the servants of David fell; Uriah the Hittite also died.
11:18:Then Joab sent word and informed David of all the events of the war.
11:19:And he commanded the messenger, “When you have finished reporting all the events of the war to the king,
11:20:then if the king becomes angry and he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot [arrows] from the wall?
11:21:Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth (Gideon)? Was it not a woman who threw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ Then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”
11:22:So the messenger left, and he came and told David everything that Joab had sent him to report.
11:23:The messenger said to David, “The men indeed prevailed against us and came out to us in the field, but we were on them and pushed them as far as the entrance of the [city] gate.
11:24:Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”
11:25:Then David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab this, ‘Do not let this thing disturb you, for the sword devours one [side] as well as another. Strengthen your battle against the city and overthrow it’; and so encourage Joab.”
11:26:When Uriah’s wife [Bathsheba] heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband.
11:27:And when the time of mourning was past, David sent word and had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done [with Bathsheba] was evil in the sight of the Lord.
12:1:Nathan Rebukes David
And the Lord sent Nathan [the prophet] to David. He came and said to him,
“There were two men in a city, one rich and the other poor.
12:2:“The rich man had a very large number of flocks and herds,
12:3:But the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb
Which he had purchased and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It ate his food, drank from his cup, it lay in his arms,
And was like a daughter to him.
12:4:“Now a traveler (visitor) came to the rich man,
And to avoid taking one from his own flock or herd
To prepare [a meal] for the traveler who had come to him,
He took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for his guest.”
12:5:Then David’s anger burned intensely against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die.
12:6:He shall make restitution for the ewe lamb four times as much [as the lamb was worth], because he did this thing and had no compassion.”
12:7:Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you as king over Israel, and I spared you from the hand of Saul.
12:8:I also gave you your master’s house, and put your master’s wives into your care and under your protection, and I gave you the house (royal dynasty) of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have given you much more!
12:9:Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife. You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
12:10:Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
12:11:Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will stir up evil against you from your own household; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.
12:12:Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.’”
12:13:David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has allowed your sin to pass [without further punishment]; you shall not die.
12:14:Nevertheless, because by this deed you have given [a great] opportunity to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme [Him], the son that is born to you shall certainly die.”
12:15:Then Nathan went [back] to his home.
Loss of a Child
And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, and he was very sick.
12:16:David therefore appealed to God for the child [to be healed]; and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.
12:17:The elders of his household stood by him [in the night] to lift him up from the ground, but he was unwilling [to get up] and would not eat food with them.
12:18:Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “While the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he would not listen to our voices. How then can we tell him the child is dead, since he might harm himself [or us]?”
12:19:But when David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead. So David said to them, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.”
12:20:Then David got up from the ground, washed, anointed himself [with olive oil], changed his clothes, and went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he came [back] to his own house, and when he asked, they set food before him and he ate.
12:21:Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive you fasted and wept, but when the child died, you got up and ate food.”
12:22:David said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I thought, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me and the child may live.’
12:23:But now he is dead; why should I [continue to] fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him [when I die], but he will not return to me.”
12:24:Solomon Born
David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. And the Lord loved the child;
12:25:and He sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah (beloved of the Lord) for the sake of the Lord [who loved the child].
12:26:War Again
Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal city.
12:27:Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah; I have even taken the city of waters.
12:28:So now, assemble the rest of the men, and camp against the city and capture it, or I will take the city myself, and it will be named after me.”
12:29:So David gathered all the men together and went to Rabbah, then fought against it and captured it.
12:30:And he took the crown of their king from his head; it weighed a talent of gold, and [set in it was] a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought the spoil out of the city in great amounts.
12:31:He also brought out the people who were there, and put them to [work with] the saws and sharp iron instruments and iron axes, and made them work at the brickkiln. And he did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the men returned to Jerusalem.
13:1:Amnon and Tamar
It happened afterwards that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon [her half brother] the son of David was in love with her.
13:2:Amnon was so frustrated because of his [half-] sister Tamar that he made himself sick, for she was a virgin, and Amnon thought it impossible for him to do anything to her.
13:3:But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very shrewd (cunning) man.
13:4:He said to Amnon, “Why are you, the king’s son, so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” And Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, my [half-] brother Absalom’s sister.”
13:5:Jonadab said to him, “Go to bed and pretend you are sick; and when your father [David] comes to see you, say to him, ‘Just let my sister Tamar come and serve me food, and let her prepare it in my sight, so that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’”
13:6:So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, so that I may eat from her hand.”
13:7:Then David sent word to the house for Tamar, saying, “Go now to your brother Amnon’s house, and prepare some food for him.”
13:8:So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, and he was in bed. And she took dough and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and baked them.
13:9:She took the pan and dished them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “Have everyone leave me.” So everyone left him [except Tamar].
13:10:Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, so that I may eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the bedroom to her [half-] brother Amnon.
13:11:When she brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said, “Come, lie with me, my sister.”
13:12:She replied, “No, my brother! Do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this disgraceful thing!
13:13:As for me, how could I get rid of my shame and disgrace? And you, you will be considered one of the fools in Israel. So now, just speak to the king [about taking me as your wife], for he will not withhold me from you.”
13:14:But he would not listen to her; and since he was stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.
13:15:Then Amnon became extremely hateful toward her, for his hatred toward her was greater than the love which he had for her. And Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”
13:16:But she said, “No, because this wrong of sending me away is worse than the other that you have done to me!” But he would not listen to her.
13:17:Instead, he called his young man who was his personal servant and said, “Now throw this woman out of my presence and bolt the door behind her.”
13:18:Now Tamar was wearing a [long-sleeved] robe of various colors; for that is how the virgin daughters of the king dressed themselves in robes. Then Amnon’s personal servant took her out and bolted the door behind her.
13:19:So Tamar put dust on her head [in grief] and tore the long-sleeved robe which she had on, and she put her hand on her head and went away crying out [for help].
13:20:So her brother Absalom said to her, “Has your brother Amnon been with you? But now keep silent, my sister; he is your brother; do not take this matter to heart.” So Tamar remained secluded in her brother Absalom’s house.
13:21:Now when King David heard about all these things, he was very angry [but failed to take any action].
13:22:But Absalom did not speak to Amnon either good or bad; for Absalom hated Amnon because he had violated his sister Tamar.
13:23:Now it came about after two full years that Absalom had sheepshearers at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons [to a party].
13:24:Absalom Avenges Tamar
Absalom came to [his father] the king and said, “Behold, your servant has sheepshearers; please let the king and his servants go with your servant.”
13:25:But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, we should not all go, for we will be a burden to you.” Although Absalom [strongly] urged David, still he would not go, but he gave him his blessing.
13:26:Then Absalom said, “If not, then at least let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?”
13:27:But Absalom urged him [again], and he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.
13:28:Now Absalom commanded his servants, “Notice carefully, when Amnon’s heart is joyous with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not be afraid; have I not commanded you myself [and in doing so have I not taken full responsibility for his death]? Be courageous and brave.”
13:29:So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon just as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons got up, and every man mounted his mule and fled.
13:30:Now it happened while they were on the way [back home], that the [exaggerated] report came to David, “Absalom has killed all the king’s sons, and not one of them is left.”
13:31:Then the king stood and tore his clothes and lay on the ground [in mourning]; and all his servants were standing by with their clothes torn.
13:32:But Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, responded, “Do not let my lord assume that all the king’s sons have been put to death; for only Amnon is dead. This act of revenge has been on Absalom’s mind since the day Amnon violated his sister Tamar.
13:33:So now, do not let my lord the king take the report to heart that all the king’s sons are dead; for Amnon alone is dead.”
13:34:Now Absalom fled. And the young man who kept watch looked up, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the mountain.
13:35:And Jonadab said to the king, “Look, the king’s sons are coming. It has turned out just as your servant said.”
13:36:And when he finished speaking, the king’s sons came, and they raised their voices and wept; and the king and all his servants also wept very bitterly.
13:37:But Absalom fled and went to [his mother’s father] Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day.
13:38:So Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there for three years.
13:39:And the heart of King David longed to go to Absalom; for he was comforted regarding Amnon, since he was dead.
14:1:The Woman of Tekoa
Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom.
14:2:So Joab sent word to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there and told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning clothes, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has for many days been in mourning for the dead.
14:3:Then go to the king and speak to him in this way.” So Joab told her what to say.
14:4:When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she bowed with her face to the ground and lay herself down, and said, “Help, O king.”
14:5:The king asked her, “What is the matter?” She said, “Truly I am a widow; my husband is dead.
14:6:Your maidservant had two sons, but the two of them struggled and fought in the field. There was no one to separate them, so one struck the other and killed him.
14:7:Now behold, the entire family has risen against your maidservant, and they say, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother, so that we may put him to death [to pay] for the life of his brother whom he killed and destroy the heir also.’ By doing this they will extinguish my coal that is left, leaving my husband without a name or a remnant (heir) on the face of the earth.”
14:8:Then David said to the woman, “Go to your home, and I will give orders concerning you.”
14:9:The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord, O king, the guilt is on me and on my father’s house, but the king and his throne are guiltless.”
14:10:The king said, “If anyone speaks to you [about this matter], bring him to me [for judgment], and he will not touch you again.”
14:11:Then she said, “Please let the king remember the Lord your God, so that the avenger of blood will not continue to destroy, otherwise they will destroy my son.” And David said, “As the Lord lives, not a single hair [from the head] of your son shall fall to the ground.”
14:12:Then the woman said, “Please let your maidservant speak one more word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.”
14:13:The woman said, “Now why have you planned such a thing against God’s people? For in speaking this word the king is like a guilty man, in that the king does not bring back his banished one.
14:14:For we will certainly die and are like water that is spilled on the ground and cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not [simply] take away life, but devises plans so that the one who is banished is not driven away from Him.
14:15:Now I came to speak of this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. So your maidservant thought, ‘I will just speak to the king; perhaps the king will do what his maidservant requests.
14:16:For the king will hear and save his maidservant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the inheritance of God.’
14:17:Then your maidservant said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king be comforting, for my lord the king is as the angel of God to discern good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you.’”
14:18:Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Do not hide from me anything that I ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king please speak.”
14:19:The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all of this?” And the woman answered, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said. Indeed, it was your servant Joab who commanded me; he put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant.
14:20:In order to change the appearance of things [between Absalom and you, his father] your servant Joab did this thing. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that is in the earth.”
14:21:Absalom Is Recalled
Then the king said to Joab, “Listen, I will most certainly do this thing; now go, bring back the young man Absalom.”
14:22:Joab bowed his face toward the ground and lay himself down and blessed the king. Then Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has done the request of his servant.”
14:23:So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
14:24:However, the king said, “Let him go to his own house, and do not let him see my face.” So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the king’s face.
14:25:Now in all Israel there was no man as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised [for that]; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
14:26:When he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of each year he cut it, because its weight was heavy on him) he weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels by the king’s weight.
14:27:To Absalom were born three sons and one daughter whose name was Tamar; she was a beautiful woman.
14:28:Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, without seeing the king’s face.
14:29:So Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but he would not come to him; even when he sent again a second time, he [still] would not come.
14:30:Therefore Absalom said to his servants, “See, Joab’s property is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.
14:31:Then Joab took action and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”
14:32:Absalom answered Joab, “I sent for you, saying, ‘Come here, so that I may send you to the king to ask, “Why have I come [back] from Geshur? It would be better for me to still be there.”’ Now then, let me see the king’s face, and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.”
14:33:So Joab came to the king and told him. Then David called for Absalom, and he came to the king and bowed his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom.
15:1:Absalom’s Conspiracy
After this, Absalom provided for himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men as runners before him.
15:2:He would get up early and stand beside the road to the gate [of the city, where court was held]; and when any man who had a dispute came to the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him, “From what city are you?” And he would say, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”
15:3:Then Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man appointed as the king’s agent to listen to you.”
15:4:Moreover Absalom would say, “Oh, that I were appointed judge in the land! Then every man who had a dispute could come to me and I would get justice for him.”
15:5:And whenever a man approached to bow down before him, he would put out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him.
15:6:This is how Absalom dealt with everyone in Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
15:7:And after four years, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to the Lord at Hebron [my birthplace].
15:8:For your servant made a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram (Syria), ‘If the Lord will in fact bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord [by offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving].’”
15:9:And [David] the king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron.
15:10:But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, you shall say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’”
15:11:Then two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited [as guests to his sacrificial feast] went with Absalom. They went innocently and knew nothing [about his plan against David].
15:12:And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city Giloh, while he was offering sacrifices. And the conspiracy grew strong, for the people with Absalom increased continually.
15:13:David Flees Jerusalem
Then a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”
15:14:David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, let us flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom! Go in haste, or he will overtake us quickly and bring disaster on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
15:15:The king’s servants said to him, “Listen, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.”
15:16:So the king left, and all his household with him. But the king left behind ten women who were concubines to take care of the house (palace).
15:17:The king left, and all the people with him, and they stopped at the last house.
15:18:All of David’s servants passed on beside him, and all the Cherethites, Pelethites and the Gittites, six hundred men who had come with him from Gath, passed on before the king.
15:19:Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you go with us, too? Go back and stay with the king [of your own country], for you are a foreigner and an exile as well; return to your own place.
15:20:You came only yesterday, so should I make you wander with us today while I go where I will? Return and take your brothers back with you also. May lovingkindness and faithfulness be with you.”
15:21:But Ittai answered the king, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, most certainly wherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or life, there will your servant be also.”
15:22:So David said to Ittai, “Go on and cross over [the Brook Kidron].” So Ittai the Gittite crossed over with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.
15:23:While all the country was weeping with a loud voice, all the people crossed over. The king also crossed the Brook Kidron, and all the people went on toward the way of the wilderness [that lies between Jerusalem and the Jordan River].
15:24:Now Zadok also came, and all the Levites with him carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar [the priest] came up [and officiated] until all the people had finished passing from the city.
15:25:Then the king told Zadok, “Take the ark of God back to [its rightful place in] the city [of Jerusalem, the capital]. If I find favor in the Lord’s sight, He will bring me back again and let me see both it and His dwelling place (habitation).
15:26:But if He should say, ‘I have no delight in you,’ then here I am; let Him do to me what seems good to Him.”
15:27:The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace [you and Abiathar], and your two sons with you, your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
15:28:See, I am going to wait at the fords [of the Jordan] in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”
15:29:So Zadok and Abiathar brought the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they stayed there.
15:30:And David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, with his head covered and walking barefoot [in despair]. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.
15:31:David was told, “Ahithophel [your counselor] is among the conspirators with Absalom.” David said, “O Lord, I pray You, turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.”
15:32:It happened when David came to the summit [of the Mount of Olives], where he worshiped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his tunic torn and dust on his head [as if in mourning].
15:33:David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me.
15:34:But if you return to the city, and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father’s servant in the past, so I will be your servant now;’ then you can thwart (make useless) the advice of Ahithophel for me.
15:35:Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So it shall be that every word you hear from the king’s palace, you shall report it to them.
15:36:Their two sons are there with them, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son; and by them you shall send to me everything that you hear.”
15:37:So Hushai, David’s friend, returned to the city, and [at about the same time] Absalom came into Jerusalem.
16:1:Ziba, a False Servant
When David was a little past the summit [of the Mount of Olives], behold, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him with a team of saddled donkeys, and on them were two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred clusters of raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a jug of wine.
16:2:The king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these?” Ziba said, “The donkeys are for the king’s household (family) to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine is for anyone to drink who becomes weary in the wilderness.”
16:3:Then the king said, “And where is your master’s son [Mephibosheth]?” Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he remains in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father.’”
16:4:Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, everything that belonged to Mephibosheth is [now] yours.” Ziba said, “I bow down [in honor and gratitude]; let me find favor in your sight, O my lord the king.”
16:5:David Is Cursed
When King David came to Bahurim, a man named Shimei, the son of Gera, came out from there. He was of the family of Saul’s household and he was cursing continually as he came out.
16:6:He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; yet all the people and all the warriors remained on his right and on his left.
16:7:This is what Shimei said as he cursed: “Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, you worthless and useless man!
16:8:The Lord has returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hands of Absalom your son. And behold, you are caught in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!”
16:9:Then Abishai [David’s nephew], the son of Zeruiah, said to the king, “Why should this dead dog (despicable person) curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.”
16:10:But the king said, “What business is this of yours, O sons of Zeruiah? If Shimei is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ then who should say, ‘Why have you done so?’”
16:11:Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Look, my son [Absalom] who came from my own body, is seeking my life; how much more [reason] now [does] this Benjamite [have to curse me]? Let him alone and let him curse, for [it could be that] the Lord has told him [to do it].
16:12:Perhaps the Lord will look on the wrong done to me [by Shimei, if he is acting on his own]; and [in that case perhaps] the Lord will this day return good to me in place of his cursing.”
16:13:So David and his men went on the road; and Shimei went along on the hillside close beside David and cursed as he went and threw stones and dust at him.
16:14:The king and all the people who were with him arrived [at the Jordan River] weary, and he refreshed himself there.
16:15:Absalom Enters Jerusalem
Then Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, entered Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.
16:16:Now it happened when Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”
16:17:Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?”
16:18:Hushai said to Absalom, “No! For whomever the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen [as king], I will be his, and I will remain with him.
16:19:Besides, whom should I serve? Should I not serve in the presence of David’s son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so I shall serve in your presence.”
16:20:Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give me your advice. What should we do?”
16:21:Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines, whom he has left behind to take care of the house; then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself odious to your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened [by your boldness and audacity].”
16:22:So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof [of the king’s palace], and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
16:23:The advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man had consulted the word of God; that is how all Ahithophel’s counsel was regarded by both David and Absalom.
17:1:Hushai’s Counsel
Then, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose 12,000 men, and I will set out and pursue David tonight.
17:2:I will strike while he is weary and exhausted, and terrify him; and all the people with him will flee [in terror]. Then I will attack the king alone,
17:3:and I will bring all the people [who follow David] back to you. The return of everyone depends on the [death of the] man you are seeking; then all the people will be at peace [and accept you as king].”
17:4:So the plan pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
17:5:Nevertheless, Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.”
17:6:When Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Ahithophel has advised this [plan of action]. Should we do what he says? If not, you speak [and explain why not].”
17:7:So Hushai said to Absalom, “Ahithophel has not given good advice this time.”
17:8:And Hushai said, “You know your father and his men, that they are brave men, and they are enraged and fierce, like a bear deprived of her cubs in the field. Your father is a [shrewd] man of war, and will not spend the night with the people [knowing that you seek his life].
17:9:Behold, he has hidden himself [even] now in one of the ravines or in another place; and when some of your troops fall at the first attack, whoever hears about it will say, ‘There has been a defeat among the people who follow Absalom.’
17:10:And even the one who is brave, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will completely lose heart and melt away; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are brave men.
17:11:But I advise that all [the men of] Israel be summoned to you, from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], like the sand that is by the sea in abundance, and that you personally go into battle.
17:12:So shall we come upon David in one of the places where he can be found, and we will fall on him as the dew falls [unseen and unheard] on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him, not even one will be left.
17:13:If he retreats into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the ravine until not even a pebble [of it] is found there.”
17:14:Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had ordained to thwart the good advice of Ahithophel, so that the Lord could bring disaster upon Absalom.
17:15:Hushai’s Warning Saves David
Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “This is the advice that Ahithophel gave to Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is the advice that I have given.
17:16:Now then, send word quickly and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords [on the west side of the Jordan] in the wilderness, but by all means cross over [to the east side of the river], or else the king and all the people with him will be destroyed [if Ahithophel is allowed by Absalom to lead an attack].’”
17:17:Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz [the priests’ sons] were staying at En-rogel, and a maidservant [appearing to go for water] would go and tell them [what was happening], and they would go [secretly] and inform King David; for they could not [allow themselves to] be seen coming into the city [of Jerusalem].
17:18:But a boy saw them and told Absalom; so the two of them left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, and [with his permission] they went down into it.
17:19:And the woman [of the house] took a covering and spread it over the mouth of the well and scattered grain on it; so nothing was discovered.
17:20:Then Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have crossed over the brook.” When they searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
17:21:After they left, Jonathan and Ahimaaz came up out of the well and went and informed King David, and said to David, “Arise and cross over the Jordan River quickly, for Ahithophel has advised [an attack] against you.”
17:22:Then David and all the people who were with him departed and crossed over the Jordan. By daybreak, not even one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.
17:23:Now when Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out and went to his home, to his city. Then he put his household in order, and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.
17:24:Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
17:25:Absalom put Amasa in command of the army instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Israelite, who had married Abigail the daughter of Nahash, [the half sister of David and] the sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.
17:26:So Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.
17:27:When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim
17:28:brought beds, basins, pottery, wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, broad beans, lentils, and [other] roasted grain,
17:29:honey, cream, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David and the people who were with him, to eat; for they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”
18:1:Absalom’s Death
David numbered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.
18:2:Then David sent the army out, a third under the command of Joab, a third under Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and a third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, “I myself will certainly go out [to fight] with you.”
18:3:But the men said, “You should not go out [to battle with us]. For if in fact we retreat, they will not care about us; even if half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. So now it is better that you be ready to help us from the city [of Mahanaim].”
18:4:Then the king said to them, “I will do whatever seems best to you.” So the king stood beside the gate [of Mahanaim], and all the army went out in groups of hundreds and of thousands.
18:5:The king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the men heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.
18:6:So the men went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim.
18:7:The men of Israel [who supported Absalom] were defeated there by the men of David, and a great slaughter took place there that day, 20,000 men.
18:8:For the battle there was spread out over the surface of the entire countryside, and the [hazards of the] forest devoured more men that day than did the sword.
18:9:Now Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a massive tree, and his head was caught in [the thick branches of] the tree; and he was left hanging [in midair] between heaven and earth, while the mule that had been under him kept going.
18:10:A certain man saw it and informed Joab, saying, “I saw Absalom hanging in a tree.”
18:11:Joab said to the man who informed him, “You saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.”
18:12:The man told Joab, “Even if I were to feel the weight of a thousand pieces of silver in my hands, I would not put out my hand against the king’s son; for we all heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, ‘Protect the young man Absalom, for my sake.’
18:13:Otherwise, if I had acted treacherously against his life (for nothing is hidden from the king) you yourself would have taken sides against me.”
18:14:Joab said, “I will not waste time with you.” So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive [and caught] in the midst of the tree.
18:15:And ten young men, Joab’s armor bearers, surrounded and struck Absalom and killed him.
18:16:Then Joab blew the trumpet [to signal the end of the combat], and the men returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab held them back.
18:17:They took [down the body of] Absalom and threw him into a deep pit in the forest and set up a huge mound of stones over him. Then all Israel fled, everyone to his own tent.
18:18:Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself a memorial pillar which is in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He named the memorial pillar after himself, and to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.
18:19:David Is Grief-stricken
Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, said, “Let me run and bring the king news that the Lord has vindicated him by rescuing him from [the power of] his enemies.”
18:20:But Joab told him, “You are not the man to carry news [to King David] today, but you shall carry news another day. On this day you shall carry no news, because the king’s son is dead.”
18:21:Then Joab said to the Cushite (Ethiopian), “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” And the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.
18:22:Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “But whatever happens, please let me also run after the Cushite.” Joab said, “Why should you run, my son, seeing you will have no messenger’s reward for going [because you have only bad news]?”
18:23:“But whatever happens, Let me run.” So Joab said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain [of the Jordan River] and outran the Cushite.
18:24:Now David was sitting between the two gates; and the lookout went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he raised his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone.
18:25:The lookout called down and told the king. The king said, “If he is alone, he has good news to tell.” And he came nearer and nearer.
18:26:Then the lookout saw another man running, and he called to the gatekeeper and said, “Look, another man running alone.” The king said, “He also is bringing good news.”
18:27:The lookout said, “I think the man in front runs like Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” The king said, “He is a good man and is coming with good news.”
18:28:And Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “All is well.” And he bowed before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has handed over the men who lifted up their hands [to fight] against my lord the king.”
18:29:The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king’s servant, and your servant, I saw a great turmoil, but I do not know what it was about.”
18:30:The king told him, “Step aside; stand here.” And he stepped aside and stood still.
18:31:Behold, the Cushite (Ethiopian) arrived, and said, “Let my lord the king receive good news, for the Lord has vindicated you today by rescuing you from the hand (power) of all those who stood against you.”
18:32:The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom [my son] safe?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all those who rise against you to do evil, be [dead] like that young man is.”
18:33:The king was deeply moved and went to the upper room over the gate and wept [in sorrow]. And this is what he said as he walked: “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! How I wish that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
19:1:Joab Reproves David’s Lament
It was told to Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.”
19:2:So the victory on that day was turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard it said on that day, “The king grieves for his son.”
19:3:The people stole into the city [of Mahanaim] that day, as people who are humiliated and ashamed steal away when they retreat in battle.
19:4:But the king covered his face and cried out with a loud voice, “O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
19:5:Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have put all your servants to shame who this day have saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters, and the lives of your wives and concubines.
19:6:For you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. For you have shown today that commanders and servants are nothing to you; for today I know that if Absalom had lived and all the rest of us had died today, then you would be pleased.
19:7:So now stand up, go out and speak kindly and encouragingly to your servants; for I swear by the Lord that if you do not go out, not a man will stay with you tonight. And this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now.”
19:8:David Restored as King
Then the king stood and sat at the gate [of Mahanaim]. And they told all the people, “The king is sitting at the gate,” and all the people came before the king.
But Israel [Absalom’s troops] had fled, every man to his tent.
19:9:All the people were quarreling throughout the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king rescued us from the hands of our enemies, and he saved us from the hands of the Philistines, but now he has fled out of the land from Absalom.
19:10:And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. So now, why are you [leaders] doing nothing about bringing back the king?”
19:11:Then King David sent word to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house [in Jerusalem], since the word of all Israel has come to the king, and to his house?
19:12:You are my brothers (relatives, relations); you are my bone and my flesh. Why then are you the last to bring back the king?’
19:13:Say to Amasa [the commander of Absalom’s troops], ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God do so to me, and more also, if you will not be commander of my army from now on in place of Joab.’”
19:14:In this way he changed the hearts of all the men of Judah as one man, so they sent word to the king, “Return, you and all your servants.”
19:15:So David returned and came to the Jordan. And [supporters from] Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king, to escort him across the Jordan.
19:16:Then Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men [from the tribe of] of Judah to meet King David,
19:17:and a thousand men [from the tribe] of Benjamin with him. And Ziba, the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and twenty servants with him, rushed down to the Jordan before the king.
19:18:Then they [repeatedly] crossed the ford to bring over the king’s household (family), and to do what pleased him. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan,
19:19:and said to the king, “Let not my lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem, so that the king would take it to heart.
19:20:For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore, behold, I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”
19:21:But Abishai the son of Zeruiah said, “Should not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?”
19:22:David said, “What business is this of yours, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary to me today? Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that today I am king over Israel?”
19:23:Therefore the king said to Shimei, “You shall not be put to death.” And so the king gave him his promise.
19:24:Then Mephibosheth the [grand]son of Saul came down to meet the king, but he had not cared for his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned in peace and safety.
19:25:And when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”
19:26:He said, “My lord the king, my servant [Ziba] betrayed me; for I said, ‘Saddle a donkey for me so that I may ride on it and go with the king,’ for your servant is lame [but he took the donkeys and left without me].
19:27:Further, he has slandered your servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is like the angel of God; so do what is good in your eyes.
19:28:For were not all of my father’s household (family) nothing but dead men before my lord the king; yet you set your servant among those who ate at your own table. So what right do I still have to cry out anymore to the king [for help]?”
19:29:The king said to him, “Why speak anymore of your affairs? I have said, ‘You and Ziba shall divide the land.’”
19:30:Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him even take it all, since my lord the king has returned to his own house in safety and peace.”
19:31:Now Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim and went on to the Jordan with the king to escort him over the Jordan.
19:32:Barzillai was a very old man, eighty years old; and he had provided the king with food while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very great and wealthy man.
19:33:The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me and I will provide for you in Jerusalem with me.”
19:34:But Barzillai said to the king, “How much longer have I to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?
19:35:I am this day eighty years old. Can I [be useful to advise you to] discern between good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or drink? Can I still hear the voices of singing men and women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
19:36:Your servant would merely cross over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king compensate me with this reward?
19:37:Please let your servant return, so that I may die in my own city [and be buried] by the grave of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham [my son]; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what seems good to you.”
19:38:The king answered, “Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what seems good to you; and whatever you ask of me, I will do for you.”
19:39:So all the people crossed over the Jordan. When the king had crossed over, he kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his place.
19:40:Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him; and all the people of Judah and also half the people of Israel accompanied the king.
19:41:And all the men of Israel came to the king and said to him, “Why have our brothers (relatives), the men [from the tribe] of Judah, stolen you away and brought the king and his household and all David’s men with him over the Jordan [instead of waiting for us to arrive]?”
19:42:Then all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is a close relative to us. So why then are you angry about this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king’s expense? Or has anything been taken for us?”
19:43:Then the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have ten [tribes’] shares in the king, and we have more claim on David than you. Why then did you treat us with contempt and ignore us [by rushing ahead]? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” But the words of the men of Judah were harsher than those of the men of Israel.
20:1:Sheba’s Revolt
There happened to be there a worthless and wicked man named Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. He blew a trumpet [to call Israel to revolt] and said,
“We have no portion in David
And no inheritance in the son of Jesse,
Every man to his tents, O Israel!”
20:2:So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah stayed faithfully with their king, from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
20:3:Then David came to his house (palace) at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to take care of the house, and placed them under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were confined, and lived as widows until the day of their death.
20:4:Now the king said to Amasa [the commander of his army], “Summon the [fighting] men of Judah to me within three days, and be present here yourself.”
20:5:So Amasa went to summon [the fighting men of] Judah, but he delayed longer than the time which David had set for him.
20:6:And David said to Abishai [his nephew], “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom did. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, so that he does not find fortified cities for himself and escape from our sight.”
20:7:So Joab’s men went after him, along with [David’s bodyguards] the Cherethites and Pelethites and all the warriors; they went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.
20:8:When they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing his military uniform, and over it he had a belt with a sheathed sword strapped around his hips; and as he went forward, it fell out.
20:9:Joab said to Amasa, “Is it going well with you, my brother?” And with his right hand Joab took hold of Amasa by the beard [as if] to kiss him [in greeting].
20:10:Amasa Murdered
But Amasa [who had replaced Joab as David’s commander] was off guard and not attentive to the sword in Joab’s hand. So Joab struck Amasa in the abdomen with the sword, spilling his intestines to the ground. Without another blow Amasa died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.
20:11:Now one of Joab’s young men stood by him and said, “Whoever favors Joab and is for David, let him follow Joab!”
20:12:But Amasa was wallowing in his blood in the middle of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people who came by stopped [to look], he moved Amasa from the highway into the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by Amasa stopped.
20:13:Revolt Put Down
When [the body of] Amasa was removed from the highway, everyone followed after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.
20:14:Now Joab went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, even Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they assembled and also went after Sheba.
20:15:And the army of Joab came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth-maacah, and they built up an assault ramp against the city, and it stood against the outer rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were wreaking destruction to make the wall fall.
20:16:Then a wise woman cried out from the city, “Hear, hear! Tell Joab, ‘Come here so that I may speak to you.’”
20:17:So when he approached her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your maidservant.” He answered, “I am listening.”
20:18:Then she said, “In the past people used to say, ‘They will certainly ask advice at Abel,’ and so they settled the dispute.
20:19:I am one of the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You are seeking to destroy a city, and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up (devour) the inheritance of the Lord?”
20:20:Joab answered, “Far be it, far be it from me that I would swallow up or destroy!
20:21:That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand [in rebellion] against King David. Only hand him over, and I will leave the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.”
20:22:Then the woman in her wisdom went to all the people [to inform them of the agreement]. And they beheaded Sheba the son of Bichri and threw his head [down] to Joab. So he blew the trumpet [signaling the end of the attack], and they dispersed from the city, every man to his own tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to [David] the king.
20:23:Now Joab was [commander] over the entire army of Israel; Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was [commander] over the Cherethites and Pelethites [the king’s bodyguards];
20:24:Adoram was over the forced labor; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;
20:25:Sheva was the scribe; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
20:26:also Ira the Jairite was a priest to David.
21:1:Gibeonite Revenge
There was famine in the days of David for three consecutive years; and David sought the presence (face) of the Lord [asking the reason]. The Lord replied, “It is because of Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
21:2:So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons (descendants) of Israel but of the remnant (survivors) of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn [an oath] to [spare] them, but Saul in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah had sought to strike down the Gibeonites).
21:3:So David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? How can I make it good so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance (Israel)?”
21:4:The Gibeonites said to him, “We will not accept silver or gold belonging to Saul or his household (descendants); nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” David said, “I will do for you whatever you say.”
21:5:So they said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to exterminate us from remaining in any territory of Israel,
21:6:let seven men [chosen] from his sons (descendants) be given to us and we will hang them before the Lord [that is, put them on display, impaled with broken legs and arms] in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen one of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
21:7:But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord’s oath that was between David and Saul’s son Jonathan.
21:8:So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
21:9:He handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the Lord, and the seven died together. They were put to death in the first days of the grain harvest, the beginning of the barley harvest [in the spring].
21:10:Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest [in the spring] until [the autumn] rain fell on them; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on their bodies by day, nor the beasts of the field [to feed on them] by night.
21:11:David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.
21:12:Then David went and took the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day when the Philistines had killed Saul in Gilboa.
21:13:He brought up the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged [with their arms and legs broken].
21:14:They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father; and they did all that the king commanded. After that, God was moved by prayer for the land.
21:15:Now the Philistines were at war again with Israel. David went down with his servants, and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary.
21:16:Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels (six pounds) of bronze, was armed with a new sword, and he intended to kill David.
21:17:But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid, and struck and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.”
21:18:After this, there was war again with the Philistines at Gob (Gezer). At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph (Sippai), who was among the descendants of the giant.
21:19:There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam.
21:20:There was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he also was a descendant of the giants.
21:21:And when he taunted and defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, killed him.
21:22:These four [warriors] were descended from the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hands of David and his servants.
22:1:David’s Psalm of Rescue
David spoke the words of this song to the Lord when the Lord rescued him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
22:2:He said:
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress [on the mountain] and my rescuer;
22:3:My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge,
My Savior—You save me from violence.
22:4:“I call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.
22:5:“For the waves of death encompassed me;
The torrents of destruction overwhelmed and terrified me.
22:6:“The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
22:7:“In my distress I called upon the Lord;
I cried out to my God,
And from His temple [in the heavens] He heard my voice;
My cry for help came into His ears.
22:8:“Then the earth shook and quaked,
The foundations of the heavens trembled
And were shaken, because He was angry.
22:9:“Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
22:10:“He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With thick darkness under His feet.
22:11:“He rode on a cherub and flew;
He appeared upon the wings of the wind.
22:12:“He made darkness canopies around Him,
A mass of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
22:13:“Out of the brightness before Him
Coals of fire were set aflame.
22:14:“The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice.
22:15:“He sent out arrows and scattered them;
Lightning, and confused them.
22:16:“The channels of the sea appeared,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At the rebuke of the Lord,
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
22:17:“He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of great waters.
22:18:“He rescued me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
22:19:“They came upon me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
22:20:“He also brought me out to an open place;
He rescued me because He delighted in me.
22:21:“The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me.
22:22:“For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not acted wickedly against my God.
22:23:“For all His judgments (legal decisions) were before me,
And from His statutes I did not turn aside.
22:24:“I was also blameless before Him,
And kept myself from wrongdoing.
22:25:“Therefore the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
According to my cleanness in His sight.
22:26:“With the loving and loyal You show Yourself loving and loyal,
With the blameless You show Yourself blameless.
22:27:“With the pure You show Yourself pure,
With the perverted You show Yourself astute.
22:28:“And You save the afflicted people;
But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase (humiliate).
22:29:“For You, O Lord, are my lamp;
The Lord illumines and dispels my darkness.
22:30:“For by You I can run upon a troop;
By my God I can leap over a wall.
22:31:“As for God, His way is blameless and perfect;
The word of the Lord is tested.
He is a shield to all those who take refuge and trust in Him.
22:32:“For who is God, besides the Lord?
And who is a rock, besides our God?
22:33:“God is my strong fortress;
He sets the blameless in His way.
22:34:“He makes my feet like the doe’s feet [firm and swift];
He sets me [secure and confident] on my high places.
22:35:“He trains my hands for war,
So that my arms can bend (pull back) a bow of bronze.
22:36:“You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your help and gentleness make me great.
22:37:“You enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
22:38:“I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
And I did not turn back until they were consumed (eliminated).
22:39:“I consumed them and shattered them, so that they did not rise;
They fell under my feet.
22:40:“For You have surrounded me with strength for the battle;
You have subdued under me those who stood against me.
22:41:“You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me [in retreat],
And I destroyed those who hated me.
22:42:“They looked, but there was no savior for them—
Even to the Lord [they looked], but He did not answer them.
22:43:“Then I beat them as [small as] the dust of the earth;
I crushed and stamped them as the mire (dirt, mud) of the streets.
22:44:“You also have rescued me from strife with my [own] people;
You have kept me as the head of the nations.
People whom I have not known served me.
22:45:“Foreigners pretend obedience to me;
As soon as they hear [me], they obey me.
22:46:“Foreigners lose heart;
They come trembling out of their strongholds.
22:47:“The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
And exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation.
22:48:“It is God who executes vengeance for me,
And brings down [and disciplines] the peoples under me,
22:49:Who also brings me out from my enemies.
You even lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from the violent man.
22:50:“For this I will give thanks and praise You, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing praises to Your name.
22:51:“He is a tower of salvation and great deliverance to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,
To David and his offspring forever.”
23:1:David’s Last Song
Now these are the last words of David.
David the son of Jesse declares,
The man who was raised on high declares,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel,
23:2:“The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
23:3:“The God of Israel,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me,
‘He who rules over men righteously,
Who rules in the fear of God,
23:4:Is like the morning light when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
When the fresh grass springs out of the earth
Through sunshine after rain.’
23:5:“Truly is not my house so [blessed] with God?
For He has made an everlasting covenant with me,
Ordered in all things, and secured.
For will He not cause to grow and prosper
All my salvation and my every wish?
Will He not make it grow and prosper?
23:6:“But the wicked and worthless are all to be thrown away like thorns,
Because they cannot be taken with the hand;
23:7:“But the man who touches them
Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,
And they are utterly burned and consumed by fire in their place.”
23:8:His Mighty Men
These are the names of the mighty men (warriors) whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth, a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains, also called Adino the Eznite (spear) because of the eight hundred men killed [by him] at one time.
23:9:Next to him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the son of Ahohi. He was one of the three mighty men with David when they taunted and defied the Philistines assembled there for battle, and the men of Israel had gone.
23:10:Eleazar stood up and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day; the people returned after him only to take the spoil [of the slain].
23:11:Next to Eleazar was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines were gathered into an army where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people [of Israel] fled from the Philistines.
23:12:But he took his stand in the center of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines; and the Lord brought about a great victory.
23:13:Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David at harvest time in the cave of Adullam, while an army of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.
23:14:David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.
23:15:And David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”
23:16:So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem by the gate, and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink it, but poured it out [in worship] to the Lord.
23:17:And he said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should drink this. [Is it not the same as] the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.
23:18:Now Abishai the brother of Joab the son of Zeruiah was chief of the thirty. He wielded his spear against three hundred men and killed them, and gained a reputation beside the three.
23:19:He was the most honored of the thirty, so he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the [greatness of the] three.
23:20:Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many notable acts, killed two [famous] warriors of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.
23:21:And he killed an Egyptian, an impressive and handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a club, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed the man with his own spear.
23:22:These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and gained a reputation beside the three mighty men.
23:23:He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the [greatness of the] three. David appointed him over his guard.
23:24:Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; then Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
23:25:Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod,
23:26:Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa,
23:27:Abiezer of Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite,
23:28:Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai of Netophah,
23:29:Heleb the son of Baanah of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the Benjamites,
23:30:Benaiah of Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,
23:31:Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,
23:32:Eliahba of Shaalbon, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,
23:33:Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite,
23:34:Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai the son of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel of Giloh,
23:35:Hezro (Hezrai) of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite,
23:36:Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,
23:37:Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, armor bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah,
23:38:Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,
23:39:Uriah the Hittite—thirty-seven in all.
24:1:The Census Taken
Now again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He incited David against them to say, “Go, count [the people of] Israel and Judah.”
24:2:So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], and conduct a census of the people, so that I may know the number of the people.”
24:3:But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as there are, and let the eyes of my lord the king see it; but why does my lord the king want to do this thing?”
24:4:Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So they went from the king’s presence to take a census of the people of Israel.
24:5:They crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the south side of the city which is in the middle of the river valley [of the Arnon] toward Gad, and on toward Jazer.
24:6:Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon,
24:7:and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites, and they went out to the south of Judah, to Beersheba.
24:8:So when they had gone about through all the land [taking the census], they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
24:9:And Joab gave the sum of the census of the people to the king. In Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.
24:10:But David’s heart (conscience) troubled him after he had counted the people. David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the sin of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
24:11:When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,
24:12:“Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I am giving you three choices; select one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.”’”
24:13:So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your enemies as they pursue you? Or shall there be three days of pestilence (plague) in your land? Now consider this and decide what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.”
24:14:Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hands of man.”
24:15:Pestilence Sent
So the Lord sent a pestilence (plague) [lasting three days] upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.
24:16:When the [avenging] angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the disaster and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now relax your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
24:17:When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he spoke to the Lord and said, “Behold, I [alone] am the one who has sinned and done wrong; but these sheep (people of Israel), what have they done [to deserve this]? Please let Your hand be [only] against me and my father’s house (family).”
24:18:David Builds an Altar
Then Gad [the prophet] came to David that day and said to him, “Go up, set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite [where you saw the angel].”
24:19:So David went up according to Gad’s word, as the Lord commanded.
24:20:Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; and he went out and bowed before the king with his face toward the ground.
24:21:Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, so that the plague may be held back from the people.”
24:22:Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for the burnt offering, and threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood.
24:23:All of this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God be favorable to you.”
24:24:But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will certainly buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.” So David purchased the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
24:25:David built an altar to the Lord there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was moved [to compassion] by [David’s] prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.
1_kings:1:1:David in Old Age
Now King David was old, advanced in years; they covered him with clothes, but he could not get warm.
1:2:So his servants said to him, “Let a young virgin be found for my lord the king and let her attend him and become his nurse; let her lie against your chest, so that my lord the king may feel warm.”
1:3:So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
1:4:The girl was very beautiful; and she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king was not intimate with her.
1:5:Then Adonijah the son of [David’s wife] Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I [the eldest living son] will be king.” So [following Absalom’s example] he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
1:6:His father [David] had never rebuked him at any time by asking, “Why have you done this?” Adonijah was also a very handsome man, and he was born after Absalom.
1:7:He had conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister] and with Abiathar the priest; and they followed Adonijah and helped him.
1:8:But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s most formidable warriors did not side with Adonijah [in his desire to become king].
1:9:Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened steers by the Stone of Zoheleth, which is beside [the well] En-rogel; and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants [to this feast].
1:10:But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the most formidable warriors, or his brother Solomon.
1:11:Nathan and Bathsheba
Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know about it?
1:12:Come now, please let me advise you and save your life and the life of your son Solomon.
1:13:Go at once to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, “Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’
1:14:Behold, while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”
1:15:So Bathsheba went to the king in his bedroom. Now the king was very old and weak, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending the king.
1:16:So Bathsheba bowed down and paid respect to the king. And the king said, “What do you wish?”
1:17:She said to him, “My lord, you swore by the Lord your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me and he shall sit on my throne.’
1:18:But now, behold, Adonijah is [acting as] king; and now [as things stand], my lord the king, you do not know it.
1:19:He has sacrificed oxen and fattened steers and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons and Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army [to a feast], but he did not invite your servant Solomon.
1:20:Now as for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you [waiting for you] to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
1:21:Otherwise it will come about when my lord the king lies down [in death] with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered political enemies.”
1:22:While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in.
1:23:The king was told, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came before the king, he bowed before the king with his face to the ground.
1:24:Then Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne’?
1:25:Because he has gone down today [to En-Rogel] and has sacrificed oxen and fattened steers and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest [to this feast]; and [right now] they are eating and drinking in his presence; and they say, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’
1:26:But he has not invited me, your servant, nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon.
1:27:If this thing has been done by my lord the king, why have you not shown your servants who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”
1:28:King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” And she came into the king’s presence and stood before him.
1:29:Then the king swore an oath and said, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul from all distress,
1:30:even as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place’; I will indeed do so this very day.”
1:31:Bathsheba bowed down with her face to the ground, and laid herself face down before the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”
1:32:Then King David said, “Call Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada to me.” And they came before the king.
1:33:The king told them, “Take the servants of your lord with you and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to [the spring at] Gihon [in the Kidron Valley].
1:34:Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel. Then blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’
1:35:Then you shall come up [to Jerusalem] after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne and he shall reign as king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”
1:36:Benaiah [the overseer of the king’s bodyguards], the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, “Amen! (So be it!) May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so too.
1:37:Just as the Lord has been with my lord the king, so may He be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David!”
1:38:Solomon Anointed King
So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites [the king’s bodyguards] went down [from Jerusalem] and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and brought him to [the spring at] Gihon.
1:39:Zadok the priest took a horn of [olive] oil from the [sacred] tent and anointed Solomon. They blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”
1:40:All the people went up after him, and they were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth shook and seemed to burst open with their [joyful] sound.
1:41:Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. When Joab heard the trumpet sound, he said, “Why is the city in such an uproar?”
1:42:While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest arrived. And Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a valiant and trustworthy man and you bring good news.”
1:43:But Jonathan replied to Adonijah, “No, on the contrary, our lord King David has made Solomon king!
1:44:The king has sent him with Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have had him ride on the king’s [own royal] mule.
1:45:Also, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon, and they have come up from there celebrating, so the city is in an uproar. This is the noise which you have heard.
1:46:Besides, Solomon has taken his seat on the throne of the kingdom.
1:47:Moreover, the king’s servants came to bless (congratulate) our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon better (more famous) than your name and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed himself [before God] upon the bed.
1:48:The king has also said this: ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted one [of my descendants] to sit on my throne today and allowed my eyes to see it.’”
1:49:Then all Adonijah’s guests were terrified [of being branded as traitors] and stood up and left the feast, and each one went on his way.
1:50:And Adonijah feared Solomon, and he got up and went [to the tabernacle on Mt. Zion] and took hold of the horns of the altar [seeking asylum].
1:51:Now Solomon was told, “Behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, and behold, he has grasped the horns of the altar [seeking God’s protection], saying, ‘King Solomon must swear to me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’”
1:52:Solomon said, “If he [proves he] is a worthy man, not even one of his hairs shall fall to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.”
1:53:So King Solomon sent [soldiers], and they brought Adonijah down from the altar [that was in front of the tabernacle]. And he came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”
2:1:David’s Charge to Solomon
When David’s time to die approached, he gave instructions to Solomon his son, saying,
2:2:“I am going the way of all the earth [as dust to dust]. Be strong and prove yourself a man.
2:3:Keep the charge of the Lord your God, [that is, fulfill your obligation to] walk in His ways, keep His statutes, His commandments, His precepts, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may succeed in everything that you do and wherever you turn,
2:4:so that the Lord may fulfill His promise concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful regarding their way [of life], to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and mind and with all their soul, you shall not fail to have a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.’
2:5:Now you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah [my sister] did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and to Amasa the son of Jether, [both of] whom he murdered; avenging the blood of war in [a time of] peace. And he put the [innocent] blood of war [of Abner and Amasa] on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals on his feet.
2:6:So act in accordance with your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in peace.
2:7:But be gracious and kind to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who [have the honor to] eat at your table; for they met me [with kindness] when I fled from your brother Absalom.
2:8:And look, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bahurim; he is the one who cursed me with a sinister curse the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan [on my return], and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’
2:9:But now do not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man; and you will know what to do to him, and you will bring his gray head down to Sheol [covered] with blood.”
2:10:Death of David
So David lay down with his fathers [in death] and was buried in the City of David.
2:11:The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years: he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
2:12:Then Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.
2:13:Now Adonijah the son of [David and] Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. She said, “Do you come in peace?” And he said, “In peace.”
2:14:Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.”
2:15:So he said, “You know that the kingdom belonged to me [as the eldest living son] and all Israel looked to me and expected me to be king. However, the kingdom has passed [from me] and became my brother’s, for it was his from the Lord.
2:16:So now I am making one request of you; do not refuse me.” And she said to him, “Speak.”
2:17:He said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you; ask that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.”
2:18:Bathsheba replied, “Very well; I will speak to the king for you.”
2:19:Adonijah Executed
So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her, bowed before her, and sat down on his throne; then he had a throne set for her, the king’s mother, and she sat on his right.
2:20:Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”
2:21:So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.”
2:22:King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why are you asking for Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask the kingdom for him also—since he is my older brother—[ask it] for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah [his supporters]!”
2:23:Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do the same to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not requested this [deplorable] thing against his own life.
2:24:So now, as the Lord lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house as He promised, Adonijah shall indeed be put to death today.”
2:25:So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck Adonijah and he died.
2:26:Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go to Anathoth to your own fields, for you certainly deserve to die; but I will not put you to death this day, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and you suffered everything that my father endured.”
2:27:So Solomon dismissed Abiathar [a descendant of Eli] from being priest to the Lord, fulfilling the word of the Lord, which He had spoken concerning the house (descendants) of Eli in Shiloh.
2:28:Joab Executed
Now the news reached Joab, for Joab had supported and followed Adonijah, although he had not followed Absalom. So Joab fled to the [sacred] tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar [to seek asylum].
2:29:King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord and was at that moment beside the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.”
2:30:So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and told Joab, “This is what the king commands, ‘Come out of there.’” But Joab said, “No, for I will die here.” Then Benaiah brought word to the king again, saying, “This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me.”
2:31:The king said to him, “Do as he has said. Strike him down and bury him, so that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the innocent blood which Joab shed.
2:32:The Lord will return his bloody deeds upon his own head, because he struck down two men more righteous and honorable than he and killed them with the sword, without my father David knowing: Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.
2:33:So shall their blood return on the head of Joab and the heads of his descendants forever. But for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord forever.”
2:34:So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up [to the tabernacle] and struck and killed Joab, and he was buried at his own house in the wilderness [of Judah].
2:35:The king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab’s place, and appointed Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar.
2:36:Shimei Executed
Now the king sent word and called for Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there. Do not go from there to any other place.
2:37:For on the day you leave and cross over the Brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall surely die; your blood shall be on your own head.”
2:38:Shimei said to the king, “The word (ruling) is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for many days.
2:39:But it happened after three years, that two of Shimei’s servants ran away to Achish the son of Maacah, the king of Gath. And Shimei was told, “Behold, your [runaway] servants are in Gath.”
2:40:So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to [King] Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought them back from Gath.
2:41:Now Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned.
2:42:So the king sent word and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you leave [Jerusalem] and go anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word (ruling) I have heard is good.’
2:43:Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord, and the command which I gave you?”
2:44:The king also said to Shimei, “You are aware in your own heart of all the evil you did to my father David; so the Lord shall return your evil on your own head.
2:45:But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.”
2:46:So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck down Shimei, and he died.
So the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon.
3:1:Solomon’s Rule Consolidated
Now Solomon became a son-in-law to Pharaoh king of Egypt [and formed an alliance] by taking Pharaoh’s daughter [in marriage]. He brought her to the City of David [where she remained temporarily] until he had finished building his own house (palace) and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem.
3:2:But [in the meantime] the people were still sacrificing [to God] on the high places (hilltops) [as the pagans did to their idols], for there was no [permanent] house yet built for the Name of the Lord.
3:3:Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking [at first] in the statutes of David his father, except [for the fact that] he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places [ignoring the law that required all sacrifices to be offered at the tabernacle].
3:4:The king went to Gibeon [near Jerusalem, where the tabernacle and the bronze altar stood] to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
3:5:In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask [Me] what I shall give you.”
3:6:Solomon’s Prayer
Then Solomon said, “You have shown Your servant David my father great lovingkindness, because he walked before You in faithfulness and righteousness and with uprightness of heart toward You; and You have kept for him this great lovingkindness, in that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today.
3:7:So now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of David my father; and as for me, I am but a little boy [in wisdom and experience]; I do not know how to go out or come in [that is, how to conduct business as a king].
3:8:Your servant is among Your people whom You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.
3:9:So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart [with which] to judge Your people, so that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge and rule this great people of Yours?”
3:10:God’s Answer
Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.
3:11:God said to him, “Because you have asked this and have not asked for yourself a long life nor for wealth, nor for the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to recognize justice,
3:12:behold, I have done as you asked. I have given you a wise and discerning heart (mind), so that no one before you was your equal, nor shall anyone equal to you arise after you.
3:13:I have also given you what you have not asked, both wealth and honor, so that there will not be anyone equal to you among the kings, for all your days.
3:14:If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and My commandments, as your father David did, then I will lengthen your days.”
3:15:Then Solomon awoke, and he realized that it was a dream. He came [back] to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and he prepared a feast for all his servants.
3:16:Solomon Wisely Judges
Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
3:17:And the one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.
3:18:And on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were [alone] together; no one else was with us in the house, just we two.
3:19:Now this woman’s son died during the night, because she lay on him [and smothered him].
3:20:So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from [his place] beside me while your maidservant was asleep, and laid him on her bosom, and laid her dead son on my bosom.
3:21:When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead. But when I examined him carefully in the morning, behold, it was not my son, the one whom I had borne.”
3:22:Then the other woman said, “No! For my son is the one who is living, and your son is the dead one.” But the first woman said, “No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.” [This is how] they were speaking before the king.
3:23:Then the king said, “This woman says, ‘This is my son, the one who is alive, and your son is the dead one’; and the other woman says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the one who is alive.’”
3:24:Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king.
3:25:Then the king said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to the one [woman] and half to the other.”
3:26:Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply moved over her son, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; cut him!”
3:27:Then the king said, “Give the first woman [who is pleading for his life] the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.”
3:28:When all [the people of] Israel heard about the judgment which the king had made, they [were in awe and reverently] feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was within him to administer justice.
4:1:Solomon’s Officials
King Solomon was king over all [the people of] Israel.
4:2:These were his [chief] officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the high priest;
4:3:Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha, were scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder [of important events];
4:4:Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
4:5:Azariah the son of Nathan was in charge of the deputies; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and was the king’s friend [and trusted advisor];
4:6:Ahishar was in charge of the household (palace); and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.
4:7:Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who secured provisions for the king and his household; each man had to provide for a month in the year.
4:8:These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of [the tribe of] Ephraim;
4:9:Ben-deker in Makaz and Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh and Elon-beth-hanan;
4:10:Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher);
4:11:Ben-abinadab, in all the hills of Dor (Taphath, Solomon’s daughter, was his wife);
4:12:Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah as far as beyond Jokmeam;
4:13:Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead belonged to him, also the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);
4:14:Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;
4:15:Ahimaaz, in [the tribe of] Naphtali (he also married Basemath, Solomon’s daughter);
4:16:Baana the son of Hushai, in [the tribe of] Asher and Bealoth;
4:17:Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in [the tribe of] Issachar;
4:18:Shimei the son of Ela, in [the tribe of] Benjamin;
4:19:Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer who was in the land.
4:20:Solomon’s Power, Wealth and Wisdom
[The people of] Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is in abundance by the sea; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
4:21:Now Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the [Euphrates] River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they brought tribute (money) and served Solomon all the days of his life.
4:22:Solomon’s food [for the royal household] for one day was thirty kors of finely milled flour, sixty kors of wheat flour,
4:23:ten fat oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, a hundred sheep not counting fallow deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.
4:24:For he was ruling over everything west of the [Euphrates] River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the [Euphrates] River; and he had peace on all sides around him.
4:25:Judah and Israel lived in security, every man under his vine and fig tree [in peace and prosperity], from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], during all the days of Solomon.
4:26:Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.
4:27:Those deputies provided food for King Solomon and for all [the staff] who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they let nothing be lacking.
4:28:They also brought the barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds (warhorses, chargers) to the place where it was needed, each man according to his assignment.
4:29:Now God gave Solomon [exceptional] wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand of the seashore.
4:30:Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.
4:31:For he was wiser than all [other] men, [wiser] than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. His fame was known in all the surrounding nations.
4:32:He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.
4:33:He spoke of trees, from the cedar which is in Lebanon to the hyssop [vine] that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and fish.
4:34:People came from all the peoples (nations) to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
5:1:Alliance with King Hiram
Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend of David.
5:2:Then Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying,
5:3:“You know that David my father could not build a house (temple) for the Name (Presence) of the Lord his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.
5:4:But now that the Lord my God has given me rest [from war] on every side, there is neither adversary nor misfortune [confronting me].
5:5:Behold, I intend to build a house (temple) to the Name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord said to my father David: ‘Your son whom I will put on your throne in your place shall build the house for My Name and Presence.’
5:6:So now, command that they cut cedar trees from Lebanon for me, and my servants will join your servants, and I will give you whatever wages you set for your servants. For you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the men of Sidon.”
5:7:When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given David a wise son [to be king] over this great people.”
5:8:So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you sent to me; I will do everything you wish concerning the cedar and cypress timber.
5:9:My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the [Mediterranean] sea, and I will have them made into rafts to go by sea to the place (port) that you direct me; then I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry them away. Then you shall return the favor by providing food for my household.”
5:10:So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and cypress timber he desired,
5:11:and Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 kors of wheat as food for his household, and 20 kors of pure [olive] oil. Solomon gave all these to Hiram each year.
5:12:The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as He promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.
5:13:Conscription of Laborers
King Solomon levied forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers numbered 30,000 men.
5:14:He sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts; one month they were in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced laborers.
5:15:Solomon had 70,000 burden bearers (transporters) and 80,000 stonemasons in the hill country [of Judah],
5:16:besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were in charge of the project and who were in charge of the people doing the work.
5:17:The king gave orders, and they quarried great stones, valuable stones, to lay the foundation of the house (temple) with cut stones.
5:18:So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men of Gebal cut and chiseled the stones, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house (temple).
6:1:The Building of the Temple
Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv (April-May) which is the second month, that he began to build the Lord’s house (temple).
6:2:The length of the house which King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits (90 ft.), its width twenty (30 ft.), and its height thirty cubits (45 ft.).
6:3:The porch in front of the main room of the house (temple) was twenty cubits long, corresponding to the width of the house, and its depth in front of the house was ten cubits.
6:4:He also made framed (artistic) window openings for the house.
6:5:Against the wall of the house he built extensions around the walls of the house, around both the main room (Holy Place) and the Holy of Holies; and he made side chambers all around.
6:6:The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made offsets (niches) in the walls all around on the outside of the house so that the supporting beams would not be inserted into the walls of the house.
6:7:While it was being built, the house was built of stone prepared and finished (precut) at the quarry, and no hammer, axe, or iron tool of any kind was heard in the house while it was under construction.
6:8:The entrance to the lowest side chamber was on the right [or south] side of the house; and they would go up winding stairs to the middle [level], and from the middle to the third.
6:9:So Solomon built the house (temple) and finished it, and roofed the house with beams and boards of cedar.
6:10:Then he built the extensions [of rooms] against the entire house, each [story] five cubits high; and they were attached to the house with timbers of cedar.
6:11:Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying,
6:12:“Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My precepts and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word (promises) with you which I made to David your father.
6:13:I will dwell among the sons (descendants) of Israel, and will not abandon My people Israel.”
6:14:So Solomon built the house (temple) and finished it.
6:15:He built the walls of the interior of the house [that is, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the rafters of the ceiling. He overlaid the interior with wood, and he overlaid the floor of the house with boards of cypress.
6:16:He built twenty cubits on the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling; he built its interior as the [inner] sanctuary, the Holy of Holies.
6:17:The [rest of the] house, that is, the temple in front of the Holy of Holies, was forty cubits long.
6:18:The cedar on the house within had wood carvings in the shape of gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was visible.
6:19:Then he prepared the Holy of Holies within the house in order to put the ark of the covenant of the Lord there.
6:20:The Holy of Holies was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height (a cube), and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the cedar altar [with gold].
6:21:Solomon overlaid the interior of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across the front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary), and he overlaid it with gold.
6:22:Then he overlaid the entire house with gold, until the whole house was finished. He also overlaid the entire [incense] altar which was by the Holy of Holies with gold.
6:23:Within the Holy of Holies he made two cherubim (sculptured figures) of olive wood, each ten cubits high.
6:24:One wing of the cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was also five cubits long; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other.
6:25:The [wingspan of the] other cherub was also ten cubits. The measurements and cut (shape) of the two cherubim were the same;
6:26:the height of the one cherub was ten cubits, as was the other.
6:27:He put the cherubim [above the ark] inside the innermost room of the house, and their wings were spread out so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall; and their inner wings were touching each other in the middle of the house.
6:28:Solomon also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
6:29:He carved all the walls of the house all around with carved engravings of cherubim, palm-shaped decorations, and open flowers, [both] the inner and the outer sanctuaries.
6:30:He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, [both] the inner and outer sanctuaries.
6:31:For the entrance of the Holy of Holies he made two [folding] doors of olive wood, the lintel (header above the door) and five-sided doorposts (frames).
6:32:So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm-shaped decorations, and open flowers; and overlaid them with gold; and he hammered out overlays of gold on the cherubim and palm decorations.
6:33:Also he made for the entrance of the [outer] sanctuary (the Holy Place) four-sided doorposts (frames) of olive wood
6:34:and two doors of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots and were folding, and the two leaves of the other door also turned on pivots.
6:35:He carved cherubim, palm-shaped decorations, and open flowers on the doors, and overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work.
6:36:He built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.
6:37:In the fourth year [of King Solomon’s reign] the foundation of the Lord’s house was laid, in the [second] month, Ziv (April-May).
6:38:In the eleventh year [of King Solomon’s reign] in the month of Bul (October-November), that is, the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and in accordance with all its specifications. So he built it in seven years.
7:1:Solomon’s Palace
Now Solomon built his own house (palace) in thirteen years, and he finished all of his house [in that time].
7:2:He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was a hundred cubits (150 ft.), its width fifty cubits (75 ft.), and its height thirty cubits (45 ft.), upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.
7:3:And it was covered with cedar [as a roof] on the supporting beams that were upon the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row.
7:4:There were artistic window frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers.
7:5:All the doorways and doorposts [and windows] had squared [artistic] frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers.
7:6:He also made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits (75 ft.) and its width thirty cubits (45 ft.). There was a porch in front, and pillars and a threshold in front of them.
7:7:He made the hall for the throne where he was to judge, the Hall of Judgment; it was paneled with cedar from [one] floor to [another] floor.
7:8:His house where he was to live, the other courtyard behind the hall, was of similar workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.
7:9:All these were of expensive stones, of stone cut according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside; even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great courtyard.
7:10:The foundation was of expensive stones, large stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits.
7:11:And above [the foundation] were expensive stones, stones cut according to measure, and cedar.
7:12:So the great courtyard all around had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams like the inner courtyard of the house of the Lord, and the porch of the house.
7:13:Hiram’s Work in the Temple
Now King Solomon sent word and brought Hiram [a skilled craftsman] from Tyre.
7:14:He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Hiram was filled with wisdom, understanding, and skill for doing any [kind of] work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and did all his [bronze] work.
7:15:He cast the two pillars of bronze; the one pillar was eighteen cubits high, and a [measuring] line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of both.
7:16:He also made two capitals (crowns) of cast bronze to put on the tops of the pillars; the height of one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.
7:17:There were nets of network (lattice-work) and twisted threads (wreaths) of chainwork for the capitals which were on the tops of the pillars, seven for one capital and seven for the other.
7:18:So Hiram made the pillars [in this manner], and two rows around on the one network to cover the capitals which were on the top of the pomegranates; and he did the same for the other capital.
7:19:The capitals which were upon the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work (design), four cubits.
7:20:The capitals were on the two pillars and also above and close to the rounded projection which was beside the network. There were two hundred pomegranates in rows around both capitals.
7:21:Hiram set up the pillars at the porch of the temple; he set up the right pillar and named it Jachin (may he establish), and he set up the left pillar and named it Boaz (in it is strength).
7:22:On the tops of the pillars was lily work (design). So the work of the pillars was finished.
7:23:Now he made the Sea (basin) of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, five cubits high and thirty cubits in circumference.
7:24:Under its brim were gourds encircling it ten to a cubit, completely surrounding the Sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast in one piece with it.
7:25:It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three west, three south, and three east; the Sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts pointed inward.
7:26:It was a hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.
7:27:Then Hiram made ten bronze stands [for smaller basins]; the length of each stand was four cubits, its width was four cubits and its height was three cubits.
7:28:This was the design of the stands: they had borders between the frames.
7:29:On the borders between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the frames there was a pedestal above. Beneath the lions and oxen were borders of hanging work.
7:30:Now each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and its four feet had supports [for a basin]. Beneath the basin were cast supports with borders at each side.
7:31:Its opening inside the crown at the top measured a cubit, and its opening was round like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half. Also on its opening were carvings, and their borders were square, not round.
7:32:Underneath the borders were four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were on the stand. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.
7:33:The wheels were made like a chariot wheel: their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast.
7:34:Now there were four supports at the four corners of each stand; the supports were part of the stand itself.
7:35:On the top of the stand there was a circular piece half a cubit high, and on the top of the stand its supports and borders were part of it.
7:36:And on the surface of its supports and its borders Hiram engraved cherubim, lions, and palm-shaped decorations, according to the [available] space for each, with borders all around.
7:37:He made the ten stands like this: they all had one casting, one measure, and one form.
7:38:Then he made ten basins of bronze; each basin held forty baths and was four cubits, and there was one basin on each of the ten stands.
7:39:Then he placed the bases, five on the right [or south] side of the house and five on the left [or north] side; and he set the Sea [of cast metal] on the right side of the house toward the southeast.
7:40:Now Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished all the work which he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord:
7:41:the two pillars and the [two] bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars;
7:42:and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars;
7:43:the ten stands and the ten basins on the stands;
7:44:one Sea (basin), and the twelve oxen under the Sea;
7:45:the pails, the shovels, and the bowls; all these utensils which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of polished bronze.
7:46:In the plain of the Jordan [River] the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
7:47:Solomon left all the utensils unweighed, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze could not be determined.
7:48:Solomon made all the [other] furniture which was in the house of the Lord: the [incense] altar of gold; the table of gold on which was the bread of the Presence;
7:49:the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary); with the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold;
7:50:the cups, snuffers, bowls, spoons, firepans—of pure gold; and the hinges of gold [both] for the doors of the inner house, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the house, the main room [the Holy Place].
7:51:So all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was completed. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the utensils—and he put them in the treasuries of the Lord’s house.
8:1:The Ark Brought into the Temple
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion.
8:2:All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim (September-October), that is, the seventh month.
8:3:All the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark.
8:4:They brought up the ark of the Lord and the Tent of Meeting and all the holy utensils that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.
8:5:King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, so many that they could not be counted or numbered.
8:6:Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim.
8:7:For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its [carrying] poles from above.
8:8:The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were visible from the Holy Place that was in front of the Holy of Holies, but they were not visible from the outside; they are there to this day (the date of this writing).
8:9:There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb (Sinai), where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.
8:10:Now it happened that when the priests had come out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Lord’s house,
8:11:so the priests could not stand [in their positions] to minister because of the cloud, for the glory and brilliance of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house (temple).
8:12:Solomon Addresses the People
Then Solomon said,
“The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness [of the cloud].
8:13:“I have certainly built You a lofty house,
A place for You to dwell in forever.”
8:14:Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.
8:15:He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hand, saying,
8:16:‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I did not choose a [particular] city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name (Presence) would be in it, but I chose David to be over My people Israel.’
8:17:Now it was [determined] in the heart of my father David to build a house (temple) for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
8:18:But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well, in that it was in your heart.
8:19:Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son, who shall be born to you, it is he who shall build it for My Name [and My Presence].’
8:20:Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; I have risen in the place of my father David and have taken my seat on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and have built the house (temple) for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
8:21:There I have made a place [in the Holy of Holies] for the ark, in which is the covenant (solemn agreement) of the Lord, which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
8:22:The Prayer of Dedication
Then Solomon stood [in the courtyard] before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.
8:23:He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, who keeps the covenant and shows lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart;
8:24:You who have kept what You promised to Your servant my father David. You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled Your word with Your hand, as it is this day.
8:25:Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep for Your servant my father David that which You promised him when You said, ‘You shall not be without a man (descendant) to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way [of life] to walk before Me [according to my laws] as you have done.’
8:26:Now, O God of Israel, please let Your word which You have spoken to Your servant David my father be confirmed.
8:27:But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built!
8:28:Yet graciously consider the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the [loud] cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today;
8:29:that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My Name (Presence) shall be there,’ that You may listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.
8:30:Listen to the prayer of Your servant and of Your people Israel which they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven, Your dwelling place; hear and forgive.
8:31:“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath [of innocence] and he comes to take the oath before Your altar in this house (temple),
8:32:then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his guilt on his own head, and justifying the righteous by rewarding him in accordance with his righteousness.
8:33:“When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and then they turn to You again and praise Your Name and pray and ask for Your favor and compassion in this house (temple),
8:34:then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave their fathers.
8:35:“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and praise Your name and turn from their sin when You afflict them,
8:36:then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel; indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk (live). And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
8:37:“If there is famine in the land, or if there is pestilence (plague), blight, mildew, migratory locusts, or grasshoppers, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever affliction or plague, whatever sickness [there is],
8:38:whatever prayer or pleading is made by any individual, or by Your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his hands out toward this house;
8:39:then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and give to each according to his ways, whose heart (mind) You know, for You and You alone know the hearts of all the children of men,
8:40:so that they may fear You [with reverence and awe] all the days that they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.
8:41:“Moreover, concerning a foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, but comes from a far (distant) country for the sake of Your name [to plead with You]
8:42:(for they will hear of Your great name, Your strong hand [of power], and outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house (temple),
8:43:hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls upon (prays to) You, so that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You [with reverence and awe], as do Your people Israel, and that they may know [without any doubt] that this house which I have built is called by Your name.
8:44:“When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and the house that I have built for Your Name and Presence,
8:45:then hear in heaven their prayer and their pleading, and maintain their right and defend their cause.
8:46:“When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the enemy’s land, [whether] far away or near;
8:47:if they take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and they repent and pray to You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong and we have acted wickedly;’
8:48:if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and they pray to You toward their land [of Israel] which You gave to their fathers, the city [of Jerusalem] which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your Name and Presence;
8:49:then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, and maintain their right and defend their cause,
8:50:and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the transgressions which they have committed against You, and make them objects of compassion before their captors, that they will be merciful to them
8:51:(for they are Your people and Your heritage, whom You brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace [of slavery and oppression]),
8:52:that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them and be attentive to them whenever they call to You.
8:53:For You singled them out from all the peoples of the earth as Your heritage, just as You declared through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”
8:54:Solomon’s Benediction
When Solomon finished offering this entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the Lord’s altar, where he had knelt down with his hands stretched toward heaven.
8:55:And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
8:56:“Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, in accordance with everything that He promised. Not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He spoke through Moses His servant.
8:57:May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us nor abandon us [to our enemies],
8:58:that He may guide our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways [following Him] and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His precepts which He commanded our fathers.
8:59:Let these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, so that He will maintain the cause and right of His servant and of His people Israel as each day requires,
8:60:so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else.
8:61:Therefore, your hearts are to be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as [you are doing] today.”
8:62:Dedicatory Sacrifices
Then the king and all [the people of] Israel with him [repeatedly] offered sacrifice before the Lord.
8:63:Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord: 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house (temple) of the Lord.
8:64:On that same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the house (temple) of the Lord; for he offered there the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to hold [all] the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the peace offerings.
8:65:So at that time Solomon held the feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath [on the northern border of Israel] to the Brook of Egypt [at Israel’s southern border], before the Lord our God, for seven days and seven more days [beyond the prescribed period for the Feast of Booths], fourteen days in all.
8:66:On the eighth (fifteenth) day he sent the people away and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and in good spirits because of all the goodness which the Lord had shown to David His servant and Israel His people.
9:1:God’s Promise and Warning
Now it happened when Solomon had finished building the house (temple) of the Lord and the king’s house (palace), and all else which he was pleased to do,
9:2:that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, just as He had appeared to him at Gibeon.
9:3:The Lord told him, “I have heard your prayer and supplication which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My Name and My Presence there forever. My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually.
9:4:As for you, if you walk (live your life) before Me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, acting in accordance with everything that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My precepts,
9:5:then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised your father David, saying, ‘You shall not be without a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.’
9:6:“But if you or your sons turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,
9:7:then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and I will cast out of My sight the house which I have consecrated for My Name and Presence. Then Israel will become a proverb (a saying) and a byword (object of ridicule) among all the peoples.
9:8:This house (temple) will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be appalled and sneer and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?’
9:9:And they [who know] will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and they have chosen other gods and have worshiped and served them; that is the reason the Lord has brought on them all this adversity.’”
9:10:Cities Given to Hiram
Now at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the temple of the Lord and the palace of the king
9:11:(Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with as much cedar and cypress timber [from Lebanon] and gold as he desired), at that time King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee (northern Israel).
9:12:So Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him.
9:13:He said, “What are these cities [good for] which you have given me, my brother?” So they have been called the land of Cabul (like nothing, unproductive) to this day.
9:14:And Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.
9:15:Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the Millo (fortification), the wall of Jerusalem, [and the fortress cities of] Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
9:16:For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, burned it with fire and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and he had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
9:17:So Solomon rebuilt [and fortified] Gezer and Lower Beth-horon,
9:18:Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,
9:19:and all the storage cities [for surplus provisions] which Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and whatever it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.
9:20:As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the sons (descendants) of Israel,
9:21:their children who were left after them in the land, whom the Israelites were unable to completely destroy, from them Solomon levied (conscripted) forced laborers, even to this day (the date of this writing).
9:22:But Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war (soldiers), his servants, his officers, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.
9:23:These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people doing the work.
9:24:As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then he built the Millo (fortification).
9:25:Three times a year [during the major annual festivals] Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built to the Lord, and he burned incense with them before the Lord. So he finished the house [of the Lord].
9:26:King Solomon built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds), in the land of Edom.
9:27:And Hiram [king of Tyre] sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.
9:28:They came to Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
10:1:The Queen of Sheba
Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with riddles.
10:2:So she came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan (entourage), with camels carrying spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything that was on her mind [to discover the extent of his wisdom].
10:3:Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king which he did not explain to her.
10:4:When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house (palace) which he had built,
10:5:the food on his table, the seating of his servants (court officials), the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, his stairway by which he went up to the house (temple) of the Lord, she was breathless and awed [by the wonder of it all].
10:6:Then she told the king, “The report which I heard in my own land about your words and wisdom is true!
10:7:I did not believe the report until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Behold, the half of it was not told to me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard.
10:8:How blessed (fortunate, happy) are your men! How blessed are these your servants who stand continually before you, hearing your wisdom!
10:9:Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, He made you king to execute justice and righteousness.”
10:10:She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again did such an abundance of spices come in [to Israel] as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
10:11:Also the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a great quantity of almug wood (sandalwood) and precious stones.
10:12:From the almug wood (sandalwood) the king made pillars for the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and also lyres and harps for the singers. Such almug wood did not come in [to Israel] again, nor has it been seen to this day.
10:13:King Solomon [in turn] gave to the queen of Sheba everything that she wanted, whatever she asked, besides what he gave to her from his royal bounty. So she returned to her own country, she and her servants.
10:14:Wealth, Splendor and Wisdom
Now the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one [particular] year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,
10:15:besides the taxes from the traders and from the wares of the merchants, and [the tribute money] from all the kings of the Arabs (Bedouins) and the governors of the country.
10:16:King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten (hammered) gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield.
10:17:He made three hundred smaller shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon [the king’s armory].
10:18:Also the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the finest gold.
10:19:The throne had six steps, and a round top was attached to the throne from the back. On either side of the seat were armrests, and two lions stood beside the armrests.
10:20:Twelve lions stood there, one on either end of each of the six steps; there was nothing like it made for any other kingdom.
10:21:All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; it was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon.
10:22:For the king had at sea the [large cargo] ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.
10:23:So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom.
10:24:All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his mind.
10:25:Every man brought a gift [of tribute]: articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.
10:26:Now Solomon collected chariots and horsemen; he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
10:27:The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as plentiful as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland.
10:28:Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue, and the king’s merchants acquired them from Kue, for a price.
10:29:A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and in the same way they exported them, by the king’s merchants, to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram (Syria).
11:1:Solomon Turns from God
Now king Solomon [defiantly] loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
11:2:from the very nations of whom the Lord said to the Israelites, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for the result will be that they will turn away your hearts to follow their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these in love.
11:3:He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away [from God].
11:4:For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not completely devoted to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.
11:5:For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the [fertility] goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the horror (detestable idol) of the Ammonites.
11:6:Solomon did evil [things] in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as his father David had done.
11:7:Then Solomon built a high place for [worshiping] Chemosh the horror (detestable idol) of Moab, on the hill which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the horror (detestable idol) of the sons of Ammon.
11:8:And he did the same for all of his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
11:9:So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
11:10:and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe (remember, obey) what the Lord had commanded.
11:11:Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.
11:12:However, I will not do it in your lifetime, for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son (Rehoboam).
11:13:However, I will not tear away all the kingdom; I will give one tribe (Judah) to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
11:14:God Raises Adversaries
Then the Lord stirred up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of royal descent in Edom.
11:15:For it came about, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury those killed [in battle] and had struck down every male in Edom
11:16:(for Joab and all [the army of] Israel stayed there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom),
11:17:that Hadad escaped to Egypt, he and some Edomites from his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was [still] a little boy.
11:18:They set out from Midian [south of Edom] and came to Paran, and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave [young] Hadad a house and ordered food and provisions for him and gave him land.
11:19:Hadad found great favor with Pharaoh, so that he gave Hadad in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.
11:20:The sister of Tahpenes gave birth to Genubath, Hadad’s son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.
11:21:But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David had died and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me leave, so that I may go to my own country.”
11:22:Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me that now you ask to go to your own country?” He replied, “Nothing; nevertheless you must let me go.”
11:23:God also stirred up another adversary for Solomon, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah.
11:24:Rezon gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, after David killed those in Zobah. They went to Damascus and stayed there and they reigned in Damascus.
11:25:So Rezon was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad inflicted. Rezon hated Israel and reigned over Aram (Syria).
11:26:Jeroboam, Solomon’s servant, the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zeredah whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king.
11:27:Now this is the reason why he rebelled against the king: Solomon built the Millo (fortification) and he repaired and closed the breach of the city of his father David.
11:28:The man Jeroboam was a brave warrior and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he put him in charge of all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.
11:29:It came about at that time, when Jeroboam left Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road. Now Ahijah had covered himself with a new cloak; and the two of them were alone in the field.
11:30:Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.
11:31:He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes—
11:32:but he [and his descendants] shall have one tribe (Benjamin was annexed to Judah), for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel—
11:33:because they have abandoned Me and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways and followed My commandments, doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My ordinances as did his father David.
11:34:However, I will not take the entire kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes.
11:35:But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and give it to you: ten tribes.
11:36:Yet to his son I will give one tribe, so that My servant David may have a lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put My Name and Presence.
11:37:I will take you [Jeroboam], and you shall reign over whatever your soul desires; and you shall be king over Israel (the ten northern tribes).
11:38:Then it shall be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, keeping and observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build you an enduring house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.
11:39:And in this way I will afflict the descendants of David for this (their sin), but not forever.’”
11:40:So Solomon attempted to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam set out and escaped to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.
11:41:The Death of Solomon
The rest of the acts of Solomon—and all that he did, and his wisdom—are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?
11:42:The time Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
11:43:And Solomon slept [in death] with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
12:1:King Rehoboam Acts Foolishly
Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
12:2:Now when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about it, he was living in Egypt (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon).
12:3:So they sent word and called for him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
12:4:“Your father made our yoke (burden) heavy; so now lighten the hard labor and the heavy yoke your father imposed on us, and we will serve you.”
12:5:Rehoboam replied to them, “Leave for three days, then come back to me [for my decision].” So the people left.
12:6:King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served and advised his father Solomon while he was still alive and said, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”
12:7:They spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and grant their request, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”
12:8:But he ignored the advice which the elders gave him and consulted the young men who grew up with him and served him.
12:9:He said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke (burden) which your father put on us’?”
12:10:The young men who had grown up with him answered, “This is what you should say to this people who told you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but as for you, make our yoke lighter’—say this to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins [and my reign will be even more severe].
12:11:And now, whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”
12:12:Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had instructed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”
12:13:The king answered the people harshly and ignored the advice which the elders had given him,
12:14:and spoke to them in accordance with the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but as for me, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”
12:15:So the king did not listen to the people; for the situation was from the Lord, so that He might fulfill His word which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
12:16:The Kingdom Divided; Jeroboam Rules Israel
So when all [the ten northern tribes of] Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people replied to the king, saying,
“What portion do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;
To your tents, O Israel!
Look now after your own house, David!”
Then Israel went back to their tents.
12:17:But as for the sons (descendants) of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah [including Benjamin], Rehoboam reigned over them.
12:18:Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor [to represent him], and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to escape to Jerusalem.
12:19:So Israel (the ten northern tribes) has rebelled against the house (royal line) of David to this day (the date of this writing).
12:20:It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent word and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah [including Benjamin].
12:21:Now when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he assembled all the [fighting men from the] house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
12:22:But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
12:23:“Tell Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all the house (fighting men) of Judah and Benjamin and the rest of the people,
12:24:‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not go up and fight against your brothers, the sons of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing has come about from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned to go home, in accordance with the word of the Lord.
12:25:Jeroboam’s Idolatry
Then Jeroboam built Shechem [as his royal city] in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. He went out from there and rebuilt Penuel [as a stronghold].
12:26:Jeroboam [doubted God’s promise to him and] said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.
12:27:If these people go up to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, then their heart will turn to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
12:28:So the king took counsel [and followed bad advice] and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “It is too much for you to go [all the way] up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
12:29:He set the one [golden calf] in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
12:30:Now this thing became a sin [for Israel]; because the people went to worship before the one [or the other of them] as far as Dan.
12:31:And Jeroboam also made houses on high places, and he made priests from all people who were not of the sons (descendants) of Levi.
12:32:Jeroboam held a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast which is kept in Judah, and he went up to the altar; he did this in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
12:33:So he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart [in defiance of God’s commandments]; and he held a feast for the Israelites and he went up to the altar to burn incense [in defiance of God’s law.]
13:1:Jeroboam Warned, Stricken
Now behold, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word (command) of the Lord, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar [which he had built] to burn incense.
13:2:The man cried out against the [idolatrous] altar by the word of the Lord, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you shall he sacrifice [the bodies of] the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’”
13:3:And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be split apart and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’”
13:4:When the king heard the words which the man of God cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” And his hand which he had put out against him withered, so that he was unable to pull it back to himself.
13:5:The altar also was split apart and the ashes were poured out from the altar in accordance with the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.
13:6:The king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat [the favor of] the Lord your God and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it was before.
13:7:And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”
13:8:But the man of God said to the king, “Even if you were to give me half your house (wealth), I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place.
13:9:For I was commanded by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread or drink water, nor shall you return by the way you came.’”
13:10:So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.
13:11:The Disobedient Prophet
Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel; and his sons came and told him everything that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.
13:12:Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God who came from Judah had gone.
13:13:He said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it,
13:14:and he went after the man of God. And he found him sitting under an oak (terebinth) tree, and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.”
13:15:Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
13:16:He said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place.
13:17:For I was told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor shall you return by going the way that you came.’”
13:18:He answered him, “I too am a prophet, as you are; and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him.
13:19:So the man of God went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.
13:20:Now it happened as they were sitting at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back.
13:21:And he cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you,
13:22:but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “You shall not eat bread nor drink water”; your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers (ancestors).’”
13:23:After the prophet of the house had eaten bread and after he had drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.
13:24:Now when he had gone, a lion met him by the road and killed him, and his body was thrown in the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion was also standing beside the body.
13:25:And there were men passing by, and they saw the body thrown in the road, and the lion standing beside the body. So they came and told about it in the city [of Bethel] where the old prophet lived.
13:26:When the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard about it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.”
13:27:And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it.
13:28:And he went and found the body thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion [miraculously] had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey.
13:29:Then the prophet picked up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back, and he came into the city (Bethel) of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him.
13:30:And he laid the body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”
13:31:Then after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I am dead, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.
13:32:For the words which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria shall certainly come to pass.”
13:33:After this event, Jeroboam [still] did not turn from his evil way, but again made priests for the high places from among all the people. He ordained anyone who was willing, so that there would be priests for the high places.
13:34:And this thing (idol worship) became the sin of the house of Jeroboam to blot it out and eliminate it from the face of the earth.
14:1:Ahijah Prophesies against the King
At that time Abijah the son [and crown prince, heir] of Jeroboam became sick.
14:2:Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself, so that people will not know that you are Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there, the one who told me that I would be king over this people.
14:3:Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a bottle of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
14:4:Jeroboam’s wife did so. She got up and went [twenty miles] to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, because his eyes were dim from old age.
14:5:And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you about her son, because he is sick. You shall say such and such to her, for when she arrives, she will pretend to be another woman.”
14:6:So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another woman? For I have been sent to you [by God] with a harsh message.
14:7:Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel,
14:8:and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you—but you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes,
14:9:but have done more evil than all [the kings] who were before you; for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back—
14:10:therefore behold, I am bringing evil on the house (royal line) of Jeroboam, and I will cut off (destroy) from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free, in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone.
14:11:The dogs will eat [the carcass of] anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat [the carcass of] anyone who dies in the field, for the Lord has spoken it.”’
14:12:Now as for you (Jeroboam’s wife), arise, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child [Abijah] will die.
14:13:All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to [be placed in] the grave, because in him there was found something good and pleasing toward the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.
14:14:Moreover, the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house (royal line) of Jeroboam this day and from now on.
14:15:“The Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the [Euphrates] River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger.
14:16:He will give up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam which he has committed, and with which he has made Israel sin [by leading them into idolatry].”
14:17:So Jeroboam’s wife arose and left and came to Tirzah [the king’s residence]. As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child [Abijah] died.
14:18:And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.
14:19:Now as for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
14:20:The time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years, and he slept with his fathers [in death]; and Nadab his son reigned in his place.
14:21:Rehoboam Misleads Judah
Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. 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 in which to put His Name (Presence). His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.
14:22:And [the people of] Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord. They provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with their sins which they had committed.
14:23:For they also built for themselves high places [to worship idols] and sacred pillars and Asherim [for the goddess Asherah]. These were on every high hill and under every luxuriant tree.
14:24:There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They committed all the repulsive acts of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the Israelites.
14:25:Now in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt [Jeroboam’s brother-in-law] came up against Jerusalem.
14:26:He took away the treasures of the house (temple) of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything, he even took all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
14:27:So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and handed them over to the captains of the palace guard who guarded the doorway of the king’s house.
14:28:And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guards would carry them and bring them back into the guardroom.
14:29:Now as for the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
14:30:There was also war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.
14:31:And Rehoboam slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam (Abijah) his son became king in his place.
15:1:Abijam Reigns over Judah
In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.
15:2:He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Maacah [grand]daughter of Abishalom (Absalom).
15:3:He walked in all the sins [of idol worship] that his father [Rehoboam] committed before him; and his heart was not entirely devoted to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father (forefather) David.
15:4:Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp (descendant on the throne) in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him and establishing Jerusalem,
15:5:because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of [the betrayal of] Uriah the Hittite.
15:6:There was war between Rehoboam [Abijam’s father] and Jeroboam all the days of Rehoboam’s life.
15:7:Now as for the rest of the acts of Abijam and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
15:8:Asa Succeeds Abijam
Abijam slept with his fathers [in death] and they buried him in the City of David. Asa his son became king in his place.
15:9:So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king over Judah.
15:10:He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His [great-grand]mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom (Absalom).
15:11:Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father (forefather) David.
15:12:He expelled the male cult prostitutes (sodomites) from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers [Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijam] had made.
15:13:He also deposed his [great-grand]mother Maacah from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid (obscene, vulgar) image for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa cut down her horrid image, and burned it by the Brook Kidron.
15:14:But the high places [of idol worship] were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa’s heart was entirely devoted to the Lord all his days.
15:15:He brought the things which his father had dedicated and the things which he had dedicated into the house of the Lord—silver, gold, and utensils and accessories.
15:16:Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
15:17:Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah [north of Jerusalem], in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.
15:18:Then Asa took all the silver and gold left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the palace of the king and handed them over to his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram (Syria), who lived in Damascus, saying,
15:19:“Let there be a treaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
15:20:So Ben-hadad listened to king Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth [the region of the Sea of Galilee], along with all the land of Naphtali.
15:21:When Baasha heard about it, he stopped fortifying Ramah and stayed in Tirzah.
15:22:Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah—none was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had built [the fortifications]. And King Asa built with them [border fortresses at] Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.
15:23:Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa
Now as for the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, everything that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But during the time of his old age he had a foot disease.
15:24:Asa slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David. Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.
15:25:Nadab, then Baasha, Rules over Israel
Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years.
15:26:He did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father [Jeroboam] and in his sin [of idolatry], with which he made Israel sin.
15:27:Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house (tribe) of Issachar conspired against Nadab, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.
15:28:So Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.
15:29:As soon as he was king, Baasha struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave for Jeroboam anyone alive, but he destroyed them in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the Shilonite—
15:30:because of the sins committed by Jeroboam and which he made Israel commit, and because he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.
15:31:Now as for the rest of Nadab’s acts and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
15:32:War with Judah
There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
15:33:In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah [the capital city], and reigned twenty-four years.
15:34:He did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin [of idolatry] with which he made Israel sin.
16:1:Prophecy against Baasha
Now the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,
16:2:“Because I exalted you [Baasha] from the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and you walked in the way of Jeroboam and made My people Israel sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins [of idol worship],
16:3:behold, I am going to sweep away Baasha and his household (family), and I will make your house (royal line) like that of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16:4:The dogs will eat anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat anyone belonging to him who dies in the field.”
16:5:Now as for the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
16:6:The Israelite Kings
Baasha slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in Tirzah. Elah his son became king in his place.
16:7:Moreover, the word of the Lord came against Baasha and his household through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani, both for all the evil that Baasha did in the sight of the Lord in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands (idolatry), in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he [willingly] destroyed it (the family of Jeroboam).
16:8:In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years.
16:9:His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against Elah. Now Elah was in Tirzah, getting drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the [king’s] household in Tirzah.
16:10:Then Zimri came in and struck and killed Elah in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and became king in his place.
16:11:When he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, he killed the entire household of Baasha; he did not leave a single male [alive], either of his relatives or his friends.
16:12:Thus Zimri destroyed the entire household of Baasha, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet,
16:13:for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they committed, and made Israel commit, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.
16:14:Now as for the rest of the acts of Elah and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
16:15:In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned [over Israel] for seven days at Tirzah. Now the troops were camped against Gibbethon, [a city] which belonged to the Philistines,
16:16:and the people who were camped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and has also struck down the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp.
16:17:Then Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.
16:18:When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the fortress of the king’s palace; and while inside, he set fire to the king’s palace and died,
16:19:because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, by walking in the way of Jeroboam, and because of his sin he caused Israel to sin.
16:20:Now as for the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his [treasonous] conspiracy which he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
16:21:Then the people of Israel were divided in half. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and the other half followed Omri.
16:22:But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri became king.
16:23:In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel and reigned for twelve years. He reigned six years at Tirzah.
16:24:Omri bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he built a city on the hill [and fortified it], and named the city which he built Samaria, after the owner of the hill, Shemer.
16:25:But Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted more wickedly than all who came before him.
16:26:He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sin, which he made Israel commit, provoking the Lord God of Israel, [to anger] with their idols.
16:27:Now as for the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might which he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
16:28:So Omri slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in Samaria. Ahab his son became king in his place.
16:29:Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years.
16:30:Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all [the kings] who were before him.
16:31:It came about, as if it had been a trivial thing for Ahab to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.
16:32:So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria.
16:33:Ahab also made the Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
16:34:In his days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord, which He spoke through Joshua the son of Nun.
17:1:Elijah Predicts Drought
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by My word.”
17:2:And the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
17:3:“Go from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan [River].
17:4:You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to sustain you there [with food].”
17:5:So he went and did in accordance with the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
17:6:And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he would drink from the brook.
17:7:It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
17:8:Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
17:9:“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
17:10:So he set out and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks [for firewood]. He called out to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a jar, so that I may drink.”
17:11:As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”
17:12:But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar. See, I am gathering a few sticks so that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it [as our last meal] and die.”
17:13:Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. Just make me a little bread from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.
17:14:For this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jar of oil be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain [again] on the face of the earth.’”
17:15:She went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.
17:16:The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, in accordance the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.
17:17:Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son
It happened after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
17:18:So she said to Elijah, “What [problem] is there between you and me, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to mind and to put my son to death?”
17:19:He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her arms and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed.
17:20:He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You brought further tragedy to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?”
17:21:Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.”
17:22:The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived.
17:23:Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the [lower part of the] house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.”
17:24:Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
18:1:Obadiah Meets Elijah
Now it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.”
18:2:So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.
18:3:Ahab called Obadiah who was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly;
18:4:for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.)
18:5:Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go into the land to all the sources of water and to all the streams; perhaps we may find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.”
18:6:So they divided the land between them to survey it. Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way by himself.
18:7:As Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. He recognized him and fell face downward [out of respect] and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”
18:8:He answered him, “It is I. Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
18:9:But he said, “What sin have I committed, that you would hand over your servant to Ahab to put me to death?
18:10:As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent messengers to seek you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ Ahab made the kingdom or nation swear that they had not found you.
18:11:And now you are saying, ‘Go, tell your master, “Behold, Elijah [is here].”’
18:12:And as soon as I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I come to tell Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me. Yet your servant has [reverently] feared the Lord from my youth.
18:13:Has it not been told to my lord [Elijah] what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water?
18:14:And now you are saying, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here”’; and he will kill me.”
18:15:Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts (armies) lives, before whom I stand, I will certainly show myself to Ahab today.”
18:16:So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
18:17:When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Are you the one who is bringing disaster on Israel?”
18:18:Elijah said, “I have not brought disaster on Israel, but you and your father’s household have, by abandoning (rejecting) the commandments of the Lord and by following the Baals.
18:19:Now then, send word and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of [the goddess] Asherah, who eat at [Queen] Jezebel’s table.”
18:20:God or Baal on Mount Carmel
So Ahab sent word to all the Israelites and assembled the [pagan] prophets together at Mount Carmel.
18:21:Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people [of Israel] did not answer him [so much as] a word.
18:22:Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone remain a prophet of the Lord, while Baal’s prophets are 450 men.
18:23:Now let them give us two oxen, and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it.
18:24:Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the god who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”
18:25:Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, since there are many of you; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”
18:26:So they took the bull that was given to them and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, hear and answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they had made.
18:27:At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied, or he is out [at the moment], or he is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened!”
18:28:So they cried out with a loud voice [to get Baal’s attention] and cut themselves with swords and lances in accordance with their custom, until the blood flowed out on them.
18:29:As midday passed, they played the part of prophets and raved dramatically until the time for offering the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.
18:30:Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him. And he repaired and rebuilt the [old] altar of the Lord that had been torn down [by Jezebel].
18:31:Then Elijah took twelve stones in accordance with the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”
18:32:So with the stones Elijah built an altar in the name of the Lord. He made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures of seed.
18:33:Then he laid out the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood.
18:34:And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and the wood.” And he said, “Do it the second time.” And they did it the second time. And he said, “Do it the third time.” And they did it a third time.
18:35:The water flowed around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water.
18:36:Elijah’s Prayer
At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached [the altar] and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob), let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and that I have done all these things at Your word.
18:37:Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back [to You].”
18:38:Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood, and even the stones and the dust; it also licked up the water in the trench.
18:39:When all the people saw it, they fell face downward; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”
18:40:Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” They seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and [as God’s law required] killed them there.
18:41:Now Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of the roar of an abundance of rain.”
18:42:So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down to the earth and put his face between his knees,
18:43:and he said to his servant, “Go up, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” Elijah said, “Go back” seven times.
18:44:And at the seventh time the servant said, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea.” And Elijah said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the rain shower does not stop you.’”
18:45:In a little while the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there were heavy showers. And Ahab mounted and rode [his chariot] and went [inland] to Jezreel.
18:46:Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah [giving him supernatural strength]. He girded up his loins and outran Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel [nearly twenty miles].
19:1:Elijah Flees from Jezebel
Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets [of Baal] with the sword.
19:2:Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and even more, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like the life of one of them.”
19:3:And Elijah was afraid and arose and ran for his life, and he came to Beersheba which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there.
19:4:But he himself traveled a day’s journey into the wilderness, and he came and sat down under a juniper tree and asked [God] that he might die. He said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
19:5:He lay down and slept under the juniper tree, and behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.”
19:6:He looked, and by his head there was a bread cake baked on hot coal, and a pitcher of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.
19:7:Then the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Get up, and eat, for the journey is too long for you [without adequate sustenance].”
19:8:So he got up and ate and drank, and with the strength of that food he traveled forty days and nights to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God.
19:9:Elijah at Horeb
There he came to a cave and spent the night in it; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
19:10:He said, “I have been very zealous (impassioned) for the Lord God of hosts (armies) [proclaiming what is rightfully and uniquely His]; for the sons of Israel have abandoned (broken) Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I, only I, am left; and they seek to take away my life.”
19:11:So He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by, and a great and powerful wind was tearing out the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, [there was] an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
19:12:After the earthquake, [there was] a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, [there was] the sound of a gentle blowing.
19:13:When Elijah heard the sound, he wrapped his face in his mantle (cloak) and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
19:14:He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts (armies), because the sons of Israel have abandoned (broken) Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I, only I, am left; and they seek to take away my life.”
19:15:The Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram (Syria);
19:16:and you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.
19:17:It shall come about that Jehu shall put to death whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, and Elisha shall put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu.
19:18:Yet I will leave 7,000 [survivors] in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed down to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
19:19:So Elijah departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. Elijah went over to him and threw his mantle (coat) on him.
19:20:He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother [goodbye], then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go on back; for what have I done to [stop] you?”
19:21:So Elisha left him and went back. Then he took a pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their meat with the implements of the oxen [as fuel], and gave the meat to the people, and they ate. Then he stood and followed Elijah, and served him.
20:1:War with Aram
Ben-hadad king of Aram (Syria) gathered all his army together; thirty-two kings were [allied] with him, with horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria [Israel’s capital], and fought against it.
20:2:Then he sent messengers to the city to Ahab king of Israel; and he said to him, “Thus says Ben-hadad:
20:3:‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your wives and your children, even the fairest, also are mine [as conditions of peace].’”
20:4:The king of Israel [conceded his defeat and] answered, “By your word, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have.”
20:5:The messengers returned and said, “Thus says Ben-hadad: ‘I indeed sent word to you, saying, “You shall give me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children,”
20:6:but about this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you, and they will search your house and the houses of your servants; and they will take with their hands (confiscate) whatever is desirable in your eyes and carry it away.’”
20:7:Then the king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, “Please observe and see how this man is seeking our destruction. For he sent messengers to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I did not refuse him.”
20:8:All the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or consent [to this additional demand].”
20:9:So he said to Ben-hadad’s messengers, “Tell my lord the king, ‘Every demand you first sent to your servant I will do, but I cannot do this [additional] thing [as a condition of peace].’” And the messengers left; then they brought him word again.
20:10:Ben-hadad sent word to him and said, “May the gods do so to me, and more also, if there is enough dust left of Samaria for handfuls for all the [armed] people who follow me.”
20:11:The king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘A man who puts on [his armor to go to battle] should not boast like the man who takes it off [after the battle has been won].’”
20:12:When Ben-hadad heard this message, as he and the kings were drinking in the temporary shelters, he said to his servants, “Station yourselves.” So they stationed themselves against the city [of Samaria].
20:13:Ahab Victorious
Then a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Have you seen all this great army? Behold, I will hand them over to you, and you shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”
20:14:Ahab said, “By whom?” And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘By the young men [the attendants or bodyguards] of the governors of the districts.’” Then Ahab said, “Who shall begin the battle?” And he answered, “You.”
20:15:Then Ahab assembled and counted the young men of the governors of the districts, and there were 232. After them he assembled and counted all the people, all the sons of Israel, 7,000.
20:16:They went out at noon, while Ben-hadad was getting drunk in the temporary shelters, he and the thirty-two kings who were helping him.
20:17:The young men of the governors of the districts went out first; and Ben-hadad sent men out and they told him, saying, “Men have come out of Samaria.”
20:18:And he said, “Whether they have come out for peace or for war, take them alive.”
20:19:So these young men of the governors of the districts went out of the city, and the army followed them.
20:20:And each one killed his man; and the Arameans (Syrians) fled and Israel pursued them. Ben-hadad king of Aram escaped on a horse with horsemen.
20:21:The king of Israel went out and struck [the riders of] the horses and chariots, and killed the Arameans in a great slaughter.
20:22:Then the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself and observe and see what you have to do; for at the first of next year the king of Aram (Syria) will come up against you.”
20:23:Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Israel’s god is a god of the hills; that is why they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.
20:24:Do this: remove the [thirty-two allied] kings, each from his place, and put captains in their place,
20:25:and assemble an army like the army that you have lost in battle, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.” And he listened to their words and did so.
20:26:Another Aramean War
At the first of the year [in spring], Ben-hadad assembled and counted the Arameans (Syrians) and went up to Aphek [east of the Sea of Galilee] to fight against Israel.
20:27:The sons of Israel were counted and given provisions, and they went to meet them. The Israelites camped before the enemy like two little flocks of goats [with everything against them, except God], and the Arameans filled the country.
20:28:A man of God approached and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Arameans have said, “The Lord is a god of the hills, but He is not a god of the valleys,” I will give this great army into your hand, and you shall know [by experience] that I am the Lord.’”
20:29:So they camped opposite each other for seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle began, and the sons of Israel killed 100,000 of the Aramean foot soldiers in a single day.
20:30:But the rest ran to the city of Aphek, and the [city] wall fell on 27,000 of the men who were left. Ben-hadad escaped and came into the city, going into an inner chamber [to hide].
20:31:But his servants said to him, “We have heard that the kings of the house (royal line) of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth around our loins and ropes on our necks [as symbols of submission], and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life.”
20:32:So they put sackcloth around their loins and ropes on their necks, and came to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’” And Ahab asked, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
20:33:Now the men took it as a good omen, and quickly understanding his meaning said, “Yes, your brother Ben-hadad lives.” Then the king said, “Go, bring him.” Then Ben-hadad came out to him, and Ahab had him come up into the chariot.
20:34:Ben-hadad [tempting him] said to him, “I will restore the cities which my father took from your father; and you may set up bazaars (shops) of your own in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” Then, Ahab replied, “I will let you go with this covenant (treaty).” So he made a covenant with him and let him go.
20:35:Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to another by the word of the Lord, “Please strike me.” But the man refused to strike him.
20:36:Then the prophet said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you leave me, a lion will kill you.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him.
20:37:Then the prophet found another man and said, “Please strike me.” So the man struck him hard, wounding him.
20:38:So the prophet left and waited for King Ahab by the road, and disguised himself [as a wounded soldier] with a bandage over his eyes.
20:39:As the king passed by, the prophet called out to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle, and behold, a man turned aside and brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man; if for any reason he is missing, then your life shall be required for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’
20:40:But while your servant was busy here and there, he [escaped and] was gone.” And the king of Israel said to him, “Such is your own judgment (verdict); you have determined it.”
20:41:Then the prophet quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and [Ahab] the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.
20:42:He said to the king, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have released from your hand the man [Ben-hadad] whom I had devoted to destruction, your life shall be required for his life, and your people for his people.’”
20:43:So the king of Israel went to his house resentful and sullen, and came to Samaria.
21:1:Ahab Covets Naboth’s Vineyard
Now it came about after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, close beside the [winter] palace of Ahab king of Samaria;
21:2:Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a garden of vegetables and herbs, because it is near my house. I will give you a better vineyard for it, or, if you prefer, I will give you what it is worth in money.”
21:3:But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.”
21:4:So Ahab [already upset by the Lord’s message] came into his house [feeling more] resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face, and would not eat any food.
21:5:Then Jezebel his wife came to him and asked him, “Why is your spirit so troubled that you have not eaten?”
21:6:And he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ But he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”
21:7:Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now reign over Israel? Get up, eat food, and let your heart rejoice; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
21:8:So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.
21:9:Now in the letters she wrote, “Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people;
21:10:and seat two worthless and unprincipled men opposite him, and have them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”
21:11:Jezebel’s Plot
So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived there, did as Jezebel had sent word to them, just as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them.
21:12:They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the people.
21:13:Two worthless and unprincipled men came in and sat down opposite him; and they testified against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth cursed and renounced God and the king.” Then they brought him outside the city and stoned him to death.
21:14:Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned to death.”
21:15:When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, she said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite which he refused to sell you, because Naboth is no longer alive, but dead.”
21:16:When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
21:17:Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
21:18:“Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria. Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession of it.
21:19:You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Have you murdered and also taken possession [of the victim’s property]?”’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick up your blood as well.”’”
21:20:Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord.
21:21:Behold [says the Lord], I am bringing evil (catastrophe) on you, and will utterly sweep you away, and will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free in Israel;
21:22:and I will make your house (descendants) like that of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for provoking Me to anger and making Israel sin.
21:23:The Lord also spoke in regard to Jezebel, saying, ‘The dogs will eat [the body of] Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.’
21:24:The dogs will eat anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city, and the birds of the air will eat anyone who dies in the field.”
21:25:There certainly was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife incited him.
21:26:He acted very repulsively in following idols, in accordance with everything the Amorites had done, whom the Lord expelled [from the land] before the sons of Israel.
21:27:Now when Ahab heard these words [of Elijah], he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly (mourning).
21:28:Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
21:29:“Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil (catastrophe) in his lifetime, but in his son’s days I will bring evil upon his house.”
22:1:Ahab’s Third Campaign against Aram
Aram (Syria) and Israel continued without war for three years.
22:2:In the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
22:3:Now the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, yet we are still doing nothing to take it from the hand of the king of Aram?”
22:4:And Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
22:5:But Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of the Lord.”
22:6:Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord has handed it over to the king.”
22:7:But Jehoshaphat [doubted and] said, “Is there not another prophet of the Lord here whom we may ask?”
22:8:The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is one more man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he never prophesies good news for me, but only evil.” But Jehoshaphat said, “May the king not say that [Micaiah only tells bad news].”
22:9:Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.”
22:10:Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were each sitting on his throne, dressed in their [royal] robes, [in an open place] at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them.
22:11:Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans (Syrians) until they are destroyed.’”
22:12:All the prophets were prophesying in the same way [to please Ahab], saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and be successful, for the Lord will hand it over to the king.”
22:13:Micaiah Predicts Defeat
Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Listen carefully, the words of the prophets are unanimously favorable to the king. Please let your words be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.”
22:14:But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, I will speak what the Lord says to me.”
22:15:So when he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead in battle, or shall we not?” And he answered him, “Go up and be successful, for the Lord will hand it over to the king.”
22:16:But the king [doubted him and] said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”
22:17:And he said,
“I saw all Israel
Scattered upon the mountains,
Like sheep that have no shepherd.
And the Lord said,
‘These have no master.
Let each of them return to his house in peace.’”
22:18:Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”
22:19:Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host (army) of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left.
22:20:The Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this, while another said that.
22:21:Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’
22:22:The Lord said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then the Lord said, ‘You are to entice him and also succeed. Go and do so.’
22:23:Now then, behold, the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these prophets; and the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you.”
22:24:But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah approached and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “How did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?”
22:25:Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day [of the king’s defeat] when you enter an inner room [looking for a place] to hide yourself.”
22:26:Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son,
22:27:and say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this man in prison, and feed him sparingly with the bread and water until I return safely.”’”
22:28:Micaiah said, “If you indeed return safely, the Lord has not spoken by me.” Then he said, “Listen, all you people.”
22:29:Defeat and Death of Ahab
So [Ahab] the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.
22:30:The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and enter the battle, but you put on your [royal] clothing.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.
22:31:Now the king of Aram (Syria) had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with [anyone, either] small or great, but with [Ahab] the king of Israel alone.”
22:32:When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel.” They turned to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat shouted out [in fear].
22:33:When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.
22:34:But one man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the fight, because I have been seriously wounded.”
22:35:The battle raged that day, and [Ahab] the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans (Syrians). And in the evening he died, and the blood from his wound ran down into the bottom of the chariot.
22:36:Then about sundown a resounding cry passed throughout the army, saying, “Every man to his city and every man to his own country!”
22:37:So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria.
22:38:They washed the chariot by the pool [on the outskirts] of Samaria, where the prostitutes bathed, and the dogs licked up his blood, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken.
22:39:Now the rest of Ahab’s acts, and everything that he did, the ivory palace which he built and all the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
22:40:So Ahab slept with his fathers [in death], and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.
22:41:The New Rulers
Now Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
22:42:Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
22:43:He walked in all the ways of Asa his father, without turning from them, doing right in the sight of the Lord. However, the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
22:44:Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.
22:45:Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, his might which he displayed and how he made war, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
22:46:And the remnant of the sodomites (male cult prostitutes) who remained in the days of his father Asa, Jehoshaphat expelled from the land.
22:47:Now there was no king in Edom; a deputy (governor) was [serving as] king.
22:48:Jehoshaphat had [large cargo] ships of Tarshish constructed to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, because the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber.
22:49:Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships,” But Jehoshaphat was unwilling and refused.
22:50:Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David, and Jehoram his son became king in his place.
22:51:Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years.
22:52:He did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the [idolatrous] way of his father [Ahab] and of his mother [Jezebel], and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.
22:53:He served Baal and worshiped him, and he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger, in accordance with everything that his father [Ahab] had done.
2_kings:1:1:Ahaziah’s Messengers Meet Elijah
Now Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
1:2:Ahaziah [the king of Israel] fell through the lattice (grid) in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became sick [from the injury]. So he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will recover from this sickness.”
1:3:But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’
1:4:Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘You [Ahaziah] will not leave the bed on which you lie, but you will certainly die.’” So Elijah departed.
1:5:When the messengers returned to Ahaziah, he said to them, “Why have you returned [so soon]?”
1:6:They replied, “A man came up to meet us and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you and tell him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you send to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed on which you lie, but you will certainly die.’”’”
1:7:The king asked them, “What was the appearance of the man who came up to meet you and said these things to you?”
1:8:They answered him, “He was a hairy man with a [wide] leather band bound around his loins.” And Ahaziah said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
1:9:Then the king sent to Elijah a captain of fifty with his fifty [fighting men to seize the prophet]. And he went up to him, and behold, he was sitting on the top of a hill. And the captain said to him, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’”
1:10:Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, “So if I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty [fighting men].” Then fire fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
1:11:So King Ahaziah again sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty [fighting men]. And he said to him, “Man of God, thus says the king, ‘Come down quickly.’”
1:12:Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty [fighting men].” And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
1:13:So Ahaziah again sent a captain of a third fifty with his fifty [fighting men]. And the third captain of fifty went up and came bowed down on his knees before Elijah, and begged him [for compassion] and said to him, “O man of God, please let my life and the lives of your servants, these fifty, be precious in your sight.
1:14:Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight.”
1:15:The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he stood and went down with him to the king.
1:16:Then Elijah said to Ahaziah, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Since you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?—therefore you will not leave the bed on which you lie, but will certainly die.’”
1:17:Jehoram Reigns over Israel
So Ahaziah [the son of King Ahab] died in accordance with the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. And because he had no son, Jehoram [his younger brother] became king [of Israel, the northern kingdom] in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah [the southern kingdom].
1:18:Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
2:1:Elijah Taken to Heaven
When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal.
2:2:And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
2:3:Now the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” He said, “Yes, I know it; be quiet [about it].”
2:4:Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.
2:5:The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; be quiet [about it].”
2:6:Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.
2:7:Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood opposite them [to watch] at a distance; and the two of them stood by the Jordan.
2:8:And Elijah took his mantle (coat) and rolled it up and struck the waters, and they were divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
2:9:And when they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”
2:10:He said, “You have asked for a difficult thing. However, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”
2:11:As they continued along and talked, behold, a chariot of fire with horses of fire [appeared suddenly and] separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
2:12:Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” And he no longer saw Elijah. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces [in grief].
2:13:He picked up the mantle of Elijah that fell off him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.
2:14:He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he too had struck the waters, they divided this way and that, and Elisha crossed over.
2:15:Elisha Succeeds Elijah
When the sons of the prophets who were [watching] opposite at Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him [in respect].
2:16:Then they said to Elisha, “Behold now, there are among your servants fifty strong men; please let them go and search for your master. It may be that the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send anyone.”
2:17:But when they urged him until he was embarrassed [to refuse them], he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days but did not find Elijah.
2:18:They returned to Elisha while he was staying at Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not go’?”
2:19:Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, this city is in a pleasant place, as my lord [Elisha] sees; but the water is bad and the land is barren.”
2:20:He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.
2:21:Then Elisha went to the spring of water and threw the salt in it and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘I [not the salt] have purified and healed these waters; there shall no longer be death or barrenness because of it.’”
2:22:So the waters have been purified to this day, in accordance with the word spoken by Elisha.
2:23:Then Elisha went up from Jericho to Bethel. On the way, young boys came out of the city and mocked him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”
2:24:When he turned around and looked at them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore to pieces forty-two of the boys.
2:25:Elisha went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
3:1:Jehoram Meets Moab Rebellion
Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
3:2:He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.
3:3:Nevertheless, he continued in the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; he did not depart from them.
3:4:Mesha the king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he used to pay [an annual tribute] to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams.
3:5:But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
3:6:So King Jehoram left Samaria at that time and assembled all [the fighting men of] Israel.
3:7:Then he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And he replied, “I will go; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
3:8:Jehoram said, “Which way shall we go up?” Jehoshaphat answered, “The way through the Wilderness of Edom.”
3:9:So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They made a circuit of seven days’ journey, but there was no water for the army or for the cattle that followed them.
3:10:Then the king of Israel said, “We are doomed, for the Lord has called these three kings to be handed over to Moab.”
3:11:But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here from whom we may inquire of the Lord?” One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who used to pour water over Elijah’s hands.”
3:12:Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to Elisha.
3:13:Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What business do you have with me? Go to the prophets of your [wicked] father [Ahab] and to the prophets of your [pagan] mother [Jezebel].” But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to be handed over to Moab.”
3:14:Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts (armies) lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you [king of Israel].
3:15:But now bring me a musician.” And it came about while the musician played, that the hand (power) of the Lord came upon Elisha.
3:16:He said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Make this valley (the Arabah) full of trenches.’
3:17:For thus says the Lord, ‘You will not see wind or rain, yet that valley will be filled with water, so you and your cattle and your other animals may drink.
3:18:This is but a simple thing in the sight of the Lord; He will also hand over the Moabites to you.
3:19:You shall strike every fortified city and every choice (principal) city, and cut down every good tree and stop up all sources of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.’”
3:20:It happened in the morning, when the sacrifice was offered, that suddenly water came [miraculously] from the area of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
3:21:Now all the Moabites heard that the [three] kings had come up to fight against them, and all who were able to put on armor, as well as those who were older, were summoned and stood [together in battle formation] at the border.
3:22:When they got up early the next morning, the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water across from them as red as blood.
3:23:And they said, “This is blood! Clearly the kings have fought together, and have killed one another. Now then, Moab, to the spoil [and the plunder of the dead soldiers]!”
3:24:But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land, killing the Moabites [as they went].
3:25:They destroyed the [walls of the] cities, and each man threw a stone on every piece of good land, covering it [with stones]. And they stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees, until they left nothing in Kir-hareseth [Moab’s capital city] but its stones. Then the [stone] slingers surrounded the city and destroyed it.
3:26:When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not.
3:27:Then the king of Moab took his eldest son, who was to reign in his place, and offered him [publicly] as a burnt offering [to Chemosh] on the [city] wall [horrifying everyone]. And there was great wrath against Israel, and Israel’s allies [Judah and Edom] withdrew from King Jehoram and returned to their own land.
4:1:The Widow’s Oil
Now one of the wives of a man of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha [for help], saying “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant [reverently] feared the Lord; but the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves [in payment for a loan].”
4:2:Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have [of value] in the house?” She said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a [small] jar of [olive] oil.”
4:3:Then he said, “Go, borrow containers from all your neighbors, empty containers—and not just a few.
4:4:Then you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out [the oil you have] into all these containers, and you shall set aside each one when it is full.”
4:5:So she left him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing her the containers as she poured [the oil].
4:6:When the containers were all full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.” And he said to her, “There is not a one left.” Then the oil stopped [multiplying].
4:7:Then she came and told the man of God. He said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”
4:8:The Shunammite Woman
Now there came a day when Elisha went over to Shunem, where there was a prominent and influential woman, and she persuaded him to eat a meal. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he stopped there for a meal.
4:9:She said to her husband, “Behold, I sense that this is a holy man of God who frequently passes our way.
4:10:Please, let us make a small, fully-walled upper room [on the housetop] and put a bed there for him, with a table, a chair, and a lampstand. Then whenever he comes to visit us, he can turn in there.”
4:11:One day he came there and turned in to the upper room and lay down to rest.
4:12:And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her and she stood before him.
4:13:Now he said to Gehazi, “Say to her now, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us; what can I do for you? Would you like to be mentioned to the king or to the captain of the army?’” She answered, “I live among my own people [in peace and security and need no special favors].”
4:14:Later Elisha said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son and her husband is old.”
4:15:He said, “Call her.” So Gehazi called her, and she [came and] stood in the doorway.
4:16:Elisha said, “At this season next year, you will embrace a son.” She said, “No, my lord. O man of God, do not lie to your maidservant.”
4:17:But the woman conceived and gave birth to a son at that season the next year, just as Elisha had said to her.
4:18:The Shunammite’s Son
When the child was grown, the day came that he went out to his father, to the reapers.
4:19:But he said to his father, “My head, my head.” The man said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
4:20:When he had carried and brought him to his mother, he sat on her lap until noon, and then he died.
4:21:She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door [of the small upper room] behind him and left.
4:22:Then she called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so that I may run to the man of God and return.”
4:23:He said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.” And she said, “It will be all right.”
4:24:Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Drive [the animal] fast; do not slow down the pace for me unless I tell you.”
4:25:So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman.
4:26:Please run now to meet her and ask her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’” And she answered, “It is well.”
4:27:When she came to the mountain to the man of God, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi approached to push her away; but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for her soul is desperate and troubled within her; and the Lord has hidden the reason from me and has not told me.”
4:28:Then she said, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, ‘Do not give me false hope’?”
4:29:Then he said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins (prepare now!) and take my staff in your hand, and go [to the woman’s house]; if you meet any man [along the way], do not greet him and if a man greets you, do not [stop to] answer him; and lay my staff on the face of the boy [as soon as you reach the house].”
4:30:The mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So Elisha arose and followed her.
4:31:Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response [from the boy]. So he turned back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened (revived).”
4:32:When Elisha came into the house, the child was dead and lying on his bed.
4:33:So he went in, shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord.
4:34:Then he went up and lay on the child and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself out on him and held him, the boy’s skin became warm.
4:35:Then he returned and walked in the house once back and forth, and went up [again] and stretched himself out on him; and the boy sneezed seven times and he opened his eyes.
4:36:Then Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.”
4:37:She came and fell at his feet, bowing herself to the ground [in respect and gratitude]. Then she picked up her son and left.
4:38:The Poisonous Stew
Elisha came back to Gilgal during a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook stew for the sons of the prophets.”
4:39:Then one [of them] went into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, although they did not know what they were.
4:40:So they served it for the men to eat. But as they ate the stew, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot.” And they could not eat it.
4:41:But he said, “Bring flour.” And he threw it into the pot and said, “Serve it for the people so that they may eat.” Then there was nothing harmful in the pot.
4:42:Now [at another time] a man from Baal-shalisha came and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and fresh ears of grain [in the husk] in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give it to the people [affected by the famine] so that they may eat.”
4:43:His servant said, “How am I to set [only] this before a hundred [hungry] men?” He said, “Give it to the people so that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’”
4:44:So he set it before them, and they ate and left some, in accordance with the word of the Lord.
5:1:Naaman Is Healed
Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram (Syria), was considered a great man by his king, and was highly respected because through Naaman the Lord had given victory to Aram (Syria). He was also a man of courage, but he was a leper.
5:2:The Arameans (Syrians) had gone out in bands [as raiders] and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman’s wife [as a servant].
5:3:She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master [Naaman] were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy.”
5:4:Naaman went in and told his master [the king], “The girl who is from the land of Israel said such and such.”
5:5:Then the king of Aram (Syria) said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel (Jehoram the son of Ahab).” So he left and took with him ten talents of silver and 6,000 shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.
5:6:And he brought the letter to the king of Israel. It said, “And now when this letter comes to you, I will have sent my servant Naaman to you, so that you may heal him of his leprosy.”
5:7:When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes [in shock and outrage at the request] and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me [a request] to heal a man of his leprosy? Just consider [what he is asking] and see how he is seeking an opportunity [for a battle] with me.”
5:8:Now when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent word to the king, asking, “Why have you torn your clothes? Just let Naaman come to me, and he shall know that there is a [true] prophet in Israel.”
5:9:So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stopped at the entrance of Elisha’s house.
5:10:Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.”
5:11:But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Indeed! I thought ‘He would at least come out to [see] me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place [of leprosy] and heal the leper.’
5:12:Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus [in Aram], better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
5:13:Then his servants approached and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he has said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean?’”
5:14:So he went down and plunged himself into the Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said; and his flesh was restored like that of a little child and he was clean.
5:15:Gehazi’s Greed
Then Naaman returned to the man of God, he and all the people in his group, and stood before him. He said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; so now accept a blessing and gift from your servant.”
5:16:But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will accept nothing.” He urged him to take it, but Elisha refused.
5:17:Naaman said, “If not, then please, let your servant be given a load of earth for a team of mules; for [from this day on] your servant will no longer offer a burnt offering nor a sacrifice to other gods, but only to the Lord, [the God of Israel].
5:18:In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master [the king] goes into the house of [his god] Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow in the house of Rimmon, when I bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant in this matter [of attending the king when he worships].”
5:19:Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.” So Naaman departed and was a good distance away from him,
5:20:when Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “My master has spared this Naaman the Aramean (Syrian), by not accepting from him what he brought. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”
5:21:So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?”
5:22:And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘Just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.’”
5:23:Naaman said, “Please take two talents.” And he urged him [to accept], and tied up two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes and gave them to two of his servants; and they carried them in front of Gehazi.
5:24:When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house [for safekeeping]; and he sent the men away, and they left.
5:25:Then he went in and stood before his master. Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He said, “Your servant went nowhere.”
5:26:Elisha said to him, “Did my heart not go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a [proper] time to accept money and clothing and olive orchards and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants?
5:27:Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So Gehazi departed from his presence, a leper as white as snow.
6:1:The Axe Head Recovered
Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look now, the place where we live near you is too small for us.
6:2:Please let us go to the Jordan [River] and let each man take from there a beam [for the building]; and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.” And he answered, “Go.”
6:3:Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” So he answered, “I shall go.”
6:4:So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down [some of] the trees.
6:5:But it happened that as one was cutting down a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Oh no, my master! It was borrowed!”
6:6:The man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron [axe head] float.
6:7:He said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out with his hand and took it.
6:8:The Arameans Plot to Capture Elisha
Now the king of Aram (Syria) was making war against Israel, and he consulted with his servants, saying, “My camp shall be in such and such a place.”
6:9:The man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, “Be careful not to pass by this place, because the Arameans are pulling back to there.”
6:10:Then the king of Israel sent word to the place about which Elisha had warned him; so he guarded himself there repeatedly.
6:11:Now the heart of the king of Aram (Syria) was enraged over this thing. He called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is helping the king of Israel?”
6:12:One of his servants said, “None [of us is helping him], my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”
6:13:So he said, “Go and see where he is, so that I may send [men] and seize him.” And he was told, “He is in Dothan.”
6:14:So he sent horses and chariots and a powerful army there. They came by night and surrounded the city.
6:15:The servant of the man of God got up early and went out, and behold, there was an army with horses and chariots encircling the city. Elisha’s servant said to him, “Oh no, my master! What are we to do?”
6:16:Elisha answered, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
6:17:Then Elisha prayed and said, “Lord, please, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servants eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha.
6:18:When the Arameans came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please strike this people (nation) with blindness.” And God struck them with blindness, in accordance with Elisha’s request.
6:19:Then Elisha said to the Arameans, “This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me and I will lead you to the man whom you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria.
6:20:When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men, so that they may see.” And the Lord opened their eyes and they saw. Behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
6:21:When the king of Israel (Jehoram) saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”
6:22:Elisha answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those you have taken captive with your sword and bow? Serve them bread and water, so that they may eat and drink, and go back to their master [King Ben-hadad].”
6:23:So the king prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the marauding bands of Aram did not come into the land of Israel again.
6:24:The Siege of Samaria—Cannibalism
But it came about after this, that Ben-hadad king of Aram (Syria) gathered his whole army together and went up and besieged Samaria.
6:25:Now there was a great famine in Samaria; and they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver.
6:26:As the king of Israel (Jehoram) was passing by on the [city] wall a woman cried out to him, “Help, my lord, O king!”
6:27:He said, “If the Lord does not help you, from where shall I get you help? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?”
6:28:And the king said to her, “What is the matter with you?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son so we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’
6:29:So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give your son so that we may eat him’; but she had hidden her son.”
6:30:When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes—now he was still walking along on the wall—and the people looked [at him], and he had on sackcloth underneath [his royal robe] next to his skin.
6:31:Then he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today!”
6:32:Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man ahead of him [to behead Elisha]; but before the messenger arrived, Elisha told the elders, “Do you see how this son of [Jezebel] a murderer has sent [a man] to remove my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it securely against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet [just] behind him?”
6:33:While Elisha was still talking with them, the messenger came down to him [followed by the king] and the king said, “This evil [situation] is from the Lord! Why should I wait for [help from] the Lord any longer?”
7:1:Elisha Promises Food
Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord, ‘Tomorrow about this time a measure of finely-milled flour will sell for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’”
7:2:Then the royal officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “If the Lord should make windows in heaven [for the rain], could this thing take place?” Elisha said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but [because you doubt] you will not eat of it.”
7:3:Four Lepers Relate Arameans’ Flight
Now four men who were lepers were at the entrance of the [city’s] gate; and they said to one another, “Why should we sit here until we die?
7:4:If we say, ‘We will enter the city’—then the famine is in the city and we will die there; and if we sit still here, we will also die. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Arameans (Syrians). If they let us live, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die.”
7:5:So they got up at twilight to go to the Aramean camp. But when they came to the edge of the camp, there was no one there.
7:6:For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots, and the sound of horses, the sound of a great army. They had said to one another, “The king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come [and fight] against us.”
7:7:So the Arameans set out and fled during the twilight, and left their tents, horses, and donkeys, even left the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives.
7:8:When these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried away from there silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. Then they went back and entered another tent and carried [some valuable things] from there also, and went and hid them.
7:9:Then they said one to another, “We are not doing the right thing. This is a day of good news, yet we are keeping silent. If we wait until the morning light, some punishment [for not reporting this now] will come on us. So now come, let us go and tell the king’s household.”
7:10:So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city. They told them, “We went to the camp of the Arameans (Syrians), and behold, there was no one there, nor the sound of man there—only the horses and donkeys tied up, and the tents [had been left] just as they were.”
7:11:Then the gatekeepers called out and it was reported to the king’s household inside [the city].
7:12:Then the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are hungry; so they have left the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.’”
7:13:One of his servants replied, “Please let some men take five of the horses which remain inside the city. Consider this: [if they are caught then at worst] they will be like all the people of Israel who are left in the city; [even if they are killed then] they will be like all the people of Israel who have already died. So let us send [them] and see [what happens].”
7:14:So they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and see.”
7:15:The Promise Fulfilled
They went after them to the Jordan, and all the road was entirely littered with clothing and equipment which the Arameans (Syrians) had thrown away when they hurriedly fled. And the messengers returned and told the king.
7:16:Then the people [of Israel] went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So [goods were so plentiful that] a measure of finely-milled flour [was sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in accordance with the word of the Lord [as spoken through Elisha].
7:17:Now the king had appointed the royal officer on whose arm he leaned to be in charge of the [city] gate; and the [starving] people trampled him at the gate [as they struggled to get through for food], and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to him.
7:18:It happened just as [Elisha] the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two measures of barley will be sold for a shekel and a measure of finely-milled flour for a shekel tomorrow about this time at the gate of Samaria.”
7:19:The royal officer had answered the man of God and said, “Now behold, [even] if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could such a thing happen?” And Elisha had answered, “You will see it with your own eyes, but [because of your doubt] you will not eat it.”
7:20:And so it happened to him; for the people trampled him at the gate, and he died.
8:1:The King Restores the Shunammite’s Land
Now Elisha had said to the [Shunammite] woman whose son he had restored to life, “Prepare and go, you and your household, and stay temporarily wherever you can; for the Lord has called for a famine, and moreover, it will come on the land [and continue] for seven years.”
8:2:So the woman set out and did everything in accordance with the word of the man of God. She and her household went and stayed temporarily as foreigners in the land of the Philistines for seven years.
8:3:At the end of the seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to appeal to the king [of Israel] for her house and for her land.
8:4:Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.”
8:5:And [just] as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.”
8:6:When the king asked the woman, she told him [everything]. So the king appointed for her a certain high official, saying, “Restore everything that was hers, including all the produce of the field since the day that she left the land until now.”
8:7:Elisha Predicts Evil from Hazael
Now Elisha came to Damascus, and Ben-hadad king of Aram (Syria) was sick; and he was told, “The man of God has come here.”
8:8:And the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
8:9:So Hazael went to meet Elisha and took a gift with him of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads; and he came and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, asking, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
8:10:And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You will certainly recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.”
8:11:Elisha stared steadily at Hazael until he was embarrassed, and then the man of God wept.
8:12:Hazael said, “Why are you weeping, my lord?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons (descendants) of Israel. You will set their strongholds on fire, kill their young men with the sword, smash their children to pieces, and rip up their pregnant women.”
8:13:Then Hazael said, “Surely not! For what is your servant, who is nothing more than a dog, that he would do this monstrous thing?” And Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”
8:14:Then Hazael departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me you would certainly recover.”
8:15:But the next day Hazael took the bedspread and dipped it in water and covered the king’s face, so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.
8:16:Another Jehoram Reigns in Judah
Now in the fifth year of Joram (Jehoram) the son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king.
8:17:He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem.
8:18:He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for [Athaliah] the daughter of Ahab became his wife. He did evil in the sight of the Lord.
8:19:Yet for the sake of His servant David the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, since He had promised to give him a lamp (enthroned descendant) through his sons always.
8:20:In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah, and set up a king over themselves.
8:21:So Jehoram [king of Judah] went over to Zair [in Edom] with all his chariots. He set out by night and struck down the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of his chariots; but the people [of his army] fled to their tents.
8:22:So Edom revolted against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.
8:23:The rest of the acts of Jehoram and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
8:24:Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram in Judah
Jehoram slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with them in the City of David. Ahaziah his son became king in his place.
8:25:In the twelfth year of Joram (Jehoram) the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.
8:26:Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
8:27:He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
8:28:Ahaziah went with Joram the son of Ahab to battle against Hazael king of Aram (Syria) in Ramoth-gilead; and the Arameans wounded Joram.
8:29:King Joram returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
9:1:Jehu Reigns over Israel
Now Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Gird up your loins (prepare for action), take this flask of oil in your hand and go to Ramoth-gilead.
9:2:When you arrive there, look for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in and have him arise from among his brothers, and take him into an inner room.
9:3:Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.”’ Then open the door and flee and do not delay.”
9:4:So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead.
9:5:When he arrived, the captains of the army were sitting [outside]; and he said, “I have a message for you, O captain.” Jehu said, “To which one of us?” And he said, “For you, O captain.”
9:6:So Jehu got up, and they went into the house. And he poured the oil on Jehu’s head and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel.
9:7:You shall strike the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, [who have died] at the hands of Jezebel.
9:8:For the entire house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free, in Israel.
9:9:I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah.
9:10:And the dogs will eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and there will be no one to bury her.’” Then he opened the door and fled.
9:11:When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this madman come to you?” And he said to them, “You know [very well] the man and his talk.”
9:12:And they said, “It is a lie; tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.”’”
9:13:Then they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it [as a cushion] under Jehu on the top of the [outside] stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king!”
9:14:Jehoram (Joram) Is Assassinated
So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram [to dethrone and kill him]. Now Joram with all Israel was protecting Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Aram (Syria),
9:15:but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to heal from the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought with Hazael king of Aram. So Jehu said, “If this is your intent, let no one survive and leave the city (Ramoth-gilead) to go and tell of the plan in Jezreel [the capital].”
9:16:So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram was lying there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.
9:17:Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and he saw the crowd with Jehu as he approached, and said, “I see a company.” And Joram said, “Send a horseman to meet them and have him ask, ‘Do you come in peace?’”
9:18:So the horseman went to meet him and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Do you come in peace?’” And Jehu said, “What have you to do with peace? Rein in behind me.” And the watchman reported, “The messenger approached them, but he has not returned.”
9:19:Then Joram sent out a second horseman, who approached them and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Do you come in peace?’” Jehu replied, “What have you to do with peace? Rein in behind me.”
9:20:And the watchman reported, “He approached them, but he has not returned; and the driving [of the chariot] is like that of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”
9:21:Then Joram said, “Harness [the chariot].” When they harnessed his chariot horses, Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu and met him on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.
9:22:When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Do you come in peace, Jehu?” And he answered, “What peace [can exist] as long as the fornications of your mother Jezebel and her sorceries are so many?”
9:23:So Joram reined [his chariot] around and fled, and he said to Ahaziah, “Treachery and betrayal, Ahaziah!”
9:24:But Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and shot Joram between his shoulders; and the arrow went out through his heart and he sank down in his chariot.
9:25:Then Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the property of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for I remember when you and I were riding together after his father Ahab, that the Lord uttered this prophecy against him:
9:26:‘I certainly saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will repay you on this property,’ says the Lord. Now then, pick him up and throw him into the property [of Naboth], in accordance with the word of the Lord.”
9:27:Jehu Assassinates Ahaziah
When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. Jehu pursued him and said, “Shoot him too, [while he is] in the chariot.” So they shot him at the ascent to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And Ahaziah fled to Megiddo and died there.
9:28:Then his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his grave with his fathers in the City of David.
9:29:In the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah became king over Judah.
9:30:So when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked down from the [upper] window.
9:31:As Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, “Is it well, Zimri, your master’s murderer?”
9:32:Then Jehu raised his face toward the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three officials looked down at him.
9:33:Jezebel Is Killed
And he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her underfoot.
9:34:When he came in, he ate and drank, and said, “See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter.”
9:35:They went to bury her, but they found nothing left of her except the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands.
9:36:So they returned and told Jehu. Then he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘In the property of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel.
9:37:The corpse of Jezebel will be like dung on the surface of the field in the property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, “This is Jezebel.”’”
10:1:Judgment upon Ahab’s House
Ahab had seventy sons [and grandsons] in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the guardians of the children of Ahab, saying,
10:2:“Now as soon as this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons (male descendants) are with you, as well as chariots and horses and a fortified city and weapons,
10:3:select the best and most capable of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s [royal] house.”
10:4:But they were extremely afraid and said, “Look, the two kings did not stand before Jehu; so how can we stand?”
10:5:And the one who was in charge of the household, and the one who was overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians [of the children] sent word to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants and we will do whatever you tell us, but we will not make any man king; do what is good in your eyes.”
10:6:Then Jehu wrote a second letter to them, saying, “If you are with me and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time.” Now the [dead] king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them.
10:7:When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
10:8:When a messenger came and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” he said, “Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”
10:9:The next morning he went out and stood and said to all the people, “You are just and innocent; behold, I conspired against [Joram] my master and killed him, but who killed all these?
10:10:Know then [without any doubt] that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the Lord has done what He said through His servant Elijah.”
10:11:So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his familiar friends and his priests, until he left him without a survivor.
10:12:And he set out and went to Samaria. On the way as he was at the place of the sand heaps [meeting place] for the shepherds,
10:13:Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and said, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are the relatives of Ahaziah; and we came down to greet the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother [Jezebel].”
10:14:Then Jehu said, “Take them alive.” So they took them alive and [later] slaughtered them at the well by the place of the sand heaps, forty-two men; he left none of them [alive].
10:15:When Jehu went on from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. He greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with yours?” Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said “If it is, give me your hand.” He gave him his hand, and Jehu pulled him up into the chariot.
10:16:And he said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” So he had Jehonadab in his chariot.
10:17:When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed everyone who remained of Ahab’s family in Samaria, until he had destroyed all of them, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke to Elijah.
10:18:Jehu Destroys Baal Worshipers
Jehu assembled all the people and said [in pretense] to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much [more].
10:19:Now, summon unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests. Let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal; whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it with trickery, in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal.
10:20:Jehu said, “Consecrate a festive assembly (celebration) for Baal.” And they proclaimed it.
10:21:Then Jehu sent throughout Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came; there was no one left who did not come. They went to the house (temple) of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other.
10:22:He said to the man in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the worshipers of Baal.” And he brought the garments out to them.
10:23:Then Jehu with Jehonadab the son of Rechab went into the house of Baal; and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search carefully and see that there are no servants of the Lord here with you, but only the worshipers of Baal.”
10:24:Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.
Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside for himself and said, “If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, the one who lets him go shall forfeit his own life for that man’s life.”
10:25:Then it came about, as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guards and to the royal officers, “Go in and kill them; let no one come out.” And they killed them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the royal officers threw their bodies out, and went to the inner room of the house of Baal.
10:26:They brought out the sacred pillars (obelisks) of the house of Baal and burned them.
10:27:They also tore down the sacred pillar of Baal and tore down the house of Baal, and made it into a latrine [forever unclean] to this day.
10:28:Thus Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel.
10:29:However, Jehu did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, that is, [led them to worship] the golden calves which were at Bethel and Dan.
10:30:The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab in accordance with everything that was in My heart, your sons (descendants) shall sit on Israel’s throne to the fourth generation.”
10:31:But Jehu did not take care to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin.
10:32:So in those days the Lord began to cut off portions of Israel; Hazael [of Aram] defeated them throughout the territory of Israel:
10:33:from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the Arnon River, even Gilead and Bashan.
10:34:Jehoahaz Succeeds Jehu
Now the rest of the acts of Jehu and everything that he did and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
10:35:Jehu slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in Samaria. Jehoahaz his son became king in his place.
10:36:The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
11:1:Athaliah Queen of Judah
When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah [king of Judah] saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal offspring.
11:2:But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram [of Judah and half] sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and abducted him from among the king’s sons who were to be killed, and hid him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death.
11:3:Joash was hidden with his nurse in the house (temple) of the Lord for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.
11:4:Now in the seventh year Jehoiada [the priest, Jehosheba’s husband] sent for the captains of hundreds of the Carites and of the guard and brought them to him to the house of the Lord. Then he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and showed them the king’s [hidden] son.
11:5:He commanded them, saying, “This is the thing that you shall do: a third of you who come in [reporting for duty] on the Sabbath shall keep watch over the king’s house
11:6:(a third shall also be at the [city] gate Sur, and a third at the gate behind the guards); so you shall keep watch over the palace [from three posts] for defense.
11:7:Two units of you, all those who go out [off duty] on the Sabbath, shall also keep watch over the house (temple) of the Lord for [the protection of] the king.
11:8:You shall surround the [young] king, each man with weapons in his hand; and whoever comes through the ranks shall be put to death. You are to be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.”
11:9:The captains of hundreds acted in accordance with everything that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and each of them took his men who were to come in (on duty) on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out (off duty) on the Sabbath, and they came to Jehoiada the priest.
11:10:The priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the Lord.
11:11:And the guards stood, each man with weapons in his hand, from the right side to the left side of the temple area, by the altar [in the courtyard] and by the temple [proper], all around the king.
11:12:Then Jehoiada brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him and gave him the Testimony [a copy of the Mosaic Law]; and they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king!”
11:13:When Athaliah heard the sound of the guards and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people.
11:14:When she looked, behold, there stood the [young] king [on the platform] by the pillar, as was customary [on such occasions], and the captains and the trumpeters were beside the king; and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing the trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!”
11:15:Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds appointed over the army and said to them, “Take her out between the ranks, and whoever follows her put to death with the sword.” For the priest had said, “Let her not be put to death in the house (temple) of the Lord.”
11:16:So they seized her, and she went through the horses’ entrance to the king’s house (palace), and she was put to death there.
11:17:Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people, that they would be the Lord’s people—also between the king and the people [to be his subjects].
11:18:Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down. They utterly smashed his altar and his images to pieces, and they put Mattan the priest of Baal to death in front of the altars. And [Jehoiada] the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord.
11:19:Then he took the captains of hundreds, the Carites (royal bodyguards), the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought the [young] king down from the house of the Lord, and came by way of the guards’ gate to the king’s house. And [little] Joash sat on the throne of the kings.
11:20:So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city [of Jerusalem] was quiet. For they had put Athaliah to death with the sword at the king’s house.
11:21:Jehoash (Joash) was seven years old when he became king.
12:1:Joash (Jehoash) Reigns over Judah
In the seventh year of Jehu [king of Israel], Jehoash became king [over Judah], and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
12:2:Jehoash did right in the sight of the Lord all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
12:3:Only the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense [to the Lord] on the high places [rather than at the temple].
12:4:The Temple to Be Repaired
Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money for the dedicated things which is brought into the house of the Lord, in current money, both the money of each man’s assessment [for all those bound by vows], and all the money which any man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house (temple) of the Lord,
12:5:let the priests receive such contributions for themselves, each from his acquaintance; and they shall repair any breach in the house of the Lord, wherever a breach is found.”
12:6:But it came about in the twenty-third year of [the reign of] King Jehoash, that the priests still had not repaired the damages of the Lord’s house.
12:7:Then King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest and the [other] priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the damage of the house (temple)? Now then, do not take any more money from your acquaintances, but turn it all over for [the repair of] the damages of the house.” [You are no longer responsible for this work. I will take it into my own hands.]
12:8:So the priests agreed that they would receive no [more] money from the people, nor [be responsible to] repair the damages of the house.
12:9:Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one enters the house of the Lord; and the priests who guarded the door put in the chest all the money that was brought [by the people] into the house of the Lord.
12:10:And whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and tied it in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord.
12:11:Then they gave the money, which was weighed out into the hands of those who were doing the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house (temple) of the Lord,
12:12:and to the masons and stonecutters, and to buy timber and hewn (cut) stone to repair any breach in the house of the Lord, and for all that was laid out for repairing the house.
12:13:However, there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any gold containers or [other] silver containers, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord;
12:14:but they gave that to those who did the work, and with it they repaired the house of the Lord.
12:15:Moreover, they did not require an accounting from the men into whose hands they placed the money to be paid to those who did the work, for they acted in good faith.
12:16:Money from the guilt offerings and money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord [for repairs]; it was for the priests.
12:17:Then Hazael king of Aram (Syria) went up, fought against Gath [in Philistia], and captured it. And Hazael resolved to go up to Jerusalem.
12:18:So Jehoash the king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house (temple) of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram; and Hazael departed from Jerusalem.
12:19:Joash (Jehoash) Succeeded by Amaziah in Judah
Now the rest of the acts of Joash and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
12:20:His servants arose and formed a conspiracy [against him] and struck down Joash [in revenge] at the house of Millo, [on the way] that goes down to Silla.
12:21:For Jozacar (Jozachar) the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him and he died; and they buried Joash with his fathers in the City of David. Amaziah his son became king in his place.
13:1:Kings of Israel: Jehoahaz and Joash (Jehoash)
In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years.
13:2:He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; he did not turn from them.
13:3:So the anger of the Lord was kindled and burned against Israel, and He handed them over time and again to Hazael the king of Aram (Syria), and of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael.
13:4:But Jehoahaz sought the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them.
13:5:Then the Lord gave Israel a savior [to rescue them and give them peace], so that they escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons (descendants) of Israel lived in their tents as before.
13:6:Yet they did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of the [royal] house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin; but walked in them. And the Asherah [set up by Ahab] also remained standing in Samaria [Israel’s capital].
13:7:For he left to Jehoahaz [king of Israel] an army of no more than fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram (Ben-hadad) had destroyed them and made them like dust to be trampled.
13:8:Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, everything that he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
13:9:Jehoahaz slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in Samaria; Joash his son became king in his place.
13:10:In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash (Joash) the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.
13:11:He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn away from all the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; but he walked in them.
13:12:Now the rest of the acts of Joash, everything that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
13:13:Joash slept with his fathers [in death], and Jeroboam [II] sat on his throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
13:14:Death of Elisha
Now Elisha had become sick with the illness by which he would die. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, “O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!”
13:15:And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows.
13:16:Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” And he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.
13:17:And he said, “Open the window to the east,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” And he shot. And Elisha said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram (Syria); for you will strike the Arameans in Aphek until you have destroyed them.”
13:18:Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and stopped.
13:19:So the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Aram until you had destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times.”
13:20:Elisha died, and they buried him. Now marauding bands of Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year.
13:21:And it happened that as a man was being buried [on an open bier], they saw a marauding band [coming]; and they threw the man into Elisha’s grave. But when the [body of the] man [was being let down and] touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.
13:22:Hazael the king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
13:23:But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned toward them for the sake of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He was unwilling to destroy them, and did not cast them from His presence until now.
13:24:Hazael king of Aram (Syria) died; Ben-hadad his son became king in his place.
13:25:Then Jehoash (Joash) the son of Jehoahaz recovered from Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken from Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times Joash defeated Ben-hadad and recovered the cities of Israel.
14:1:Amaziah Reigns over Judah
In the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah became king.
14:2:He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.
14:3:He did right in the sight of the Lord, though not like David his father (ancestor). He acted in accordance with everything that his father Joash had done.
14:4:However, the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.
14:5:As soon as the kingdom was firmly in Amaziah’s hand, he executed his servants who had killed his father the king.
14:6:But he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, in compliance with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the Lord commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, nor shall the sons be put to death for the fathers; but each shall be put to death [only] for his own sin.”
14:7:Amaziah killed 10,000 [men] of Edom in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela (rock) by war, and renamed it Joktheel, to this day.
14:8:Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash (Joash) the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face each other [in combat].”
14:9:Jehoash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The [little] thorn-bush in Lebanon sent word to the [tall] cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife.’ But a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn-bush.
14:10:You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has lifted you up [in pride]. Enjoy your glory but stay at home; for why should you plunge into misery so that you, even you, would fall [at my hand], and Judah with you?”
14:11:But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other [in combat] at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah.
14:12:Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent.
14:13:Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Jehoash (Joash), the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and broke through the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits (600 feet).
14:14:He seized all the gold and silver and all the utensils found in the house (temple) of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, as well as hostages, and returned to Samaria.
14:15:Jeroboam II Succeeds Jehoash (Joash) in Israel
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might and how he fought with Amaziah the king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
14:16:Jehoash slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam [II] became king in his place.
14:17:Azariah (Uzziah) Succeeds Amaziah in Judah
Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.
14:18:The rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
14:19:Now a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and Amaziah fled [south] to Lachish; but they sent [men] after him to Lachish and killed him there.
14:20:Then they carried him on horses and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.
14:21:And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was [only] sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.
14:22:He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king [his father Amaziah] slept with his fathers [in death].
14:23:In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam [II] the son of Joash (Jehoash) king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years.
14:24:He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn from all the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.
14:25:Jeroboam restored Israel’s border from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah (Dead Sea), in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath-hepher.
14:26:For the Lord saw the affliction (suffering) of Israel as very bitter; there was no one left, bond or free, nor any helper for Israel.
14:27:But the Lord had not said that He would blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens, so He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam [II] the son of Joash [king of Israel].
14:28:Zechariah Reigns over Israel
The rest of the acts of Jeroboam [II], all that he did, his might, how he fought, and how he recovered Damascus and Hamath for Israel, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
14:29:Jeroboam [II] slept with his fathers [in death], even with the kings of Israel. Zechariah his son became king in his place.
15:1:Series of Kings: Azariah (Uzziah) over Judah
In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam [II] king of Israel, Azariah (Uzziah) the son of Amaziah king of Judah became king.
15:2:He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
15:3:He did right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with all that his father Amaziah had done.
15:4:Only [the altars on] the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places [instead of worshiping God at the temple].
15:5:And the Lord struck (afflicted) the king, and he was a leper until the day of his death, and lived in a separate house. Jotham the king’s son was in charge of the household, judging the people of the land.
15:6:Now the rest of Azariah’s acts, and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
15:7:Azariah slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. His son Jotham became king in his place.
15:8:Zechariah over Israel
In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam [II] became king over Israel in Samaria for six months.
15:9:He did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his fathers had done; he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.
15:10:But Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah and struck and killed him in the presence of the people and reigned in his place.
15:11:Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
15:12:This is [the fulfillment of] the word of the Lord which He spoke to Jehu, saying, “Your sons (descendants) shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” And so it came to pass.
15:13:Shallum the son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah (Azariah) king of Judah, and he reigned one month in Samaria.
15:14:For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah and came to Samaria, and struck and killed Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria and became king in his place.
15:15:The rest of Shallum’s acts, and his conspiracy which he made, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
15:16:Then Menahem struck [the town of] Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah; [he attacked it] because they did not surrender to him; so he struck it and ripped up all the women there who were pregnant.
15:17:Menahem over Israel
In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi became king over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.
15:18:He did evil in the sight of the Lord; for all his days he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
15:19:Pul, [Tiglath-pileser III] king of Assyria, came against the land [of Israel], and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver [as a bribe], so that he might help him to strengthen his control of the kingdom.
15:20:Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all the wealthy, influential men, fifty shekels of silver from each man to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land.
15:21:Now the rest of Menahem’s acts, and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
15:22:And Menahem slept with his fathers [in death]; his son Pekahiah became king in his place.
15:23:Pekahiah over Israel
In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem became king over Israel, and reigned two years in Samaria.
15:24:He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.
15:25:But Pekah the son of Remaliah, his officer, conspired against Pekahiah and struck him in Samaria, in the citadel of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh; and with Pekah were fifty Gileadites. So he killed Pekahiah and became king in his place.
15:26:Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, all that he did, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
15:27:Pekah over Israel
In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah became king over Israel, and reigned twenty years in Samaria.
15:28:He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.
15:29:In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of [the tribe of] Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria.
15:30:Hoshea the son of Elah conspired against Pekah the son of Remaliah [of Israel]; he struck and killed him, and became king in his place in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah [king of Judah].
15:31:Now the rest of Pekah’s acts, and everything that he did, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of Israel’s Kings.
15:32:Jotham over Judah
In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah became king.
15:33:When he was twenty-five years old, he became king [over Judah], and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok.
15:34:He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father Uzziah had done.
15:35:Only [the altars on] the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places [rather than in the temple]. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord.
15:36:Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of Judah’s Kings?
15:37:In those days the Lord began sending Rezin the king of Aram (Syria) and [Israel’s king] Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah.
15:38:Jotham slept with his fathers [in death], and was buried with them in the City of David his father (ancestor). Ahaz his son became king in his place.
16:1:Ahaz Reigns over Judah
In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king.
16:2:Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God, as his father (ancestor) David had done.
16:3:Instead he walked in the way of the [idolatrous] kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire [as a human sacrifice], in accordance with the repulsive [and idolatrous] practices of the [pagan] nations whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites.
16:4:He also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
16:5:Then Rezin the king of Aram (Syria) and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war. They besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome and conquer him.
16:6:At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath [in Edom] for Aram, and drove the Jews away from it. The Arameans came to Elath, and live there to this day.
16:7:Ahaz Seeks Help of Assyria
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the kings of Aram and of Israel, who are rising up against me.”
16:8:And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a gift to the king of Assyria.
16:9:So the king of Assyria listened to him; and he went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried its people away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin [king of Aram] to death.
16:10:Damascus Falls
Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria, and saw the pagan altar which was at Damascus. Then King Ahaz sent a model of the altar to Urijah the priest along with a [detailed] pattern for all its construction.
16:11:So Urijah the priest built an altar; in accordance with everything that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, that is how Urijah the priest made it before King Ahaz returned from Damascus.
16:12:When the king came from Damascus, he saw the altar; then the king approached the altar and offered [sacrifices] on it,
16:13:and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering, and poured out his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.
16:14:He brought the bronze altar, which was before the Lord, from the front of the house (temple), from between the [new] altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the [new] altar.
16:15:Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “Upon the great [new] altar, burn the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, and the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land and their grain offering and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on the new altar all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But the [old] bronze altar shall be kept for me to use to examine the sacrifices.”
16:16:Urijah the priest acted in accordance with everything that King Ahaz commanded.
16:17:Then King Ahaz cut away the frames of the basin stands [in the temple], and removed the basin from [each of] them; and he took down the [large] Sea from the bronze oxen which were under it, and put it on a plastered stone floor.
16:18:He removed from the house of the Lord the covered way for the Sabbath which they had built in the house, and the outer entrance of the king, because of the king of Assyria [who might confiscate them].
16:19:Hezekiah Reigns over Judah
Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
16:20:So Ahaz slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with his fathers in the City of David; and his son Hezekiah became king in his place.
17:1:Hoshea Reigns over Israel
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned for nine years.
17:2:He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel who came before him.
17:3:Shalmaneser [V] king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute (money).
17:4:But the king of Assyria discovered a conspiracy in Hoshea, who sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria arrested him and bound him in prison.
17:5:Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land [of Israel] and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years.
17:6:Israel Captive
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried [the people of] Israel into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and in Habor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
17:7:Why Israel Fell
Now this came about because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared [and worshiped] other gods
17:8:and walked in the customs of the [pagan] nations whom the Lord had driven out before the sons (descendants) of Israel, and in the pagan customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced.
17:9:The Israelites ascribed things to the Lord their God which were not true. They built for themselves high places [of worship] in all their towns, from [the lonely] lookout tower to the [populous] fortified city.
17:10:They set up for themselves sacred pillars (memorial stones) and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree.
17:11:There they burned incense on all the high places, just as the [pagan] nations whom the Lord had deported before them; and they did evil and contemptible things, provoking the Lord [to anger].
17:12:And they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”
17:13:Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes, in accordance with all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.”
17:14:However they did not listen, but stiffened their necks as did their fathers who did not believe (trust in, rely on, remain steadfast to) the Lord their God.
17:15:They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, as well as His warnings that he gave them. And they followed vanity [that is, false gods, idols] and became vain (empty-headed). They followed the [pagan practices of the] nations which surrounded them, although the Lord had commanded that they were not to do as they did.
17:16:They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast images of two calves; and they made an Asherah [idol] and worshiped all the [starry] host of heaven and served Baal.
17:17:They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire [as human sacrifices], and used divination [to foretell the future] and enchantments; and they sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.
17:18:Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight; none [of the tribes] was left except the tribe of Judah.
17:19:Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God either, but walked in the customs which Israel introduced.
17:20:So the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel (Jacob) and [repeatedly] afflicted them and handed them over to plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.
17:21:When He had torn Israel from the [royal] house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and made them commit a great sin.
17:22:For the Israelites walked in all the [idolatrous] sins which Jeroboam committed; they did not turn from them
17:23:until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, just as He had foretold through all His servants the prophets. So Israel went into exile from their own land to Assyria to this day [the date of this writing].
17:24:Cities of Israel Filled with Strangers
The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Avva and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons (people) of Israel. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.
17:25:Now when they began to live there, they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them which killed some of them.
17:26:So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations whom you have sent into exile and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land; so He has sent lions among them, and they are killing them because they do not know the manner of [worship demanded by] the god of the land.”
17:27:Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Take back [to Samaria] one of the priests whom you brought from there, and have him go and live there; and have him teach the people the custom of the god of the land.”
17:28:So one of the priests whom they had exiled from Samaria came [back] and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear [and worship] the Lord.
17:29:But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the houses (shrines) of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they lived.
17:30:The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,
17:31:the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
17:32:They also feared the Lord and appointed from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.
17:33:They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods, following the custom of the nations from among whom they had been sent into exile.
17:34:To this day they act in accordance with their former [pagan] customs: they do not [really] fear the Lord, nor do they obey their statutes and ordinances, nor the law, nor the commandments which the Lord commanded the sons (descendants) of Jacob, whom He named Israel;
17:35:with whom the Lord had made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them.
17:36:But the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves down, and to Him you shall sacrifice.
17:37:The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you [by the hand of Moses], you shall observe and do forever. You shall not fear (worship, serve) other gods.
17:38:The covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget; you shall not fear other gods.
17:39:But the Lord your God you shall fear [and worship]; then He will rescue you from the hands of all your enemies.”
17:40:However, they did not listen, but they acted in accordance with their former custom.
17:41:So these nations [superficially] feared the Lord; they also served their idols, as did their children and their children’s children, just as their fathers did, so do they to this day [the date of this writing].
18:1:Hezekiah Reigns over Judah
Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king.
18:2:He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
18:3:Hezekiah did right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that David his father (ancestor) had done.
18:4:He removed the high places [of pagan worship], broke down the images (memorial stones) and cut down the Asherim. He also crushed to pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the Israelites had burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan [a bronze sculpture].
18:5:Hezekiah trusted in and relied confidently on the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him.
18:6:For he clung to the Lord; he did not turn away from [faithfully] following Him, but he kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.
18:7:Hezekiah Victorious
And the Lord was with Hezekiah; he was successful wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.
18:8:He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza [the most distant city] and its borders, from the [isolated] lookout tower to the [populous] fortified city.
18:9:Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser the king of Assyria went up against Samaria and besieged it.
18:10:At the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
18:11:Then the king of Assyria sent Israel into exile to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of [the city of] Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,
18:12:because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but broke His covenant, everything that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; and they would not listen nor do it.
18:13:Invasion of Judah
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria went up against all the fortified cities of Judah [except Jerusalem] and captured them.
18:14:Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear.” So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah [a tribute tax of] three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
18:15:Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house (temple) of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house (palace).
18:16:At that time Hezekiah cut away the gold framework from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorposts which he had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
18:17:Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan and the Rab-saris and the Rabshakeh [his highest officials] with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem, and when they went up and arrived, they stood by the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is on the road of the Fuller’s Field.
18:18:When they called for the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the [king’s] household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary went out to [meet] them.
18:19:Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is [the reason for] this confidence that you have?
18:20:You say (but they are only empty words) ‘I have counsel and strength for the war.’ Now on whom do you rely, that you have rebelled against me?
18:21:Now pay attention: you are relying on Egypt, on that staff of crushed reed; if a man leans on it, it will only go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust and rely on him.
18:22:But if you tell me, ‘We trust in and rely on the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship [only] before this altar in Jerusalem’?
18:23:Now then, make a bargain with my lord the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if on your part you can put riders on them.
18:24:How then can you drive back even one official of the least of my master’s servants, when you rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
18:25:Now have I come up against this place to destroy it without the Lord’s approval? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”
18:26:Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in the Aramaic (Syrian) language, because we understand it; and do not speak with us in the Judean (Hebrew) language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
18:27:But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to say these things? Has he not sent me to the men who sit on the wall, [who are doomed by the siege] to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you?”
18:28:Then the Rabshakeh stood and shouted out with a loud voice in Judean (Hebrew), “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.
18:29:Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you from my hand;
18:30:nor let Hezekiah make you trust in and rely on the Lord, saying, “The Lord will certainly rescue us, and this city [of Jerusalem] will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
18:31:Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: “Surrender to me and come out to [meet] me, and every man may eat from his own vine and fig tree, and every man may drink the waters of his own well,
18:32: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, a land of olive trees and honey, so that you may live and not die.” Do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads and incites you, saying, “The Lord will rescue us!”
18:33:Has any one of the gods of the nations ever rescued his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
18:34:Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad [in Aram]? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah [in the valley of the Euphrates]? Have they rescued Samaria (Israel’s capital) from my hand?
18:35:Who among all the gods of the lands have rescued their lands from my hand, that the Lord would rescue Jerusalem from my hand?’”
18:36:But the people kept silent and did not answer him, for the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
18:37:Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the [royal] household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn [in grief and despair] and told him what the Rabshakeh had said.
19:1:Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah
When king Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and he covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house (temple) of the Lord.
19:2:Then he sent Eliakim who was in charge of his household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
19:3:They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This is a day of distress and anxiety, of punishment and humiliation; for children have come to [the time of their] birth and there is no strength to rescue them.
19:4:It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to taunt and defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. So offer a prayer for the remnant [of His people] that is left [in Judah].’”
19:5:So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
19:6:Isaiah said to them, “Say this to your master: ‘Thus says the Lord, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled (blasphemed) Me.
19:7:Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”
19:8:Sennacherib Defies God
So the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah [a fortified city of Judah]; for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.
19:9:When the king heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Behold, he has come out to make war against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,
19:10:“Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by saying, “Jerusalem shall not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”
19:11:Listen, you have heard what the Assyrian kings have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be spared?
19:12:Did the gods of the nations whom my forefathers destroyed rescue them—Gozan and Haran [of Mesopotamia] and Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?
19:13:Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad [of northern Syria], the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”
19:14:Hezekiah’s Prayer
Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the house (temple) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.
19:15:Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim [of the ark in the temple], You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth.
19:16:O Lord, bend down Your ear and hear; Lord, open Your eyes and see; hear the [taunting] words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to taunt and defy the living God.
19:17:It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have devastated the nations and their lands
19:18:and have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not [real] gods but [only] the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they [could destroy them and] have destroyed them.
19:19:Now, O Lord our God, please, save us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know [without any doubt] that You alone, O Lord, are God.”
19:20:God’s Answer through Isaiah
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I have heard your prayer to Me regarding Sennacherib king of Assyria.’
19:21:This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
‘The virgin daughter of Zion
Has despised you and mocked you;
The daughter of Jerusalem
Has shaken her head behind you!
19:22:‘Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice,
And haughtily lifted up your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
19:23:‘Through your messengers you have taunted and defied the Lord,
And have said [boastfully], “With my many chariots
I came up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon;
I cut down its tall cedar trees and its choicest cypress trees.
I entered its most distant lodging, its densest forest.
19:24:“I dug wells and drank foreign waters,
And with the sole of my feet I dried up
All the rivers of [the Lower Nile of] Egypt.”
19:25:‘Have you not heard [asks the God of Israel]?
Long ago I did it;
From ancient times I planned it.
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you [king of Assyria] should [be My instrument to] turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
19:26:‘Therefore their inhabitants were powerless,
They were shattered [in spirit] and put to shame;
They were like plants of the field, the green herb,
As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.
19:27:‘But I [the Lord] know your sitting down [O Sennacherib],
Your going out, your coming in,
And your raging against Me.
19:28:‘Because of your raging against Me,
And because your arrogance and complacency have come up to My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose,
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back [to Assyria] by the way that you came.
19:29:‘Then this shall be the sign [of these things] to you [Hezekiah]: this year you will eat what grows of itself, in the second year what springs up voluntarily, and in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
19:30:The survivors who remain of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
19:31:For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem, and [a band of] survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.
19:32:‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: “He will not come to this city [Jerusalem] nor shoot an arrow there; nor will he come before it with a shield nor throw up a siege ramp against it.
19:33:By the way that he came, by the same way he will return, and he will not come into this city,”’ declares the Lord.
19:34:For I will protect this city to save it, for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”
19:35:Then it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went forth and struck down 185,000 [men] in the camp of the Assyrians; when the survivors got up early in the morning, behold, all [185,000] of them were dead.
19:36:So Sennacherib king of Assyria left and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.
19:37:It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword; and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
20:1:Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
In those days [when Sennacherib first invaded Judah] Hezekiah became deathly ill. The prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not recover.’”
20:2:Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying,
20:3:“Please, O Lord, remember now [with compassion] how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth and with a whole heart [entirely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
20:4:Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
20:5:“Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father (ancestor): “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Behold, I am healing you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.
20:6:I will add fifteen years to your life and save you and this city [Jerusalem] from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’”
20:7:Then Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And they brought it and placed it on the [painful] inflammation, and he recovered.”
20:8:Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will [completely] heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?”
20:9:Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from the Lord, that He will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow [indicating the time of day] go forward ten steps, or go backward ten steps?”
20:10:Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to go forward ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.”
20:11:So Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow on the steps ten steps backward by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.
20:12:Hezekiah Shows Babylon His Treasures
At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
20:13:Hezekiah listened to and welcomed them and [foolishly] showed them all his treasure house—the silver and gold and spices and precious oil and his armory and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house (palace) nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
20:14:Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say [that would cause you to do this for them]? From where have they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.”
20:15:Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house (palace). There is nothing in my treasuries that I have not shown them.”
20:16:Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord.
20:17:Behold, the time is coming when everything that is in your house, and that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.
20:18:And some of your sons (descendants) who will be born to you will be taken away [as captives]; and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
20:19:Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Is it not good, if [at least] there will be peace and security in my lifetime?”
20:20:The rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he made the [Siloam] pool and the aqueduct and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
20:21:Hezekiah slept with his fathers [in death], and Manasseh his son became king in his place.
21:1:Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
21:2:He did [great] evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with the [idolatrous] repulsive acts of the [pagan] nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons (descendants) of Israel.
21:3:For he rebuilt the high places [for the worship of pagan gods] which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and he set up altars for Baal and made an [image of] Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he worshiped all the [starry] host of heaven and served them.
21:4:And he built [pagan] altars in the house (temple) of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name (Presence).”
21:5:And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord.
21:6:He made his son pass through the fire and burned him [as an offering to Molech]; he practiced witchcraft and divination, and dealt with mediums and soothsayers. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.
21:7:He made a carved image of the [goddess] Asherah and set it up in the house (temple), of which the Lord said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem [in the tribe of Judah], which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My Name forever.
21:8:“And I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will be careful to act in accordance with everything that I have commanded them, and with all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.”
21:9:But they did not listen; and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons (descendants) of Israel.
21:10:The King’s Idolatries Rebuked
Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying,
21:11:“Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these repulsive acts, having done more evil than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols;
21:12:therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such catastrophe on Jerusalem and Judah, that everyone who hears of it, both of his ears will ring [from the shock].
21:13:I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem clean just as one wipes a [dirty] bowl clean, wiping it and turning it upside down.
21:14:I will abandon the remnant (remainder) of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies; and they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies,
21:15:because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger, since the day their fathers came from Egypt to this day.’”
21:16:Moreover, Manasseh shed a very great quantity of innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah sin, by doing evil in the sight of the Lord.
21:17:Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, everything that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
21:18:Manasseh slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. And his son Amon became king in his place.
21:19:Amon Succeeds Manasseh
Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
21:20:He also did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done.
21:21:He walked in all the [evil] ways that his father had walked; and he served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them;
21:22:he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.
21:23:But the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house (palace).
21:24:Then the people of the land [of Judah] killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.
21:25:Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
21:26:He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.
22:1:Josiah Succeeds Amon
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.
22:2:He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father (ancestor) David, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
22:3:In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam the scribe to the house of the Lord, saying,
22:4:“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, so that he may count the entire amount of money brought into the house of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.
22:5:And have them deliver it to the hands of the workmen who have been appointed over the house of the Lord, and have them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the Lord to repair the damages of the house—
22:6:that is, [have them give the money] to the carpenters and the builders and the masons—and to buy timber and cut stones to repair the house (temple).
22:7:However, no accounting shall be required of them for the money placed in their hands, because they act faithfully.”
22:8:The Lost Book
Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house (temple) of the Lord.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
22:9:Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to him: “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have placed it in the hands of the workmen who have been appointed over the house of the Lord.”
22:10:Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it [aloud] before the king.
22:11:Now when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.
22:12:Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the servant of the king, saying,
22:13:“Go, inquire of the Lord for my sake and for the sake of the people and for all Judah concerning the words of this book which has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord which has been kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to and obeyed the words of this book, so as to act in accordance with everything that is written concerning us.”
22:14:Huldah Predicts
So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (she was living in Jerusalem, in the Second Quarter [the new part of the city]); and they spoke to her.
22:15:She said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me,
22:16:thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am bringing a catastrophe on this place (Judah) and on its inhabitants, [according to] all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read.
22:17:Because they have abandoned (rejected) Me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it will not be quenched.”’
22:18:But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, you shall say this to him: ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Regarding the words which you have heard,
22:19:because your heart was tender (receptive, penitent) and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I said against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,” declares the Lord.
22:20:Therefore, behold, [King Josiah,] I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be taken to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil (catastrophe) which I will bring on this place.”’” So they brought back word to the king.
23:1:Josiah’s Covenant
King Josiah sent word and they brought to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
23:2:The king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house (temple) of the Lord.
23:3:The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all his heart and soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.
23:4:Reforms under Josiah
Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal, for [the goddess] Asherah, and for all the [starry] host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel [where Israel’s idolatry began].
23:5:He got rid of the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense [to pagan gods] in the high places in Judah’s cities and all around Jerusalem—also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations [of the zodiac], and to all the [starry] host of heaven.
23:6:Josiah brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, and burned it there, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people [who had sacrificed to it].
23:7:And he tore down the houses of the [male] cult prostitutes, which were at the house (temple) of the Lord, where the women were weaving [tent] hangings for the Asherah [shrines].
23:8:Then Josiah brought all the [idolatrous] priests from the cities of Judah, and desecrated the high places where the priests had burned incense [to idols], from Geba to Beersheba, [that is, north to south]; and he tore down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate.
23:9:However, the priests of the high places were not allowed to go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem [to serve], but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.
23:10:Josiah also defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), so that no man could make his son or his daughter pass through the fire [as a burnt offering] for Molech.
23:11:And he got rid of the horses that the kings of Judah had given [in worship] to the sun at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the annex; and he burned the chariots of the sun.
23:12:The altars [dedicated to the starry host of heaven] which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord, the king tore down; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron.
23:13:The king desecrated the high places which were opposite [east of] Jerusalem, which were on the right (south) of the mount of corruption which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the repulsiveness of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the repulsiveness of Moab, and for Milcom the repulsiveness of the sons (descendants) of Ammon.
23:14:He broke in pieces the sacred pillars (cultic memorial stones, images) and cut down the Asherim and replaced them with human bones [to desecrate the places forever].
23:15:Further, the altar that was at Bethel, the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah.
23:16:And as Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent men and had the bones taken from the graves, and burned them on the altar and [thereby] desecrated it, in accordance with the word of the Lord which the man of God prophesied, who proclaimed these things [about this altar, naming Josiah before he was born].
23:17:Then Josiah said, “What is this monument (gravestone) that I see?” The men of the city told him, “It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done to the altar of Bethel.”
23:18:He said, “Let him alone; let no one disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.
23:19:Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking the Lord [to anger]; and he did to them just as he had done [to those] in Bethel.
23:20:All the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars, and burned human bones on them [to desecrate the places forever]. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
23:21:Passover Reinstituted
Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in this book of the covenant.”
23:22:Indeed, such a Passover as this had not been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.
23:23:But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover to the Lord was kept in Jerusalem.
23:24:Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the soothsayers and the teraphim (household gods) and the idols and all the repulsive things that were seen in Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might fulfill the words of the law written in the book which Hilkiah the priest found in the house (temple) of the Lord.
23:25:Before him there was no king like Josiah who turned to the Lord with all his heart and all his soul and all his might, in accordance with all the Law of Moses; nor did anyone like him arise after him.
23:26:However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath which was kindled against Judah because of all the despicable acts with which Manasseh had provoked Him.
23:27:The Lord said, “I will also remove Judah from My sight, just as I have removed Israel; and will reject this city which I have chosen, this Jerusalem, and the house, of which I said, ‘My Name [and the pledge of My Presence] shall be there.’”
23:28:Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah
Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
23:29:In his days Pharaoh Neco (Necho) king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates [to help him fight Nabopolassar the king of Babylon]. King Josiah went out to meet him, but Pharaoh killed Josiah at Megiddo when he saw him.
23:30:Josiah’s servants carried his dead body in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in his father’s place.
23:31:Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for [only] three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
23:32:He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his forefathers had done.
23:33:Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem, and imposed a fine on the land of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
23:34:Jehoiakim Made King by Pharaoh
Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and brought him to Egypt, where he died.
23:35:Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money as Pharaoh commanded. He collected the silver and gold from the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.
23:36:Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
23:37:He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his forefathers had done.
24:1:Babylon Controls Jehoiakim
In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.
24:2:The Lord sent marauding bands of Chaldeans, Arameans (Syrians), Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim. And He sent them against Judah to destroy it, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servants the prophets.
24:3:Surely this came on Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of [King] Manasseh, in accordance with everything that he had done,
24:4:and also for the innocent blood that he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord would not pardon it.
24:5:Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
24:6:Jehoiachin Reigns
So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers [in death], and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.
24:7:The king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, because the king of Babylon had taken everything that belonged to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates.
24:8:Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned [only] three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
24:9:He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father had done.
24:10:Deportation to Babylon
At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.
24:11:Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it.
24:12:Jehoiachin king of Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his [palace] officials. So the king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his [own] reign.
24:13:He carried out of there (Jerusalem) all the treasures of the house (temple) of the Lord, and the treasures of the house (palace) of the king, and cut in pieces all the articles of gold in the temple of the Lord, which Solomon king of Israel had made, just as the Lord had said.
24:14:He led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the brave men, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.
24:15:Nebuchadnezzar led Jehoiachin away into exile to Babylon; also he took the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officials and the leading men of the land [including Ezekiel] as exiles from Jerusalem to Babylon.
24:16:And the king of Babylon brought as exiles to Babylon all the brave men, seven thousand [of them], and the craftsmen and the smiths, a thousand [of them], all strong and fit for war.
24:17:Zedekiah Made King
Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
24:18:Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
24:19:He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that Jehoiakim had done.
24:20:Because of the anger of the Lord these things happened in Jerusalem and Judah, and it [finally] came to the point that He cast them from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
25:1:Nebuchadnezzar Besieges Jerusalem
Now in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he with all his army, against Jerusalem, and camped against it and built siege works surrounding it.
25:2:The city came under siege [for nearly two years] until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
25:3:On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine [caused by the siege] was severe in the city; there was no food for the people of the land.
25:4:Then the city [wall] was broken into [and conquered]; all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans (Babylonians) were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah (the plain of the Jordan).
25:5:The army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Then his entire army was dispersed from him.
25:6:So they seized the king (Zedekiah) and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah [on the Orontes River], and sentence was passed on him.
25:7:They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him [hand and foot] with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.
25:8:Jerusalem Burned and Plundered
On the seventh day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
25:9:He burned the house (temple) of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.
25:10:All the army of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) who were with the captain of the bodyguard tore down the walls around Jerusalem.
25:11:Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard deported [into exile] the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had joined the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.
25:12:But the captain of the bodyguard left some of the unimportant and poorest people of the land to be vineyard workers and farmers.
25:13:Now the Chaldeans (Babylonians) smashed the bronze pillars which were in the house of the Lord and their bases and the bronze sea (large basin) which were in the house of the Lord, and carried the bronze to Babylon.
25:14:They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the bronze articles which were used in the temple service,
25:15:the captain of the bodyguard also took away the firepans and basins, anything made of fine gold and anything made of fine silver.
25:16:The two pillars, the one sea (large basin), and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these articles was incalculable.
25:17:The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits (27 ft.), and a capital of bronze was on top of it. The height of the capital was three cubits (4.5 ft.); a network (lattice work) and pomegranates around the capital were all of bronze. And the second pillar had the same as these, with a network.
25:18:The captain of the bodyguard took [captive] Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers [of the temple].
25:19:And from the city [of Jerusalem] he took an officer who was in command of the men of war, and five men from the king’s personal advisors who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land [for military service] and sixty men from the people of the land who were found in the city.
25:20:Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
25:21:Then the king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath [north of Damascus]. So Judah was taken into exile from its land.
25:22:Gedaliah Made Governor
Now over the people whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left in the land of Judah, he appointed [as governor] Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan.
25:23:When all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite.
25:24:Gedaliah swore [an oath] to them and their men, and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants (officials) of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”
25:25:But in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family [who had a claim to be governor], came with ten men and struck and killed Gedaliah and the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.
25:26:Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces set out and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans (Babylonians).
25:27:Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, showed favor to Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison;
25:28:and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the [other] kings [of captive peoples] who were with him in Babylon.
25:29:Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes [for palace garments] and he dined regularly in the king’s presence for the remainder of his life;
25:30:and his allowance, a continual one, was given to him by the king (Evil-meridach), a portion every day, for the rest of his life.
1_chronicles:1:1:Genealogy from Adam
Adam [his genealogical line], Seth, Enosh,
1:2:Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared,
1:3:Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech,
1:4:Noah, [and his sons] Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
1:5:The sons (descendants) of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
1:6:The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Diphath, and Togarmah.
1:7:The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.
1:8:The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
1:9:The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
1:10:Cush became the father of Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one upon the earth.
1:11:Mizraim became the father of the people of Lud, Anam, Lehab, Naphtuh,
1:12:Pathrus, and Casluh, from whom came the Philistines, and Caphtor.
1:13:Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,
1:14:the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites,
1:15:Hivites, Arkites, Sinites,
1:16:Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites.
1:17:The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.
1:18:Arpachshad became the father of Shelah, and Shelah became the father of Eber.
1:19:To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, because in his days [the population of] the earth was divided [according to its languages], and his brother’s name was Joktan.
1:20:Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
1:21:Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
1:22:Ebal, Abimael, Sheba,
1:23:Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.
1:24:Shem [his genealogical line], Arpachshad, Shelah,
1:25:Eber, Peleg, Reu,
1:26:Serug, Nahor, Terah,
1:27:Abram, the same as Abraham.
1:28:Descendants of Abraham
The sons of Abraham: Isaac [by his wife Sarah] and Ishmael [by Hagar her maid].
1:29:These are their descendants: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
1:30:Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema,
1:31:Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.
1:32:Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.
1:33:The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these are the sons [and grandsons] of Keturah.
1:34:Abraham became the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel (Jacob).
1:35:The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
1:36:The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna, and Amalek.
1:37:The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
1:38:The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
1:39:The sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam; and Timna was Lotan’s sister.
1:40:The sons of Shobal: Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah.
1:41:The son of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hamran, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
1:42:The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Jaakan. The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
1:43:These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the sons (descendants) of Israel (Jacob): Bela the son of Beor; the name of his city was Dinhabah.
1:44:When Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah became king in his place.
1:45:When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites became king in his place.
1:46:When Husham died, Hadad [I of Edom] the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the field of Moab, became king in his place; the name of his city was Avith.
1:47:When Hadad [I] died, Samlah of Masrekah became king in his place.
1:48:When Samlah died, Shaul of Rehoboth on the River [Euphrates] became king in his place.
1:49:When Shaul died, Baal-hanan the son of Achbor became king in his place.
1:50:When Baal-hanan died, Hadad [II] became king in his place; the name of his city was Pai; his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
1:51:Hadad died also.
The chiefs of Edom were: chiefs Timna, Aliah, Jetheth,
1:52:Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,
1:53:Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,
1:54:Magdiel, and Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom.
2:1:Genealogy: Twelve Sons of Jacob (Israel)
These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,
2:2:Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
2:3:The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah; the three were born to him by Shua’s daughter the Canaanitess. Er, Judah’s eldest, was evil in the Lord’s sight, and He put him to death.
2:4:Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah’s sons were five in all.
2:5:The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
2:6:The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara—five in all.
2:7:The son of Carmi: Achar, the troubler of Israel, who violated the ban [by taking things from Jericho that had been banned].
2:8:The son of Ethan: Azariah.
2:9:Genealogy of David
The sons of Hezron who were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai [that is, Caleb].
2:10:Ram became the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, leader of the sons of Judah.
2:11:Nahshon became the father of Salma, Salma became the father of Boaz,
2:12:Boaz became the father of Obed, and Obed became the father of Jesse.
2:13:Jesse became the father of Eliab his firstborn, Abinadab the second, Shimea the third,
2:14:Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth,
2:15:Ozem the sixth, David the seventh.
2:16:Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three.
2:17:Abigail gave birth to Amasa, and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.
2:18:And Caleb the son of Hezron had sons by his wife Azubah and by Jerioth. Azubah’s sons were: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon.
2:19:Azubah died, and Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur.
2:20:Hur became the father of Uri, and Uri became the father of Bezalel [the skillful craftsman who made the furnishings of the tabernacle].
2:21:Later, when Hezron was sixty years old, he married the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, and she bore him Segub.
2:22:Segub became the father of Jair, who [later] had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead.
2:23:But Geshur and Aram took from them Havvoth-jair, with Kenath and its villages, sixty towns in all. All these were the sons (descendants) of Machir, the father of Gilead.
2:24:After Hezron died in Caleb-ephrathah, Abijah, Hezron’s wife, bore him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.
2:25:The sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron: Ram the firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah.
2:26:Jerahmeel had another wife, named Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.
2:27:The sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel were: Maaz, Jamin, and Eker.
2:28:The sons of Onam: Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur.
2:29:The name of Abishur’s wife was Abihail; she bore him Ahban and Molid.
2:30:The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim. Seled died childless.
2:31:The son of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Ahlai.
2:32:The sons of Jada the brother of Shammai: Jether and Jonathan. Jether died childless.
2:33:The sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the sons (descendants) of Jerahmeel.
2:34:Sheshan had no sons—only daughters. But Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha.
2:35:So Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant as a wife; she bore him Attai.
2:36:Attai became the father of Nathan, and Nathan became the father of Zabad.
2:37:Zabad became the father of Ephlal, and Ephlal became the father of Obed.
2:38:Obed became the father of Jehu, and Jehu became the father of Azariah.
2:39:Azariah became the father of Helez, and Helez became the father of Eleasah.
2:40:Eleasah became the father of Sismai, and Sismai became the father of Shallum.
2:41:Shallum became the father of Jekamiah, and Jekamiah became the father of Elishama.
2:42:The sons of Caleb, the brother of Jerahmeel: Mesha his firstborn was the father of Ziph; and his son Mareshah was the father of Hebron.
2:43:The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema.
2:44:Shema became the father of Raham, the father of Jorkeam. And Rekem became the father of Shammai.
2:45:The son of Shammai was Maon; Maon became the father of Bethzur.
2:46:Ephah, Caleb’s concubine, gave birth to Haran, Moza, and Gazez; Haran became the father of Gazez.
2:47:The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph.
2:48:Maacah, Caleb’s concubine, gave birth to Sheber and Tirhanah.
2:49:She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah and Sheva the father of Machbena and of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.
2:50:These were the sons (descendants) of Caleb.
The sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim,
2:51:Salma the father of Bethlehem and Hareph the father of Beth-gader.
2:52:Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had [other] sons (descendants): Haroeh, half of the Manahathites [in Judah],
2:53:and the families of Kiriath-jearim: the Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites, and Mishraites. From these came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites.
2:54:The sons (descendants) of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites.
2:55:The families of scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.
3:1:Family of David
These were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; second, Daniel (Chileab), by Abigail the Carmelitess;
3:2:third, Absalom the son of Maacah, daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; fourth, Adonijah, the son of Haggith;
3:3:fifth, Shephatiah, by Abital; sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah.
3:4:These six were born to David in Hebron; he reigned there seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years.
3:5:These were born to David in Jerusalem: Shimea (Shammua), Shobab, Nathan, Solomon—four by Bath-shua (Bathsheba) daughter of Ammiel (Eliam);
3:6:then Ibhar, Elishama (Elishua), Eliphelet (Elpelet),
3:7:Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia,
3:8:Elishama, Eliada (Beeliada), and Eliphelet—nine in all.
3:9:All these were the sons of David, besides the sons of the concubines; and Tamar was their sister.
3:10:Solomon’s son was Rehoboam. Abijah was his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,
3:11:Joram (Jehoram) his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,
3:12:Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
3:13:Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,
3:14:Amon his son, Josiah his son.
3:15:The sons of Josiah: firstborn, Johanan; second, Jehoiakim (Eliakim); third, Zedekiah; fourth, Shallum (Jehoahaz).
3:16:The sons (descendants) of Jehoiakim: Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) his son, Zedekiah his son.
3:17:The sons (descendants) of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) the prisoner: Shealtiel his son,
3:18:Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah.
3:19:The sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei. The sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith was their sister;
3:20:and Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab-hesed—five in all.
3:21:The sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jeshaiah, the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah.
3:22:The sons (descendants) of Shecaniah: Shemaiah. The sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat—six in all.
3:23:The sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam—three in all.
3:24:The sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani—seven in all.
4:1:Descendants of Judah
The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal.
4:2:Reaiah the son of Shobal became the father of Jahath, and Jahath became the father of Ahumai and Lahad. These were the families of the Zorathites.
4:3:These were the sons of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazzelelponi.
4:4:Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the eldest of Ephrathah (Ephrath), the father of Bethlehem.
4:5:Ashhur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
4:6:Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni and Haahashtari. These were Naarah’s sons.
4:7:The sons of Helah: Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan.
4:8:Koz fathered Anub, Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.
4:9:Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; but his mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I gave birth to him in pain.”
4:10:Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would indeed bless me and enlarge my border [property], and that Your hand would be with me, and You would keep me from evil so that it does not hurt me!” And God granted his request.
4:11:Chelub the brother of Shuhah became the father of Mehir, the father of Eshton.
4:12:Eshton became the father of Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir-nahash. These are the men of Recah.
4:13:The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel: Hathath and Meonothai.
4:14:Meonothai became the father of Ophrah, and Seraiah became the father of Joab the father of Ge-harashim [the Valley of Craftsmen, so named] because they were craftsmen.
4:15:The sons of Caleb [Joshua’s companion] the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah: Kenaz.
4:16:The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.
4:17:The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. These are the sons of Bithia daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took: she conceived and gave birth to Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.
4:18:Mered’s Jewish wife gave birth to Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.
4:19:The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were: the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.
4:20:The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinnah, Benhanan, and Tilon. The sons of Ishi: Zoheth and Ben-zoheth.
4:21:The sons of Shelah son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of the linen workers at Beth-ashbea;
4:22:and Jokim, the men of Cozeba, Joash, and Saraph, who ruled in Moab, and Jashubi-lehem. These are ancient words (genealogical records).
4:23:These were the potters and those who lived [among plantations and hedges] at Netaim and Gederah; they lived there with the king for his work.
4:24:Descendants of Simeon
The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul;
4:25:Shallum was Shaul’s son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son.
4:26:The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son.
4:27:Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, neither did all their family multiply like the sons of Judah.
4:28:They lived at Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual,
4:29:Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad,
4:30:Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag,
4:31:Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities until the reign of David.
4:32:These were their villages: Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five cities—
4:33:and all their villages that were around these towns as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they have their genealogical record.
4:34:Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah the son of Amaziah,
4:35:Joel, Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel,
4:36:also Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah,
4:37:Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah;
4:38:these mentioned by name were leaders in their families; and their fathers’ houses increased greatly [so they needed more land].
4:39:So they journeyed to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.
4:40:They found rich, good pasture, and the [cleared] land was wide, quiet, and peaceful; for those who had lived there previously came from Ham [and had left it a better place for those who came after them].
4:41:These, registered by name, came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and they attacked their tents and the Meunites (foreigners) who were found there, and utterly destroyed them to this day; and they settled in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks.
4:42:From them, from the sons of Simeon, five hundred men went to Mount Seir, with Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, as their leaders.
4:43:They destroyed the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and they have lived there to this day (the date of this writing).
5:1:Descendants of Reuben
Now [we come to] the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel—for Reuben was the eldest, but because he defiled his father’s bed [with Bilhah his father’s concubine], his birthright was given to [Manasseh and Ephraim] the sons of Joseph [the favorite] son of Israel, so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright.
5:2:Though Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came [David] the leader [and eventually the Messiah], yet the birthright was Joseph’s—
5:3:the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
5:4:The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son,
5:5:Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son,
5:6:Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria carried away into exile; he was a leader of the tribe of Reuben.
5:7:And his brothers (relatives) by their families, in the genealogy of their generations, were the chief Jeiel, and Zechariah,
5:8:Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who lived in Aroer as far as Nebo and Baal-meon.
5:9:To the east Bela settled as far as the entrance into the desert from the river Euphrates, because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead.
5:10:In the days of King Saul they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hands; and they lived in their tents throughout all the land east of Gilead.
5:11:Descendants of Gad
The sons of Gad lived opposite them in the land of Bashan, as far as Salecah:
5:12:Joel was the chief, Shapham the second, then Janai and Shaphat in Bashan.
5:13:Their relatives from the households of their fathers: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber—seven in all.
5:14:These were the sons of Abihail the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz;
5:15:Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was chief in their fathers’ households.
5:16:They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the [surrounding] pasture lands of Sharon, as far as their borders.
5:17:All these were enrolled in the genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam [II] king of Israel.
5:18:The sons of Reuben, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh—valiant men able to bear shield and sword, and to shoot with the bow, and skillful in war—were 44,760 who went to war.
5:19:And these Israelites, [on the east side of the Jordan River] made war with the Hagrites [a tribe of northern Arabia], Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab.
5:20:They were given help against them, and the Hagrites were handed over to them, and all who were allied with them; for they cried out to God [for help] in the battle; and He granted their entreaty because they relied on and trusted in Him.
5:21:These Israelites took away their livestock: their 50,000 camels, and 250,000 sheep, and 2,000 donkeys; and 100,000 people.
5:22:For a great number fell mortally wounded, because the battle was of God. And these Israelites settled in their territory until the exile [by Assyria more than five centuries later].
5:23:Descendants of Manasseh
Now the sons (people) of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land; their settlements spread from Bashan to Baal-hermon and Senir and Mount Hermon.
5:24:These were the heads of their fathers’ households: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, warriors of valor [willing and able to encounter danger], famous men, and heads of the households of their fathers.
5:25:But they acted treacherously against the God of their fathers and played the prostitute with the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.
5:26:So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, [that is,] the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away into exile—the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh—and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, [where they remain] to this day.
6:1:Genealogy: The Priestly Line
The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath and Merari.
6:2:The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
6:3:The sons of Amram: Aaron, Moses and Miriam. And the sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
6:4:Eleazar became the father of Phinehas, Phinehas became the father of Abishua,
6:5:and Abishua became the father of Bukki, and Bukki became the father of Uzzi,
6:6:and Uzzi became the father of Zerahiah, and Zerahiah became the father of Meraioth,
6:7:Meraioth became the father of Amariah, and Amariah became the father of Ahitub,
6:8:and Ahitub became the father of Zadok, and Zadok became the father of Ahimaaz,
6:9:and Ahimaaz became the father of Azariah, and Azariah became the father of Johanan,
6:10:and Johanan became the father of Azariah (it was he who was priest in the house (temple) which Solomon built in Jerusalem)
6:11:and Azariah became the father of Amariah, and Amariah became the father of Ahitub,
6:12:and Ahitub became the father of Zadok, and Zadok became the father of Shallum,
6:13:and Shallum became the father of Hilkiah, and Hilkiah became the father of Azariah,
6:14:and Azariah became the father of Seraiah, and Seraiah became the father of Jehozadak;
6:15:and Jehozadak went into captivity when the Lord sent [the people of] Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
6:16:The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
6:17:These are the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei.
6:18:The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
6:19:The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers.
6:20:Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son,
6:21:Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai his son.
6:22:The sons of Kohath: Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son,
6:23:Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son,
6:24:Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son.
6:25:The sons of Elkanah: Amasai and Ahimoth.
6:26:As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah: Zophai his son and Nahath his son,
6:27:Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah [Samuel’s father] his son.
6:28:The sons of Samuel: Joel the firstborn and Abijah the second.
6:29:The sons of Merari: Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzza his son,
6:30:Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.
6:31:Now these are those whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the Lord after the ark [of the covenant] rested there.
6:32:They ministered with singing before the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting, until Solomon had built the Lord’s house (temple) in Jerusalem, performing their service in due order.
6:33:These men and their sons served from the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel [the great prophet and judge],
6:34:the son of Elkanah [III], the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah,
6:35:the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah [II], the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai,
6:36:the son of Elkanah [I], the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah,
6:37:the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah,
6:38:the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel (Jacob).
6:39:Heman’s [tribal] brother Asaph stood at his right hand: Asaph the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea,
6:40:the son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchijah,
6:41:the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah,
6:42:the son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei,
6:43:the son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi.
6:44:Their relatives the sons of Merari stood at the left hand: Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,
6:45:the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah,
6:46:the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shemer,
6:47:the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.
6:48:Their relatives the Levites [who were not descended from Aaron] were appointed for all the other kinds of service of the tabernacle of the house of God.
6:49:Descendants of Aaron
But [the line of] Aaron and his sons made offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense, ministering for all the work of the Holy of Holies (Most Holy Place), and [they did so] to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses, God’s servant, had commanded.
6:50:These are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son,
6:51:Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son,
6:52:Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son,
6:53:Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son.
6:54:Now these are their settlements according to their camps within their borders: to the sons of Aaron of the families of the Kohathites (for theirs was the first allocation by lot)
6:55:to them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasture land;
6:56:but the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
6:57:To the sons of Aaron they gave the following cities of refuge: Hebron, Libnah with its pasture lands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,
6:58:Hilen with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands,
6:59:Ashan with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands;
6:60:and from the tribe of Benjamin: Geba, Alemeth, and Anathoth, with their pasture lands. All their cities throughout their families were thirteen cities.
6:61:Then to the rest of the sons of Kohath were given ten cities by lot from the family of the tribe [of Ephraim and of Dan and], from the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh.
6:62:To the sons of Gershom, according to their families, were given thirteen cities from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and [the other half of] Manasseh in Bashan.
6:63:To the sons of Merari were given twelve cities by lot, according to their families, from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
6:64:So the sons of Israel gave to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands.
6:65:They gave by lot from the tribes of the sons of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin these cities which are mentioned by name.
6:66:Some of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities of their [allotted] territory from the tribe of Ephraim.
6:67:They gave to the Levites the following cities of refuge: Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim with its pasture lands, Gezer with its pasture lands;
6:68:Jokmeam and Beth-horon with their pasture lands,
6:69:Aijalon and Gath-rimmon, with their pasture lands;
6:70:and from the half-tribe of Manasseh [these cities], with their pasture lands: Aner and Bileam, for the rest of the families of the sons of Kohath.
6:71:To the sons of Gershom were given from the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan and Ashtaroth, with their pasture lands;
6:72:from the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh and Daberath with their pasture lands,
6:73:Ramoth and Anem with their pasture lands;
6:74:from the tribe of Asher: Mashal and Abdon with their pasture lands,
6:75:Hukok and Rehob with their pasture lands;
6:76:and from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim with their pasture lands.
6:77:To the rest of the Levites, the sons of Merari were given, from the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono and Tabor, with their pasture lands;
6:78:and on the other side of the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan the Levites were given, from the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness and Jahzah with their pasture lands,
6:79:Kedemoth and Mephaath with their pasture lands;
6:80:from the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead and Mahanaim with their pasture lands,
6:81:Heshbon and Jazer with their pasture lands.
7:1:Descendants of Issachar
The sons of Issachar were: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron—four in all.
7:2:The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Samuel, heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Tola were courageous men in their generations; their number in the days of David was 22,600.
7:3:The son of Uzzi: Izrahiah. The sons of Izrahiah: Michael, Obadiah, Joel, Isshiah; all five of them were chief men.
7:4:With them by their generations according to their fathers’ households were 36,000 troops of the army for war, for they had many wives and children.
7:5:Their relatives among all the families of Issachar, courageous men, registered by genealogies, were 87,000 in all.
7:6:Descendants of Benjamin
The sons of Benjamin were three: Bela, Becher, and Jediael.
7:7:The sons of Bela were five: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri. They were heads of the households of their fathers, courageous men. By their genealogies they were 22,034.
7:8:The sons of Becher: Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth, all these were sons of Becher.
7:9:They were registered by their genealogies according to their generations, as heads of their fathers’ households, courageous men, 20,200 in number.
7:10:The son of Jediael: Bilhan. The sons of Bilhan: Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar.
7:11:All these were the sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers’ households, 17,200 courageous men of valor, fit for military service.
7:12:Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir, and Hushim the son of Aher.
7:13:Sons of Naphtali
The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.
7:14:Descendants of Manasseh
The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, whom his Aramean concubine bore; she gave birth to Machir the father of Gilead.
7:15:Machir took as a wife the sister of Huppim and Shuppim; her name was Maacah. The name of a second [descendant, the first being Gilead], was Zelophehad; and Zelophehad had [only] daughters.
7:16:Maacah the wife of Machir gave birth to a son; she named him Peresh. The name of his brother was Sheresh; his sons were Ulam and Rakem.
7:17:The son of Ulam: Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.
7:18:His sister Hammolecheth gave birth to Ishhod and Abiezer and Mahlah.
7:19:The sons of Shemida were: Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.
7:20:Descendants of Ephraim
The sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah and Bered his son, Tahath [I] his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath [II] his son,
7:21:Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead were killed by men who were natives of Gath, because they came down to take their livestock.
7:22:Their father Ephraim mourned for many days, and his relatives came to comfort him.
7:23:Then he went in to his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him Beriah (on misfortune), because tragedy had come on his house.
7:24:Beriah’s daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and also Uzzen-sheerah.
7:25:Rephah was his son along with Resheph; Resheph’s son was Telah, Tahan his son,
7:26:Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,
7:27:Non (Nun) his son, and Joshua [Moses’ successor] his son.
7:28:Their possessions and settlements were Bethel and its towns, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, and Shechem, and as far as Ayyah with all their towns,
7:29:and along the borders of the sons of Manasseh, Beth-shean, Taanach, Megiddo, Dor, with all their towns. In these [places] lived the sons of Joseph the son of Israel (Jacob).
7:30:Descendants of Asher
The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah; and Serah their sister.
7:31:The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith.
7:32:Heber became the father of Japhlet, Shomer, Hotham, and Shua their sister.
7:33:The sons of Japhlet: Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These were the sons of Japhlet.
7:34:The sons of Shemer (Shomer) [his brother]: Ahi and Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram.
7:35:The sons of his brother Helem (Hotham): Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal.
7:36:The sons of Zophah: Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah,
7:37:Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera.
7:38:The sons of Jether: Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara.
7:39:The sons of Ulla: Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia.
7:40:All these were sons (descendants) of Asher, heads of their fathers’ houses, choice men, courageous men, chiefs of the leaders. Their number, enrolled by genealogies for service in war, was 26,000 men.
8:1:Genealogy from Benjamin
Benjamin became the father of Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third,
8:2:Nohah the fourth and Rapha the fifth.
8:3:Bela had sons: Addar, Gera, Abihud,
8:4:Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,
8:5:Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram.
8:6:These are the sons of Ehud: These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the inhabitants of Geba; they were exiled to Manahath:
8:7:Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera—he forced them into exile; he became the father of Uzza and Ahihud.
8:8:Shaharaim became the father of children in the country of Moab after he had sent away (divorced) Hushim and Baara his wives.
8:9:By Hodesh his wife he became the father of Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam,
8:10:Jeuz, Sachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers’ households.
8:11:By Hushim he became the father of Abitub and Elpaal.
8:12:The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod, with its towns;
8:13:and Beriah and Shema, who were heads of fathers’ households of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who drove out the inhabitants of Gath;
8:14:and Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth.
8:15:Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,
8:16:Michael, Ishpah, and Joha were the sons of Beriah.
8:17:Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber,
8:18:Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal.
8:19:Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi,
8:20:Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel,
8:21:Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei.
8:22:Ishpan, Eber, Eliel,
8:23:Abdon, Zichri, Hanan,
8:24:Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah,
8:25:Iphdeiah and Penuel were the sons of Shashak.
8:26:Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah,
8:27:Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham.
8:28:These [men] were heads of the fathers’ households, according to their generations, chief men who lived in Jerusalem.
8:29:Now in Gibeon, Jeiel, the father of Gibeon lived, and his wife’s name was Maacah;
8:30:and his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab,
8:31:Gedor, Ahio, and Zecher.
8:32:Mikloth became the father of Shimeah. They also lived with their relatives in Jerusalem opposite their other relatives.
8:33:Genealogy from King Saul
Ner became the father of Kish, and Kish became the father of [King] Saul, and Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal (Ish-bosheth).
8:34:The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal (Mephibosheth), and Merib-baal became the father of Micah.
8:35:The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz.
8:36:Ahaz became the father of Jehoaddah, and Jehoaddah became the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri became the father of Moza.
8:37:Moza became the father of Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.
8:38:Azel had six sons, and these were their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.
8:39:The sons of Eshek his brother: Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third.
8:40:The sons of Ulam were courageous men, archers, and had many sons and grandsons—150 in all. All these were of the sons (descendants) of Benjamin.
9:1:People of Jerusalem
So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was carried away into exile to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness [to God].
9:2:Now the first [of the returned exiles] who lived [again] in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim (temple servants).
9:3:Some of the sons (people) of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem:
9:4:Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the sons of Perez the son of Judah.
9:5:From the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons.
9:6:From the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their relatives, 690 [of them].
9:7:From the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah;
9:8:Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;
9:9:and their relatives according to their generations, 956. All these men were heads of fathers’ households according to their fathers’ houses.
9:10:Of the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin,
9:11:Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of God;
9:12:and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah; Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;
9:13:and their relatives, heads of their fathers’ households, 1,760—very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.
9:14:Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;
9:15:and Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph;
9:16:and Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites [near Jerusalem].
9:17:The gatekeepers were: Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their relatives (Shallum the chief
9:18:who until now was assigned to the king’s gate on the east side) they were the gatekeepers for the camp of the Levites.
9:19:Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his relatives of his father’s house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, doorkeepers of the Tent; and their fathers had been in charge of the camp of the Lord, keepers of the entrance.
9:20:Phinehas the son of Eleazar was ruler over them in times past, and the Lord was with him.
9:21:Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
9:22:All those chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds were 212. They were enrolled by their genealogies in their villages [around Jerusalem], these men [whose grandfathers] David and Samuel the seer had appointed to their official duty.
9:23:So they and their sons were in charge of the gates of the house of the Lord, that is, the house of the tabernacle, as guards.
9:24:The gatekeepers were stationed on the four sides —on the east, west, north, and south.
9:25:Their relatives in their villages were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them;
9:26:for these Levites, the four chief gatekeepers, had an official duty, and were in charge of the chambers and treasuries of the house of God.
9:27:They spent the night around the house of God, for the [night] watch was theirs, and they were in charge of opening the house morning after morning.
9:28:Now some of them were in charge of the serving utensils, being required to count them when they brought them in or took them out.
9:29:Some of them also were appointed over the furniture and over all the [sacred] utensils of the sanctuary, as well as over the fine flour and the wine and the [olive] oil and the frankincense and the spices.
9:30:Other sons of the priests prepared the mixture of spices.
9:31:Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, was responsible for the things baked in pans.
9:32:Some of their Kohathite relatives were in charge of the showbread to prepare it every Sabbath.
9:33:Now these are the singers, heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites, living in the temple chambers, free from other service because they were on duty day and night.
9:34:These were heads of fathers’ households of the Levites according to their generations, chief men, who lived in Jerusalem.
9:35:Ancestry and Descendants of Saul
Jeiel the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon, and his wife’s name was Maacah,
9:36:and his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,
9:37:Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth.
9:38:Mikloth became the father of Shimeam. They also lived with their relatives in Jerusalem, opposite their other relatives.
9:39:Ner became the father of Kish, and Kish became the father of [King] Saul, and Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal.
9:40:The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal (Mephibosheth); Merib-baal became the father of Micah.
9:41:The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tahrea [and Ahaz].
9:42:Ahaz became the father of Jarah, and Jarah became the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri became the father of Moza,
9:43:Moza became the father of Binea and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.
9:44:Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.
10:1:Defeat and Death of Saul and His Sons
Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from them and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
10:2:The Philistines followed closely after Saul and his sons and overtook them, and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
10:3:The battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers found him; and he was [mortally] wounded by the archers.
10:4:Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised [Philistines] will come and abuse and humiliate me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
10:5:When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died.
10:6:So Saul died with his three sons and all those of his house died together.
10:7:When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.
10:8:It came about the next day, when the Philistines came to strip (plunder) the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
10:9:So they stripped Saul and took his head and his armor and sent messengers around the land of the Philistines to bring the good news to their idols and to the people.
10:10:They put Saul’s armor in the house of their gods and nailed up his head in the house (temple) of Dagon.
10:11:Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul
When all Jabesh-gilead heard about everything that the Philistines had done to Saul,
10:12:all the brave men arose, took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh, and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh; then they fasted seven days.
10:13:So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, for his failure to keep the word of the Lord; and also because he consulted a medium [regarding a spirit of the dead], to inquire of her,
10:14:and did not inquire of the Lord [instead]. Therefore the Lord killed him and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
11:1:David Made King over All Israel
Then all Israel gathered to David at Hebron, saying, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.
11:2:In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel; and the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and you shall be prince and leader over My people Israel.’”
11:3:So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant (solemn agreement) with them there before the Lord; and they anointed him king over Israel, in accordance with the word of the Lord through Samuel.
11:4:Jerusalem, Capital City
Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (that is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there.
11:5:Then the Jebusites said to David, “You shall not come in here.” But David captured the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David).
11:6:Now David said, “Whoever strikes down a Jebusite first shall be chief and commander.” Joab the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister] went up first, and so he was made chief.
11:7:Then David lived in the stronghold; so it was called the City of David.
11:8:He built the city around it, from the Millo (fortification) to the surrounding area; and Joab repaired the rest of the [old Jebusite] city.
11:9:David became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him.
11:10:David’s Mighty Men
Now these are the chiefs of David’s mighty men, who strongly supported him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, in accordance with the word of the Lord concerning Israel.
11:11:This is the list of David’s mighty men: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the thirty [heroes]. He lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he killed at one time.
11:12:Next to him [in rank] was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men.
11:13:He was with David at Pasdammim [where David had killed Goliath] and there the Philistines were gathered together for battle, and there was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people [of Israel] fled before the Philistines.
11:14:But they took their stand in the midst of that plot and defended it, and killed the Philistines; and the Lord rescued them by a great victory.
11:15:Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camped in the Valley of Rephaim.
11:16:David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem.
11:17:David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, which is next to the gate!”
11:18:Then the three [mighty men] broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem which was next to the gate, and brought it to David. But David would not drink it; he poured it out to the Lord [as an offering];
11:19:and he said, “Far be it from me before my God that I would do this thing! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For they brought it at the risk of their lives.” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.
11:20:Abishai the brother of Joab was chief of the [other] three, and he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and he had a name as well as the three.
11:21:Of the three in the second [rank] he was the most honored and became their captain; however, he did not attain to the first three [Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah].
11:22:Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a courageous man of Kabzeel who had done great things, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. Also he went down and killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day.
11:23:He killed an Egyptian also, a man of great stature, five cubits tall. In the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam, and Benaiah went down to him with [only] a staff (rod) and grabbed the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.
11:24:Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did these things, and had a name as well as the three mighty men.
11:25:He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to [the rank of] the [first] three. David appointed him over his bodyguard.
11:26:Now the mighty men of the armies were: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
11:27:Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite,
11:28:Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, Abiezer of Anathoth,
11:29:Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,
11:30:Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite,
11:31:Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the Benjamites, Benaiah the Pirathonite,
11:32:Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,
11:33:Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite,
11:34:the sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite,
11:35:Ahiam the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur,
11:36:Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite,
11:37:Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai,
11:38:Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri,
11:39:Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the armor bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister],
11:40:Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,
11:41:Uriah the Hittite [Bathsheba’s husband], Zabad the son of Ahlai,
11:42:Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty [heroes] with him,
11:43:Hanan the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite,
11:44:Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,
11:45:Jediael the son of Shimri, and his brother Joha, the Tizite,
11:46:Eliel the Mahavite, Jeribai and Joshaviah the sons of Elnaam, Ithmah the Moabite,
11:47:Eliel and Obed and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.
12:1:David’s Supporters in Ziklag
These are the ones who came to David at Ziklag, while he still concealed himself from Saul the son of Kish; they were among the courageous men who helped him in battle.
12:2:They were armed with bows, and could use the right hand or the left to sling stones and shoot arrows from the bow; they were Saul’s relatives from [the tribe of] Benjamin.
12:3:The chief was Ahiezer and then Joash, the sons of Shemaah of Gibeah; Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah, and Jehu of Anathoth,
12:4:Ishmaiah of Gibeon, a mighty man among the thirty, and [a leader] over them; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad of Gederah,
12:5:Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite,
12:6:Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites,
12:7:and Joelah and Zebadiah the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.
12:8:Courageous men from the Gadites came over to David in the stronghold in the wilderness, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and who were swift as gazelles on the mountains.
12:9:Ezer was the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,
12:10:Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,
12:11:Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,
12:12:Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,
12:13:Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh.
12:14:These from the sons (descendants) of Gad were captains of the army; he who was least was equal to a hundred, and the greatest was equal to a thousand.
12:15:These are the men who crossed over the Jordan in the first month when it had overflowed all its banks and they put to flight all those in the valleys, east and west.
12:16:Then some of the men of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David.
12:17:David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come peacefully to me to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no violence or wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on [what you are doing] and punish [you].”
12:18:Then the [Holy] Spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said,
“We are yours, O David,
And with you, O son of Jesse!
Peace, peace be to you,
And peace be to him who helps you;
For your God helps you.”
Then David accepted and received them and made them officers of his troops.
12:19:Some [of the men] of Manasseh also defected to David when he came with the Philistines to go to battle against Saul. But David’s men did not [actually] assist the Philistines, for the lords (governors) of the Philistines after consultation sent him away, saying, “At the cost of our heads he may defect to his master Saul.”
12:20:As David went to Ziklag, these men defected to him from Manasseh: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, captains of thousands who belonged to Manasseh.
12:21:They helped David against the band of raiders, for they were all courageous men, and [all seven] became commanders in his army.
12:22:For day by day men kept coming to David to help him, until there was a great army, like the army of God.
12:23:Supporters Gathered at Hebron
These are the numbers of the [armed] units equipped for war who came to David at Hebron to turn [over] the kingdom of Saul to him, in accordance with the word of the Lord.
12:24:Those of the tribe of Judah who carried shield and spear were 6,800, armed for war;
12:25:of the tribe of Simeon, brave warriors, 7,100;
12:26:of the tribe of Levi, 4,600.
12:27:Jehoiada was the leader of [the house of] Aaron, and with him were 3,700,
12:28:and Zadok, a courageous young man, and twenty-two captains from his father’s house.
12:29:Of the tribe of Benjamin, the relatives of [King] Saul, 3,000; for until now the majority of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul.
12:30:Of the tribe of Ephraim, 20,800, courageous men, famous in their fathers’ houses.
12:31:Of the half-tribe of Manasseh, 18,000, who were designated by name to come and make David king.
12:32:Of the tribe of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, two hundred chiefs; and all their relatives were at their command;
12:33:of the tribe of Zebulun, there were 50,000 in military service who could draw up in battle formation with all kinds of weapons of war and helped David, men with an undivided heart.
12:34:Of the tribe of Naphtali, there were 1,000 captains, and with them 37,000 [of the rank and file armed] with shield and spear.
12:35:Of the tribe of Dan, 28,600 men who could draw up in battle formation.
12:36:Of the tribe of Asher, 40,000 men in military service, able to draw up in battle formation.
12:37:From the other side [east] of the Jordan River, of [the tribes of] Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 120,000 men, armed with all kinds of weapons of war for the battle.
12:38:All these, being men of war arrayed in battle formation, came to Hebron with a perfect (committed) heart to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were also of one mind to make David king.
12:39:They were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their relatives had prepared for them.
12:40:Also those who were [living] near them [from] as far as [the tribes of] Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen, abundant supplies of flour, cakes of figs and raisins, wine, [olive] oil, oxen, and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.
13:1:Peril in Transporting the Ark
David consulted with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader.
13:2:David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us send word everywhere to our fellow countrymen who remain in all the land of Israel, and to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, so that they may meet with us;
13:3:and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it during the days of Saul.”
13:4:Then all the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
13:5:So David gathered all Israel together, from the Shihor [watercourse] of Egypt, to the entrance of Hamath [in the north], to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.
13:6:David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord who sits enthroned above the cherubim, the ark which is called by His name.
13:7:They carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio [his brother] drove the cart.
13:8:David and all Israel celebrated [joyfully] before God with all their might, with songs, lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
13:9:When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to hold and steady the ark, for the oxen [that were drawing the cart] nearly overturned it.
13:10:The anger of the Lord burned against Uzza, and He struck him down because he touched the ark; and there he died before God.
13:11:David became angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzza; so that place is called Perez-uzza to this day.
13:12:David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home with me?”
13:13:So David did not bring the ark with him to the City of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
13:14:So the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house three months; and the Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that he had.
14:1:David’s Family Enlarged
Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar timbers, masons and carpenters, to build a house (palace) for him.
14:2:And David understood that the Lord had established and confirmed him as king over Israel, for his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of His people Israel.
14:3:Then David took more wives at Jerusalem, and he became the father of more sons and daughters.
14:4:Now these are the names of the children born [to him] in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,
14:5:Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet,
14:6:Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia,
14:7:Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.
14:8:Philistines Defeated
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they all went up in search of David; and he heard about it and went out against them.
14:9:Now the Philistines had come and made a raid in the Valley of Rephaim.
14:10:So David inquired of God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will You hand them over to me?” Then the Lord said to him, “Go up, and I will hand them over to you.”
14:11:So Israel came up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated the Philistines there. Then David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore they named that place Baal-perazim.
14:12:The Philistines abandoned their gods (idols) there; so David gave a command and they were burned in a fire [as the Law of Moses required].
14:13:The Philistines again made a raid in the valley.
14:14:So David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “Do not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.
14:15:It shall be when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the Philistine army.”
14:16:So David did just as God had commanded him, and they struck down the army of the Philistines from Gibeon as far as Gezer.
14:17:Then David’s fame spread into all the lands; and the Lord caused all nations to fear him.
15:1:Plans to Move the Ark to Jerusalem
David built houses for himself in the City of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.
15:2:Then David said, “No one is to carry the ark of God except the Levites; for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of God and to minister to Him forever.”
15:3:And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to the place which he had prepared for it.
15:4:David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites:
15:5:of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 of his relatives;
15:6:of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with 220 of his relatives;
15:7:of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with 130 of his relatives;
15:8:of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with 200 of his relatives;
15:9:of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with 80 of his relatives;
15:10:of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with 112 of his relatives.
15:11:Then David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites—Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab,
15:12:and he said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites; consecrate yourselves, both you and your relatives, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.
15:13:Because you did not [carry it as God directed] the first time, the Lord our God made an [angry] outburst against us, for we did not seek Him in accordance with the ordinance.”
15:14:So the priests and the Levites consecrated (dedicated) themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.
15:15:The Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord.
15:16:Then David told the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives as the singers, with instruments of music—harps, lyres, and cymbals—to play loudly and to raise sounds of joy [with their voices].
15:17:So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel, and from his relatives, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and from the sons of Merari their relatives, Ethan the son of Kushaiah,
15:18:and with them their relatives of the second rank: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.
15:19:So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were appointed to sound aloud the bronze cymbals;
15:20:and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah [were to play] with harps tuned to Alamoth [that is, a high pitch];
15:21:and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres set to Sheminith [that is, the eighth string, a low pitch].
15:22:Chenaniah, leader of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skilled.
15:23:Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark.
15:24:Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests blew the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah (Jeiel) were also gatekeepers for the ark.
15:25:So David, with the elders of Israel and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom with joy.
15:26:Because God was helping the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord [to do it carefully and safely], they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
15:27:David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who carried the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah, director of the music of the singers. David also wore an ephod (a priestly upper garment) of linen.
15:28:Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres.
15:29:It happened that as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the City of David, Michal [David’s wife] the daughter of Saul, looking down through a window, saw King David leaping and dancing [in celebration]; and she despised him in her heart.
16:1:A Tent for the Ark
So they brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.
16:2:When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.
16:3:He distributed to everyone in Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a raisin cake.
16:4:He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord and to profess [God’s name] and to thank and praise the Lord, the God of Israel:
16:5:Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then Jeiel (Jaaziel), Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel with musical instruments, harps and lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals;
16:6:and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.
16:7:Then on that day David first entrusted to Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord [as their chief task].
16:8:Psalm of Thanksgiving
O give thanks to the Lord, call on His name;
Make His deeds known among the peoples.
16:9:Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders.
16:10:Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
16:11:Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually [longing to be in His presence].
16:12:Remember [with gratitude] His marvelous deeds which He has done,
His miracles and the judgments from His mouth,
16:13:O seed of Israel His servant,
Children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
16:14:He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
16:15:Be mindful of His covenant forever,
The promise which He commanded and established to a thousand generations,
16:16:The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath (sworn promise) to Isaac.
16:17:He confirmed it as a statute to Jacob,
And to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
16:18:Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
As the portion of your possession and inheritance.”
16:19:When you were few in number,
Even a very few, and strangers in it,
16:20:When they wandered from nation to nation,
And from one kingdom to another people,
16:21:He allowed no man to oppress or exploit them,
And, He reproved and punished kings for their sakes, saying,
16:22:“Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”
16:23:Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
16:24:Declare His glory among the nations,
His marvelous works among all peoples.
16:25:For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
He is also to be feared [with awe-filled reverence] above all gods.
16:26:For all the gods of the peoples are [lifeless] idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
16:27:Splendor and majesty are [found] in His presence;
Strength and joy are [found] in His place (sanctuary).
16:28:Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and honor and strength.
16:29:Ascribe to the Lord the glory and honor due His name;
Bring an offering [of thanksgiving], and come before Him;
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
16:30:Tremble [reverently] before Him, all the earth;
The world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
16:31:Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
16:32:Let the sea roar, and all the things that fill it;
Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.
16:33:Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord;
For He comes to judge and govern the earth.
16:34:O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness endures forever.
16:35:Then say, “Save us, O God of our salvation;
Gather us together and rescue us from the nations,
That we may give thanks to Your holy name,
And glory in Your praise.”
16:36:Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
Forever and ever.
And all the people said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.
16:37:Worship before the Ark
So David left Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark continually, as each day’s work required;
16:38:and Obed-edom with his sixty-eight relatives; also Obed-edom the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, were to be gatekeepers.
16:39:David left Zadok the priest and his relatives the priests before the dwelling place (tabernacle) of the Lord in the high place which was at Gibeon,
16:40:to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering continually, morning and evening, in accordance with all that is written in the Law of the Lord, which He commanded Israel.
16:41:With them were Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen and designated by name, to give thanks to the Lord, for His lovingkindness endures forever.
16:42:With them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who were to sound aloud, and instruments for [accompanying] the songs of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were to be at the gate.
16:43:Then all the people departed, each to his house, and David returned [home] to bless his household.
17:1:God’s Covenant with David
As David sat in his house (palace), he said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I live in a house of cedars, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under tent curtains.”
17:2:Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
17:3:But it came about that same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,
17:4:“Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in;
17:5:for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought Israel up [from Egypt] until this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another.
17:6:Wherever I have walked with all Israel, did I say a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built for Me a house of cedar?’”’
17:7:Now, therefore, this is what you shall say to My servant David: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel.
17:8:I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make your name like the name of the great ones of the earth.
17:9:I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place and not be moved again [nor tremble with fear]; and the wicked will not waste (persecute) them anymore, as formerly,
17:10:since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will humble and subdue all your enemies.
“Furthermore, I tell you that the Lord will build you a house (a blessed posterity).
17:11:And it shall come to pass that when your days are completed and you must go to be with your fathers [in death], I will raise up one of your descendants after you, one of your own sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
17:12:He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.
17:13:I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My steadfast love and mercy away from him, as I took it from him (King Saul) who was before you.
17:14:But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forevermore.”’”
17:15:According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
17:16:David’s Prayer in Response
Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house and family that You have brought me this far?
17:17:This was a small thing in Your eyes, O God; but You have spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the standard and estate of a man of high degree (prominence), O Lord God.
17:18:What more can David say to You for the honor granted to Your servant? For You know Your servant.
17:19:O Lord, for Your servant’s sake, and in accordance with Your own heart, You have accomplished all this greatness, to make known all these great things.
17:20:O Lord, there is no one like You, nor is there any God except You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
17:21:And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make a name for Yourself by great and awesome and terrible things, by driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed out of Egypt?
17:22:You made Your people Israel Your own people forever, and You, Lord, became their God.
17:23:“Therefore now, O Lord, let the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house endure forever, and do as You have said.
17:24:Let Your name [and the character that it denotes] endure and be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, yes, a God to Israel; and the house of Your servant David is established before You.’
17:25:For You, O my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build for him a house (descendants); therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before You.
17:26:And now, O Lord, You are God, and you have spoken and promised this good thing to Your servant.
17:27:Therefore may it please You to bless the house (descendants) of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for what You bless, O Lord, is blessed forever.”
18:1:David’s Kingdom Strengthened
After this it came about that David defeated and subdued the Philistines, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.
18:2:He defeated Moab, and the Moabites became David’s servants and brought tribute (gifts).
18:3:David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion to the Euphrates River.
18:4:David took from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers (infantrymen). David also hamstrung [nearly] all the chariot horses [to make them lame and useless], but left enough of them for 100 chariots.
18:5:When the Arameans (Syrians) of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed 22,000 of the Arameans.
18:6:Then David put military outposts among the Arameans in Damascus; and the Arameans became David’s servants and brought tribute. Thus the Lord helped David wherever he went.
18:7:David took the shields of gold which were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.
18:8:Likewise from Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David brought a very large amount of bronze, with which Solomon later made the bronze Sea (large basin), the pillars, and the utensils of bronze.
18:9:When Tou king of Hamath heard how David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah,
18:10:he sent Hadoram his son to King David to greet him and to bless (congratulate) him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze.
18:11:King David also dedicated these to the Lord [setting them apart for sacred use], with the silver and the gold which he brought from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and from Amalek.
18:12:Also Abishai the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister] defeated 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
18:13:He put military outposts in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. Thus the Lord helped David wherever he went.
18:14:So David reigned over all Israel and administered justice and righteousness for all his people.
18:15:Joab the son of Zeruiah was in command of the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder;
18:16:Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests, and Shavsha was secretary (state scribe);
18:17:and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in charge of the Cherethites and the Pelethites [David’s bodyguards], and the sons of David were chiefs at the king’s side.
19:1:David’s Messengers Abused
Now it came about after this, that Nahash king of the Ammonites died, and his son became king in his place.
19:2:David said, “I will be kind (gracious) to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father was kind to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning [the death of] his father. And the servants of David came to the land of the Ammonites to comfort Hanun.
19:3:But the leaders of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think that David has sent people to console and comfort you because he honors your father? Have his servants not come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”
19:4:Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them [cutting off half their beards], and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away [in humiliation].
19:5:When David was told how the men were treated, he sent messengers to meet them, for they were very humiliated and ashamed [to return]. So the king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow [back], and then return.”
19:6:When the Ammonites saw that they had made themselves hateful to David, Hanun and his people sent 1,000 talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.
19:7:So they hired for themselves 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah and his troops, who came and camped before Medeba. And the Ammonites gathered together from their cities and came to battle.
19:8:When David heard about it, he sent Joab and all the army of courageous men.
19:9:The Ammonites came out and lined up in battle formation at the entrance of the city [Medeba], while the kings who had come were by themselves in the open country.
19:10:Ammon and Aram Defeated
Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him in the front and in the rear, he chose warriors from all the choice men of Israel and put them in formation against the Arameans (Syrians).
19:11:The rest of the soldiers he placed in the hand of Abishai his brother, and they lined up against the Ammonites.
19:12:He said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will help you.
19:13:Be strong and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what is good in His sight.”
19:14:So Joab and the people who were with him approached the Arameans for battle, and they fled before him.
19:15:When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans fled, they also fled before Abishai, Joab’s brother, and entered the city [Medeba]. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.
19:16:When the Arameans (Syrians) saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the [Euphrates] River, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer leading them.
19:17:When this was told to David, he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan, and came upon them and drew up in formation against them. So when David drew up in battle array against the Arameans, they fought against him.
19:18:But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed of the Arameans 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death Shophach the commander of the army.
19:19:When the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to and served him. And the Arameans (Syrians) were not willing to help the Ammonites anymore.
20:1:War with Philistine Giants
Then it happened at the end of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged and devastated the land of the Ammonites, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem [with Bathsheba]. Joab struck Rabbah and overthrew it.
20:2:David took the crown of their king from his head and found that it weighed a talent of gold and that there was a precious stone in it; so it was set on David’s head. He also brought a very great amount of spoil (plunder) out of the city [of Rabbah].
20:3:He brought out the people who were in it, and put them [to work] with saws, iron picks, and axes. David dealt in this way with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
20:4:Now it came about after this that war broke out at Gezer with the Philistines; then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the giants, and they were subdued.
20:5:There was war again with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
20:6:Again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot; and he also was descended from the giants.
20:7:When he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.
20:8:These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
21:1:Census Brings Pestilence
Satan [the adversary] stood up against Israel and incited David to count [the population of] Israel.
21:2:So David said to Joab and the leaders of the people, “Go, count Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me their total, so that I may know it.”
21:3:Joab said, “May the Lord add to His people a hundred times as many as they are! But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this? Why will he bring guilt on Israel?”
21:4:But the king’s word prevailed over Joab. So Joab left and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem.
21:5:Then Joab gave the total of the census of the people to David. And all Israel were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword; and in Judah 470,000 men who drew the sword.
21:6:But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, because the king’s order was detestable to Joab.
21:7:Now God was displeased with this act [of arrogance and pride], and He struck Israel.
21:8:Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. But now, I beseech You, take away the wickedness and guilt of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
21:9:And the Lord said to Gad, David’s seer,
21:10:“Go and tell David, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I offer you three choices; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you [as punishment for your sin].”’”
21:11:So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Choose for yourself
21:12:either three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your enemies, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord and plague in the land, and the angel of the Lord bringing destruction throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now therefore, consider what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.”
21:13:David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
21:14:So the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell.
21:15:God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; and as he was destroying it, the Lord looked, and relented concerning the catastrophe and said to the destroying angel, “It is enough; now remove your hand [of judgment].” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
21:16:Then David raised his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, covered in sackcloth, fell on their faces.
21:17:David said to God, “Is it not I who commanded the people to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done evil; but as for these sheep [the people of Israel], what have they done? O Lord my God, please let Your hand be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”
21:18:David’s Altar
Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
21:19:So David went up at Gad’s word, which he spoke in the name of the Lord.
21:20:Now Ornan was threshing wheat, and he turned back and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves.
21:21:As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw him, and went out from the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground.
21:22:Then David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of this threshing floor, so that I may build an altar on it to the Lord. You shall charge me the full price for it, so that the plague may be averted from the people.”
21:23:Ornan said to David, “Take it for yourself; and let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes. See, I will give you the oxen also for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges (heavy wooden platforms) for wood and the wheat for the grain offering; I give it all.”
21:24:But King David said to Ornan, “No, I will certainly pay the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing.”
21:25:So David gave Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site.
21:26:Then David built an altar to the Lord there and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he called on the Lord, and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.
21:27:Then the Lord commanded the [avenging] angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.
21:28:At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.
21:29:For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.
21:30:But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was terrified by the sword of the angel of the Lord.
22:1:David Prepares for Temple Building
Then David said, “This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
22:2:So David gave orders to gather the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, and he assigned stonecutters to hew out stones to build the house of God.
22:3:David prepared large quantities of iron to make nails for the doors of the gates and for the clamps (trusses), and more bronze than could be weighed;
22:4:and cedar trees beyond number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought large quantities of cedar timber to David.
22:5:David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord shall be exceedingly magnificent, famous, and an object of glory and splendor throughout all lands [of the earth]. So now I will make preparations for it.” Therefore, David made ample preparations before his death.
22:6:Solomon Charged with the Task
Then he called for Solomon his son and ordered him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel.
22:7:David said to Solomon, “My son, I had intended to build a house for the Name (Presence) of the Lord my God.
22:8:But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house for My Name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before me.
22:9:Behold, a son will be born to you, who will be a man of peace. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.
22:10:He shall build a house for My Name (Presence). He shall be My son and I will be his father; and I will establish his royal throne over Israel forever.’
22:11:Now, my son, may the Lord be with you so that you may be successful and build the house of the Lord your God, just as He has spoken concerning you.
22:12:Only may the Lord give you wisdom and understanding, and give you charge over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.
22:13:Then you will prosper, if you are careful to observe and fulfill the statutes and ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed.
22:14:Now listen, with great trouble I have prepared and provided for the house of the Lord 100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for they are great in quantity. I have also prepared and provided timber and stone, and you may add to them.
22:15:Further, you have workmen in abundance: stonecutters and stonemasons and carpenters, and all men who are skillful in every kind of work.
22:16:As for the gold, the silver, the bronze, and the iron, there is no limit. So arise and begin working, and may the Lord be with you.”
22:17:David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,
22:18:“Is not the Lord your God with you? And has He not given you rest and peace on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and before His people.
22:19:Now set your heart and your soul to seek (inquire of, require as your vital necessity) the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy articles and utensils of God into the house built for the Name (Presence) of the Lord.”
23:1:Solomon Reigns
When David reached old age, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.
23:2:And he assembled together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and Levites.
23:3:Offices of the Levites
The Levites thirty years old and upward were counted, and their number man by man was 38,000.
23:4:Of these 24,000 were to oversee and inspect the work of the house of the Lord and 6,000 were to be administrators and judges,
23:5:and 4,000 were gatekeepers, and 4,000 [musicians] were to praise the Lord with the instruments which David made for giving praise.
23:6:And David organized them into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
23:7:Gershonites
Of the Gershonites: Ladan (Libni) and Shimei.
23:8:The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the first and Zetham and Joel—three in all.
23:9:The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan.
23:10:The sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina (Zizah), Jeush, and Beriah. These were the four sons of Shimei.
23:11:Jahath was the first and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons [not enough for a father’s house or clan], so they were [counted together] as one father’s household, one working group.
23:12:Kohathites
The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all.
23:13:The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to consecrate him as most holy, he and his sons forever, to burn incense before the Lord, attend to His service, and to bless [worshipers] in His name forever.
23:14:But as for Moses the man of God, his sons were counted among the tribe of Levi.
23:15:The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.
23:16:The son of Gershom: Shebuel the chief.
23:17:The son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah’s sons were very many [in number].
23:18:The son of Izhar: Shelomith the chief.
23:19:The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
23:20:The sons of Uzziel: Micah the first and Isshiah the second.
23:21:Merarites
The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.
23:22:Eleazar died and had no sons, but daughters only, and their relatives, the sons of Kish, took them as wives.
23:23:The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.
23:24:Duties Revised
These were the Levites by their fathers’ households, the heads of the fathers’ households of those registered, according to the number of names of the individuals who were the servants of the house of the Lord, from twenty years old and upward.
23:25:For David said, “The Lord God of Israel, has given peace and rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever.
23:26:Also, the Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its utensils for its service.”
23:27:For by the last words of David, the Levites from twenty years old and above were counted.
23:28:For their duty is to assist [the priests] the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the Lord, in [caring for] the courtyards, the chambers, the purifying of all holy things, and any work of the service of the house of God,
23:29:and with the showbread, and the fine flour for a grain offering, and unleavened wafers, or what is baked in the pan or what is well-mixed, and all measures of volume and size [as the Law of Moses required].
23:30:They are to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening,
23:31:and to offer all burnt sacrifices to the Lord on the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the festivals by number according to the ordinance concerning them, continually before the Lord.
23:32:So they shall be responsible for the Tent of Meeting, the Holy Place, and the sons of Aaron their relatives, for the service of the house of the Lord.
24:1:Divisions of Levites
The divisions of the descendants of Aaron were these: the sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
24:2:But Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no sons; therefore Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.
24:3:David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their offices for their assigned duties.
24:4:Since there were more chief men found among the descendants of Eleazar than among the descendants of Ithamar [because of Eli’s misfortunes, and Saul’s massacre of the priests at Nob], they were divided in this way: sixteen heads of fathers’ households of the descendants of Eleazar and eight of the descendants of Ithamar, corresponding to their fathers’ households.
24:5:So they were divided by lot, one group with the other; for they were officers of the sanctuary and officers (high priests) of God, both from the descendants of Eleazar and from the descendants of Ithamar.
24:6:Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel the scribe, from the Levites, recorded them in the presence of the king, the officers, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar [the priest who escaped Saul’s massacre at Nob], and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and of the Levites; one father’s household taken for Eleazar and one taken for Ithamar.
24:7:The lots fell, the first one to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah,
24:8:the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,
24:9:the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin,
24:10:the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,
24:11:the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah,
24:12:the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim,
24:13:the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab,
24:14:the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer,
24:15:the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez,
24:16:the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel,
24:17:the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul,
24:18:the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.
24:19:These were their offices and positions for their service in the house of the Lord according to the ordinance given to them by their father (ancestor) Aaron, just as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.
24:20:Now as for the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram: Shubael; of the sons of Shubael: Jehdeiah.
24:21:Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah: Isshiah the first.
24:22:Of the Izharites: Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath.
24:23:The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth.
24:24:Of the sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir.
24:25:The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah.
24:26:The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Jaaziah, Beno.
24:27:The sons of Merari: by Jaaziah were Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.
24:28:By Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons.
24:29:By Kish: the sons of Kish, Jerahmeel.
24:30:The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers’ households.
24:31:These also cast lots as did their relatives the sons of Aaron in the presence of David the king, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and of the Levites—the head of father’s households as well as those of his younger brother.
25:1:Number and Services of Musicians
Moreover, David and the commanders of the army selected for the [temple] service some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with lyres, harps, and cymbals. The list of the musicians who performed their service was as follows:
25:2:Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah; the sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king.
25:3:Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the lyre in thanksgiving and praise to the Lord.
25:4:Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth.
25:5:All these [men] were the sons of Heman the king’s seer to exalt him in accordance with the words of God; for God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
25:6:All these were under the direction of their father to sing in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the order and direction of the king.
25:7:So their number [who led the remainder of the 4,000], with their relatives who were trained in singing to the Lord, all who were skillful, was 288.
25:8:Divisions of Musicians
The musicians cast lots for their duties, everyone alike, the small (younger) as well as the great (older), the teacher as well as the student.
25:9:The first lot for Asaph fell to Joseph; the second to Gedaliah, to him, his relatives and his sons, twelve;
25:10:the third to Zaccur, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:11:the fourth to Izri, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:12:the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:13:the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:14:the seventh to Jesharelah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:15:the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:16:the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:17:the tenth to Shimei, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:18:the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:19:the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:20:the thirteenth to Shubael, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:21:the fourteenth to Mattithiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:22:the fifteenth to Jeremoth, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:23:the sixteenth to Hananiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:24:the seventeenth of Joshbekashah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:25:the eighteenth to Hanani, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:26:the nineteenth to Mallothi, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:27:the twentieth to Eliathah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:28:the twenty-first to Hothir, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:29:the twenty-second to Giddalti, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:30:the twenty-third to Mahazioth, his sons and his relatives, twelve;
25:31:the twenty-fourth to Romamti-ezer, his sons and his relatives, twelve.
26:1:Divisions of the Gatekeepers
For the divisions of the gatekeepers: Of the Korahites: Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph.
26:2:Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,
26:3:Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh.
26:4:Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth,
26:5:Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth; for God had blessed him.
26:6:Also to his son Shemaiah sons were born who ruled over the house of their father, for they were courageous men of ability.
26:7:The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad, whose brothers were courageous and able men, Elihu and Semachiah.
26:8:All these were sons of Obed-edom [in whose house the ark was kept], they and their sons and relatives, strong and able men for the service—sixty-two from Obed-edom.
26:9:Meshelemiah had sons and relatives, eighteen courageous men.
26:10:Also Hosah, one of the sons of Merari, had sons: Shimri the first and chief (although he was not the firstborn, his father made him first),
26:11:Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth; the sons and relatives of Hosah were thirteen in all.
26:12:To these divisions of the gatekeepers, the chief men, were given duties, like their relatives, to minister in the house of the Lord.
26:13:They cast lots, the small (younger) and great (older) alike, in accordance with their fathers’ households, for every gate.
26:14:The lot for the east [gates] fell to Shelemiah. They cast lots also for his son Zechariah, a wise counselor, and his lot came out for the north [gates].
26:15:To Obed-edom [it came out] for the south [gates], and the storehouse was allotted to his sons.
26:16:To Shuppim and Hosah [the lot fell] for the west [gates], by the gate of Shallecheth, on the ascending highway, division by division.
26:17:On the east were six Levites, on the north four a day, on the south four a day, and two by two at the storehouse.
26:18:At the colonnade on the west side [of the outer court of the temple] there were four at the road and two at the colonnade.
26:19:These were the divisions of the gatekeepers among the Korahites and the sons of Merari.
26:20:Keepers of the Treasure
Of the Levites, Ahijah was in charge of the treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries of the dedicated gifts.
26:21:The sons of Ladan, the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, namely, the Jehielites, were the heads of the fathers’ households, belonging to Ladan the Gershonite.
26:22:The sons of Jehieli, Zetham and his brother Joel, were in charge of the treasuries of the house of the Lord.
26:23:Of the Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites, and Uzzielites:
26:24:Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was supervisor over the treasuries.
26:25:His relatives by Eliezer were his son Rehabiah, his son Jeshaiah, his son Joram, his son Zichri, and his son Shelomoth.
26:26:This Shelomoth and his relatives were in charge of all the treasuries of the dedicated gifts which King David, the heads of the fathers’ households, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and the commanders of the army, had dedicated.
26:27:From spoil won in battles they dedicated gifts to maintain and repair the house of the Lord.
26:28:Also all that Samuel the seer had dedicated, and Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner and Joab the son of Zeruiah, everyone who had dedicated anything, this was in the care of Shelomoth and his relatives.
26:29:Outside Duties
Of the Izharites: Chenaniah and his sons were appointed to outside duties for Israel, as administrators and judges.
26:30:Of the Hebronites: Hashabiah and his relatives, 1,700 capable men, were in charge of the affairs of Israel west of the Jordan, for all the work of the Lord and the service of the king.
26:31:Of the Hebronites: Jerijah was the chief (these Hebronites were examined according to their descendants and fathers’ households in the fortieth [and final] year of David’s reign, and men of courage and ability were found among them at Jazer in Gilead)
26:32:and Jerijah’s relatives, 2,700 capable men, were heads of fathers’ households; and King David made them overseers of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, for everything pertaining to God and to the king.
27:1:Commanders of the Army
This is the list of the sons (descendants) of Israel, the heads of fathers’ households, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king in all matters of the divisions which came in and went out month by month throughout the year, each division numbering 24,000:
27:2:Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel was in charge of the first division for the first month; and in his division were 24,000.
27:3:He was descended from Perez, and was chief of all the commanders of the army for the first month.
27:4:Dodai the Ahohite and his division was in charge of the division for the second month, Mikloth was the chief officer; and in his division were 24,000.
27:5:The third commander of the army for the third month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, as chief; and in his division were 24,000.
27:6:This is the Benaiah who was the mighty man of the thirty and was in charge of the thirty; and Ammizabad his son was over his division.
27:7:The fourth, for the fourth month was Asahel the brother of Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him; and in his division were 24,000.
27:8:The fifth, for the fifth month was the commander Shamhuth the Izrahite; and in his division were 24,000.
27:9:The sixth, for the sixth month was Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite; and in his division were 24,000.
27:10:The seventh, for the seventh month was Helez the Pelonite of the sons of Ephraim; and in his division were 24,000.
27:11:The eighth, for the eighth month was Sibbecai the Hushathite of the Zerahites; and in his division were 24,000.
27:12:The ninth, for the ninth month was Abiezer of Anathoth, a Benjamite; and in his division were 24,000.
27:13:The tenth, for the tenth month was Maharai from Netophah of the Zerahites; and in his division were 24,000.
27:14:The eleventh, for the eleventh month was Benaiah the Pirathonite of the sons of Ephraim; and in his division were 24,000.
27:15:The twelfth, for the twelfth month was Heldai the Netophathite of Othniel; and in his division were 24,000.
27:16:Chief Officers of the Tribes
Now in charge of the tribes of Israel [were the following]: chief officer of the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri; of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah;
27:17:of Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel; of Aaron, Zadok;
27:18:of Judah, Elihu, one of David’s brothers; of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael;
27:19:of Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah; of Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel;
27:20:of the Ephraimites, Hoshea the son of Azaziah; of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah;
27:21:of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah; of Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner;
27:22:of Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel.
27:23:But David did not count those twenty years of age and under, for the Lord had said he would multiply Israel as the stars of heaven.
27:24:Joab the son of Zeruiah began a census but did not finish; and because of this, [God’s] wrath came on Israel, and the number was not recorded in the chronicles of King David.
27:25:Various Overseers
Azmaveth the son of Adiel was in charge of the king’s storerooms; and Jonathan the son of Uzziah was in charge of the storehouses in the country, in the cities, in the villages, and in the towers.
27:26:Ezri the son of Chelub was in charge of those who did the work of the field, tilling the soil.
27:27:Shimei the Ramathite was in charge of the vineyards; Zabdi the Shiphmite was in charge of the produce of the vineyards for the wine cellars.
27:28:Baal-hanan the Gederite was in charge of the olive and sycamore trees in Shephelah (the lowlands); and Joash was in charge of the stores of [olive] oil.
27:29:Shitrai the Sharonite was in charge of the cattle grazing in Sharon; Shaphat the son of Adlai was in charge of the cattle in the valleys.
27:30:Obil the Ishmaelite was in charge of the camels; and Jehdeiah the Meronothite was in charge of the donkeys.
27:31:Jaziz the Hagrite was in charge of the flocks. All these were overseers and stewards of the property which belonged to King David.
27:32:Counselors
Also Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a counselor and advisor, a man of understanding and wisdom, and a scribe; and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni attended (tutored) the king’s sons.
27:33:Ahithophel was counselor to the king; and Hushai the Archite was the king’s companion and friend.
27:34:Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada the son of Benaiah and by Abiathar; and Joab was the commander of the king’s army.
28:1:David’s Address about the Temple
David assembled at Jerusalem all the leaders (officials) of Israel, the leaders of the tribes, and the commanders of the divisions that served the king, and the commanders of thousands, and the commanders of hundreds, and the overseers of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, with the palace officers and the mighty men, and all the brave warriors.
28:2:Then David the king rose to his feet and said, “Hear me, my brothers [in arms] and my people. I had intended to build a permanent home for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and as a footstool for our God, and I prepared materials for the building.
28:3:But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My Name (Presence), because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’
28:4:However, the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from all in my father’s house to be king over Israel forever. For He has chosen Judah to be the leader; and in the house (tribe) of Judah he chose the house of my father; and among the sons of my father He was pleased to make me king over all Israel.
28:5:Of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.
28:6:He said to me, ‘Solomon your son shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be a son to Me, and I will be a father to him.
28:7:I will establish his kingdom forever if he loyally and continually obeys My commandments and My ordinances, as is done today.’
28:8:Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek after all the commandments of the Lord your God so that you may possess the good land and leave it as an inheritance to your sons after you forever.
28:9:“As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father [have personal knowledge of Him, be acquainted with, and understand Him; appreciate, heed, and cherish Him] and serve Him with a blameless heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and minds, and understands every intent and inclination of the thoughts. If you seek Him [inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him as your first and vital necessity] He will let you find Him; but if you abandon (turn away from) Him, He will reject you forever.
28:10:Consider this carefully, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be courageous and strong and do it.”
28:11:Then David gave to his son Solomon the plan for the porch of the temple, its buildings, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner rooms, and for the place for the [ark and its] mercy seat;
28:12:and the plan of all that he had in mind, for the courts of the house of the Lord, and for all the surrounding rooms, for the storerooms of the house of God and for the storerooms for the dedicated gifts and offerings;
28:13:the plan for the divisions of the priests and the Levites and for all the work of the service in the house of the Lord and for all the utensils for service in the house of the Lord;
28:14:for the golden utensils, the weight of gold and silver for all the gold and silver articles for every kind of service;
28:15:and the weight of gold for the golden lampstands and their golden lamps, with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for the silver lampstands, with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps according to the use of each lampstand;
28:16:the gold by weight for each table of showbread, and the silver for the tables of silver;
28:17:and the forks, the basins, and the pitchers of pure gold; and for the golden bowls with the weight for each bowl; and for the silver bowls with the weight for each bowl;
28:18:and for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the model of the chariot of the cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the Lord’s covenant.
28:19:“All this,” said David, “the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, all the work and details [to be done] according to this plan.”
28:20:Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and take action; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor abandon you [but will guide you in the construction] until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.
28:21:And see, [you have] the divisions of the priests and Levites for all the service of God’s house, and every willing, skillful man will be with you in all the kinds of work for any kind of service. Also the officers and all the people will be entirely at your command.”
29:1:Offerings for the Temple
And King David said to all the assembly, “My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced and the work is great; for the temple is not for man but for the Lord God.
29:2:So with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, silver for the things of silver, bronze for the things of bronze, iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, as well as onyx stones and stones to be inlaid, stones of antimony (a brittle, silvery-white metal) and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance.
29:3:Moreover, because I delight in the house of my God, the [personal] treasure that I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, in addition to all that I have already provided for the holy house:
29:4:namely, 3,000 talents of gold from the gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings;
29:5:gold for the things of gold, silver for the things of silver, that is, for all the work to be done by craftsmen. Now who is willing to consecrate himself today to the Lord?”
29:6:Then the rulers of the fathers’ households, and leaders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with the overseers of the king’s work, offered willingly
29:7:and gave for the service of the house of God: 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, and 10,000 talents of silver, and 18,000 talents of bronze, and 100,000 talents of iron.
29:8:Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite.
29:9:Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole and blameless heart they had offered freely to the Lord. King David also rejoiced greatly.
29:10:David’s Prayer
Therefore David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly and said, “Blessed (praised, adored, and thanked) are You, O Lord God of Israel (Jacob) our father, forever and ever.
29:11:Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and on the earth; Yours is the dominion and kingdom, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.
29:12:Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all. In Your hand is power and might; and it is in Your hands to make great and to give strength to everyone.
29:13:Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.
29:14:“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.
29:15:For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope [of remaining].
29:16:O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy Name, it is from Your hand, and is all Your own.
29:17:I know also, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness and integrity. In the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things. So now with joy I have seen Your people who are present here, make their offerings willingly and freely to You.
29:18:O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the minds of Your people, and direct their hearts toward You;
29:19:and give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies, and Your statutes, and to do all [that is necessary] to build the temple [for You], for which I have made provision.”
29:20:Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless (praise, thank) the Lord your God.” And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bowed down and honored the Lord and to the king [as His earthly representative].
29:21:Sacrifices
The next day they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Lord: 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, with their drink offerings (libations) and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.
29:22:They ate and drank that day before the Lord with great rejoicing.
Solomon Again Made King
They made Solomon the son of David king a second time, and anointed him as ruler for the Lord and Zadok as [high] priest.
29:23:Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in place of David his father; and he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.
29:24:All of the leaders and warriors, and also all the sons of King David, pledged allegiance to King Solomon.
29:25:The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him royal majesty which had not been on any king before him in Israel.
29:26:Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.
29:27:The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
29:28:Death of David
He died in a good old age [his seventy-first year], full of days (satisfied), riches and honor. Solomon his son reigned in his place.
29:29:Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the chronicles (records) of Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the chronicles of Gad the seer,
29:30:with [accounts of] all his reign, and his power, and the times and circumstances which came on him, on Israel, and on all the kingdoms of the [surrounding] lands.
2_chronicles:1:1:Solomon Worships at Gibeon
Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.
1:2:Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ (ancestors’) households.
1:3:Then Solomon and all the assembly went to the high place at Gibeon [to offer sacrifices, where the Canaanites had habitually worshiped], for God’s Tent of Meeting was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.
1:4:But David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.
1:5:Now the bronze altar, which Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before the tabernacle of the Lord, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out.
1:6:And Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord at the Tent of Meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
1:7:That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I shall give to you.”
1:8:Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom
Then Solomon said to God, “You have shown great lovingkindness and mercy to my father David, and have made me king in his place.
1:9:Now, O Lord God, Your promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.
1:10:Give me wisdom and knowledge, so that I may go out and come in [performing my duties] before this people, for [otherwise] who can rule and administer justice to this great people of Yours?”
1:11:God replied to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart and you did not ask for riches, possessions or honor and personal glory, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself so that you may rule and administer justice to My people over whom I have made you king,
1:12:wisdom and knowledge have been granted you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed nor will those who will come after you.”
1:13:So Solomon went from the high place at Gibeon, from the Tent of Meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel.
1:14:Solomon’s Wealth
Solomon acquired chariots and horsemen; he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the cities [suited for the use] of chariots and with the king at Jerusalem.
1:15:The king made silver and gold as plentiful and common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore-fig trees in the lowland.
1:16:Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue. The king’s merchants purchased them [in large numbers] from Kue at a price.
1:17:And they imported chariots from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver apiece, and horses for 150 apiece; and in the same way they exported horses to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Arameans (Syrians).
2:1:Solomon Will Build a Temple and Palace
Now Solomon decided to build a house (temple) for the Name of the Lord, and a royal palace for himself.
2:2:So Solomon assigned 70,000 men to carry loads, 80,000 men to quarry stone in the mountains, and 3,600 to supervise them.
2:3:Then Solomon sent word to Hiram king of Tyre, saying, “As you dealt with my father David and sent him cedars to build himself a house in which to live, [please] do the same for me.
2:4:Observe, I am about to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God, dedicated to Him, to burn fragrant incense [of sweet spices] before Him, to set out the showbread continually, and to offer burnt offerings morning and evening, on Sabbaths, New Moons, and on the festivals of the Lord our God, as ordained forever in Israel.
2:5:The house I am going to build will be great, for our God is greater than all the gods.
2:6:But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens and [even] the highest heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I to build a house for Him, except [as a place] to burn incense before Him?
2:7:Now send me a man who is skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, and who knows how to make engravings, to work with the skilled men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David provided.
2:8:Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And indeed my servants will work with your servants
2:9:to prepare for me an abundance of timber, because the house I am about to build will be great and wonderful.
2:10:And I will give to your servants who cut timber, 20,000 measures of crushed wheat and 20,000 measures of barley, and 20,000 baths of wine and 20,000 baths of [olive] oil.”
2:11:Hiram to Assist
Then Hiram, king of Tyre replied in a letter sent to Solomon: “Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.”
2:12:Hiram said also, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, who will build a house for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.
2:13:“Now I am sending a skilled man, endowed with understanding, Huram-abi,
2:14:the son of a Danite woman and a Tyrian father. He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood; in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics, and in fine linen. He is able to make any kind of engraving and to carry out any design given him. He will work with your skilled men and those of my lord, David your father.
2:15:Now then, let my lord send to his servants the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine of which he has spoken.
2:16:We will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you on rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem.”
2:17:Then Solomon took a count of all the aliens in the land of Israel, like the census that his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600.
2:18:He assigned 70,000 of them to carry loads and 80,000 to quarry stone in the mountain, and 3,600 as overseers to make the people work.
3:1:The Temple Construction in Jerusalem
Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to his father David, in the place that David had prepared, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
3:2:Solomon began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
3:3:Dimensions and Materials of the Temple
Now this is the [measurement of the] foundation which Solomon laid for the house of God: the length in cubits—by the old standard of measure—was sixty cubits (90 ft.), and the width was twenty cubits (30 ft.).
3:4:The porch in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it inside with pure gold.
3:5:He overlaid the main room [the Holy Place] with cypress wood and overlaid it with fine gold, and decorated it with palm trees and chains.
3:6:And he adorned the house with precious stones; and the gold was gold from Parvaim.
3:7:He also overlaid the house [the Holy Place] with gold—the beams, the thresholds, and its walls and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
3:8:Now he made the room of the Holy of Holies: its length equaling the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with 600 talents of fine gold.
3:9:The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
3:10:And in the Holy of Holies he made two sculptured cherubim, and overlaid them with gold.
3:11:The wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits: one wing of one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the other cherub’s wing.
3:12:The wing of the other cherub, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house; and its other wing of five cubits touched the wing of the first cherub.
3:13:The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim stood on their feet, their faces toward the Holy Place (the main room).
3:14:He made the veil [between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] of blue, purple, and crimson colors, and fine linen, and embroidered cherubim on it.
3:15:He also made two pillars for the front of the house, thirty-five cubits high, and the capital on the top of each one was five cubits.
3:16:He made chains [like a necklace] in the inner sanctuary and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains.
3:17:He erected the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right, the other on the left, and named the one on the right Jachin (may He establish) and the one on the left Boaz (in Him is strength).
4:1:Furnishings of the Temple
Then Solomon made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and ten cubits in height.
4:2:He also made the Sea [that is, the large basin used for ceremonial washing] of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and five cubits in height, and its circumference was thirty cubits.
4:3:Under it and entirely encircling it were figures of oxen, ten to a cubit. The oxen were in two rows, cast in one piece.
4:4:It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, three facing east; and the Sea was set on top of them and all their hindquarters turned inward.
4:5:It was a handbreadth (the width of the four fingers) thick; its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It could hold 3,000 baths (measures).
4:6:He also made ten [portable] basins in which to wash, and he put five on the right (south) side and five on the left (north). They would rinse things for the burnt offering in them, but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.
4:7:And he made ten golden lampstands just as directed and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.
4:8:He made also ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left side, and he made a hundred [ceremonial] basins of gold.
4:9:Moreover, he made the courtyard of the priests, and the great courtyard [for the people] and doors for the courtyard, and he overlaid their doors with bronze.
4:10:He set the Sea on the right side at the southeast corner [of the house].
4:11:And Huram also made the pails [for ashes], the shovels, and the basins. So Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon in the house of God:
4:12:the two pillars, the bowls, the capitals on top of the two pillars, and the two lattice works to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars,
4:13:and the four hundred pomegranates for the two lattice works, two rows of pomegranates for each lattice to cover the two bowls of the capitals on the pillars.
4:14:He also made the stands and he made the basins on the stands;
4:15:and the one Sea with the twelve oxen under it.
4:16:The pails, the shovels, and the meat-forks, and all the utensils Huram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.
4:17:The king cast them on the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.
4:18:Solomon made all these utensils in such great quantity that the weight of the bronze could not be determined.
4:19:Solomon also made all the articles that were in the house of God: the golden altar, and the tables for the bread of the Presence (showbread),
4:20:and the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary (the Holy of Holies) as directed;
4:21:the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, of purest gold;
4:22:and the snuffers, the basins, the dishes [for incense], and the firepans, of pure gold; and for the entrance of the house (temple), the inner doors for the Holy of Holies and the doors of the Holy Place (main room), were of gold.
5:1:The Ark Is Brought into the Temple
Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. He brought in the things that his father David had dedicated, and he put the silver and the gold and all the utensils in the treasuries of the house of God.
5:2:Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the Israelites, in Jerusalem to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the City of David, which is Zion.
5:3:All the men of Israel gathered before the king at the feast in the seventh month.
5:4:And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.
5:5:The Levitical priests brought up the ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy utensils that were in the Tent.
5:6:And King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel who gathered together with him before the ark were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.
5:7:Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, to the inner sanctuary of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim;
5:8:for the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, making a covering above the ark and its carrying poles.
5:9:The poles were so long that the ends of the poles of the ark were visible from the front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary), but were not visible from the outside. They are there to this day.
5:10:There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets [of the Ten Commandments] which Moses put there at Mount Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, when they came out of Egypt.
5:11:The Glory of God Fills the Temple
When the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves [separating themselves from everything unclean], without regard to their assigned divisions),
5:12:and all of the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, with their sons and relatives, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres were standing at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests blowing trumpets
5:13:in unison when the trumpeters and singers were to make themselves heard with one voice praising and thanking the Lord, and when they raised their voices accompanied by the trumpets and cymbals and [other] instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever,” then the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud,
5:14:so that the priests could not remain standing to minister because of the cloud; for the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the house of God.
6:1:Solomon’s Dedication
Then Solomon said,
“The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.
6:2:“I have built You a lofty house,
A place for You to dwell forever.”
6:3:Then the king turned around and blessed the entire assembly of Israel, while they were all standing.
6:4:And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled with His hands what He promised, saying,
6:5:‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city among all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name (Presence) might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a leader over My people Israel;
6:6:but I have chosen Jerusalem that My Name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
6:7:Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
6:8:But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well that it was in your heart.
6:9:Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he shall build the house for My Name.’
6:10:Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
6:11:There I have placed the ark [the symbol of His Presence] in which is the covenant of the Lord [the Ten Commandments], which He made with the people (descendants) of Israel.”
6:12:Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.
6:13:For Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits square and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the courtyard; and he stood on it, and he knelt down on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven,
6:14:and he said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on the earth, keeping covenant and showing mercy and lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You [in obedience] with all their heart,
6:15:[You] who have kept Your promise to Your servant David, my father, that which You told him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is today.
6:16:Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, that which You promised him, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, provided your sons are careful to walk in My law as you, [David,] have walked before Me.’
6:17:Now then, O Lord, the God of Israel, let Your word which You have spoken to Your servant David be confirmed (verified).
6:18:“But will God actually dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built!
6:19:Yet have regard for the prayer of Your servant and for his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You,
6:20:that Your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place in which You have said that You would put Your Name (Presence), to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.
6:21:So listen to the requests of Your servant and Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; and when You hear, forgive.
6:22:“If a man sins against his neighbor, and he is required to take an oath, and he comes and takes the oath before Your altar in this house,
6:23:then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, punishing the wicked by bringing his conduct on his own head, and providing justice to the righteous by giving to him in accordance with his righteousness (innocence).
6:24:“If Your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this house,
6:25:then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which You gave to them and to their fathers.
6:26:“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict and humble them;
6:27:then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
6:28:“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, if there are [migratory] locusts or grasshoppers, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is,
6:29:then whatever prayer or request is made by any man or all of Your people Israel, each knowing his own suffering and his own pain, and stretching out his hands toward this house,
6:30:then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each in accordance with all his ways, whose heart You know; for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men,
6:31:so that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways [in obedience to You] as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.
6:32:“Also in regard to the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty power and Your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this house,
6:33:then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and fear You [reverently and worshipfully], as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your Name.
6:34:“When Your people go out to war against their enemies, by the way that You send them, and they pray to You facing this city [Jerusalem] which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your Name,
6:35:then hear from heaven their prayer and their request, and maintain their cause and do justice.
6:36:“When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and hand them over to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far away or near,
6:37:if they take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and pray to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and have acted wickedly’;
6:38:if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, and pray facing their land which You have given to their fathers and toward the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your Name;
6:39:then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and requests, and maintain their cause and do justice and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.
6:40:“Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.
6:41:“Now then arise, O Lord God, [and come] to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength and power. Let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in [Your] goodness.
6:42:“O Lord God, do not turn away and reject the face of Your anointed; remember Your lovingkindness and faithfulness to Your servant David.”
7:1:The Shekinah Glory
When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the [Shekinah] glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the house.
7:2:The priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory and brilliance of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house.
7:3:When all the people of Israel saw how the fire came down and saw the glory and brilliance of the Lord upon the house, they bowed down on the stone pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and praised the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever.”
7:4:Sacrifices Offered
Then the king and all the people offered a sacrifice before the Lord.
7:5:King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. In this way the king and all the people dedicated God’s house.
7:6:The priests stood at their posts [ready for service], and the Levites also, with the musical instruments of the Lord which King David had made to praise the Lord, saying, “For His lovingkindness and mercy endure forever,” whenever David offered praise through their ministry. The priests were opposite the Levites blowing the trumpets and all Israel was standing.
7:7:Moreover, Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the house of the Lord, for it was there that he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings because the bronze altar which he had made was not sufficient to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat [all together].
7:8:The Feast of Dedication
At that time Solomon observed the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very large assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt.
7:9:On the eighth day they held a celebration, for they had observed the dedication of the altar for seven days, and the feast for seven days.
7:10:And on the twenty-third day of the seventh month Solomon sent the people to their tents, rejoicing and happy in heart because of the goodness that the Lord had shown to David, to Solomon, and to His people Israel.
7:11:God’s Promise and Warning
And so Solomon finished the house (temple) of the Lord and the palace of the king. He successfully accomplished all that he had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his palace.
7:12:Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
7:13:If I shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or if I command locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence and plague among My people,
7:14:and My people, who are called by My Name, humble themselves, and pray and seek (crave, require as a necessity) My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear [them] from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.
7:15:Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer offered in this place.
7:16:For now I have chosen and sanctified and set apart for My purpose this house that My Name may be here forever, and My eyes and My heart will be here perpetually.
7:17:As for you [Solomon], if you will walk before me as your father David walked, and do everything that I have commanded you, and observe My statutes and My ordinances,
7:18:then I will establish your royal throne just as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘You will not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’
7:19:“But if you [people] turn away and abandon My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and you go and serve other gods and worship them,
7:20:then I will uproot Israel from My land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have consecrated for My Name, out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and an object of scorn among all nations.
7:21:And as for this house, which was so exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’
7:22:Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this adversity and evil on them.’”
8:1:Solomon’s Activities and Accomplishments
Now it came about at the end of the twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house (palace),
8:2:that he built and fortified the cities which Huram (Hiram) had given to him, and settled the Israelites there.
8:3:Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it.
8:4:He built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all his storage cities in Hamath.
8:5:He also built upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars [to lock the gates];
8:6:and Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.
8:7:All the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel,
8:8:but were descendants of those who were left in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed—Solomon brought them up as forced laborers to this day.
8:9:But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were men of war, his chief captains, and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen.
8:10:These were the chief officers of King Solomon, two hundred and fifty [in authority] who ruled over the people.
8:11:Then Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David into the house (palace) he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, because the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”
8:12:Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the porch [of the temple],
8:13:a certain number every day, offering them up as Moses commanded for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).
8:14:Now in accordance with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their duties of praise and ministering and serving before the priests as every day required, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for David the man of God had so commanded.
8:15:And they did not deviate from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any respect or in regard to the storehouses or treasuries.
8:16:Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out from the day the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.
8:17:Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the shore of the [Red] Sea in the land of Edom.
8:18:And Huram (Hiram) sent him, by his servants, ships and servants familiar with the sea; and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, and took from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to King Solomon.
9:1:Visit of the Queen of Sheba
When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with riddles. She was accompanied by a very large number of attendants, with camels bearing spices (balsam oil) and a large amount of gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was on her mind.
9:2:Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from him which he did not make clear to her.
9:3:So when the queen of Sheba saw the [depth of] Solomon’s wisdom, and the house which he had built,
9:4:and the food of his table, the [vast] seating order of his officials, the attendance and service of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, she was breathless.
9:5:She said to the king, “The report which I heard in my own land regarding your [accomplishments and your] words and your wisdom was true,
9:6:but I did not believe the reports until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told to me; you have surpassed the report that I heard.
9:7:Blessed and fortunate are your people, how blessed and fortunate are these servants of yours who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom!
9:8:Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the Lord your God; because your God loved Israel, establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”
9:9:Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, a very large amount of spices (balsam oil) and precious stones; there was no such spice [anywhere] like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
9:10:The servants of Huram and those of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought almug trees and precious stones.
9:11:From the almug timber the king made stairways for the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; none like that was seen before in the land of Judah.
9:12:King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all [the things] she desired, whatever she asked, besides a return for what she had brought to the king. So she returned to her own land with her servants.
9:13:Solomon’s Wealth and Power
Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents,
9:14:besides what the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
9:15:King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, using six hundred shekels of beaten gold on each large shield.
9:16:And he made three hundred [smaller] shields of beaten gold, using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield; and the king put them in the house of the Forest of Lebanon.
9:17:Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.
9:18:There were six steps to the throne and a golden footstool attached to the throne, and arms on each side of the seat, with two lions standing beside the arms.
9:19:Also, twelve lions were standing there, one on each side of the six steps. Nothing like it had ever been made for any [other] kingdom.
9:20:All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon.
9:21:For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.
9:22:So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom.
9:23:And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put into his heart.
9:24:Each man brought his gift, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules, so much year by year.
9:25:Now Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities or with the king at Jerusalem.
9:26:He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt.
9:27:The king made silver in Jerusalem as common as stones, and cedar wood as plentiful as the sycamore-fig trees that are in the lowland.
9:28:And they were importing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all [the other] countries.
9:29:Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from the first to the last, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?
9:30:Solomon reigned forty years in Jerusalem over all Israel.
9:31:Death of Solomon
And Solomon slept with his fathers [in death]; he was buried in the city of his father David. Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
10:1:Rehoboam’s Reign of Folly
Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
10:2:When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about the new king (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt.
10:3:And the people sent messengers and summoned him. So when Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
10:4:“Your father [King Solomon] made our yoke hard (heavy, difficult); so now lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”
10:5:Rehoboam replied, “Come back to me again in three days.” So the people departed.
10:6:Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon [as advisers] while he was alive, asking, “What advice do you give me in answer to these people?”
10:7:They answered him, saying, “If you are kind to these people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”
10:8:But the king rejected the advice which the elders gave him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him [as advisers].
10:9:He asked them, “What advice do you give to us regarding the answer to these people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”
10:10:The young men who grew up with him told him, “Tell the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us’: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins!
10:11:Now my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, but I will add [more weight] to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions (extremely painful scourges).’”
10:12:So on the third day Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam just as the king had directed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”
10:13:The king answered them harshly, for King Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the elders.
10:14:He spoke to them in accordance with the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”
10:15:So the king did not listen to the people, for the turn of events was from God that the Lord might fulfill His word, which He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
10:16:When all Israel saw that the king did not listen and pay attention to them, the people answered him,
“What portion do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Every man to your tents, O Israel;
Now, [Rehoboam, descendant of] David, see to your own house.”
So all Israel went to their tents.
10:17:But as for the Israelites who lived in Judah’s cities, Rehoboam ruled over them.
10:18:Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the forced labor, and the Israelites stoned him and he died. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his [royal] chariot to escape to Jerusalem.
10:19:And Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day.
11:1:Rehoboam Reigns over Judah and Builds Cities
Now when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors to fight against [the ten tribes of] Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.
11:2:But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
11:3:“Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin,
11:4:‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brothers (countrymen); return, every man to his house, for this thing is from Me.”’” And they listened to and obeyed the words of the Lord and turned back from going against Jeroboam.
11:5:Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built [fortified] cities for defense in Judah.
11:6:He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
11:7:Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam,
11:8:Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,
11:9:Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
11:10:Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.
11:11:He strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them, with supplies of food, [olive] oil, and wine.
11:12:And in each city he put [large] shields and spears, and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.
11:13:Further, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with Rehoboam from all their districts.
11:14:Jeroboam Appoints False Priests
For the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the Lord.
11:15:Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places, for the satyrs (goat demons) and calves (idols) which he had made.
11:16:Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers.
11:17:So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years; for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.
11:18:Rehoboam’s Family
Rehoboam took as his wife Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse.
11:19:She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.
11:20:After her he took Maacah the daughter (granddaughter) of Absalom, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.
11:21:Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter (granddaughter) of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines—for he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
11:22:Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah the chief leader among his brothers, because he intended to make him king.
11:23:He acted wisely and distributed some of his sons throughout the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions, and he sought many wives for them.
12:1:Shishak of Egypt Invades Judah
When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the Lord.
12:2:And it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem
12:3:with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. The people who came with him from Egypt were beyond counting—the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians.
12:4:Shishak took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.
12:5:Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: ‘You have abandoned (turned away from) Me, so I have abandoned you into the hands of Shishak.’”
12:6:Then the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.”
12:7:When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of a remnant [that escapes]; and My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak.
12:8:Nevertheless they will become his slaves, so that they may know [the difference between] My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”
12:9:Plunder Impoverishes Judah
So Shishak king of Egypt went up against Jerusalem; he took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house (palace). He took everything. He even took the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
12:10:In their place King Rehoboam made shields of bronze and entrusted them to the care of the officers of the guard who guarded the door of the king’s house.
12:11:And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards came and carried the shields and then brought them back into the guards’ room.
12:12:When Rehoboam humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and also conditions were good in Judah.
12:13:So King Rehoboam established himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city in which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His Name. And his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess.
12:14:He did evil because he did not set his heart to seek and worship and honor the Lord.
12:15:Now the acts of Rehoboam, from the first to the last, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, according to genealogical enrollment? There were wars between Rehoboam [of Judah] and Jeroboam [of Israel] continually.
12:16:And Rehoboam slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in the City of David; and Abijah his son became king in his place.
13:1:Abijah Succeeds Rehoboam
In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah.
13:2:He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.
And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam [of Israel].
13:3:Abijah began the battle with an army of brave soldiers, 400,000 chosen men. Jeroboam drew up in battle formation against him with 800,000 chosen men, valiant men.
13:4:Civil War
Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel:
13:5:Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel, gave rule over Israel forever to David and to his sons by a covenant of salt [a permanent pact, extending to each generation of Israel]?
13:6:Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord [the king],
13:7:and worthless (unprincipled, unethical) men gathered around him, useless and wicked men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam the son of Solomon when Rehoboam was young and timid, and could not assert himself against them.
13:8:“And now you intend to assert yourselves against the kingdom of the Lord which is in the hands of the sons of David, since you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves (idols) which Jeroboam made for you as gods.
13:9:Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? So whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, even he may become a priest of non-existent gods (idols).
13:10:But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not abandoned (turned away from) Him. The sons of Aaron are ministering to the Lord as priests, and the Levites attend to their service.
13:11:Every morning and every evening they offer the burnt offerings and the fragrant incense to the Lord; and the showbread is set on the clean table [of pure gold], and the golden lampstand with its lamps is ready to light every evening; for we keep the charge of the Lord our God [that is, the obligation we have to Him], but you have abandoned (turned away from) Him.
13:12:Behold, God is with us at our head, and His priests [are here] with their signal trumpets to sound an alarm against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”
13:13:But Jeroboam had set an ambush to come from the rear, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them.
13:14:When [the men of] Judah turned around, they were attacked from both front and rear; so they cried out to the Lord [for help], and the priests blew the trumpets.
13:15:Then the men of Judah raised a war cry; and as they shouted, God struck Jeroboam and all Israel [with defeat] before Abijah and Judah.
13:16:And the sons of Israel fled before Judah, and God handed over the sons of Israel to them.
13:17:Abijah and his people inflicted on them a great defeat, so that 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain.
13:18:Thus the sons of Israel were subdued (humbled) at that time, and the sons of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers.
13:19:Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured [several] cities from him: Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephraim (Ephron), with their villages.
13:20:Death of Jeroboam
Jeroboam did not recover strength again during the time of [the reign of] Abijah. And the Lord struck him and he died.
13:21:But Abijah became powerful. He took fourteen wives for himself and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
13:22:Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his sayings, are written in the writing of the prophet Iddo.
14:1:Asa Succeeds Abijah in Judah
So Abijah slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in the City of David; and Asa his son became king in his place. The land was at peace for ten years during his days.
14:2:Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God.
14:3:He removed the foreign altars and high places and tore down the [pagan] pillars (obelisks, memorial stones), and cut to pieces the Asherim [the symbols of the goddess Asherah].
14:4:And he commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers [to inquire of and for Him and seek Him as a vital necessity], and to observe the law [given to Moses] and the commandment.
14:5:Asa also removed the [idolatrous] high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah. The kingdom was at rest and undisturbed under his reign.
14:6:He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was at rest, and there was no one at war with him in those years, because the Lord had given him rest.
14:7:So he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls, towers, gates and bars [to secure the doors]. The land is still ours because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him [longing for Him with all our heart] and He has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered.
14:8:Now Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah, who carried large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, who carried shields and drew bows, all courageous men.
14:9:Now Zerah the Ethiopian (Cushite) came out against Judah with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came as far as Mareshah.
14:10:Then Asa went out against him, and they drew up in battle formation in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.
14:11:Asa called out to the Lord his God, saying, “O Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and the weak; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in and rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.”
14:12:So the Lord struck the Ethiopians [with defeat] before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.
14:13:Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that none of them were found alive; for they were destroyed before the Lord and His army. And they carried away a very large amount of spoil.
14:14:They attacked and destroyed all the cities around Gerar, for the dread of the Lord had fallen on them. They plundered all the cities, for there was a large amount of spoil in them.
14:15:They also struck down the people [living] in tents who had livestock, and took captive large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
15:1:The Prophet Azariah Warns Asa
Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded,
15:2:and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him [inquiring for and of Him, as your soul’s first necessity], He will let you find Him; but if you abandon (turn away from) Him, He will abandon (turn away from) you.
15:3:Now for a long time Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest, and without [God’s] law.
15:4:But when they were in their trouble and distress they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and [in desperation earnestly] sought Him, and He let them find Him.
15:5:In those times there was no peace for him who went out or for him who came in, for great suffering came on all the inhabitants of the lands.
15:6:Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress.
15:7:But as for you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.”
15:8:Asa’s Reforms
And when Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the repulsive idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. Then he restored the altar [of burnt offering] of the Lord which was in front of the porch [of the temple] of the Lord.
15:9:He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and the strangers who were with them out of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to Asa from Israel in large numbers when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.
15:10:So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.
15:11:They sacrificed to the Lord on that day from the spoil they had brought—700 oxen and 7,000 sheep.
15:12:They entered into a covenant (solemn agreement) to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and soul;
15:13:and that whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.
15:14:They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice, with [jubilant] shouting, with trumpets, and with horns.
15:15:All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought Him with their whole heart, and He let them find Him. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.
15:16:He also removed Maacah, King Asa’s mother, from the position of queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa cut down her idol, crushed it, and burned it at the Brook Kidron.
15:17:But the high places [of pagan worship] were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless Asa’s heart was blameless all his days.
15:18:He brought the things that his father [Abijah] had dedicated and those things that he had dedicated into the house of God—silver and gold and utensils.
15:19:And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
16:1:Asa Wars against Baasha
In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to [meet with] Asa king of Judah.
16:2:Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and from the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram (Syria), who lived in Damascus, saying,
16:3:“Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. Look, I am sending you silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
16:4:Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they attacked and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.
16:5:When Baasha heard about it, he ceased fortifying Ramah and stopped his work.
16:6:Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he fortified Geba and Mizpah.
16:7:Asa Imprisons the Prophet
At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Aram (Syria) and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram (Syria) has escaped out of your hand.
16:8:Were not the Ethiopians and Lubim a huge army with a great number of chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, He placed them in your hand.
16:9:For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth so that He may support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this; therefore, from now on you will have wars.”
16:10:Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison [in the stocks], for he was enraged with him because of this. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.
16:11:Now the acts of Asa, from the first to the last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
16:12:In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa developed a disease in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his illness he did not seek the Lord, but [relied only on] the physicians.
16:13:So Asa slept with his fathers [in death], dying in the forty-first year of his reign.
16:14:They buried him in his own tomb which he had cut out for himself in the City of David, and they laid him on a bier which he had filled with various kinds of spices blended by the perfumers’ art; and they made a very great fire in his honor.
17:1:Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa
Jehoshaphat his son then became king [of Judah] in Asa’s place, and strengthened his position over Israel.
17:2:He placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim which his father Asa had captured.
17:3:His Good Reign
The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father (ancestor) David. He did not seek [to follow] the Baals [the false gods],
17:4:but sought the God of his father, and walked in (obeyed) His commandments, and did not act as Israel did.
17:5:Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great wealth and honor.
17:6:His heart was encouraged and he took great pride in the ways of the Lord; moreover, he again removed the high places [of pagan worship] and the Asherim from Judah.
17:7:Then in the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah;
17:8:and with them were the Levites—Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and with them the priests Elishama and Jehoram.
17:9:They taught in Judah having the Book of the Law of the Lord with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.
17:10:Now the dread of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.
17:11:Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat; the Arabians also brought him flocks: 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats.
17:12:So Jehoshaphat became greater and greater. He built fortresses and storage cities in Judah.
17:13:He had large supplies in the cities of Judah, and soldiers, courageous men, in Jerusalem.
17:14:This was the number of them by their fathers’ (ancestors’) households: of Judah, the commanders of thousands, Adnah the commander, and with him 300,000 courageous men;
17:15:and next to him was Jehohanan the commander, and with him 280,000;
17:16:and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, who volunteered for the Lord, and with him 200,000 courageous men;
17:17:and of Benjamin: Eliada, a brave man, and with him 200,000 men armed with bow and shield;
17:18:and next to him was Jehozabad, and with him 180,000 armed and ready for military service.
17:19:These are the ones who were in the service of the king, besides those he had placed in fortified cities throughout Judah.
18:1:Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahab
Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and was allied by marriage with Ahab.
18:2:Some years later he went down to [visit] Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab slaughtered many sheep and oxen for him and the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-gilead.
18:3:Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me to [fight against] Ramoth-gilead?” He answered, “I am as you are, and my people as your people [your hopes and concerns are ours]; we will be with you in the battle.”
18:4:Further, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of the Lord.”
18:5:Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will hand it over to the king.”
18:6:But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord still here by whom we may inquire?”
18:7:The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, for he never prophesies [anything] good for me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so [perhaps this time it will be different].”
18:8:Ahab’s False Prophets Assure Victory
Then the king of Israel called for an officer and said, “Bring Micaiah the son of Imla quickly.”
18:9:Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting, each on his throne, arrayed in their robes; they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them.
18:10:Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you shall gore the Arameans (Syrians) until they are destroyed.’”
18:11:All the prophets prophesied this, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king.”
18:12:Micaiah Brings Word from God
The messenger who went to call Micaiah said to him, “Listen, the words of the prophets are of one accord, foretelling a favorable outcome for the king. So just let your word be like one of them and speak favorably.”
18:13:But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, I will [only] speak what my God says.”
18:14:When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And he said, “Go up and succeed, for they will be handed over to you.”
18:15:Then the king said to him, “How many times must I warn you (make you swear an oath) to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”
18:16:Then Micaiah said,
“I saw all [the people of] Israel
Scattered on the mountains,
As sheep that have no shepherd;
And the Lord said,
‘These have no master.
Let each one return to his house in peace.’”
18:17:Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good in regard to me, but [only] evil?”
18:18:So Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host (army) of heaven standing on His right and on His left.
18:19:Then the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel to go up and fall [defeated] at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this and another said that.
18:20:Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ The Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’
18:21:He said, ‘I will go out and be a deceptive spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then the Lord said, ‘You are to entice him and also succeed. Go and do so.’
18:22:Now, you see, the Lord put a deceptive spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours; and the Lord has [actually] proclaimed disaster against you.”
18:23:Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came up and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go [when he departed] from me to speak to you?”
18:24:Micaiah said, “Behold, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room [desperately trying] to hide yourself.”
18:25:Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son,
18:26:and say, ‘Thus says the king: “Put this man in prison and feed him just enough bread and water to survive until I return in peace (safely).”’”
18:27:But Micaiah said, “If you actually return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he added, “Listen [to what I have said], you people, all of you.”
18:28:Ahab’s Defeat and Death
So [Ahab] the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead.
18:29:The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and will go into battle, but you put on your [royal] robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into the battle.
18:30:Now the king of Aram (Syria) had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with the small or the great, but only with the king of Israel.”
18:31:So when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat [of Judah], they said, “It is the king of Israel!” So they turned to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat called out [for God’s help], and the Lord helped him; and God diverted them away from him.
18:32:When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.
18:33:Then a certain man drew his bow at random and struck [Ahab] the king of Israel between the scales of his armor. So Ahab said to his chariot driver, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, because I am seriously wounded.”
18:34:The battle raged that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot in front of the Arameans (Syrians) until the evening, and at sunset he died.
19:1:Jehu Rebukes Jehoshaphat
Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house (palace) in Jerusalem.
19:2:Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the ungodly and love those who hate the Lord and in doing so bring wrath from the Lord on yourself?
19:3:But there are some good things found in you, for you have removed the Asherim (idols) from the land and you have set your heart to seek God [with all your soul’s desire].”
19:4:So Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers.
19:5:Reforms Instituted
He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city,
19:6:and he said to the judges, “Be careful what you do, for you do not judge for man, but for the Lord who is with you in the matter of judgment.
19:7:So now let the fear (reverent awe) of the Lord be on you [to keep you from making unjust decisions]; be careful in what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God, or partiality, or acceptance of a bribe.”
19:8:In Jerusalem also Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites, priests, and heads of the fathers’ households of Israel to render the judgment of the Lord and to judge disputes among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19:9:Then the king commanded them, “Do this in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and wholeheartedly.
19:10:Whenever any dispute comes to you from your brothers (relatives) who live in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, or between statutes and judgments, you are to warn [and instruct] them so that they may not be guilty before the Lord; otherwise [God’s] wrath will come on you and your brothers. Do this and you will not be guilty.
19:11:Behold, Amariah the chief priest will be over you in all matters of the Lord, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters; and the Levites will serve you as officers. Deal courageously, and may the Lord be with the upright.”
20:1:Judah Invaded
Now it happened after this that the Moabites and the Ammonites, together with some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat.
20:2:Then it was reported to Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude has come against you from beyond the [Dead] Sea, out of Aram (Syria); and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is, Engedi).”
20:3:Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set himself [determinedly, as his vital need] to seek the Lord; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
20:4:So [the people of] Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord; indeed they came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord [longing for Him with all their heart].
20:5:Jehoshaphat’s Prayer
Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord in front of the new courtyard,
20:6:and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, there is no one able to take a stand against You.
20:7:O our God, did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Your friend Abraham?
20:8:They have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your Name, saying,
20:9:‘If evil comes on us, or the sword of judgment, or plague, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your Name and Your Presence is in this house) and we will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear and save us.’
20:10:Now behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You would not allow Israel to invade when they came from the land of Egypt (for they turned away from them and did not destroy them),
20:11:here they are, rewarding us by coming to drive us out of Your possession which You have given us as an inheritance.
20:12:O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless against this great multitude which is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
20:13:So all Judah stood before the Lord, with their infants, their wives, and their children.
20:14:Jahaziel Answers the Prayer
Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph.
20:15:He said, “Listen carefully, all [you people of] Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. The Lord says this to you: ‘Be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
20:16:Go down against them tomorrow. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the river valley, in front of the Wilderness of Jeruel.
20:17:You need not fight in this battle; take your positions, stand and witness the salvation of the Lord who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.’”
20:18:Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping Him.
20:19:The Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
20:20:Enemies Destroy Themselves
So they got up early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe and trust in the Lord your God and you will be established (secure). Believe and trust in His prophets and succeed.”
20:21:When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in their holy (priestly) attire, as they went out before the army and said, “Praise and give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever.”
20:22:When they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were struck down [in defeat].
20:23:For the sons of Ammon and Moab [suspecting betrayal] rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, completely destroying them; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
20:24:When [the men of] Judah came to the lookout tower of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and behold, they were dead bodies lying on the ground, and no one had escaped.
20:25:When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found much among them, including equipment, garments, and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry away; so much that they spent three days gathering the spoil.
20:26:Triumphant Return to Jerusalem
Then on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for it was there that they blessed the Lord. For that reason they named that place “The Valley of Beracah (blessing)” until today.
20:27:Then they returned to Jerusalem with joy, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, led by Jehoshaphat, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.
20:28:They came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets to the house (temple) of the Lord.
20:29:And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
20:30:So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest on all sides.
20:31:Now Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five-years. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
20:32:He walked in the way of his father Asa and did not depart from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.
20:33:Only the high places [for pagan sacrifices] were not removed, for the people had not yet set their hearts firmly on the God of their fathers.
20:34:Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the records of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.
20:35:Alliance Displeases God
After [all] this Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, and he acted wickedly in doing so.
20:36:He joined him in building ships to go to Tarshish [for trade], and they built them in Ezion-geber.
20:37:Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has broken down what you have built.” So the ships were wrecked and were unable to go to Tarshish.
21:1:Jehoram Succeeds Jehoshaphat in Judah
Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with them in the City of David; and his son Jehoram became king in his place.
21:2:He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.
21:3:Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and valuable things, in addition to fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.
21:4:When Jehoram had ascended over the kingdom of his father and made himself secure, he killed all his brothers with the sword [to eliminate any rivals], and some of the leaders of Israel as well.
21:5:Jehoram was thirty-two years of age when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
21:6:He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done (for he married the daughter of Ahab), and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
21:7:Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the covenant which He had made with David, and because He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.
21:8:Revolt against Judah
In the days of Jehoram Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and set up a king over themselves.
21:9:Then Jehoram crossed over [the Jordan River] with his commanders and all his chariots, and rose up by night and struck down the Edomites who were surrounding him and the commanders of the chariots.
21:10:So Edom revolted against the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time against Jehoram’s rule, because he had abandoned (turned away from) the Lord God of his fathers.
21:11:Moreover, he made [idolatrous] high places in the hill country of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful [to God], and he led Judah astray [compelling the people’s cooperation].
21:12:Then a letter came to Jehoram from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of David your father (ancestor): ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
21:13:but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful [to God] as the house of Ahab was unfaithful, and you have also murdered your brothers, your father’s house (your own family), who were better than you,
21:14:behold, the Lord is going to strike your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a great disaster;
21:15:and you will suffer a severe illness, an intestinal disease, until your intestines come out because of the sickness, day after day.’”
21:16:Then the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit (anger) of the Philistines and of the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians.
21:17:They came against Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions found in the king’s house (palace), together with his sons and his wives; so there was not a son left to him except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
21:18:After all this, the Lord struck Jehoram with an incurable intestinal disease.
21:19:Now it came about in the course of time, at the end of two years, that his intestines came out because of his disease and he died in excruciating pain. And his people did not make a funeral fire to honor him, like the fire for his fathers.
21:20:Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years; and he departed with no one’s regret (sorrow). They buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
22:1:Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram in Judah
Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, because the band of men (raiders) who came with the Arabs to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.
22:2:Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri.
22:3:He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his adviser [and she encouraged him] to act wickedly.
22:4:So he did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab, for they were his advisers after the death of his father, resulting in his destruction.
22:5:Ahaziah Allies with Jehoram of Israel
He also walked in accordance with their advice, and he went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram (Syria) at Ramoth-gilead. And the Arameans wounded Joram (Jehoram).
22:6:Then he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
22:7:But the downfall of Ahaziah was ordained by God, in that he went to Joram (Jehoram). For when he arrived there he went out [as an ally] with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.
22:8:Jehu Murders Leaders of Judah
It came about that when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the leaders of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s [murdered] brothers ministering to Ahaziah, and he killed them.
22:9:Jehu also searched for Ahaziah, who was hiding in Samaria; he was captured, brought to Jehu, and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “After all, he is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.” So the house of Ahaziah had no one left to retain the power to rule over the kingdom.
22:10:Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah.
22:11:But Jehoshabeath, the king’s daughter, took Joash the [infant] son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and she placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram [of Judah] and wife of Jehoiada the priest, hid Joash from [his grandmother] Athaliah so that she did not murder him (for Jehoshabeath was the sister of Ahaziah).
22:12:Joash was hidden with them in the house (temple) of God for six years, and Athaliah reigned over the land.
23:1:Jehoiada Sets Joash on the Throne of Judah
In the seventh year Jehoiada [the priest] summoned his courage and took the captains of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Johanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, and they entered into a covenant with him.
23:2:They went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the households of the fathers (ancestors) in Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.
23:3:Then all the assembly made a covenant in the house of God with the king [that is, with the child Joash, to overthrow Athaliah by proclaiming his sovereignty]. And Jehoiada [the priest] said to them, “Behold, the king’s son [Joash] shall reign, as the Lord has said in regard to the sons of David.
23:4:This is what you shall do: a third of you, of the priests and Levites who are resuming service on the Sabbath, shall be gatekeepers,
23:5:a [second] third shall be at the king’s house (palace), and a [final] third at the Gate of the Foundation; and all the people shall be in the courtyards of the house of the Lord.
23:6:But let no one enter the house (temple) of the Lord except the priests and the Levites who minister; they may enter, for they are holy. And let all the people carefully observe the law of the Lord.
23:7:The Levites shall surround the [young] king, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the temple [breaking through the ranks of the guard to get near Joash] is to be killed. You are to be with the king when he comes in [from the temple chamber where he is hiding] and when he goes out.”
23:8:So the Levites and all Judah acted in accordance with everything that Jehoiada the priest had commanded; and every man took his men who were to resume duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss [any of] the divisions [from their duties].
23:9:Then Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields which had been King David’s, which were in the house of God.
23:10:He stationed all the people around the king [as guards for him], every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side to the left side of the house (temple), by the altar and by the house.
23:11:Then they brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony [a copy of the Mosaic Law] and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said, “Long live the king!”
23:12:Athaliah Killed
When Athaliah heard the sound of the people running and praising the king, she went into the house of the Lord to [see what] the people [were doing].
23:13:She looked, and there was the [young] king, standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpeters were beside him. And all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their musical instruments were directing the [singing of] praise. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!”
23:14:So Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were appointed over the army and said to them, “Bring her out between the ranks [of soldiers]; and whoever follows her shall be put to death with the sword.” For the priest had said, “Do not let her be put to death in the temple of the Lord.”
23:15:So they seized Athaliah, and when she arrived at the entrance of the Horse Gate of the king’s house (palace), they put her to death there.
23:16:Reforms Carried Out
Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, all the people, and the king, that they would be the Lord’s people.
23:17:Then all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down, and they smashed its altars and its images to pieces, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.
23:18:Also Jehoiada placed the offices and officers of the house of the Lord under the authority of the Levitical priests, whom David had [previously] assigned over the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing in accordance with the order of David.
23:19:Jehoiada stationed the gatekeepers [at the gates] of the house of the Lord, so that no one would enter who was in any way unclean.
23:20:He took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from the house of the Lord; and they came through the upper gate to the king’s house (palace) and set the king on the throne of the kingdom.
23:21:So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword.
24:1:Young Joash Influenced by Jehoiada
Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba.
24:2:Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest [his uncle].
24:3:Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.
24:4:Faithless Priests
Now it came about after this that Joash decided to restore the house (temple) of the Lord.
24:5:He gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel to repair the house of your God from year to year; and see that you do it quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly.
24:6:So the king called for Jehoiada the high priest and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax for the tent of the testimony which was authorized by Moses, the servant of the Lord and the servant of the assembly of Israel?”
24:7:For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God and also had used all the holy and dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.
24:8:Temple Repaired
So at the king’s command they made a chest and set it outside by the gate of the house of the Lord.
24:9:Then they made a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God imposed on Israel in the wilderness.
24:10:All the officers and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished [and the chest was full].
24:11:It came about that whenever the Levites brought the chest to the king’s official, and whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money, the king’s secretary and the chief priest’s representative would come and empty the chest, and take it, and return it to its place. They did this day after day and collected a large amount of money.
24:12:The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they would hire masons and carpenters (craftsmen) and also those who worked in iron and bronze to repair and restore the house of the Lord.
24:13:So the workmen labored, and the repair work progressed in their hands; and they restored and organized the house of God in accordance with its specifications and strengthened it.
24:14:When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; and it was [melted down and] made into utensils for the house of the Lord, utensils for ministering and for burnt offerings, and bowls and utensils of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.
24:15:Now when Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, he died. He was a hundred and thirty years old at his death.
24:16:They buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good [things] in Israel and toward God and His house.
24:17:Now after the death of Jehoiada [the priest, who had hidden Joash], the officials of Judah came and bowed down to King Joash; then the king listened to them.
24:18:They abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so [God’s] wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for their sin and guilt.
24:19:Yet God sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord; these prophets testified against them, but they would not listen.
24:20:Joash Murders Son of Jehoiada
Then the Spirit of God came over Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people and said to them, “This is what God has said: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord so that you cannot prosper? Because you have abandoned (turned away from) the Lord, He has also abandoned (turned away from) you.’”
24:21:So they conspired against Zechariah and stoned him [to death] at the command of the king, in the courtyard of the house of the Lord.
24:22:Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, had shown him, but he murdered his son. And when Zechariah was dying, he said, “May the Lord see this and require an accounting!”
24:23:Aram Invades and Defeats Judah
Now it happened at the end of the year, that the army of Aram (Syria) went up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.
24:24:Though the army of the Arameans came with a small company of men, the Lord handed over a very large army into their hands, because Joash and Judah had abandoned (turned away from) the Lord, the God of their fathers. So the Arameans executed judgment against Joash.
24:25:When they left Joash (for they left him very ill), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they murdered him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
24:26:The conspirators against Joash were Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess.
24:27:Now as to his sons and the many prophecies uttered against him and the rebuilding of the house of God, they are written in the commentary on the Book of Kings. Then his son Amaziah became king in his place.
25:1:Amaziah Succeeds Joash in Judah
Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
25:2:He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not wholeheartedly.
25:3:When his kingdom was firmly established, he killed his servants who had struck down his father the king.
25:4:But he did not kill their children; for he did as it is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “The fathers shall not die for the children, nor the children die for the fathers, but each shall be put to death for his own sin.”
25:5:Amaziah Defeats Edomites
Amaziah assembled [the men of] Judah and appointed them in accordance with their fathers’ (ancestors’) households under commanders of thousands and of hundreds throughout Judah and Benjamin. He numbered them from twenty years old and above and found there to be 300,000 choice men fit for war and able to handle spear and shield.
25:6:He also hired 100,000 brave warriors from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.
25:7:But a man of God came to him, saying, “O king, do not let this army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel nor with any of the sons of Ephraim.
25:8:But if you do go [in spite of this warning], be strong and courageous for battle; yet God will cause you to stumble and fall before the enemy, for God has power to help and to cause people to stumble.”
25:9:Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I gave to the troops of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.”
25:10:So Amaziah dismissed the troops that came to him from Ephraim, to go home. So their anger was kindled and burned greatly against Judah, and they returned home in the heat of anger.
25:11:Now Amaziah took courage and led his people out to the Valley of Salt, and he struck down 10,000 of the men of Seir (Edom).
25:12:The sons of Judah also captured 10,000 alive and brought them to the top of the cliff. They threw them down from the top of the cliff and they were all crushed to pieces.
25:13:But the troops whom Amaziah sent back, those not allowed to go with him to battle, attacked and raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 men and took a large amount of spoil.
25:14:Amaziah Rebuked for Idolatry
After Amaziah came back from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, bowed before them, and burned incense to them.
25:15:So the anger of the Lord burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you desired the gods of the people who did not save their own people from your hand?”
25:16:As he was talking, the king said to him, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Stop! Why should you be put to death?” Then the prophet stopped and said, “I know that God has decided to destroy you because you have done this and have ignored my advice.”
25:17:Amaziah Defeated by Joash of Israel
Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent word to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come [to battle], let us face each other.”
25:18:Then Joash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The [little] thorn bush in Lebanon sent word to the [great] cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ But a wild beast in Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thorn bush.
25:19:You say, ‘See, I have struck down and defeated Edom.’ Your heart lifts you up to boast [about your victory]. Now stay at home; why should you meddle and court disaster so that you, even you, will fall and Judah with you?”
25:20:But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, so that He might hand Judah over to Joash because they had desired the gods of Edom.
25:21:So Joash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at Beth-shemesh, which belonged to Judah.
25:22:And Judah was defeated by Israel, and they fled, every man to his tent.
25:23:Then Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz (Ahaziah), at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits.
25:24:He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of God with [the doorkeeper] Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king’s house (palace), and the hostages, and returned to Samaria.
25:25:And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.
25:26:Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from the first to the last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?
25:27:Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there.
25:28:Then they brought him on horses and buried him with his fathers in the City of [David in] Judah.
26:1:Uzziah Succeeds Amaziah in Judah
Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.
26:2:He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king [Amaziah] slept with his fathers [in death].
26:3:Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem.
26:4:He did right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father Amaziah had done.
26:5:He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought (inquired of, longing for) the Lord, God caused him to prosper.
26:6:Uzziah Succeeds in War
He went out and made war against the Philistines, and broke through the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities near Ashdod and [elsewhere] among the Philistines.
26:7:God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabs who lived in Gur-baal, and the Meunites.
26:8:The Ammonites paid tribute (money) to Uzziah, and his fame spread abroad, even as far as the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.
26:9:Uzziah also built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress [of the wall], and fortified them.
26:10:He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, for he had a great deal of livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plain. He also had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields, for he loved the soil.
26:11:Moreover, Uzziah had an army ready for battle, which went into combat by divisions according to the number of their muster as recorded by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the official, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders.
26:12:The total number of the heads of the fathers’ households, of valiant men, was 2,600.
26:13:Under their command was an army of 307,500, who could wage war with great power, to help the king against the enemy.
26:14:Moreover, Uzziah prepared shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and sling stones for the entire army.
26:15:In Jerusalem he made machines of war invented by skillful men to be put on the towers and on the [corner] battlements for the purpose of shooting arrows and large stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.
26:16:Pride Is Uzziah’s Undoing
But when Uzziah became strong, he became so proud [of himself and his accomplishments] that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful and sinned against the Lord his God, for he went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
26:17:Then Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests of the Lord, men of courage.
26:18:They opposed King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who have been consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the Lord God.”
26:19:Then Uzziah, with a censer in his hand to burn incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar.
26:20:As Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked toward him, behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he also hurried to get out because the Lord had stricken him.
26:21:King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and, being a leper, he lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And his son Jotham took charge of the king’s household, judging and governing the people of the land.
26:22:Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from the first to the last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, has written.
26:23:So Uzziah slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field of the kings [outside the royal tombs], for they said, “He is a leper.” And his son Jotham became king in his place.
27:1:Jotham Succeeds Uzziah in Judah
Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok.
27:2:He did right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father Uzziah had done; however, he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people continued behaving corruptly.
27:3:He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord, and did extensive building on the wall of Ophel.
27:4:Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built fortresses and towers.
27:5:He also fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed over them. As a result the Ammonites gave him during that year a hundred talents of silver and ten thousand measures each of wheat and of barley. The Ammonites also paid him that much in the second year and third year.
27:6:So Jotham grew powerful, because he directed his ways before the Lord his God.
27:7:Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
27:8:He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem.
27:9:And Jotham slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in the City of David. Ahaz his son became king in his place.
28:1:Ahaz Succeeds Jotham in Judah
Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do right in the sight of the Lord, as his father (forefather) David had done.
28:2:Instead he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and even made cast images for the Baals.
28:3:And he burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom and burned his sons [as an offering], in accordance with the repulsive acts of the [pagan] nations whom the Lord had driven out before the sons (descendants) of Israel.
28:4:He also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places [of pagan worship], on the hills and under every green tree.
28:5:Judah Is Invaded
Therefore the Lord his God handed over Ahaz to the king of Aram (Syria), who defeated him and led away a great number [of the people] as captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also handed over to the king of Israel, who struck Judah with a great slaughter.
28:6:For Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 in Judah in one day, all courageous men, because they had abandoned (turned away from) the Lord God of their fathers.
28:7:And Zichri, a warrior of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah, who was second [in power] to the king.
28:8:And the sons of Israel led away captive 200,000 of their kinsmen [of Judah]—women, sons, and daughters—and they also took a great quantity of spoil from them and brought it to Samaria.
28:9:But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out to meet the army that was returning to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, He handed them over to you; but you have killed them in a rage that has reached as far as heaven.
28:10:And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem as male and female slaves for yourselves. But are you yourselves not guilty of transgressions against the Lord your God?
28:11:Now therefore, hear me and return the captives whom you have captured from your brothers (fellow descendants of Israel, i.e. Jacob), for the burning anger of the Lord is against you.”
28:12:Then some of the heads of the Ephraimites (Israel)—Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—took a stand against those who were returning from the battle,
28:13:and said to them, “You must not bring the captives in here; for we are guilty before the Lord already, and what you intend to do will add more to our sins and our guilt. For our guilt is so great that His burning anger is against Israel.”
28:14:So the armed men [of Israel] left the captives and the spoil [of Judah] before the officers and all the assembly.
28:15:Then the men who were designated by name rose up and took the captives, and from the spoil they clothed all those who were naked; they clothed them and gave them sandals, and fed them and gave them [something to] drink, anointed them [with oil, as was a host’s duty], and led all the feeble ones on donkeys, and they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palm Trees, to their brothers (fellow descendants of Israel, i.e. Jacob). Then they returned to Samaria.
28:16:Compromise with Assyria
At that time King Ahaz sent word to the king of Assyria [to ask him] for help.
28:17:For the Edomites had come again and attacked Judah and led away captives.
28:18:The Philistines had also invaded the cities of the low country and of the Negev (the South country) of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco with their villages, and also Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages, and they settled there.
28:19:For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for Ahaz had allowed unrestrained and undisciplined behavior in Judah and had been very unfaithful to the Lord.
28:20:So Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and harassed him instead of strengthening and supporting him.
28:21:Although Ahaz took a portion [of treasure] from the house of the Lord and from the house (palace) of the king and from the leaders, and gave it [as tribute] to the king of Assyria, it did not help Ahaz.
28:22:In the time of his distress, this same King Ahaz became yet more unfaithful to the Lord.
28:23:For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him, and he said, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram (Syria) helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they may help me.” But they became the ruin and downfall of him and all of Israel.
28:24:Then Ahaz collected the utensils of the house of God and he cut them in pieces; and he shut the doors of the house of the Lord and made altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem.
28:25:In every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers.
28:26:Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
28:27:And Ahaz slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.
29:1:Hezekiah Succeeds Ahaz in Judah
Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah.
29:2:He did right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that David his father (forefather) had done.
29:3:In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord [which his father had closed] and repaired them [and replaced the gold overlay].
29:4:He brought in the priests and Levites and gathered them into the square on the east.
29:5:Reforms Begun
Then he said to them, “Levites, listen to me! Now consecrate (dedicate) yourselves and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and get the filth [of idol worship] out of the Holy Place.
29:6:For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done evil in the sight of the Lord our God, and they have abandoned Him and have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and have turned their backs [toward Him].
29:7:They have also closed the doors of the [temple] porch and put out the lamps, and they have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel.
29:8:Therefore the wrath of the Lord has been against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of hissing, just as you see with your own eyes.
29:9:For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity because of this.
29:10:Now it is in my heart to make a covenant (solemn agreement) with the Lord God of Israel, so that His burning anger will turn away from us.
29:11:My sons, do not be negligent and careless now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in His presence, to attend to His service, and to be His ministers and burn incense.”
29:12:Then the Levites arose: Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of the Kohathites; from the sons of Merari: Kish the son of Abdi, Azariah the son of Jehallelel; from the Gershonites: Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;
29:13:from the sons of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel; from the sons of Asaph: Zechariah, and Mattaniah;
29:14:from the sons of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel.
29:15:They gathered their brothers (fellow Levites) together, consecrated themselves, and went in to cleanse the house of the Lord, as the king had commanded by the words of the Lord.
29:16:The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and every unclean thing they found in the temple of the Lord they brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s house. Then the Levites received it to take out to the Kidron Valley [for disposal].
29:17:Now they began the consecration on the first [day] of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of the Lord. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
29:18:Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the entire house (temple) of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all of its utensils, and the table of showbread with all its utensils.
29:19:Moreover, we have prepared and consecrated all the utensils which King Ahaz had discarded during his reign in his unfaithfulness; and behold, they are in front of the altar of the Lord.”
29:20:Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship
Then King Hezekiah arose early and assembled the officials of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord.
29:21:They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. He commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord.
29:22:So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They also slaughtered the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar.
29:23:Then they brought the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them [to symbolize the transference of their sin].
29:24:The priests slaughtered them and cleansed the altar from sin with their blood to atone for all Israel, because the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel.
29:25:Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with harps, and with lyres, in accordance with the command of David [his ancestor] and of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the Lord through His prophets.
29:26:The Levites stood with the musical instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
29:27:Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord also began with the trumpets accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel.
29:28:The entire congregation worshiped, the singers also sang, and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
29:29:When the burnt offerings were completed, the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped [God].
29:30:Also King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to exclaim praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they exclaimed praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.
29:31:Then Hezekiah said, “Now you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord; approach and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord.” And the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and all those who were willing brought burnt offerings.
29:32:The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs. All these were for a burnt offering to the Lord.
29:33:The consecrated things were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep.
29:34:But there were too few priests and they were unable to skin all the burnt offerings; so until the other priests had consecrated themselves, their brothers, the Levites, helped them until the work was done. For the Levites were more upright in heart and more conscientious than the priests in consecrating themselves.
29:35:There were also many burnt offerings with the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of the Lord was established again.
29:36:Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because of what God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.
30:1:All Israel Invited to the Passover
Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and to Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover Feast to the Lord God of Israel.
30:2:For the king and his officials and all the assembly in Jerusalem had decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month,
30:3:since they could not celebrate it at that time because a sufficient number of priests had not consecrated themselves, nor had the people assembled at Jerusalem.
30:4:Thus the [decision to set a] new time pleased the king and the entire assembly.
30:5:So they decided to circulate a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people were to come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel, at Jerusalem. For they had not celebrated it in great numbers as it was prescribed [for a long time].
30:6:So the runners went throughout Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his officials, in accordance with the command of the king, saying, “O sons (descendants) of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob), so that He will return to those of you who escaped and are left from the hand (power) of the kings of Assyria.
30:7:Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their fathers, so that He made them a horror (lifeless, desolate), just as you see.
30:8:Now do not stiffen your neck [becoming obstinate] like your fathers, but yield to the Lord and come to His sanctuary which He has sanctified and set apart forever, and serve the Lord your God, so that His burning anger will turn away from you.
30:9:For if you return to the Lord, your brothers (relatives) and your children will find compassion in the presence of those who led them away captive and will return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”
30:10:So the runners (couriers) passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun; but the people laughed at them with scorn and mocked them.
30:11:Yet some of the men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
30:12:Also the hand of God was on Judah to give them one heart to do that which the king and the officials had commanded by the word of the Lord.
30:13:Passover Reinstituted
Now many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month; it was a very large assembly.
30:14:They took action and removed the [pagan] altars which were in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Brook Kidron [the dumping place for the ashes of such repulsive things].
30:15:Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed of themselves, and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the Lord.
30:16:They stood at their accustomed stations, in accordance with the Law of Moses, the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood [which they received] from the hand of the Levites [on the altar].
30:17:For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves [that is, become ceremonially clean and free from all sin]; so the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean, in order to make them holy for the Lord.
30:18:For the majority of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, and yet they ate the Passover contrary to what had been prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon
30:19:everyone who sets his heart to seek God—the Lord God of his fathers—even though it is not in accordance with the [ceremonial] purification [rules] of the sanctuary.”
30:20:So the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people [of their uncleanness].
30:21:The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy. The Levites and priests praised the Lord day after day, singing to the Lord with loud instruments.
30:22:Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good understanding in the things of the Lord. So the people ate for the appointed seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers.
30:23:Then the whole assembly decided to celebrate [the feast] for another seven days; and they celebrated it another seven days with joy.
30:24:For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep, and the officials gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And a large number of priests consecrated themselves [for service].
30:25:All the assembly of Judah rejoiced, with the priests and the Levites and all the assembly that came from Israel, both the sojourners (resident aliens, foreigners) who came from the land of Israel and those living in Judah.
30:26:So there was great joy in Jerusalem, because there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel.
30:27:Then the priests and Levites stood and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.
31:1:Idols Are Destroyed
Now when all of this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, and smashed the [pagan] pillars (obelisks, memorial stones) in pieces, cut down the Asherim (wooden symbols of a female deity), and tore down the high places and the altars [of idolatry] throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons (descendants) of Israel returned to their own cities, each to his own property.
31:2:And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests, and the Levites by their divisions, each in accordance with his service, both the priests and Levites, for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord.
31:3:Reforms Continued
Hezekiah also appointed the king’s [personal] portion of his goods: for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and for the New Moons and for the appointed feasts, as it is written in the Law of the Lord.
31:4:He also told (ordered) the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion that was due to the priests and Levites, so that they might [be free to] devote themselves to the Law of the Lord.
31:5:As soon as the king’s order spread, the Israelites gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, [olive] oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in the tithe of everything abundantly.
31:6:The sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of sacred gifts which were consecrated to the Lord their God, and placed them in heaps.
31:7:In the third month [at the end of wheat harvest] they began to make the heaps, and they finished them in the seventh month.
31:8:When Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and His people Israel.
31:9:Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and Levites about the heaps.
31:10:Azariah the high priest of the house of Zadok answered him, “Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat with plenty left over, for the Lord has blessed His people, and this great quantity is left over.”
31:11:Then Hezekiah told them to prepare rooms [for storage] in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them.
31:12:They faithfully brought in the contributions, the tithes, and the sacred (dedicated) things. Conaniah the Levite was in charge of them, and Shimei his brother was second [in authority].
31:13:Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers directed by Conaniah and Shimei his brother by the appointment of King Hezekiah, and Azariah was the chief officer of the house of God.
31:14:Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the East Gate, was in charge of the voluntary offerings to God, to apportion the contributions for the Lord and the most holy things.
31:15:Under his authority were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah in the cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully their portions to their brothers (relatives) by divisions, whether great or small,
31:16:without regard to their genealogical registration, to the males from thirty years old and upward—everyone who entered the house of the Lord for his daily obligations—for their service in accordance with their duties by their divisions;
31:17:as well as the priests who were registered genealogically according to their fathers’ households, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, by their duties and by their divisions.
31:18:The genealogical registration included all their little children, their wives, and their sons and daughters, for the whole assembly, because they consecrated themselves faithfully in holiness.
31:19:Also for the sons of Aaron, the priests, who were in the pasture lands of their cities or in each and every city, there were men who were designated by name to give portions to every male among the priests and to everyone genealogically registered among the Levites.
31:20:This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah; and he did what was good, right, and true before the Lord his God.
31:21:Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in keeping with the law and the commandment, seeking and inquiring of his God [and longing for Him], he did with all his heart and prospered.
32:1:Sennacherib Invades Judah
After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, intending to take them for himself.
32:2:When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to go to war against Jerusalem,
32:3:he decided, together with his officers and his soldiers, to stop up the water [supply] from the springs which were outside the city [by enclosing them with masonry and concealing them], and they helped him.
32:4:So many people came together, and they stopped up all the springs and the brook which flowed [underground] through the region, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find an abundance of water?”
32:5:Also Hezekiah resolutely set to work and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down, and erected towers on it, and he built another wall outside and strengthened the Millo (fortification) in the City of David, and made a great number of weapons and shields.
32:6:He also appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and spoke encouragingly to them, saying,
32:7:“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the army that is with him; for the One with us is greater than the one with him.
32:8:With him there is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
32:9:Sennacherib Undermines Hezekiah
After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria, while he was at Lachish [besieging it] with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem, to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,
32:10:“Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘In what do you trust that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege?
32:11:Is not Hezekiah misleading you in order to let you die by famine and thirst, while saying, “The Lord our God will rescue us from the hand of the king of Assyria?”
32:12:Has the same Hezekiah not taken away his [Baal’s] high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, “You shall worship before [only] one altar and burn incense on it”?
32:13:Do you not know what I and my fathers (ancestors) have done to all the peoples of the [other] lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands able to rescue their lands from my hand at all?
32:14:Who [was there] among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed who was able to rescue his people from my hand, that your God should be able to rescue you from my hand?
32:15:So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God rescue you from my hand!’”
32:16:And his servants said even more against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah.
32:17:The Assyrian king also wrote letters insulting and taunting the Lord God of Israel, and speaking against Him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of other lands have not rescued their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not rescue His people from my hand.”
32:18:They shouted it loudly in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city [without a long siege].
32:19:They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as [they spoke of] the gods of the peoples of the earth, [which are only] the work of the hands of men.
32:20:Hezekiah’s Prayer Is Answered
But Hezekiah the king and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven [for help].
32:21:And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every brave warrior, commander, and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So the king returned to his own land in shame. And when he entered the house (temple) of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword.
32:22:Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and He gave them rest on every side.
32:23:And many brought gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and valuable presents to Hezekiah king of Judah; so from then on he was exalted in the sight of all nations.
32:24:In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and He answered him and gave him a [miraculous] sign.
32:25:But Hezekiah did nothing [for the Lord] in return for the benefit bestowed on him, because his heart had become proud; therefore God’s wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.
32:26:However, Hezekiah humbled his proud heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them during the days of Hezekiah.
32:27:Now Hezekiah had immense wealth and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of delightful articles,
32:28:and storehouses for the produce of grain, new wine, and [olive] oil, and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds for the flocks.
32:29:Moreover, he made cities for himself and acquired an abundance of flocks and herds, for God gave him very many possessions.
32:30:This same Hezekiah also stopped up the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and channeled them down to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything that he did.
32:31:And so in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, in order to know everything that was in his heart.
32:32:Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his godly achievements, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
32:33:So Hezekiah slept with his fathers [in death] and they buried him in the upper section of the tombs of the descendants of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place.
33:1:Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah in Judah
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
33:2:But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the repulsive acts of the [pagan] nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons (descendants) of Israel.
33:3:For he rebuilt the [idolatrous] high places which his father Hezekiah had torn down; and he set up altars for the Baals and made the Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, stars and planets] and served them.
33:4:He built [pagan] altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”
33:5:He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.
33:6:He made his sons pass through the fire [as an offering to his gods] in the Valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, and practiced sorcery, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.
33:7:Then he set the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My Name [and the symbol of my Presence] forever;
33:8:and I will not again remove Israel from the land which I appointed for your fathers, if they will only be careful to do everything that I have commanded them in regard to all the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses.”
33:9:So Manasseh caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to sin, by doing more evil than the [pagan] nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the sons of Israel.
33:10:Manasseh’s Idolatry Rebuked
Now the Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.
33:11:So the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks [through his nose or cheeks] and bound him with bronze [chains] and took him to Babylon.
33:12:But when he was in distress, he sought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
33:13:When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his pleading, and brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.
33:14:After this he built an outer wall for the City of David on the west side of Gihon, in the river valley, to the entrance of the Fish Gate; and he encircled the Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
33:15:He also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem; and he threw them outside the city.
33:16:Then he set up the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.
33:17:Yet the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
33:18:Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are among the records of the kings of Israel.
33:19:His prayer also and how God heard him, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and the sites on which he built high places and set up the Asherim and the carved images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the records of the Hozai.
33:20:So Manasseh slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in [the garden of] his own house. And his son Amon became king in his place.
33:21:Amon Becomes King in Judah
Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem.
33:22:But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them.
33:23:Further, he did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh [finally] had done, but Amon multiplied his guilt and his sin.
33:24:And his servants conspired against him and killed him in his own house (palace).
33:25:But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.
34:1:Josiah Succeeds Amon in Judah
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
34:2:He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father (forefather) and did not turn aside either to the right or to the left.
34:3:For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young (sixteen), he began to seek after and inquire of the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and cast images.
34:4:They tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were high above them; he also smashed the Asherim and the carved images and the cast images to pieces, and ground them to dust and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
34:5:Then Josiah burned the bones of the [pagan] priests on their altars and purged and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
34:6:In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their surrounding ruins,
34:7:he tore down the altars and beat and crushed the Asherim and the carved images into powder, and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
34:8:Josiah Repairs the Temple
In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, when he had purged the land and the [Lord’s] house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder (secretary), to repair the house of the Lord his God.
34:9:When they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, who guarded the doors, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
34:10:Then they gave it to the workmen who were appointed over the house of the Lord, and the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord gave it [to others] to repair and restore the house (temple).
34:11:They in turn gave it to the carpenters and builders to buy quarried stone and timber for couplings (trusses, braces) and to make beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.
34:12:The men did the work faithfully with foremen over them to supervise and inspect [their work]: Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam of the sons of the Kohathites, and the Levites, all who were skillful with musical instruments.
34:13:They were also in charge of the burden bearers [who carried heavy loads], and supervised all the workmen in any kind of service; and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.
34:14:Hilkiah Discovers Lost Book of the Law
When they were bringing out the money which had been brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses.
34:15:Hilkiah told Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And he gave the book to Shaphan.
34:16:Shaphan brought the book to the king, but [first] reported further to him, “Your servants are doing everything that was entrusted to them.
34:17:They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hands of the overseers and the workmen.”
34:18:Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
34:19:When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes.
34:20:Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying,
34:21:“Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah in regard to the words of the book which has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord which has been poured out on us because our fathers have not kept and obeyed the word of the Lord, to act in accordance with everything that is written in this book.”
34:22:Huldah, the Prophetess, Speaks
So Hilkiah and those whom the king had told went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem, in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her about this.
34:23:And she answered them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me,
34:24:thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am bringing evil on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book which they have read in the presence of the king of Judah.
34:25:Because they have abandoned (rejected) Me and have burned incense to other gods, in order to provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands, My wrath will be poured out on this place and it will not be extinguished.”’
34:26:But you shall say the following to King Josiah of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord: ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, concerning the words which you have heard,
34:27:“Because your heart was gentle and penitent and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and its inhabitants, and humbled yourself before Me, and tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” declares the Lord.
34:28:“Behold, I will gather you to your fathers [in death], and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the evil which I am going to bring on this place and on its inhabitants.”’” So they brought back word to the king.
34:29:Then the king sent word and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
34:30:And the king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read aloud so they could hear all the words of the Book of the Covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.
34:31:Josiah’s Good Reign
Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord—to walk after (obey) the Lord, and to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant written in this book.
34:32:Further, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin stand [with him, in confirmation of it]. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.
34:33:Josiah removed all the [pagan] repulsive things from all the lands belonging to the sons (descendants) of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. Throughout his lifetime they did not turn from following the Lord God of their fathers.
35:1:The Passover Observed Again
Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem; they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month.
35:2:He appointed the priests to their positions and encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord.
35:3:To the Levites who taught all Israel and were holy to the Lord he said, “Put the holy ark in the house (temple) which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; it shall not be a burden [carried] on your shoulders any longer. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel.
35:4:Prepare yourselves according to your fathers’ (ancestors’) households by your divisions, in accordance with the instructions of David king of Israel, and the instructions of his son Solomon.
35:5:And stand in the holy place [of the priests] according to the sections of the fathers’ households of your fellow kinsmen the lay people, and according to the Levites, by division of [the families of] a father’s household.
35:6:Slaughter the Passover lambs and consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your fellow countrymen to carry out (obey) the word of the Lord given by Moses.”
35:7:Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, to all who were present, flocks of lambs and young goats numbering 30,000, all as Passover offerings, and 3,000 bulls—these were from the king’s property.
35:8:His officers also contributed a voluntary offering to the people, the priests and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the officials of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 from the flocks [of lambs and young goats], and 300 bulls.
35:9:Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, officers of the Levites, contributed to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 from the flocks [of lambs and young goats], and 500 bulls.
35:10:When the service was ready, the priests stood in their [assigned] places and the Levites by their divisions, in accordance with the king’s command.
35:11:They slaughtered the Passover lambs, and while the priests sprinkled the blood received from their hand, the Levites skinned the animals.
35:12:Then they removed the burnt offerings, to distribute them to the sections of the fathers’ households of the lay people to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the bulls.
35:13:So they roasted the Passover lambs on the fire according to the ordinance; and they cooked the holy offerings in pots, in kettles, and in pans, and quickly brought them to all the lay people.
35:14:Afterward the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.
35:15:The singers, the sons of Asaph, were also in their places in accordance with the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their service, because their kinsmen the Levites prepared for them.
35:16:So all the service of the Lord was prepared on that day to celebrate the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, in accordance with the command of King Josiah.
35:17:Thus the sons of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
35:18:No Passover like it had been celebrated in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
35:19:In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign this Passover was celebrated.
35:20:Josiah Dies in Battle
After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt came up to make war at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him.
35:21:But Neco sent messengers to Josiah, saying, “What business do we have with each other, O King of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war, and God has ordered me to hurry. Stop for your own sake from interfering with God who is with me, so that He will not destroy you.”
35:22:Yet Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight against him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight against him on the plain of Megiddo.
35:23:The archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded.”
35:24:So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in the second chariot which he had, and brought him to Jerusalem where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
35:25:Then Jeremiah sung a lament (funeral song) for Josiah, and all the male and female singers have spoken about Josiah in their laments to this day. They made the songs an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are written in the Lamentations.
35:26:Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of devotion and godly achievements as written in the Law of the Lord,
35:27:and his acts, from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
36:1:Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, then Jehoiachin Rule
Then the people of the land took Joahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
36:2:Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned [only] three months in Jerusalem.
36:3:Then the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and imposed a fine on the land of a hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold.
36:4:The king of Egypt made Eliakim, the brother of Joahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Joahaz his brother, and brought him to Egypt.
36:5:Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God.
36:6:Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him and bound him with bronze [chains] to take him to Babylon.
36:7:Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house (temple) of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his temple there.
36:8:Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and the repulsive acts which he committed, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.
36:9:Jehoiachin was eight[teen] years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
36:10:Captivity in Babylon Begun
Now at the turn of the year [in the spring], King Nebuchadnezzar sent word and had him brought to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of the Lord, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
36:11:Zedekiah Rules in Judah
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem.
36:12:He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God; he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the Lord.
36:13:He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel.
36:14:Also, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful, following all the repulsive acts of the [pagan] nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.
36:15:The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place.
36:16:But they kept mocking the messengers of God and despising His words and scoffing at His prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy or healing.
36:17:Therefore He brought the king of the Chaldeans against them, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand.
36:18:And as for all the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his officials, he brought them all to Babylon.
36:19:Then they burned the house of God and tore down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire, and destroyed all its valuable articles.
36:20:He deported to Babylon those who had escaped from the sword; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the kingdom of Persia was established there,
36:21:to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had restored its Sabbaths; for as long as the land lay desolate it kept Sabbath until seventy years were complete.
36:22:Cyrus Permits Return
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah—the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
36:23:“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up [to Jerusalem]!’”
ezra:1:1:Proclamation of Cyrus
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia [that is, the first year he ruled Babylon], in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah [the prophet], the Lord stirred up (put in motion) the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:
1:2:“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
1:3:Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel; He is God who is in Jerusalem.
1:4:In any place where a survivor (Jewish exile) may live, let the men (Gentiles) of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with freewill offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.’”
1:5:Holy Articles Restored
Then the heads of the fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites, all those whose spirits God had stirred up, arose to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.
1:6:All those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle, and with valuable things, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering.
1:7:Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem [when he captured that city] and had put in the house of his gods.
1:8:And Cyrus, king of Persia, had Mithredath the treasurer bring them out, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the governor (leader) of Judah.
1:9:And they counted: 30 dishes (basins) of gold, 1,000 dishes of silver, 29 duplicates;
1:10:30 [small] gold bowls, 410 [small] silver bowls of a second kind, and 1,000 other articles.
1:11:All the articles of gold and of silver totaled 5,400. All these Sheshbazzar [the governor] brought up with the exiles who went from Babylon up to Jerusalem.
2:1:Number of Those Returning
Now these are the people of the province [of Judah] who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had deported to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own city.
2:2:These came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah.
The number of the men of the people of Israel:
2:3:the sons (descendants) of Parosh, 2,172;
2:4:the sons of Shephatiah, 372;
2:5:the sons of Arah, 775;
2:6:the sons of Pahath-moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812;
2:7:the sons of Elam, 1,254;
2:8:the sons of Zattu, 945;
2:9:the sons of Zaccai, 760;
2:10:the sons of Bani, 642;
2:11:the sons of Bebai, 623;
2:12:the sons of Azgad, 1,222;
2:13:the sons of Adonikam, 666;
2:14:the sons of Bigvai, 2,056;
2:15:the sons of Adin, 454;
2:16:the sons of Ater of Hezekiah, 98;
2:17:the sons of Bezai, 323;
2:18:the sons of Jorah, 112;
2:19:the sons of Hashum, 223;
2:20:the sons of Gibbar, 95;
2:21:the men of Bethlehem, 123;
2:22:the men of Netophah, 56;
2:23:the men of Anathoth, 128;
2:24:the sons of Azmaveth, 42;
2:25:the sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah and Beeroth, 743;
2:26:the sons of Ramah and Geba, 621;
2:27:the men of Michmas, 122;
2:28:the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;
2:29:the sons of Nebo, 52;
2:30:the sons of Magbish, 156;
2:31:the sons of the other Elam, 1,254;
2:32:the sons of Harim, 320;
2:33:the sons of Lod, Hadid and Ono, 725;
2:34:the men of Jericho, 345;
2:35:the sons of Senaah, 3,630.
2:36:Priests Returning
The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, 973;
2:37:the sons of Immer, 1,052;
2:38:the sons of Pashhur, 1,247;
2:39:the sons of Harim, 1,017.
2:40:Levites Returning
The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74.
2:41:The singers: the sons of Asaph, 128.
2:42:The sons of the gatekeepers: of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai, in all 139.
2:43:The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
2:44:the sons of Keros, Siaha, Padon,
2:45:the sons of Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub,
2:46:the sons of Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan,
2:47:the sons of Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah,
2:48:the sons of Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam,
2:49:the sons of Uzza, Paseah, Besai,
2:50:the sons of Asnah, Meunim, Nephisim,
2:51:the sons of Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
2:52:the sons of Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,
2:53:the sons of Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
2:54:the sons of Neziah, Hatipha.
2:55:The sons of [King] Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, Hassophereth (Sophereth), Peruda,
2:56:the sons of Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel,
2:57:the sons of Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth-hazzebaim, Ami.
2:58:All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants totaled 392.
2:59:Now these are the ones who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but they could not provide evidence of their fathers’ households and their descendants, whether they were of Israel:
2:60:the sons of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda, 652.
2:61:Priests Removed
Of the sons of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, of Hakkoz, and of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and he was known by their name.
2:62:These searched [for their names] among those registered in the genealogies, but they were not found; so they were excluded from the priesthood as [ceremonially] unclean.
2:63:The governor told them that they should not eat of the most holy things [the priests’ food] until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim [who by consulting these articles in his breastplate could determine God’s will in the matter].
2:64:The whole assembly totaled 42,360,
2:65:besides their male and female servants who numbered 7,337; and [among them] they had 200 male and female singers.
2:66:Their horses totaled 736; their mules, 245;
2:67:their camels totaled 435; their donkeys, 6,720.
2:68:Some of the heads of the fathers’ households (extended families), when they arrived at the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, made voluntary contributions for the house of God to rebuild it on its [old] foundation.
2:69:They gave according to their ability to the treasury for the work, 61,000 drachmas of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priestly [linen] garments.
2:70:So the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants settled in their [own] cities, and all Israel [gradually settled] into their cities.
3:1:Altar and Sacrifices Restored
When the seventh month came and the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.
3:2:Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers arose, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses, the man of God.
3:3:So they set up the altar on its [old] foundation, for they were terrified because of the peoples of the lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, morning and evening.
3:4:They celebrated the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the fixed number of daily burnt offerings, in accordance with the ordinances, as each day required;
3:5:and afterward, there was the continual burnt offering, the offering at the New Moons, and at all the appointed festivals of the Lord that were consecrated, and the offerings of everyone who made a voluntary offering to the Lord.
3:6:From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid.
3:7:They gave money to the masons and to the carpenters, and gave food, drink, and [olive] oil to the people from Sidon and Tyre, to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the seaport of Joppa, in accordance with the authorization they had from Cyrus king of Persia.
3:8:Temple Restoration Begun
In the second year of their coming to God’s house at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak began [the work], with the rest of their brothers—the priests and Levites and all who came to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to oversee the work of the house of the Lord.
3:9:Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers stood united with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, to oversee the workmen in the house of God.
3:10:Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with their cymbals, to praise the Lord in accordance with the directions of David king of Israel.
3:11:They sang [responsively], praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His lovingkindness (mercy) toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
3:12:But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first house (temple), wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy,
3:13:so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.
4:1:Adversaries Hinder the Work
Now when [the Samaritans] the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles from the captivity were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel,
4:2:they came to Zerubbabel [who was now governor] and to the heads of the fathers’ households and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God [and worship] just as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.”
4:3:But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the Lord God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”
4:4:Then [the Samaritans and others of] the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them [to deter them] from building,
4:5:and hired advisers [to work] against them to frustrate their plans during the entire time that Cyrus king of Persia reigned, [and this lasted] even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
4:6:Now in the reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes), in the beginning of his reign, the Samaritans wrote [to him] an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem [who had returned from exile].
4:7:Later, in the days of [King] Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated from Aramaic.
4:8:The Letter to King Artaxerxes
Rehum the [Persian] commander [of the Samaritans] and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows—
4:9:then wrote Rehum the [Persian] commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the lesser governors, the officials, the secretaries, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites,
4:10:and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the region west of the [Euphrates] River. Now
4:11:this is a copy of the letter which they sent to him:
“To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men in the region west of the [Euphrates] River; and now:
4:12:Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem. They are rebuilding this rebellious and evil city and are finishing its walls and repairing the foundations.
4:13:Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, then they will not pay tax, custom, or toll, and the revenue of the kings will be diminished.
4:14:Now because we are in the service of the palace, and it is not proper for us to witness the king’s dishonor, for that reason we have sent word and informed the king,
4:15:in order that a search may be made in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that this is a rebellious city, damaging to kings and provinces, and that in the past they have incited rebellion within it. That is why that city was laid waste (destroyed).
4:16:We are informing the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls finished, it will mean that you will have no possession in the province west of the [Euphrates] River.”
4:17:The King Replies and Work Stops
Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the [Persian] commander, to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces west of the River: “Peace (Greetings). And now,
4:18:The document which you sent to us has been translated and read before me.
4:19:I have issued a command and a search has been made, and it has been discovered that this city [Jerusalem] in earlier times has revolted against the kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been perpetrated in it.
4:20:There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem who have ruled over all the provinces west of the [Euphrates] River, and tax, custom, and toll were paid to them.
4:21:So, now issue a decree to make these men stop [work], so that this city is not rebuilt until a [new] command is issued by me.
4:22:Beware of being negligent in carrying out this matter. Why should damage increase to the detriment of the kings?”
4:23:Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they went up hurriedly to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them stop [work] by force of arms.
4:24:Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped. It was suspended until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
5:1:Temple Work Resumed
Now when the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, the son (grandson) of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, whose Spirit was over them,
5:2:then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel [heir to the throne of Judah] and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God [Haggai and Zechariah] were with them, supporting and encouraging them.
5:3:At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province on the west side of the [Euphrates] River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and said, “Who issued you a decree and authorized you to rebuild this temple and to restore this wall (shrine)?”
5:4:Then, accordingly, we told them the names of the men who were reconstructing this building.
5:5:But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so they [Tattenai and the others] did not stop them until a report could come before Darius, and then an answer was returned by letter concerning it.
5:6:Adversaries Write to Darius
This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of the province west of the [Euphrates] River, and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the officials who were west of the River, sent to Darius the king.
5:7:They sent a report to him in which it was written: “To Darius the king, all peace.
5:8:Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, with beams laid in the walls; and this work goes on with diligence and care and is succeeding in their hands.
5:9:Then we asked those elders, ‘Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?’
5:10:We also asked them their names so that we might notify you, and so that we might record the names of the men in charge.
5:11:They replied, ‘We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are rebuilding the temple which was erected many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.
5:12:But because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He handed them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon.
5:13:But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, [the same] King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.
5:14:Also the gold and silver utensils of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought into the temple of Babylon, King Cyrus took from the temple of Babylon and had them given to a man whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor.
5:15:And Cyrus said to him, “Take these utensils, go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.”
5:16:Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and is not yet completed.’
5:17:So now, if it pleases the king, let a search be conducted in the king’s treasure house [in the royal archives] there in Babylon to see if it is true that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send us his decision concerning this matter.”
6:1:Darius Finds Cyrus’ Decree
Then King Darius issued a decree, and a search was conducted in Babylon in the archives where the treasures [and records] were stored.
6:2:In Ecbatana in the fortress (palace) in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was recorded: “Memorandum—
6:3:“In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem, let the temple (house), the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be strongly laid, its height and its width each 60 cubits,
6:4:with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury.
6:5:Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought back to their [proper] places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’
6:6:“Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province west of the [Euphrates] River, Shethar-bozenai and your associates, the officials who are west of the River, keep far away from there.
6:7:Leave the work on this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.
6:8:Also, I issue a decree as to what you are to do for these Jewish elders for the rebuilding of this house of God: the full cost is to be paid to these people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the River, and that without delay.
6:9:Whatever is needed, including young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil, according to the request of the priests at Jerusalem, let it all be given to them daily without fail,
6:10:so that they may offer pleasing (sweet-smelling) sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
6:11:I have also issued a decree that if there is any man who violates this edict, a beam of timber shall be pulled from his house [and set up]; then he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be turned into a refuse heap for this [violation].
6:12:May the God who has caused His Name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who attempts to alter this command, so as to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree; let it be carried out quickly and with due diligence.
6:13:The Temple Completed and Dedicated
Then Tattenai, governor of the province west of the [Euphrates] River, with Shethar-bozenai and their associates carried out the decree with due diligence, just as King Darius had sent and commanded.
6:14:And the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building as commanded by the God of Israel and in accordance with the decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
6:15:This temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
6:16:And all Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the [former] exiles—celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.
6:17:They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and, as a sin offering for all Israel, 12 male goats, according to the number of Israel’s tribes.
6:18:Then they appointed the priests to their divisions and the Levites in their orders for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.
6:19:The Passover Observed
The [former] exiles kept the Passover on the fourteenth [day] of the first month.
6:20:For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were [ceremonially] clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.
6:21:The Passover was eaten by the sons (descendants) of Israel (Jacob) who returned from exile and by all those who had separated themselves from the [ceremonial] uncleanness of the nations of the land to join them, in order to seek the Lord God of Israel.
6:22:They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had caused them to rejoice and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, so that he encouraged them and strengthened their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
7:1:Ezra Journeys from Babylon to Jerusalem
Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes I [son of Ahasuerus (Xerxes)] king of Persia, Ezra the son (descendant) of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
7:2:the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
7:3:the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
7:4:the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
7:5:the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest—
7:6:this Ezra went up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law (the five books) of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him everything that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.
7:7:Some of the sons of Israel, with some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants also went up [from Babylon] to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.
7:8:Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king.
7:9:For on the first of the first month he started out from Babylon, and on the first of the fifth month he arrived in Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was on him.
7:10:For Ezra had set his heart (resolved) to study and interpret the Law of the Lord, and to practice it and teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.
7:11:King’s Decree on Behalf of Ezra
Now this is a copy of the decree that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe [who was] learned in the words of the commandments of the Lord and of His statutes to Israel:
7:12:“Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, perfect peace (greetings). And now
7:13:I have issued a decree that all of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.
7:14:For you are sent by the king and his seven advisers to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem in accordance with the Law of your God, which is in your hand,
7:15:and to bring [with you] the silver and gold which the king and his advisers have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,
7:16:and all the silver and gold which you find in the whole province of Babylon, along with the freewill offering of the people and of the priests for the house of their God in Jerusalem.
7:17:Therefore with this money, you shall diligently buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.
7:18:And whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, you may do in accordance with the will of your God.
7:19:As for the utensils which are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver [those] in full before the God of Jerusalem.
7:20:The rest of the things required for the house of your God, which you may have occasion to provide, provide it from the royal treasury.
7:21:“And I, Artaxerxes the king, issue a decree to all the treasurers in the provinces west of the [Euphrates] River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently and at once—
7:22:even up to 100 talents of silver, 100 kors (measures) of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of [olive] oil, and salt as needed.
7:23:Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done diligently and with enthusiasm for the house of the God of heaven, so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons.
7:24:We also inform you that it is not authorized to impose tax, tribute, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants or other servants of this house of God.
7:25:“You, Ezra, are to appoint magistrates and judges in accordance with the wisdom and instruction of your God which is in your hand, so that they may judge all the people who are in the province west of the [Euphrates] River; appoint those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who does not know them.
7:26:Whoever does not observe and practice the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him strictly and promptly, whether it be for death or banishment or confiscation of property or imprisonment.”
7:27:The King’s Kindness
Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers [said Ezra], who put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to adorn and glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem,
7:28:and has extended His mercy and lovingkindness to me before the king, his advisers, and all the king’s mighty officials. I was strengthened and encouraged, for the hand of the Lord my God was upon me, and I gathered together outstanding men of Israel to go up with me [to Jerusalem].
8:1:People Who Went with Ezra
These are the heads of their fathers’ households and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes:
8:2:of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush;
8:3:of the sons of Shecaniah who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men by genealogy;
8:4:of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, with 200 men;
8:5:of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, with 300 men;
8:6:of the sons of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, with 50 men;
8:7:of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, with 70 men;
8:8:of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, with 80 men;
8:9:of the sons of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, with 218 men;
8:10:of the sons of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah, with 160 men;
8:11:of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, with 28 men;
8:12:of the sons of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, with 110 men;
8:13:of the sons of Adonikam, the last to come, their names are Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, with 60 men;
8:14:and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, with 70 men.
8:15:Ezra Sends for Levites
Now I gathered them together at the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days. I observed the people and the priests, and I did not find any Levites there.
8:16:So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, [who were] leading men, and also for Joiarib and Elnathan, [who were] teachers.
8:17:And I sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that is, to bring us servants (ministers) for the house of our God.
8:18:And as the good hand of our God was upon us, they brought us a man of understanding (insight) from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, named Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers (relatives), 18 men;
8:19:and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his brothers (relatives) and their sons, 20 men;
8:20:also 220 of the temple servants, whom David and the leaders had set apart [with their descendants] for the service of the Levites. They were all designated by name.
8:21:Protection of God Invoked
Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, so that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our children, and all our possessions.
8:22:For I was ashamed to request troops and horsemen from the king to protect us from the enemy along the way, because we had told the king, “The hand of our God is favorable toward all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who abandon (turn away from) Him.”
8:23:So we fasted and sought [help from] our God concerning this [matter], and He heard our plea.
8:24:Then I set apart twelve leading priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers (relatives),
8:25:and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the utensils, the offering for the house of our God which the king, his advisers, his officials, and all Israel who were present there had offered.
8:26:I weighed into their hands 650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth 100 talents, and 100 talents of gold;
8:27:also 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two utensils of fine shiny bronze, precious as gold.
8:28:Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, the utensils are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers.
8:29:Guard and keep them until you weigh them before the leading priests and the Levites and the leaders of the fathers’ households of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.”
8:30:So the priests and the Levites received the weighed out silver and gold, and the utensils, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
8:31:We set out from the river Ahava on the twelfth [day] of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He rescued us from the hand of the enemy and those who lay in ambushes along the way.
8:32:So we came to Jerusalem and remained there for three days.
8:33:Treasure Placed in the Temple
On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the utensils were weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were the Levites—Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui.
8:34:Every piece was counted and weighed, and all the weight was recorded at that time.
8:35:Also the [former] exiles who had come from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, and 12 male goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord.
8:36:And they delivered the king’s edicts to the king’s satraps (lieutenants) and to the governors west of the [Euphrates] River, and they supported the people and God’s house.
9:1:Mixed Marriages
When these things were completed, the officials came to me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, but have committed the repulsive acts of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.
9:2:For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands. Indeed, the officials and chief men have been foremost in this unfaithful act and direct violation [of God’s will].”
9:3:When I heard this, I tore my clothing and my robe [in grief], I pulled out some of the hair from my head and my beard, and sat down appalled [at the shame of it].
9:4:Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me as I sat appalled until the evening offering.
9:5:Prayer of Confession
At the evening offering I arose from my [time of] humiliation and penitence and having torn my clothing and my robe, I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to the Lord my God,
9:6:and I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongdoings have risen higher than our heads and our guilt has grown to the heavens.
9:7:Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been exceedingly guilty; and on account of our wrongdoings we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to complete shame, as it is today.
9:8:But now for a brief moment grace has been [shown to us] from the Lord our God, who has left us a surviving remnant and has given us a peg (secure hold) in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
9:9:For we are slaves; yet our God has not abandoned us in our bondage, but has extended lovingkindness to us before the kings of Persia, to revive us to rebuild the house of our God, to repair the site of its ruins and to give us a wall [of protection] in Judah and Jerusalem.
9:10:“Now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have abandoned (turned away from) Your commandments,
9:11:which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is a defiled land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their repulsive acts which have filled it from one end to the other along with their impurity.
9:12:So now do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons; and never seek their peace or their prosperity, so that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your children forever.’
9:13:And after everything that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since You our God have punished us less than our wrongdoings deserve, and have given us survivors like these,
9:14:shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who practice these repulsive acts? Would You not be angry with us to the point of total destruction, so that there would be no remnant nor survivor?
9:15:O Lord God of Israel, You are [uncompromisingly] just (righteous), for we have been left as survivors, as it is this day. Behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this.”
10:1:Reconciliation with God
Now while Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and laying himself face down before the house of God, a very large group from Israel, of men, women, and children, gathered to him, for the people wept bitterly.
10:2:Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.
10:3:Therefore let us now make a covenant with our God to send away all the [foreign] wives and their children, in accordance with the advice of my lord and of those who tremble [in reverent obedience] at the commandment of our God; and let it be done in accordance with the Law.
10:4:Stand up, for it is your duty, and we will be with you. Be brave and act.”
10:5:Then Ezra stood and made the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, take an oath that they would act in accordance with this proposal; so they took the oath.
10:6:Then Ezra got up from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib [and spent the night there]. He did not eat bread nor drink water, for he was mourning over the [former] exiles’ faithlessness.
10:7:They made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the [former] exiles, that they were to assemble at Jerusalem,
10:8:and that whoever would not come within three days, by order of the counsel of the leaders and the elders, all his possessions and property would be forfeited and he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.
10:9:So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered at Jerusalem within three days. It was the twentieth [day] of the ninth month, and all the people sat in the open square in front of the house of God, trembling because of [the seriousness of] this matter and because of the heavy rain.
10:10:Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful [to God] and have married foreign (pagan) women, adding to the guilt of Israel.
10:11:So now, make confession to the Lord God of your fathers and do His will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from [your] foreign wives.”
10:12:Then all the assembly replied with a loud voice, “It is our responsibility to do just as you have said.
10:13:But there are many people and it is the season of heavy rain; so we are unable to stand outside. Nor can the task be done in a day or two, for we have transgressed greatly in this matter.
10:14:Let our leaders stand for and represent the entire assembly; let all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of each city, until the burning anger of our God over this matter is turned away from us.”
10:15:Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them.
10:16:Then the [former] exiles did so. Ezra the priest and men who were heads of fathers’ households were selected, according to their fathers’ households, each of them by name; and they sat down on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter.
10:17:And by the first day of the first month they finished investigating all the men married to foreign wives.
10:18:List of Offenders
Now among the sons of the priests who had married foreign women were found: of the sons of Jeshua [the high priest] the son of Jozadak, and his brothers—Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.
10:19:They vowed to send away their [pagan] wives, and being guilty, they each offered a ram of the flock for their offense.
10:20:Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah;
10:21:and of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah;
10:22:and of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
10:23:Of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah, that is, Kelita, Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
10:24:Of the singers: Eliashib; and of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.
10:25:Of Israel, of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah (Hashabiah), and Benaiah;
10:26:and of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah;
10:27:and of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza;
10:28:and of the sons also of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai;
10:29:and of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth;
10:30:and of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh;
10:31:and of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
10:32:Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah;
10:33:of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei;
10:34:of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel,
10:35:Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,
10:36:Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
10:37:Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu,
10:38:Bani, Binnui, Shimei,
10:39:Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,
10:40:Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
10:41:Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,
10:42:Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.
10:43:Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.
10:44:All these had married foreign women, and some of them had wives by whom they had children.
nehemiah:1:1:Nehemiah’s Grief for the Exiles
The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah:
Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year [of the Persian king], as I was in the capitol of Susa,
1:2:Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the surviving Jews who had escaped and survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem.
1:3:They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its [fortified] gates have been burned (destroyed) by fire.”
1:4:Now it came about when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying [constantly] before the God of heaven.
1:5:And I said, “Please, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,
1:6:please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You, day and night, on behalf of Your servants, the sons (descendants) of Israel (Jacob), confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; I and my father’s house have sinned.
1:7:We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.
1:8:Please remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful and violate your obligations to Me I will scatter you [abroad] among the peoples;
1:9:but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered are in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen for My Name to dwell.’
1:10:Now they are Your servants and Your people whom You have redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.
1:11:Please, O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to [reverently] fear Your Name [Your essence, Your nature, Your attributes, with awe]; and make Your servant successful this day and grant him compassion in the sight of this man [the king].”
For I was cupbearer to the king [of Persia].
2:1:Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered
In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was placed before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not [previously] been sad in his presence.
2:2:So the king said to me, “Why do you look sad when you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very frightened,
2:3:and I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?”
2:4:The king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.
2:5:I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your presence, [I ask] that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, so that I may rebuild it.”
2:6:The king, beside whom the queen was sitting, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time [for my return].
2:7:Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the provinces beyond the [Euphrates] River, so that they will allow me to pass through until I reach Judah,
2:8:and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to construct beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, and for the city wall and for the house which I will occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
2:9:Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the [Euphrates] River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent officers of the army and horsemen with me.
2:10:When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard this, it caused them great displeasure that someone had come to see about the welfare and prosperity of the Israelites.
2:11:Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls
So I came to Jerusalem and was there for three days.
2:12:Then I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting in my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there was no animal with me except the one on which I was riding [so as not to attract attention].
2:13:So I went out at night by the Valley Gate toward the Dragon’s Well and to the Refuse Gate and inspected the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire.
2:14:Then I passed over to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no place for the animal that I was riding to pass.
2:15:So I went up at night by the ravine [of Kidron] and inspected the wall; then I turned back and entered [the city] by the Valley Gate, and returned.
2:16:The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who did the work.
2:17:Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation that we are in—how Jerusalem is desolate and lies in ruins and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, and let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”
2:18:Then I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they thoroughly supported the good work.
2:19:But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked us and regarded us with contempt and said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
2:20:I answered them, “The God of heaven [has appointed us for His purpose and] will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”
3:1:Builders of the Walls
Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests and built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set up its doors; and they consecrated the wall [westward] to the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel.
3:2:Next to Eliashib the men of Jericho built, and next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.
3:3:Now the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and set up its doors with its bolts and its bars.
3:4:Next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, made repairs. Next to him Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs. And next to him Zadok the son of Baana also made repairs.
3:5:Next to him the men of Tekoa made repairs, but their nobles did not support the work of their overseers.
3:6:Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate. They laid its beams and set up its doors with its bolts and its bars.
3:7:Next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, made repairs for the official seat (Jerusalem residence) of the governor [of the province] beyond the [Euphrates] River.
3:8:Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.
3:9:Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.
3:10:Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his own house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs.
3:11:Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Furnaces.
3:12:Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.
3:13:Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it and set up its doors with its bolts and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits (1,500 ft.) of the wall as far as the Refuse Gate.
3:14:Malchijah the son of Rechab, the official of the district of Beth-haccherem repaired the Refuse Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors with its bolts and its bars.
3:15:Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, official of the district of Mizpah repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it [with a roof], and set up its doors with its bolts and its bars, and [he rebuilt] the wall of the Pool of Shelah (Siloam) by the King’s Garden as far as the stairs that descend [the eastern slope] from [the section of Jerusalem known as] the City of David.
3:16:After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, official of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired [the wall] as far as [a point] in front of the tombs of David, and as far as the artificial pool and the house of the guards.
3:17:After him the Levites carried out repairs under Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, official of half the district of Keilah, carried out repairs for his district.
3:18:After him their brothers carried out repairs under Bavvai the son of Henadad, official of [the other] half of the district of Keilah.
3:19:Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, the official of Mizpah, repaired another section [northward] in front of the ascent to the armory at the Angle [in the wall].
3:20:After him Baruch son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section [toward the hill], from the Angle [in the wall] to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
3:21:After him Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired another [eastern] section, from the door of Eliashib’s house as far as the end of his house.
3:22:After him the priests, the men of the [lower Jordan] valley, carried out repairs.
3:23:After them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, carried out repairs beside his own house.
3:24:After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section [of the wall], from the house of Azariah to the Angle [in the wall] and to the corner.
3:25:Palal the son of Uzai made repairs in front of the Angle [in the wall] and the tower projecting from the upper house (palace) of the king, which is by the courtyard of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs.
3:26:The temple servants were living in Ophel [the hill south of the temple], and they made repairs as far as the front of the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower.
3:27:After them the Tekoites repaired another section in front of the great projecting tower and as far as the wall of Ophel.
3:28:Above the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each one in front of his own house.
3:29:After them Zadok the son of Immer carried out repairs in front of his house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, keeper of the East Gate, repaired the wall.
3:30:After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah carried out repairs in front of his own quarters.
3:31:After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, carried out repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, in front of the Inspection Gate and as far as the upper room of the corner.
3:32:Between the upper room of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and merchants carried out repairs.
4:1:Work Is Ridiculed
But when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious, completely enraged, and he ridiculed the Jews.
4:2:He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the heaps of dust and rubbish, even the ones that have been burned?”
4:3:Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox should get up on it, he would break down their stone wall.”
4:4:[And Nehemiah prayed] Hear, O our God, how we are despised! Return their taunts on their own heads. Give them up as prey in a land of captivity.
4:5:Do not forgive their wrongdoing and do not let their sin be wiped out before You, for they have offended the builders [and provoked You].
4:6:So we built the wall and the entire wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a heart to work.
4:7:But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches were being closed, they were very angry.
4:8:They all conspired together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to cause a disturbance in it.
4:9:Discouragement Overcome
But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.
4:10:Then [the leaders of] Judah said,
“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,
And there is much rubble;
We ourselves are unable
To rebuild the wall.”
4:11:Our enemies said, “They will not know or see us until we are among them, kill them and put a stop to the work.”
4:12:When the Jews who lived near them came, they said to us ten times (repeatedly), “From every place you turn, they will come up against us.”
4:13:So I stationed armed men behind the wall in the lowest places, at the open positions [where it was least protected]; and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows.
4:14:When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles and officials and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; [confidently] remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and [with courage from Him] fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and for your homes.”
4:15:Now when our enemies heard that we knew about their plot against us, and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each one to his work.
4:16:From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while the other half held the spears, shields, bows, and breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah.
4:17:Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens loaded themselves so that everyone worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.
4:18:Every builder had his sword secured at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet [to summon the troops] stood at my side.
4:19:I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.
4:20:Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
4:21:So we carried on with the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars came out.
4:22:At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem so that they may serve as a guard for us at night and a laborer during the day.”
4:23:So neither I, my brothers (relatives), my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each took his weapon [even] to the water.
5:1:Usury Abolished
Now there was a great outcry of the [poorer] people and their wives against their Jewish brothers [to whom they were deeply in debt].
5:2:For there were some who were saying, “We, along with our sons and our daughters, are many; therefore allow us to get grain, so that we may eat and survive.”
5:3:There were others who were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to buy grain because of the famine.”
5:4:There were also others who were saying, “We have borrowed money on our fields and vineyards for the [Persian] king’s [heavy] tax.
5:5:Now our flesh (skin) is the same as that of our brothers (relatives), and our children are like their children, yet here we are forcing (selling) our sons and our daughters to be slaves; and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are powerless [to redeem them] because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
5:6:Then I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words [of accusation].
5:7:I thought it over and then challenged the nobles and the rulers. I said to them, “You are exacting usury (excessive interest) from your own brother (relative).” So I held a great assembly to confront them.
5:8:I said to them, “According to our ability we have redeemed (purchased back) our Jewish brothers who were sold to the [Gentile] nations; now would you even sell your brothers, that they might be sold to us?” Then they were silent and could not find a [single] word to say.
5:9:So I said, “What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunting by the [pagan] nations, our enemies?
5:10:And likewise I, my brothers, and my servants are lending them money and grain. Please, let us stop [charging] this interest.
5:11:Please, give back to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, and also a hundredth part of the money, the grain, the new wine, and the oil that you are lending them.”
5:12:Then they said, “We will give it back and not require anything from them. We will do exactly as you say.” Then I called the priests and took an oath from them that they would act in accordance with this promise.
5:13:I also shook out the front of my garment and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house and from his possessions who does not keep this promise; like this may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen!” And they praised the Lord. Then the people acted in accordance with this promise.
5:14:Nehemiah’s Example
Moreover, from the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my relatives have eaten the governor’s food allowance.
5:15:But the former governors who were [in office] before me put heavy burdens on the people and took food and wine from them in addition to forty shekels of silver [as an excessive monthly salary]; even their servants assumed authority over the people. But I did not do so because of the [reverent] fear of God.
5:16:I also applied myself to the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered together there for the work.
5:17:Moreover, there were at my table a hundred and fifty Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us.
5:18:Now the following were prepared for each day: one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls (poultry) were prepared for me; and in intervals of ten days all sorts of wine was provided in abundance. Yet for all this, I did not demand the governor’s food allowance, because the servitude was heavy on this people.
5:19:Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all I have done for this people.
6:1:The Enemy’s Plot
Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there was no breach left in it, although at that time I had not set up doors in the gates,
6:2:Sanballat and Geshem sent word to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.
6:3:So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave to come down to [meet with] you?”
6:4:They sent word to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same way.
6:5:Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand.
6:6:In it was written, “It is reported among the [neighboring] nations, and Gashmu is saying that you and the Jews are planning to revolt, and that is the reason you are rebuilding the wall. And according to these reports, you are to be their king.
6:7:Also [it is reported that] you have appointed prophets to make a proclamation concerning you in Jerusalem, saying, ‘There is a king in Judah!’ And now these things will be reported to the [Persian] king. So come now, and let us consult together.”
6:8:I sent a message to him, saying, “Such things as you are saying have not been done; you are inventing them in your own mind.”
6:9:For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done.” But now, [O God,] strengthen my hands.
6:10:When I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, “Let us meet [and take refuge] together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple, because they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.”
6:11:But I said, “Should a man like me flee [in fear and hide]? Should someone like me enter the temple [for sanctuary] to save his life? I will not go.”
6:12:Then I realized that God had not sent him, but he spoke this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
6:13:He was hired for this reason, that I would be frightened and do as he said and sin, so that they would have [grounds to make] a malicious report in order to censure and disgrace me.
6:14:Remember, O My God, Tobiah and Sanballat in regard to these actions of theirs, and also [remember] the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me.
6:15:The Wall Is Finished
So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth [day] of [the month] Elul, in fifty-two days.
6:16:When all our enemies heard about it, and all the [Gentile] nations around us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.
6:17:Moreover, in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.
6:18:For many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.
6:19:Also, they were speaking about Tobiah’s good deeds in my presence, and reporting to him what I said. Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.
7:1:Census of First Returned Exiles
Now when the wall had been rebuilt and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites had been appointed,
7:2:I put my brother Hanani, with Hananiah the commander of the fortress, in charge of Jerusalem, for Hananiah was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many [of the others].
7:3:I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while the watchmen are still standing guard, have them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from the residents of Jerusalem, each at his post [on the wall], and each in front of his own house.”
7:4:Now the city was spacious and large, but there were few people in it and the houses had not [yet] been built.
7:5:Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be registered by genealogy. Then I found the register of the genealogy of those who came [from Babylon] first, and I found the following record:
7:6:These are the sons (descendants, people) of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had deported [to Babylon]; they returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his city,
7:7:the ones who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah.
The men of the people of Israel numbered:
7:8:the sons of Parosh, 2,172;
7:9:the sons of Shephatiah, 372;
7:10:the sons of Arah, 652;
7:11:the sons of Pahath-moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818;
7:12:the sons of Elam, 1,254;
7:13:the sons of Zattu, 845;
7:14:the sons of Zaccai, 760;
7:15:the sons of Binnui, 648;
7:16:the sons of Bebai, 628;
7:17:the sons of Azgad, 2,322;
7:18:the sons of Adonikam, 667;
7:19:the sons of Bigvai, 2,067;
7:20:the sons of Adin, 655;
7:21:the sons of Ater, of Hezekiah, 98;
7:22:the sons of Hashum, 328;
7:23:the sons of Bezai, 324;
7:24:the sons of Hariph, 112;
7:25:the sons of Gibeon, 95;
7:26:the men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188;
7:27:the men of Anathoth, 128;
7:28:the men of Beth-azmaveth, 42;
7:29:the men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah and Beeroth, 743;
7:30:the men of Ramah and Geba, 621;
7:31:the men of Michmas, 122;
7:32:the men of Bethel and Ai, 123;
7:33:the men of the other Nebo, 52;
7:34:the sons of the other Elam, 1,254;
7:35:the sons of Harim, 320;
7:36:the sons of Jericho, 345;
7:37:the sons of Lod, Hadid and Ono, 721;
7:38:the sons of Senaah, 3,930.
7:39:These are the priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, 973;
7:40:the sons of Immer, 1,052;
7:41:the sons of Pashhur, 1,247;
7:42:the sons of Harim, 1,017.
7:43:These are the Levites: the sons of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodevah, 74.
7:44:The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148.
7:45:The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, 138.
7:46:The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth,
7:47:the sons of Keros, the sons of Sia, the sons of Padon,
7:48:the sons of Lebana, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Shalmai,
7:49:the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar,
7:50:the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda,
7:51:the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah,
7:52:the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephushesim,
7:53:the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur,
7:54:the sons of Bazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha,
7:55:the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah,
7:56:the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.
7:57:The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida,
7:58:the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,
7:59:the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Amon.
7:60:All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants, totaled 392.
7:61:And these were the ones who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon and Immer; but they [had no birth records and] could not prove their fathers’ houses or their descent, whether they were of Israel:
7:62:the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642.
7:63:Of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of Barzillai, who [was so named because he had] married one of the daughters of Barzillai, the [well-known] Gileadite, and was named after them.
7:64:These men searched for their ancestral registration among those recorded in the genealogies, but it was not located; so they were excluded from the priesthood as [ceremonially] unclean.
7:65:The governor told them that they should not eat any of the most holy food until a priest arose with Urim and Thummim [to determine God’s will in the matter].
7:66:Total of People and Gifts
The entire assembly together was 42,360,
7:67:besides their male and their female servants, of whom there were 7,337; and they had 245 male and female singers.
7:68:Their horses were 736; their mules, 245;
7:69:their camels, 435; their donkeys, 6,720.
7:70:Some from among the heads of fathers’ households gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 gold drachmas, 50 basins, 530 priests’ garments.
7:71:Some of the heads of fathers’ households gave to the treasury for the work 20,000 gold drachmas and 2,200 silver minas.
7:72:And what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 gold drachmas, 2,000 silver minas, and 67 priests’ garments.
7:73:So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, along with all Israel, lived in their cities.
And when the seventh month came, the sons (descendants) of Israel (Jacob) were in their cities.
8:1:Ezra Reads the Law
Then all the people gathered together as one man at the open square in front of the Water Gate; and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel.
8:2:So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month.
8:3:Then he read from it, in front of the open square which was in front of the Water Gate, from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and women, those who could understand; and all the people listened carefully to the Book of the Law.
8:4:Ezra the scribe stood on a [large] wooden platform which they had constructed for this purpose. And beside him [on the platform] stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left.
8:5:Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above them; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.
8:6:Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands; and they knelt down and worshiped the Lord with their faces toward the ground.
8:7:Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, explained the Law to the people, and the people remained in their places.
8:8:So they read from the Book of the Law of God, translating and explaining it so that the people understood the reading.
8:9:“This Day Is Holy”
Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the Law.
8:10:Then Ezra said to them, “Go [your way], eat the rich festival food, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be worried, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and your stronghold.”
8:11:So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be worried.”
8:12:Then all the people went on their way to eat, to drink, to send portions [of food to others] and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words which had been communicated to them.
8:13:Feast of Booths Restored
On the second day, all of the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, were gathered before Ezra the scribe to gain insight into the words of the Law (divine instruction).
8:14:They found written in the Law how the Lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should live in booths (huts) during the feast of the seventh month.
8:15:So they proclaimed and published an announcement in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hills and bring olive branches, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy branches to make booths, as it is written.”
8:16:So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on the roof of his house, and in their courtyards and the courtyards of God’s house, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the square of the Gate of Ephraim.
8:17:The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. Indeed since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that very day, the Israelites had not done so. And there was great rejoicing and celebration.
8:18:Every day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days; on the eighth day there was a [closing] solemn assembly in accordance with the ordinance.
9:1:The People Confess Their Sin
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites assembled with fasting and in sackcloth and with dirt on their heads.
9:2:The descendants of Israel (Jacob) separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the wrongdoings of their fathers.
9:3:While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day and for another fourth [of it] they confessed [their sins] and worshiped the Lord their God.
9:4:On the platform of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they called out with a loud voice to the Lord their God.
9:5:Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless (praise, honor) the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting.
May Your glorious name be blessed
And exalted above all blessing and praise.”
9:6:[And Ezra said],
“You are the Lord, You alone;
You have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their host (the heavenly bodies),
The earth and everything that is on it,
The seas and everything that is in them.
You give life to all of them,
And the heavenly host is bowing down [in worship] to You.
9:7:“You are the Lord God,
Who chose Abram
And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees,
And gave him the name Abraham.
9:8:“You found his heart to be faithful before You,
And You made a covenant with him
To give him the land of the Canaanite,
Of the Hittite, of the Amorite,
Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite—
To give it to his descendants.
And You have fulfilled Your promise,
For You are righteous and just.
9:9:“You saw our fathers’ affliction in Egypt,
And You heard their cry by the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds).
9:10:“Then You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
For You knew that they behaved arrogantly toward them (the Israelites),
And You made a name for Yourself, as it is to this day.
9:11:“You divided the sea before them,
So that they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land;
You hurled their pursuers into the depths,
Like a stone into mighty and raging waters.
9:12:“And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day,
And with a pillar of fire by night
To light the way for them
In which they were to go.
9:13:“Then You came down on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven;
And You gave them fair ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
9:14:“So You made known to them Your holy Sabbath,
And gave them commandments, statutes, and law,
Through Your servant Moses.
9:15:“You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger,
And brought water for them out of a rock for their thirst,
And You told them to enter and take possession of
The land that You swore to give them.
9:16:“But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;
They stiffened their necks and would not heed Your commandments.
9:17:“They refused to listen and obey,
And did not remember Your wondrous acts which You had performed among them;
So they stiffened their necks and [in their rebellion] appointed a leader in order to return them to slavery in Egypt.
But You are a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and merciful and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not abandon them.
9:18:“Even when they had made for themselves
A calf of cast metal
And said, ‘This is your god
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And committed great [and contemptible] blasphemies,
9:19:You, in Your great mercy and compassion,
Did not abandon them in the wilderness;
The pillar of the cloud did not leave them by day,
To lead them in the way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way they should go.
9:20:“You [also] gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
9:21:“Indeed, for forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing,
Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.
9:22:“You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And You allotted the kingdoms to them as a boundary.
So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon
And the land of Og king of Bashan.
9:23:“You made their children as numerous as the stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You told their fathers to enter and possess.
9:24:“So their sons (descendants) went in and took possession of the land;
And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them as they pleased.
9:25:“They captured fortified cities and a fertile land.
They took possession of houses full of all good things,
Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
And fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled and became fat,
And they reveled and were delighted in Your great goodness.
9:26:“Yet they were disobedient and rebelled against You,
And cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your prophets who warned them
To return to You;
And they committed great [and contemptible] blasphemies.
9:27:“Therefore You handed them over to their enemies who oppressed them.
But when they cried out to You in the time of their suffering and distress,
You heard them from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You gave them people to rescue them.
Who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
9:28:“But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil before You;
Therefore You abandoned them into the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them.
Yet when they turned and cried out again to You, You heard them from heaven,
And You rescued them many times in accordance with Your compassion,
9:29:And You admonished them and warned them to turn them back to Your law.
Yet they acted presumptuously and arrogantly and did not heed Your commandments, but sinned against Your ordinances,
Which by keeping, a man will live.
But they turned a stubborn shoulder, stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
9:30:“Yet You were patient with them for many years,
And admonished them and warned them by Your Spirit through Your prophets;
Still they would not listen.
Therefore You gave them into the hand (power) of the peoples of the lands.
9:31:“Yet in Your great compassion You did not utterly destroy them or abandon them,
For You are a gracious and merciful God.
9:32:“Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness,
Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,
Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people,
Since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.
9:33:“However, You are just and righteous in everything that has come upon us;
For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.
9:34:Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your law
Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your warnings which You have given them.
9:35:“But they, in their kingdom,
With Your great goodness which You gave them,
With the broad and rich land which You set before them,
Did not serve You or turn from their wicked deeds.
9:36:“Behold, we are slaves today,
And as for the land which You gave our fathers, to eat of its fruit and its goodness,
Behold, we are slaves in it.
9:37:“Its abundant produce is for the kings
Whom You have set over us because of our sins;
They also rule over our bodies
And over our cattle as they please,
So we are in great distress.
9:38:A Covenant Results
“Now because of all this
We are making an agreement in writing;
And on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.”
10:1:Signers of the Document
Now these were the names on the sealed document: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah. And Zedekiah,
10:2:Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
10:3:Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah,
10:4:Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
10:5:Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
10:6:Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
10:7:Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
10:8:Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah—these were the priests.
10:9:And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel,
10:10:and their brothers: Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
10:11:Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
10:12:Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
10:13:Hodiah, Bani, Beninu.
10:14:The leaders of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,
10:15:Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,
10:16:Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,
10:17:Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
10:18:Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,
10:19:Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
10:20:Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,
10:21:Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,
10:22:Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,
10:23:Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
10:24:Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,
10:25:Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
10:26:Ahiah, Hanan, Anan,
10:27:Malluch, Harim, Baanah.
10:28:Obligations of the Document
Now the rest of the people—the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding—
10:29:are joining with their fellow Israelites, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law, which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of God our Lord, and His ordinances and statutes:
10:30:and that we will not give our daughters [as wives] to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.
10:31:As for the peoples of the land who bring merchandise or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day; and we will give up raising crops during the seventh year [leaving the land uncultivated], and forgive every debt.
10:32:Also we pledge ourselves to contribute yearly one third of a shekel for the service [expenses] of the house of our God:
10:33:for the showbread; for the continual grain offerings and the continual burnt offerings; [for the offerings on] the Sabbaths, the New Moons, the [feasts at] appointed times; for the holy things, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel; and for all the work of the house of our God.
10:34:We have also cast lots—the priests, the Levites, and the people—for [contributing] the supply of wood, to bring it to the house of our God, according to our fathers’ households, at set times annually, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law;
10:35:and [we obligate ourselves] to bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all the fruit of every tree to the house of the Lord annually,
10:36:as well as the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and flocks, to bring to the house of our God, for the priests who minister in the house of our God.
10:37:We will bring the first [and best] of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine and the [olive] oil to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithe of our ground to the Levites, for the Levites are the ones who receive the tithes in all the rural towns.
10:38:The priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when they receive tithes, and they shall bring one-tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse.
10:39:For the Israelites and the sons of Levi shall bring the offering of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the chambers; the utensils of the sanctuary, the priests who are ministering, the gatekeepers, and the singers are there. In this manner, we will not neglect the house of our God.
11:1:Time Passes; Heads of Provinces
Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem; but the rest of the people cast lots to bring one [person] out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities.
11:2:And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.
11:3:These are the heads of the provinces who lived in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah everyone lived on his property in their cities—the Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants.
11:4:And some of the sons of Judah and some of the sons of Benjamin lived in Jerusalem. From the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez;
11:5:Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Col-hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite.
11:6:All the sons of Perez who lived at Jerusalem were 468 able men.
11:7:These are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah;
11:8:and after him Gabbai and Sallai, 928.
11:9:Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer, and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second in command of the city.
11:10:Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin,
11:11:Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the leader of the house of God,
11:12:and their brothers (relatives, fellow workers) who did the work of the house, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah,
11:13:and his brothers, heads of fathers’ households, 242; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,
11:14:and their brothers, brave men, 128. Their overseer was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim [one of the great men].
11:15:Now from the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;
11:16:and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the leaders of the Levites, who were in charge of the outside work of the house of God;
11:17:Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who was the leader to begin the thanksgiving in prayer, and Bakbukiah, second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.
11:18:All the Levites in the holy city totaled 284.
11:19:The gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon, and their kinsmen, who kept watch at the gates, totaled 172.
11:20:Outside Jerusalem
Now the rest of Israel, the priests and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each on his own inheritance.
11:21:But the temple servants were living in Ophel; Ziha and Gishpa were in charge of the temple servants.
11:22:The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica, from Asaph’s sons, who were the singers in regard to the work of the house of God.
11:23:For there was a command from the [Persian] king regarding the singers, as to their daily task.
11:24:Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was the king’s representative in all matters concerning the people.
11:25:As for the villages with their fields, some sons (descendants) of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba and its towns, Dibon and its towns, and Jekabzeel and its villages,
11:26:in Jeshua, in Moladah, in Beth-pelet,
11:27:in Hazar-shual and in Beersheba and its towns,
11:28:in Ziklag and in Meconah and its towns,
11:29:in En-rimmon, in Zorah, and in Jarmuth,
11:30:Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its towns. So they camped from Beersheba as far as the Hinnom Valley.
11:31:The sons (descendants) of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its towns,
11:32:at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah,
11:33:Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim,
11:34:Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat,
11:35:Lod, and Ono, the Valley of the Craftsmen.
11:36:And certain divisions of the Levites in Judah belonged to Benjamin.
12:1:Priests and Levites who Returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel
Now these are the priests and Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
12:2:Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,
12:3:Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
12:4:Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah,
12:5:Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,
12:6:Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,
12:7:Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and their kinsman in the days of Jeshua.
12:8:The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah who was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving and praise, he and his brothers.
12:9:Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, stood opposite them in their divisions of service.
12:10:Now Jeshua became the father of Joiakim, Joiakim of Eliashib, Eliashib of Joiada,
12:11:and Joiada became the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan of Jaddua.
12:12:And in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the heads of fathers’ households were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;
12:13:of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;
12:14:of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph;
12:15:of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai;
12:16:of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
12:17:of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin and of Moadiah, Piltai;
12:18:of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;
12:19:of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi;
12:20:of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber;
12:21:of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.
12:22:The Chief Levites
As for the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the heads of fathers’ households were registered; so were the priests, during the reign of Darius the Persian.
12:23:The sons of Levi, heads of fathers’ households, were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib.
12:24:The heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, and their brothers opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, as commanded by David the man of God, [one] division [singing] in response to [the men in the opposite] division.
12:25:Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping watch at the storehouses of the gates.
12:26:These men served in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe.
12:27:Dedication of the Wall
Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places in order to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with hymns of thanksgiving, and with songs to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps, and lyres.
12:28:So the sons of the singers gathered together from the district around Jerusalem, and from the villages of the Netophathites,
12:29:from Beth-gilgal and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem.
12:30:The priests and the Levites purified themselves; they also purified the people, the gates, and the wall.
12:31:Procedures for the Temple
Then I had the leaders of Judah come up on the wall, and I appointed two large thanksgiving choirs, the first one proceeding to the right on top of the wall toward the Refuse Gate.
12:32:Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them,
12:33:with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam,
12:34:Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah,
12:35:and some of the priests’ sons with trumpets, and Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph,
12:36:and his brothers, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went in front of them.
12:37:At the Fountain Gate they went directly up the steps of the City of David by the stairway of the wall above David’s house to the Water Gate on the east.
12:38:The second choir went to the left; I followed with half of the people on the wall, above the Tower of the Furnaces, to the Broad Wall,
12:39:and above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Old Gate, by the Fish Gate, by the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate; and they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.
12:40:Then the two choirs stood in the house of God. So did I, and half of the officials with me;
12:41:and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah, with trumpets;
12:42:and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang, with Jezrahiah as their leader.
12:43:Also on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy; the women and children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from far away.
12:44:On that day men were appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions required by the law for the priests and the Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who served.
12:45:And they performed the worship of their God and the service of purification; so did the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had commanded.
12:46:For in the days of David and Asaph, in ancient times, there were leaders of singers, songs of praise and hymns of thanksgiving to God.
12:47:So in the days of Zerubbabel and [later of] Nehemiah, all Israel would give the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart the consecrated portion for the Levites, and the Levites set apart the consecrated portion for the sons of Aaron [the priests].
13:1:Foreigners Excluded
On that day they read aloud from the book of Moses so that the people could hear [its words], and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite could ever enter the assembly of God,
13:2:because they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. Yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.
13:3:When the Jews heard the law, they separated from Israel all who were of foreign descent.
13:4:Tobiah Expelled and the Temple Cleansed
Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and was related to Tobiah [our adversary],
13:5:had prepared for Tobiah a large room (chamber) where previously they had put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and [olive] oil which were given by commandment for the Levites, the singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.
13:6:But during all this time I was not at Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes [Persian] king of Babylon I went to the king. Then after some time I asked for a leave [of absence] from the king,
13:7:and I came to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil [thing] that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by preparing a room for him in the courtyards of the house of God.
13:8:It was very displeasing to me, so I threw all of Tobiah’s household furnishings out of the room.
13:9:Then I gave an order, and they cleaned the rooms; and I put back there the utensils of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense.
13:10:Tithes Restored
I also discovered that the portions due the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone away, each one back to his own field.
13:11:Then I reprimanded the officials and said, “Why is the house of God neglected?” So I gathered the Levites and singers together and restored them at their posts.
13:12:Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the storehouses.
13:13:I appointed [as treasurers] over the storehouses: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites; assisting them was Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered faithful and reliable, and their task was to distribute [supplies] to their brothers (fellow Levites).
13:14:O my God, remember me concerning this and do not wipe out my loyal deeds and kindnesses which I have done for the house of my God and for its services.
13:15:Sabbath Restored
In those days I saw some in Judah who were treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves or sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I protested and warned them on the day they sold the produce.
13:16:Also men of Tyre were living there who brought fish and all kinds of merchandise, and they were selling them to the people of Judah on the Sabbath, even in Jerusalem.
13:17:Then I reprimanded the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day?
13:18:Did your fathers (ancestors) not do the same, and did our God not bring all this trouble on us and on this city? Yet you are adding to the wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
13:19:Now when it began to get dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath [began], I commanded that the doors be shut and not be opened until after the Sabbath. Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load [of merchandise] would enter [Jerusalem] on the Sabbath day.
13:20:So once or twice the merchants and sellers of every kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem.
13:21:But I warned them, saying, “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do so again, I will use force against you.” From that time on, they did not come on the Sabbath.
13:22:And I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and come and guard the gates to keep the Sabbath day holy. O my God, remember me concerning this also and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness.
13:23:Mixed Marriages Forbidden
In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
13:24:As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them knew how to speak [Hebrew] the language of Judah, but only the language of his own people.
13:25:So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters [in marriage] to their sons, nor take [any of] their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
13:26:Did not Solomon king of Israel sin [greatly against God] regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin [by turning to other gods and so, judged by God, he lost his kingdom].
13:27:Do we then hear about you that you have done all this great evil, acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign (pagan) women?”
13:28:One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I chased him away from me.
13:29:O my God, remember them, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
13:30:Thus I cleansed and purified them from everything foreign (pagan), and I defined the duties of the priests and Levites, each one in his task;
13:31:and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times and for the first fruits. O my God, [please] remember me for good [and imprint me on Your heart].
esther:1:1:The Banquets of the King
It was in the days of Ahasuerus (Xerxes) who reigned from India to Ethiopia (Cush) over 127 provinces,
1:2:in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne which was at the citadel in Susa [the capital of the Persian Empire],
1:3:in the third year of his reign he held a banquet for all his officials and his attendants. The army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the officials of the provinces were there in his presence.
1:4:And he displayed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days in all.
1:5:When these days were completed, the king held a banquet for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa [the capital], from the greatest [in importance] to the least, a seven-day feast in the courtyard of the garden of the king’s palace.
1:6:There were curtains (draperies) of fine white and violet linen fastened with cords of fine purple linen to silver rings and marble columns. The couches of gold and silver rested on a mosaic floor of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious colored stones.
1:7:Drinks were served in various kinds of golden goblets, and the royal wine was plentiful, in accordance with the generosity of the king.
1:8:The drinking was carried on in accordance with the law; no one was compelled [to drink], for the king had directed each official of his household to comply with each guest’s wishes.
1:9:Queen Vashti also held a [separate] banquet for the women in the palace of King Ahasuerus.
1:10:Queen Vashti’s Refusal
On the seventh day, when the king’s heart was joyful with wine (in high spirits), he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus [as his attendants],
1:11:to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown (high turban), to display her beauty before the people and the officials, for she was lovely to see.
1:12:But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command, which was delivered [to her] by the eunuchs. So the king became extremely angry and burned with rage.
1:13:Then the king spoke to the wise men who understood the times [asking for their advice]—for it was the custom of the king to speak before all those who were familiar with law and legal matters—
1:14:and who were close to him [as advisors]: Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media who had access to the king and were ranked highest in the kingdom.
1:15:[He said,] “According to the law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus which was conveyed by the eunuchs?”
1:16:And Memucan answered in the presence of the king and the officials, “Vashti the queen has not only wronged the king but [also] all the officials (royal representatives) and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.
1:17:For the queen’s conduct will become known to all women, causing them to look on their husbands with contempt (disrespect), since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she did not come.’
1:18:This [very] day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s refusal will speak [in the same way] to all the king’s officials, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger.
1:19:If it pleases the king, let a royal command be issued by him and let it be written in the laws of the Persians and Medes so that it cannot be repealed or modified, that Vashti is no longer to come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better and more worthy than she.
1:20:So when the king’s great decree is proclaimed throughout his [extensive] kingdom, all women will give honor to their husbands, from the great to the insignificant.”
1:21:This statement (advice) pleased the king and the officials, and the king did what Memucan proposed.
1:22:So he sent letters to all the royal provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, saying that every man should be the master and rule in his own home and that he should speak [in the household] in the language of his own people.
2:1:Vashti’s Successor Sought
After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her.
2:2:Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.
2:3:“Let the king appoint administrators in all the provinces of his kingdom, and have them gather all the beautiful young virgins to the citadel in Susa, into the harem, under the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let their beauty preparations be given to them.
2:4:Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did accordingly.
2:5:There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,
2:6:who had been deported from Jerusalem with the captives who had been exiled with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled.
2:7:He was the guardian of Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. The young woman was beautiful of form and face; and when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her in as his own daughter.
2:8:Esther Finds Favor
So it came about when the king’s command and his decree were proclaimed and when many young women were gathered together in the citadel of Susa into the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s palace [and placed] in the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women.
2:9:Now the young woman pleased Hegai and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with beauty preparations and her [portion of] food, and he gave her seven choice maids from the king’s palace; then he transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem.
2:10:Esther did not reveal [the Jewish background of] her people or her family, for Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.
2:11:Every day Mordecai [who was an attendant in the king’s court] walked back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem to learn how Esther was getting along and what was happening to her.
2:12:Now when it was each young woman’s turn to go before King Ahasuerus, after the end of her twelve months under the regulations for the women—for the days of their beautification were completed as follows: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with [sweet] spices and perfumes and the beauty preparations for women—
2:13:then the young woman would go before the king in this way: anything that she wanted was given her to take with her from the harem into the king’s palace.
2:14:In the evening she would go in and the next morning she would return to the second harem, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the concubines. She would not return to the king unless he delighted in her and she was summoned by name.
2:15:Now as for Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her in as his [own] daughter, when her turn came to go in to the king, she requested nothing except what Hegai the king’s eunuch [and attendant] who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther found favor in the sight of all who saw her.
2:16:So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, to his royal palace in the tenth month, that is, the month of Tebeth (Dec-Jan), in the seventh year of his reign.
2:17:Esther Becomes Queen
Now the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the [other] virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen in the place of Vashti.
2:18:Then the king held a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his officials and his servants; and he made a festival for the provinces and gave gifts in accordance with the resources of the king.
2:19:And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.
2:20:Esther had not revealed her family or her people [that is, her Jewish background], just as Mordecai had instructed her; for Esther did what Mordecai told her just as when she was under his care.
2:21:Mordecai Saves the King
In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the door, became angry and conspired to attack King Ahasuerus.
2:22:But the plot became known to Mordecai, who informed Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name.
2:23:Now when the plot was investigated and found to be true, both men were hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in the king’s presence.
3:1:Haman’s Plot against the Jews
After these things King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the officials who were with him.
3:2:All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate [in royal service] bowed down and honored and paid homage to Haman; for this is what the king had commanded in regard to him. But Mordecai [a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin] neither bowed down nor paid homage [to him].
3:3:Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why are you disregarding the king’s command?”
3:4:Now it happened when they had spoken to him day after day and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s reason [for his behavior] would stand [as valid]; for he had told them that he was a Jew.
3:5:When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, he was furious.
3:6:But he disdained laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were (his nationality); so Haman determined to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who lived throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus.
3:7:In the first month, the month of Nisan (Mar-Apr), in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Haman cast Pur, that is, the lot, cast before him day after day [to find a lucky day to approach the king], month after month, until the twelfth month, the month of Adar (Feb-Mar).
3:8:Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered [abroad] and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not observe the king’s laws. Therefore it is not in the king’s interest to [tolerate them and] let them stay here.
3:9:If it pleases the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry out the king’s business, to put into the king’s treasuries.”
3:10:Then the king removed his signet ring from his hand [that is, the special ring which was used to seal his letters] and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
3:11:The king said to Haman, “The silver is given to you, and the people also, to do with them as you please.”
3:12:Then the king’s scribes (secretaries) were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king’s satraps (chief rulers), and to the governors who were over each province and to the officials of each people, each province according to its script (writing), each people according to their own language; being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.
3:13:Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar (March 7, 473 b.c.), and to seize their belongings as plunder.
3:14:A copy of the edict to be decreed as law in every province was published to all the peoples, so that they would be ready for this day.
3:15:The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa. And while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was perplexed [by the unusual and alarming decree].
4:1:Esther Learns of Haman’s Plot
Now when Mordecai learned of everything that had been done, he tore his clothes [in mourning], and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the center of the city and cried out loudly and bitterly.
4:2:He went [only] as far as the king’s gate, because no one was to enter the king’s gate dressed in sackcloth.
4:3:In each and every province that the decree and law of the king reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.
4:4:When Esther’s maids and her eunuchs came and told her [what had happened], the queen was seized by great fear. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he would remove his sackcloth, but he did not accept them.
4:5:Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, whom the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to find out what this issue was and why it had come about.
4:6:So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the [open] square of the city, which was in front of the king’s gate.
4:7:Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, and the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.
4:8:Mordecai also gave him a copy of the text of the decree which had been issued in Susa for the Jews destruction, so that he might show Esther and explain it to her, and order her to go in to the king to seek his favor and plead with him for [the lives of] her people.
4:9:Hathach came back and told Esther what Mordecai had said.
4:10:Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai, saying:
4:11:“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner court without being summoned, he has but one law, that he is to be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And as for me, I have not been summoned to come to the king for these [last] thirty days.”
4:12:So they told Mordecai what Esther had said.
4:13:Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews.
4:14:For if you remain silent at this time, liberation and rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish [since you did not help when you had the chance]. And who knows whether you have attained royalty for such a time as this [and for this very purpose]?”
4:15:Esther Plans to Intercede
Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,
4:16:“Go, gather all the Jews that are present in Susa, and observe a fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids also will fast in the same way. Then I will go in to [see] the king [without being summoned], which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.”
4:17:So Mordecai went away and did exactly as Esther had commanded him.
5:1:Esther Plans a Banquet
On the third day [of the fast] Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace opposite his [throne] room. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the [main] entrance of the palace.
5:2:When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she found favor in his sight; and the king extended to her the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter.
5:3:Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you, up to half of the kingdom.”
5:4:Esther said, “If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”
5:5:Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly so that we may do as Esther says.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared.
5:6:As they drank their wine at the banquet, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.”
5:7:Then Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this:
5:8:if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and to do as I request, may the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them; and tomorrow I will do as the king says [and express my request].”
5:9:Haman’s Pride
Haman went away that day joyful and in good spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate refusing to stand up or show fear before him, he was filled with rage toward Mordecai.
5:10:Nevertheless, Haman controlled himself and went home. There he sent for his friends and his wife Zeresh.
5:11:Then Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the large number of his sons, and every instance in which the king had magnified him and how he had promoted him over the officials and servants of the king.
5:12:Haman also said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the banquet she had prepared; and tomorrow also I am invited by her [together] with the king.
5:13:Yet all of this does not satisfy me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”
5:14:Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows fifty cubits high made, and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go joyfully to the banquet with the king.” And the advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.
6:1:The King Plans to Honor Mordecai
On that night the king could not sleep; so he ordered that the book of records and memorable deeds, the chronicles, be brought, and they were read before the king.
6:2:It was found written there how Mordecai had reported that Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, had planned to attack King Ahasuerus (Xerxes).
6:3:The king said, “What honor or distinction has been given Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”
6:4:So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to ask the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared for him.
6:5:The king’s servants said to him, “Look, Haman is standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.”
6:6:So Haman came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?”
6:7:So Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king desires to honor,
6:8:let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown has been placed;
6:9:and let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let him dress the man whom the king delights to honor [in the royal robe] and lead him on horseback through the open square of the city, and proclaim before him, ‘This is what shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.’”
6:10:Haman Must Honor Mordecai
Then the king said to Haman, “Quickly take the royal robe and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing of all that you have said.”
6:11:So Haman took the royal robe and the horse and dressed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him, “This is what shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.”
6:12:Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his [own] house, mourning and with his head covered [in sorrow].
6:13:Then Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise counselors and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall in status, is of Jewish heritage, you will not overcome him, but will certainly fall before him.”
6:14:While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs (attendants) arrived and hurriedly brought Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.
7:1:Esther’s Plea
So the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen.
7:2:And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom, it shall be done.”
7:3:Then Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be spared as my petition, and my people [be spared] as my request;
7:4:for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed and wiped out of existence. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for our hardship would not be sufficient to burden the king [by even mentioning it].”
7:5:Then King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who dares to do such a thing?”
7:6:Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy is Haman, this evil man.” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.
7:7:Haman Is Hanged
Then in his fury, the king stood up from drinking wine and went into the palace garden [to decide what he should do]; but Haman stayed to plead for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king.
7:8:When the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even attempt to assault the queen with me in the palace?” As the king spoke those words, the servants covered Haman’s face [in preparation for execution].
7:9:Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs serving the king said, “Now look, there are gallows fifty cubits (75 ft.) high standing at Haman’s house, which Haman made for Mordecai, whose good warning saved the king.” And the king said, “Hang him on it.”
7:10:So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s anger subsided.
8:1:Mordecai Promoted
On that day King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, because Esther had disclosed what [relation] he was to her.
8:2:The king took off his signet ring which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther put Mordecai in charge of the house of Haman.
8:3:Then Esther spoke again to the king and fell down at his feet and wept and implored him to avert the evil plot of Haman the Agagite and his plan which he had devised against the Jews [because the decree to annihilate the Jews was still in effect].
8:4:Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther arose and stood before the king.
8:5:Then she said, “If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him and the matter is proper in the king’s view and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote [in order] to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.
8:6:For how can I endure to see the tragedy that will happen to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”
8:7:Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he stretched out his hand against the Jews.
8:8:The King’s Decree Avenges the Jews
Also, concerning the Jews, write as you see fit, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring—for a decree which is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring may not be revoked.”
8:9:So the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the month of Sivan) on the twenty-third day; and it was written in accordance with everything that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, to the chief rulers (satraps), and the governors and officials of the provinces which extended from India to Ethiopia (Cush), 127 provinces, to every province in its own script (writing), and to every people in their own language and to the Jews according to their script and their language.
8:10:He wrote [a decree] in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on the royal [mail] relay horses, the offspring of the racing mares.
8:11:In it the king granted the Jews who were in every city the right to assemble and to defend their lives; to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force that might attack them, their little children, and women; and to take the enemies’ goods as plunder,
8:12:on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar).
8:13:A copy of the edict was to be issued as a law in every province and as a proclamation to all peoples, so that the Jews would be ready on that day, to avenge themselves on their enemies.
8:14:So the couriers, who were mounted on the royal relay horses, left quickly, urged on by the king’s command; and the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa [the capital].
8:15:Then Mordecai departed from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a large crown of gold and with a robe of fine linen and purple wool; and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.
8:16:For [at this time] the Jews had light [a dawn of new hope] and gladness and joy and honor.
8:17:In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s command and his decree arrived, the Jews celebrated with gladness and joy, a feast and a holiday. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews [and their God] had fallen on them.
9:1:The Jews Destroy Their Enemies
Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar) on the thirteenth day when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the [very] day when the enemies of the Jews had hoped to gain power over them [and slaughter them], it happened the other way around so that the Jews themselves gained power over those who hated them.
9:2:The Jews assembled in their cities throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) to apprehend those who wanted to do them harm; and no one could stand before them, for the fear of them [and their God] had fallen on all the peoples.
9:3:Even all the officials of the provinces and the chief rulers (satraps) and the governors and those who attended to the king’s business supported the Jews [in defeating their enemies], because the fear of Mordecai [and his God’s power] had fallen on them.
9:4:For Mordecai was great and respected in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai became greater and greater.
9:5:So the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them; and they did what they pleased to those who hated them.
9:6:At the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men,
9:7:and [they killed] Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha,
9:8:Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha,
9:9:Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha,
9:10:the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy; but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
9:11:On that day the number of those who were killed at the citadel in Susa was reported to the king.
9:12:The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall be granted to you. What is your further request? It shall also be done.”
9:13:Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to act tomorrow also in accordance with the decree of today; and let [the dead bodies of] Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”
9:14:So the king commanded it to be done; the decree was given in Susa, and they hanged [the bodies of] Haman’s ten sons.
9:15:The Jews who were in Susa also gathered together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men in Susa, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
9:16:Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces assembled, to defend their lives and rid themselves of their enemies, and kill 75,000 of those who hated them; but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
9:17:This was done on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.
9:18:But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth of the same month, and on the fifteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.
9:19:Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural [unwalled] towns, make the fourteenth day of the month of Adar a holiday for rejoicing and feasting and sending choice portions of food to one another.
9:20:The Feast of Purim Instituted
Now Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who lived in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
9:21:obliging them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same month, annually,
9:22:because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and as the month which was turned for them from grief to joy and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and rejoicing and sending choice portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor.
9:23:So the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them.
9:24:For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, [to find the right time] to disturb and destroy them.
9:25:But when it came before the king, he commanded in writing that Haman’s wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews was to return on his own head, and that he and his sons should [endure what he planned for the Jews and] be hanged on the gallows.
9:26:Therefore they called these days Purim after the name Pur (lot). And because of all the instructions in this letter, and what they had faced in this regard and what had happened to them,
9:27:the Jews established and made it a custom for themselves and for their descendants and for all who joined them, so that they would not fail to celebrate these two days as it was written and at the appointed time annually.
9:28:So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province and every city; and these days of Purim were not to cease from among the Jews, nor their memory fade from their descendants.
9:29:Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full power and authority to confirm this second letter about Purim.
9:30:He sent letters to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth,
9:31:to establish these days of Purim [to be observed] at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and as they had established for themselves and for their descendants with instructions regarding their times of fasting and their lamentations (expressions of needing help).
9:32:The command of Esther established these customs for Purim, and it was written in the book [of the royal archives].
10:1:Mordecai’s Greatness
King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) imposed a tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea.
10:2:And all the accomplishments of his authority and strength, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?
10:3:For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many fellow people, for he worked for the good of his people and spoke for the welfare and peace of his whole nation.
job:1:1:Job’s Character and Wealth
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God [with reverence] and abstained from and turned away from evil [because he honored God].
1:2:Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.
1:3:He also possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke (pairs) of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very great number of servants, so that this man was the greatest [and wealthiest and most respected] of all the men of the east (northern Arabia).
1:4:His sons used to go [in turn] and feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send word and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
1:5:When the days of their feasting were over, Job would send [for them] and consecrate them, rising early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job did this at all [such] times.
1:6:Now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them.
1:7:The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.”
1:8:The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God].”
1:9:Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
1:10:Have You not put a hedge [of protection] around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands [and conferred prosperity and happiness upon him], and his possessions have increased in the land.
1:11:But put forth Your hand now and touch (destroy) all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
1:12:Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.
1:13:Satan Allowed to Test Job
Now there was a day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
1:14:and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them,
1:15:and the Sabeans attacked and swooped down on them and took away the animals. They also killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
1:16:While he was still speaking, another [messenger] also came and said, “The fire of God (lightning) has fallen from the heavens and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
1:17:While he was still speaking, another [messenger] also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and have taken them away and have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
1:18:While he was still speaking, another [messenger] also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
1:19:and suddenly, a great wind came from across the desert, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
1:20:Then Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head [in mourning for the children], and he fell to the ground and worshiped [God].
1:21:He said,
“Naked (without possessions) I came [into this world] from my mother’s womb,
And naked I will return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
1:22:Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.
2:1:Job Loses His Health
Again there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them to present himself before the Lord.
2:2:The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.”
2:3:The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God]. And still he maintains and holds tightly to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to destroy him without cause.”
2:4:Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! Yes, a man will give all he has for his life.
2:5:But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh [and severely afflict him]; and he will curse You to Your face.”
2:6:So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life.”
2:7:So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome boils and agonizingly painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
2:8:And Job took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes (rubbish heaps).
2:9:Then his wife said to him, “Do you still cling to your integrity [and your faith and trust in God, without blaming Him]? Curse God and die!”
2:10:But he said to her, “You speak as one of the [spiritually] foolish women speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God’s will]. Shall we indeed accept [only] good from God and not [also] accept adversity and disaster?” In [spite of] all this Job did not sin with [words from] his lips.
2:11:Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; for they had made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.
2:12:When they looked from a distance and did not recognize him [because of his disfigurement], they raised their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe [in grief] and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky [in sorrow].
2:13:So they sat down on the ground with Job for seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
3:1:Job’s Lament
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
3:2:And Job said,
3:3:“Let the day on which I was born perish,
And the night which announced: ‘There is a man-child conceived.’
3:4:“May that day be darkness;
Let God above not care about it,
Nor light shine on it.
3:5:“Let darkness and gloom claim it for their own;
Let a cloud settle upon it;
Let all that blackens the day terrify it (the day that I was born).
3:6:“As for that night, let darkness seize it;
Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
Let it not be counted in the number of the months.
3:7:“Behold, let that night be barren [and empty];
Let no joyful voice enter it.
3:8:“Let those curse it who curse the day,
Who are skilled in rousing up Leviathan.
3:9:“Let the stars of its early dawn be dark;
Let the morning wait in vain for the light,
Let it not see the eyelids of morning (the day’s dawning),
3:10:Because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide trouble from my eyes.
3:11:“Why did I not die at birth,
Come forth from the womb and expire?
3:12:“Why did the knees receive me?
And why the breasts, that I would nurse?
3:13:“For now I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept then, I would have been at rest [in death],
3:14:With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who built up [now desolate] ruins for themselves;
3:15:Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver.
3:16:“Or like a miscarriage which is hidden and put away, I would not exist,
Like infants who never saw light.
3:17:“There [in death] the wicked cease from raging,
And there the weary are at rest.
3:18:“There the prisoners rest together;
They do not hear the taskmaster’s voice.
3:19:“The small and the great are there,
And the servant is free from his master.
3:20:“Why is the light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the bitter in soul,
3:21:Who wait for death, but it does not come,
And dig (search) for death more [diligently] than for hidden treasures,
3:22:Who rejoice exceedingly,
And rejoice when they find the grave?
3:23:“Why is the light of day given to a man whose way is hidden,
And whom God has hedged in?
3:24:“For my groaning comes at the sight of my food,
And my cries [of despair] are poured out like water.
3:25:“For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me,
And that of which I am afraid has come upon me.
3:26:“I am not at ease, nor am I quiet,
And I am not at rest, and yet trouble still comes [upon me].”
4:1:Eliphaz: Innocent Do Not Suffer
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
4:2:“If we dare to converse with you, will you be impatient [or offended]?
But who can restrain himself from speaking?
4:3:“Behold, you have admonished and instructed many,
And you have strengthened weak hands.
4:4:“Your words have helped the one who was stumbling to stand,
And you have strengthened feeble knees.
4:5:“But now adversity comes upon you, and you are impatient and intolerant;
It touches you, and you are horrified.
4:6:“Is not your fear of God your confidence,
And [is not] the integrity and uprightness of your ways your hope?
4:7:“Remember now, who, being innocent, ever perished?
Or where [and in what circumstances] were those upright and in right standing with God destroyed?
4:8:“As I have seen, those who plow wickedness
And those who sow trouble and harm harvest it.
4:9:“By the breath of God they perish,
And by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
4:10:“The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion,
And the teeth of the young lions are broken.
4:11:“The lion perishes for lack of prey,
And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
4:12:“Now a word was secretly brought to me,
And my ear received a whisper of it.
4:13:“Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deep sleep falls on men,
4:14:Dread and trembling came upon me,
Which made all my bones shake.
4:15:“Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair on my skin stood on end!
4:16:“The spirit stood still, but I could not discern its appearance;
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence, and then I heard a voice, saying:
4:17:‘Can [mortal] man be just before God or be more righteous than He?
Can a man be pure before his Maker or be more cleansed than He?
4:18:‘God puts no trust or confidence, even in His [heavenly] servants,
And He charges His angels with error.
4:19:‘How much more [will He blame and charge] those who dwell in houses (bodies) of clay,
Whose foundations are in the dust,
Who are crushed like a moth.
4:20:‘Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces and destroyed;
Unobserved and unnoticed, they perish forever.
4:21:‘Is not their tent-cord drawn up within them [so that the tent collapses]?
Do they not die, and yet without [acquiring] wisdom?’
5:1:God Is Just
“Call now—is there anyone who will answer you?
And to which of the holy ones (angels) will you turn?
5:2:“For anger slays the foolish man,
And jealousy kills the simple (naive).
5:3:“I have seen the foolish taking root [and outwardly prospering],
But I cursed his dwelling immediately [for his destruction was certain].
5:4:“His children are far from safety [and included in their father’s ruin],
They are oppressed and crushed in the [court of justice in the city’s] gate,
And there is no one to rescue them.
5:5:“The hungry devour his harvest
And take it even [when it grows] among the thorns;
The trap opens for [his] wealth.
5:6:“For affliction does not come forth from the dust,
Nor does trouble spring forth from the ground.
5:7:“For man is born for trouble,
[As naturally] as sparks fly upward.
5:8:“As for me, I would seek God and inquire of Him,
And I would commit my cause to God;
5:9:Who does great and unsearchable things,
Marvelous things without number.
5:10:“He gives rain upon the earth
And sends waters upon the fields,
5:11:So that He sets on high those who are lowly,
And He lifts to safety those who mourn.
5:12:“He frustrates the devices and schemes of the crafty,
So that their hands cannot attain success or achieve anything of [lasting] worth.
5:13:“He catches the [so-called] wise in their own shrewdness,
And the advice of the devious is quickly thwarted.
5:14:“In the daytime they meet in darkness,
And at noon they grope as in the night.
5:15:“But God saves [the innocent] from the sword of the mouth of the devious,
And the poor from the hand of the mighty.
5:16:“So the helpless have hope,
And injustice shuts its mouth.
5:17:“Behold, how happy and fortunate is the man whom God reproves,
So do not despise or reject the discipline of the Almighty [subjecting you to trial and suffering].
5:18:“For He inflicts pain, but He binds up and gives relief;
He wounds, but His hands also heal.
5:19:“He will rescue you from six troubles;
Even in seven, evil will not touch you.
5:20:“In famine He will redeem you from death,
And in war from the power of the sword.
5:21:“You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
And you will not be afraid of destruction when it comes.
5:22:“You will laugh at violence and famine,
And you will not be afraid of the wild beasts of the earth.
5:23:“For you will be in harmony with the stones of the field,
And the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
5:24:“You will know also that your tent is secure and at peace,
And you will visit your dwelling and fear no loss [nor find anything amiss].
5:25:“You will know also that your descendants will be many,
And your offspring as the grass of the earth.
5:26:“You will come to your grave in old age,
Like the stacking of grain [on the threshing floor] in its season.
5:27:“Behold this; we have investigated it, and it is true.
Hear and heed it, and know for yourself [for your own good].”
6:1:Job’s Friends Are No Help
Then Job answered and said,
6:2:“Oh, that my grief could actually be weighed
And placed in the balances together with my tragedy [to see if my grief is the grief of a coward]!
6:3:“For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
Therefore my words have been incoherent,
6:4:Because the arrows of the Almighty are within me,
My spirit drinks their poison;
The terrors of God are arrayed against me.
6:5:“Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass?
Or does the ox low over his fodder?
6:6:“Can something that has no taste to it be eaten without salt?
Or is there any flavor in the white of an egg?
6:7:“My soul refuses to touch them;
Such things are like loathsome food to me [sickening and repugnant].
6:8:“Oh that my request would come to pass,
And that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
6:9:“I wish that it would please God to crush me,
That He would let loose His hand and cut me off.
6:10:“Then I would still have consolation,
And I would jump for joy amid unsparing pain,
That I have not denied or hidden the words of the Holy One.
6:11:“What strength do I have left, that I should wait [and hope]?
And what is ahead of me, that I should be patient and endure?
6:12:“Is my strength and endurance that of stones,
Or is my flesh made of bronze?
6:13:“Is it that I have no help within myself,
And that success and wisdom have been driven from me?
6:14:“For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend;
So that he does not abandon (turn away from) the fear of the Almighty.
6:15:“My brothers have acted deceitfully like a brook,
Like the torrents of brooks that vanish,
6:16:Which are dull and dirty because of ice,
And into which the snow melts and hides itself;
6:17:When it is warm, they are silent and cease to flow;
When it is hot, they vanish from their place.
6:18:“The paths of their course wind along,
They go up into nothing and perish.
[Your counsel is as helpful to me as a dry streambed in the heat of summer.]
6:19:“The caravans of Tema looked [for water],
The caravans of Sheba waited for them [in vain].
6:20:“They were put to shame and disappointed because they had trusted [that they would find water];
They came there and were ashamed.
6:21:“Indeed, you have now become like a dried-up stream,
You see a terror [believing me to be a victim of the wrath of God] and are afraid [to be compassionate].
6:22:“Did I ever say, ‘Give me something,’
Or, ‘Pay a bribe for me from your wealth,’
6:23:Or, ‘Rescue me from the adversary’s hand,’
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the tyrants’?
6:24:“Teach me, and I will be silent;
And show me how I have erred.
6:25:“How painful are words of honesty.
But what does your argument prove?
6:26:“Do you intend to reprove my words [with a convincing argument],
When the words of one in despair belong to the wind [and go ignored]?
6:27:“You would cast lots (gamble) over the fatherless
And bargain away your friend.
6:28:“Now please look at me,
And see if I lie to your face [for you know that I would not].
6:29:“Turn away [from your suspicion], let there be no injustice;
Turn away, my righteousness and vindication is still in it.
6:30:“Is there injustice or malice on my tongue?
Can my palate not discern what is destructive?
7:1:Job’s Life Seems Futile
“Is not man forced to labor on earth?
And are not his days like the days of a hired man?
7:2:“As a slave earnestly longs for the shade,
And as a hired man eagerly awaits his wages,
7:3:So am I allotted months of futility and suffering,
And [long] nights of trouble and misery are appointed to me.
7:4:“When I lie down I say,
‘When shall I arise [and the night be gone]?’
But the night continues,
And I am continually tossing until the dawning of day.
7:5:“My body is clothed with worms and a crust of dust;
My skin is hardened [and broken and loathsome], and [breaks out and] runs.
7:6:“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And are spent without hope.
7:7:“Remember that my life is but breath [a puff of wind, a sigh];
My eye will not see good again.
7:8:“The eye of him who sees me [now] will see me no more;
Your eyes will be upon me, but I will not be.
7:9:“As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
So he who goes down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) does not come up.
7:10:“He will not return again to his house,
Nor will his place know about him anymore.
7:11:“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul [O Lord].
7:12:“Am I the sea, or the sea monster,
That You set a guard over me?
7:13:“When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
My couch will ease my complaint,’
7:14:Then You frighten me with dreams
And terrify me through visions,
7:15:So that I would choose suffocation,
Death rather than my pain.
7:16:“I waste away and loathe my life; I will not live forever.
Let me alone, for my days are but a breath [futile and without substance].
7:17:“What is man that You [should] magnify him [and think him important]?
And that You are concerned about him?
7:18:“And that You examine him every morning
And try and test him every moment?
7:19:“Will You never turn Your gaze away from me [it plagues me],
Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?
7:20:“If I have sinned, what [harm] have I done to You,
O Watcher of mankind?
Why have You set me as a target for You,
So that I am a burden to myself?
7:21:“Why then do You not pardon my transgression
And take away my sin and guilt?
For now I will lie down in the dust;
And You will seek me [diligently], but I will not be.”
8:1:Bildad Says God Rewards the Good
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
8:2:“How long will you say these things?
And will the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
8:3:“Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
8:4:“If your children have sinned against Him,
Then He has handed them over to the power of their transgression and punished them.
8:5:“If you would [diligently] seek God
And implore the compassion and favor of the Almighty,
8:6:Then, if you are pure and upright,
Surely now He will awaken for you
And restore your righteous place.
8:7:“Though your beginning was insignificant,
Yet your end will greatly increase.
8:8:“Inquire, please, of past generations,
And consider and apply yourself to the things searched out by their fathers.
8:9:“For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,
Because our days on earth are [like] a shadow [just a breath or a vapor].
8:10:“Will they (the fathers) not teach you and tell you,
And utter words from their hearts [the deepest part of their nature]?
8:11:“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?
Can the rushes or reed grass grow without water?
8:12:“While it is still green (in flower) and not cut down,
Yet it withers before any other plant [when without water].
8:13:“So are the paths of all who forget God;
And the hope of the godless will perish,
8:14:For his confidence is fragile and breaks,
And his trust is [like] a spider’s web.
8:15:“He trusts in his house, but it does not stand;
He holds tightly to it, but it does not endure.
8:16:“He thrives and prospers [like a green plant] before the sun,
And his branches spread out over his garden.
8:17:“His [godless] roots are wrapped around a pile of rocks,
And he gazes at a house of stones.
8:18:“If he is snatched from his place [in the garden],
Then his place will forget him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’
8:19:“Behold, this is the joy of His way;
And from out of the dust others will spring up and grow [to take his place].
8:20:“Behold, God will not reject a man of integrity,
Nor will He strengthen or support evildoers.
8:21:“He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
And your lips with joyful shouting [if you are found blameless].
8:22:“Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
And the tents of the wicked will be no longer.”
9:1:Job Says There Is No Arbitrator between God and Man
Then Job answered and said,
9:2:“Yes, I know it is true.
But how can a mortal man be right before God?
9:3:“If one should want to contend or dispute with Him,
He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.
9:4:“God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
Who has [ever] defied or challenged Him and remained unharmed?
9:5:“It is God who removes the mountains, and they do not know it,
When He overturns them in His anger;
9:6:Who shakes the earth out of its place,
And its pillars tremble;
9:7:Who commands the sun, and it does not shine;
Who seals up the stars [from view];
9:8:Who alone stretches out the heavens
And tramples down the waves of the sea;
9:9:Who made [the constellations] the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
And the [vast starry] spaces of the south;
9:10:Who does great things, [beyond understanding,] unfathomable,
Yes, marvelous and wondrous things without number.
9:11:“Behold, He passes by me, and I do not see Him;
He moves past me, but I do not perceive Him.
9:12:“Behold, He snatches away; who can restrain or turn Him back?
Who will say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
9:13:“God will not turn back His anger;
The [proud] helpers of Rahab [the arrogant monster of the sea] bow under Him.
9:14:“How can I answer Him [and plead my case],
Choosing my words [to reason] with Him?
9:15:For though I were righteous, I could not answer.
I must appeal for mercy to my Opponent and Judge.
9:16:“If I called and He answered me,
I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.
9:17:“For He bruises me with a tempest
And multiplies my wounds without cause.
9:18:“He will not allow me to catch my breath,
But fills and saturates me with bitterness.
9:19:“If it is a matter of strength and power, behold, He is mighty!
And if of justice, who can summon and challenge Him?
9:20:“Though I am innocent and in the right, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty;
Though I am blameless, He would denounce me as guilty.
9:21:“[Though] I am blameless,
I do not care about myself;
I despise my life.
9:22:“It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys [both] the blameless and the wicked.’
9:23:“When [His] scourge kills suddenly,
He mocks at the despair of the innocent.
9:24:“The earth is given into the hands of the wicked;
He covers the faces of its judges [so that they are blind to justice].
If it is not He, then who is it [that is responsible for all this injustice]?
9:25:“Now my days are swifter than a runner;
They vanish, they see no good.
9:26:“They pass by like the [swift] boats made of reeds,
Like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.
9:27:“If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will leave off my sad appearance, and be cheerful and brighten up,’
9:28:I am afraid of all my pains and worries [yet to come];
I know that You will not acquit me and leave me unpunished.
9:29:“I am accounted wicked and held guilty;
Why then should I labor in vain [to appear innocent]?
9:30:“If I were to wash myself with snow
And cleanse my hands with lye,
9:31:You would still plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes would hate me [and refuse to cover my foul body].
9:32:“For God is not a [mere] man, as I am, that I may answer Him,
That we may go to court and judgment together.
9:33:“There is no arbitrator between us,
Who could lay his hand upon us both [would that there were].
9:34:“Let Him take His rod away from me,
And let not the dread and fear of Him terrify me.
9:35:“Then I would speak [my defense] and not fear Him;
But I am not like that in myself.
10:1:Job Despairs of God’s Dealings
“I am disgusted with my life and loathe it!
I will give free expression to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
10:2:“I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me [and declare me guilty]!
Show me why You contend and argue and struggle with me.
10:3:‘Does it indeed seem right to You to oppress,
To despise and reject the work of Your hands,
And to look with favor on the schemes of the wicked?
10:4:‘Do You have eyes of flesh?
Do You see as a man sees?
10:5:‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal,
Are Your years as man’s years,
10:6:That You seek my guilt
And search for my sin?
10:7:‘Although You know that I am not guilty or wicked,
Yet there is no one who can rescue me from Your hand.
10:8:‘Your hands have formed and made me altogether.
Would You [turn around and] destroy me?
10:9:‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay;
So will You turn me into dust again?
10:10:‘Have You not poured me out like milk
And curdled me like cheese?
10:11:‘[You have] clothed me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews.
10:12:‘You have granted me life and lovingkindness;
And Your providence (divine care, supervision) has preserved my spirit.
10:13:‘Yet these [present evils] You have hidden in Your heart [since my creation]:
I know that this was within You [in Your purpose and thought].
10:14:‘If I sin, then You would take note and observe me,
And You would not acquit me of my guilt.
10:15:‘If I am wicked, woe to me [for judgment comes]!
And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
For I am sated and filled with disgrace and the sight of my misery.
10:16:‘Should I lift my head up, You would hunt me like a lion;
And again You would show Your marvelous power against me.
10:17:‘You renew Your witnesses against me
And increase Your indignation and anger toward me;
Hardship after hardship is with me [attacking me time after time].
10:18:‘Why then did You bring me out of the womb?
Would that I had perished and no eye had seen me!
10:19:‘I should have been as though I had not existed;
[I should have been] carried from the womb to the grave.’
10:20:“Would He not let my few days alone,
Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer
10:21:Before I go—and I shall not return—
To the land of darkness and the deep shadow [of death],
10:22:The [sunless] land of utter gloom as darkness itself,
[The land] of the shadow of death, without order,
And [where] it shines as [thick] darkness.”
11:1:Zophar Rebukes Job
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
11:2:“Shall a multitude of words not be answered?
And should a talkative man [making such a long-winded defense] be acquitted?
11:3:“Should your boasts and babble silence men?
And shall you scoff and no one put you to shame?
11:4:“For you have said, ‘My teaching (doctrine) [that God knowingly afflicts the righteous] is pure,
And I am innocent in your eyes.’
11:5:“But oh, that God would speak,
And open His lips [to speak] against you,
11:6:And [that He would] show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom has two sides.
Know therefore that God forgets a part of your wickedness and guilt.
11:7:“Can you discover the depths of God?
Can you [by searching] discover the limits of the Almighty [ascend to His heights, extend to His widths, and comprehend His infinite perfection]?
11:8:“His wisdom is as high as the heights of heaven. What can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead). What can you know?
11:9:“It is longer in measure [and scope] than the earth,
And broader than the sea.
11:10:“If God passes by or arrests,
Or calls an assembly [of judgment], who can restrain Him?
[If He is against a man, who can call Him to account for it?]
11:11:“For He recognizes and knows false and worthless men,
And He sees wickedness, will He not consider it?
11:12:“But a hollow (empty-headed) man will become intelligent and wise
[Only] when the colt of a wild donkey is born as a man.
11:13:“If you direct your heart [on the right path]
And stretch out your hands to Him,
11:14:If sin is in your hand, put it far away [from you],
And do not let wrongdoing dwell in your tents;
11:15:Then, indeed, you could lift up your face [to Him] without moral defect,
And you would be firmly established and secure and not fear.
11:16:“For you would forget your trouble;
You would remember it as waters that have passed by.
11:17:“And your life would be brighter than the noonday;
Darkness [then] would be like the morning.
11:18:“Then you would trust [with confidence], because there is hope;
You would look around you and rest securely.
11:19:“You would lie down with no one to frighten you,
And many would entreat and seek your favor.
11:20:“But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
And they will not escape [the justice of God];
And their hope is to breathe their last [and die].”
12:1:Job Chides His Accusers
Then Job responded,
12:2:“No doubt you are the [only wise] people [in the world],
And wisdom will die with you!
12:3:“But I have intelligence and understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these [of God’s wisdom and might]?
12:4:“I am a joke to my friends;
I, one whom God answered when he called upon Him—
A just and blameless man is a joke [and laughed to scorn].
12:5:“He who is at ease has contempt for misfortune,
But misfortune is ready [and anxiously waiting] for those whose feet slip.
12:6:“The tents of the destroyers prosper;
And those who provoke God are [apparently] secure,
Whom God brings into their power.
12:7:“Now ask the animals, and let them teach you [that God does not deal with His creatures according to their character];
And ask the birds of the air, and let them tell you;
12:8:Or speak to the earth [with its many forms of life], and it will teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare [this truth] to you.
12:9:“Who among all these does not recognize [in all these things that good and evil are randomly scattered throughout nature and human life]
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
12:10:In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?
12:11:“Does the ear not put words to the test,
Just as the palate tastes its food [distinguishing between the desirable and the undesirable]?
12:12:“With the aged [you say] is wisdom,
And with long life is understanding.
12:13:Job Speaks of the Power of God
“But [only] with Him are [perfect] wisdom and might;
He [alone] has [true] counsel and understanding.
12:14:“Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
12:15:“Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up;
Again, He sends the waters out, and they overwhelm and devastate the earth.
12:16:“With Him are might and sound wisdom,
The misled and the misleader are His [and in His power].
12:17:“He makes [great and scheming] counselors walk barefoot
And makes fools of judges.
12:18:“He loosens the bond of kings
And binds their loins with a loincloth.
12:19:“He makes priests walk barefoot,
And He overturns men firmly seated and secure.
12:20:“He deprives the trusted ones of speech
And takes away the discernment and discretion of the aged.
12:21:“He pours contempt on princes and nobles
And loosens the belt of the strong [disabling them].
12:22:“He uncovers mysteries [that are difficult to grasp and understand] out of the darkness
And brings black gloom and the shadow of death into light.
12:23:“He makes nations great, and He destroys them;
He enlarges nations, and leads them away [captive].
12:24:“He removes intelligence and understanding from the leaders of the people of the earth
And makes them wander and move blindly in a pathless waste.
12:25:“They grope in darkness without light,
And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.”
13:1:Job Says His Friends’ Proverbs Are Ashes
[Job continued:] “Behold, my eye has seen all this,
My ear has heard and understood it.
13:2:“What you know I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
13:3:“But I wish to speak to the Almighty,
And I desire to argue with God.
13:4:“But you smear me with lies [you defame my character most untruthfully];
You are all worthless physicians and have no remedy to offer.
13:5:“Oh, that you would be completely silent,
And that silence would be your wisdom!
13:6:“Please hear my argument
And listen to the pleadings of my lips.
13:7:“Will you speak what is unjust for God,
And speak what is deceitful for Him?
13:8:“Will you show partiality for Him [and be unjust to me so that you may gain favor with Him]?
Will you contend and plead for God?
13:9:“Will it be well for you when He investigates you [and your tactics against me]?
Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?
13:10:“He will surely reprimand you
If you secretly show partiality.
13:11:“Will not His majesty terrify you,
And will not the dread of Him fall upon you?
13:12:“Your memorable sayings are [worthless, merely] proverbs of ashes;
Your defenses are defenses of [crumbling] clay.
13:13:Job Is Sure He Will Be Vindicated
“Be silent before me so that I may speak;
And let happen to me what may.
13:14:“Why should I take my flesh in my teeth
And put my life in my hands [incurring the wrath of God]?
13:15:“Even though He kills me;
I will hope in Him.
Nevertheless, I will argue my ways to His face.
13:16:“This also will be my salvation,
For a godless man may not come before Him.
13:17:“Listen diligently to my speech,
And let my declaration fill your ears.
13:18:“Behold now, I have prepared my case;
I know that I will be vindicated.
13:19:“Who will argue and contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.
13:20:“Only [O Lord,] do not do two things to me,
And then I will not hide myself from Your face:
13:21:Withdraw Your hand from me and remove this bodily suffering,
And let not the dread of You terrify me.
13:22:“Then [Lord,] call, and I will answer;
Or let me speak, and then reply to me.
13:23:“How many are my iniquities and sins [that so much sorrow should come to me]?
Make me recognize and understand my transgression and my sin.
13:24:“Why do You hide Your face [as if offended]
And consider me Your enemy?
13:25:“Will You cause a windblown leaf to tremble?
Will You pursue the chaff of the dry stubble?
13:26:“For You write bitter things against me [in Your indictment]
And make me inherit and suffer for the iniquities of my youth.
13:27:“You also put my feet in the stocks [as punishment]
And [critically] observe all my paths;
You set a circle and limit around the soles of my feet [which I must not overstep],
13:28:While I waste away like a rotten thing,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten.
14:1:Job Speaks of the Finality of Death
“Man, who is born of a woman,
Is short-lived and full of turmoil.
14:2:“Like a flower he comes forth and withers;
He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.
14:3:“You also open Your eyes upon him
And bring him into judgment with Yourself.
14:4:“Who can make a clean thing out of the unclean?
No one!
14:5:“Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You [in Your control],
And You have made his limits so he cannot pass [his allotted time].
14:6:“[O God] turn your gaze from him so that he may rest,
Until he fulfills his day [on earth] like a hired man.
14:7:“For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that the shoots of it will not cease nor fail, [but there is no such hope for man].
14:8:“Though its roots grow old in the earth
And its stump dies in the dry soil,
14:9:Yet at the scent of water [the stump of the tree] will flourish
And bring forth sprigs and shoots like a seedling.
14:10:“But [the brave, strong] man must die and lie face down;
Man breathes his last, and where is he?
14:11:“As water evaporates from the sea,
And a river drains and dries up,
14:12:So man lies down and does not rise [again].
Until the heavens are no longer,
The dead will not awake nor be raised from their sleep.
14:13:“Oh, that You would hide me in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
That You would set a definite time and then remember me [and in Your lovingkindness imprint me on your heart]!
14:14:“If a man dies, will he live again?
I will wait all the days of my struggle
Until my change and release will come.
14:15:“[Then] You will call, and I will answer You;
You will long for [me] the work of Your hands.
14:16:“But now You number [each of] my steps;
You do not observe nor take note of my sin.
14:17:“My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And You cover my wickedness [from Your view].
14:18:“But as a mountain, if it falls, crumbles into nothing,
And as the rock is moved from its place,
14:19:Water wears away the stones,
Its floods and torrents wash away the soil of the earth,
So You [O Lord] destroy the hope of man.
14:20:“You prevail forever against him and overpower him, and he passes on;
You change his appearance and send him away [from the presence of the living].
14:21:“His sons achieve honor, and he does not know it;
They become insignificant, and he is not aware of it.
14:22:“But his body [lamenting its decay] grieves in pain over it,
And his soul mourns over [the loss of] himself.”
15:1:Eliphaz Says Job Presumes Much
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered [Job] and said,
15:2:“Should a wise man [such as you] utter such windy and vain knowledge [as we have just heard]
And fill himself with the east wind [of withering, parching, and violent accusations]?
15:3:“Should he rebuke and argue with useless talk?
Or with words in which there is no benefit?
15:4:“Indeed, you are doing away with fear,
And you are diminishing meditation before God.
15:5:“For your guilt teaches your mouth,
And you choose [to speak] the language of the crafty and cunning.
15:6:“Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
Yes, your own lips testify against you.
15:7:“Were you the first man to be born [the original wise man],
Or were you created before the hills?
15:8:“Do you hear the secret counsel of God,
And do you limit [the possession of] wisdom to yourself?
15:9:“What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not equally clear to us?
15:10:“Among us are both the gray-haired and the aged,
Older than your father.
15:11:“Are the consolations of God [as we have interpreted them to you] too trivial for you,
[Or] were we too gentle toward you [in our first speech] to be effective?
15:12:“Why does your heart carry you away [allowing you to be controlled by emotion]?
And why do your eyes flash [in anger or contempt],
15:13:That you should turn your spirit against God
And let such words [as you have spoken] go out of your mouth?
15:14:“What is man, that he should be pure and clean,
Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous and just?
15:15:“Behold, God puts no trust in His holy ones (angels);
Indeed, the heavens are not pure in His sight—
15:16:How much less [pure and clean is] the one who is repulsive and corrupt,
Man, who drinks unrighteousness and injustice like water!
15:17:What Eliphaz Has Seen of Life
“I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have seen I will also declare;
15:18:What wise men have [freely] told,
And have not hidden [anything passed on to them] from their fathers,
15:19:To whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them [corrupting the truth].
15:20:“The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,
And numbered are the years stored up for him, the ruthless one.
15:21:“A [dreadful] sound of terrors is in his ears;
While at peace and in a time of prosperity the destroyer comes upon him [the tent of the robber is not at peace].
15:22:“He does not believe that he will return out of the darkness [for fear of being murdered],
And he is destined for the sword [of God’s vengeance].
15:23:“He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that the day of darkness and destruction is already at hand.
15:24:“Distress and anxiety terrify him,
They overpower him like a king ready for battle.
15:25:“Because he has stretched out his hand against God
And behaves arrogantly against the Almighty,
15:26:Running and charging headlong against Him
With his ornamented and massive shield;
15:27:For he has covered his face with his fat,
Adding layers of fat to his thighs [giving himself up to pleasures],
15:28:And he has lived in desolate [God-forsaken] cities,
In houses which no one should inhabit,
Which were destined to become heaps [of ruins];
15:29:He will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
And his grain will not bend to the earth nor his possessions be extended on the earth.
15:30:“He will not escape from darkness [fleeing disaster];
The flame [of God’s wrath] will wither his branch,
And by the blast of His mouth he will go away.
15:31:“Let him not trust in vanity (emptiness, futility) and be led astray;
For emptiness will be his reward [for such living].
15:32:“It will be fulfilled while he still lives,
And his branch will not be green [but shall wither away].
15:33:“He will fail to bring his grapes to maturity [leaving them to wither unnourished] on the vine,
And will cast off blossoms [and fail to bring forth fruit] like the olive tree.
15:34:“For the company of the godless is barren,
And fire consumes the tents of bribery (wrong and injustice).
15:35:“They conceive mischief and bring forth wickedness,
And their inmost soul prepares deceit and fraud.”
16:1:Job Says Friends Are Sorry Comforters
Then Job answered and said,
16:2:“I have heard many such things;
Wearisome and miserable comforters are you all.
16:3:“Is there no end to [your futile] words of wind?
Or what plagues you [so much] that you [so boldly] answer [me like this]?
16:4:“I also could speak like you,
If you were in my place;
I could compose and join words together against you
And shake my head at you.
16:5:“[But instead] I could strengthen and encourage you with [the words of] my mouth,
And the consolation and solace of my lips would soothe your suffering and lessen your anguish.
16:6:Job Says God Shattered Him
“If I speak [to you miserable comforters], my pain is not relieved;
And if I refrain [from speaking], what [pain or anguish] leaves me?
16:7:“But now God has exhausted me.
You [O Lord] have destroyed all my family and my household.
16:8:“You have taken a firm hold on me and have shriveled me up,
It has become a witness [against me];
And my leanness [and infirmity] rises up [as evidence] against me,
It testifies to my face [about my guilt].
16:9:“His wrath has torn me and hunted me down,
He has gnashed at me with his teeth;
My adversary sharpens His gaze and glares [with piercing eyes] at me.
16:10:“They have gaped at me with their mouths,
With contempt they have struck me on the cheek;
They massed themselves together [and conspired] against me.
16:11:“God hands me over to criminals
And tosses me [headlong] into the hands of the wicked.
16:12:“I was [living] at ease, but He crushed me and broke me apart,
And He has seized me by the neck and has shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His target.
16:13:“His arrows surround me.
He pierces my kidneys (vital organs) without mercy;
He pours out my gall on the ground.
16:14:“He attacks me, making wound after wound;
He runs at me like a warrior.
16:15:“I have sewed sackcloth over my skin [as a sign of mourning]
And have defiled my horn (symbol of strength) in the dust.
16:16:“My face is red and swollen with weeping,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death [my eyes are dimmed],
16:17:Although there is no violence or wrongdoing in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.
16:18:“O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no [resting] place for my cry [where it will cease being heard].
16:19:“Even now, behold, my Witness is in heaven,
And my Advocate [who vouches and testifies for me] is on high.
16:20:“My friends are scoffers [who ridicule];
My eye pours out tears to God.
16:21:“Oh, that a man would mediate and plead with God [for me]
Just as a man [mediates and pleads] with his neighbor and friend.
16:22:“For when a few years are past,
I shall go the way of no return.
17:1:Job Says He Has Become a Byword
“My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished,
The grave is ready for me.
17:2:“Surely there are mockers and mockery with me,
And my eye gazes on their obstinacy and provocation.
17:3:“Give me a pledge (guarantee, promise) with Yourself [acknowledge my innocence before my death];
Who is there that will be my guarantor and give security for me?
17:4:“But You [Lord] have closed their hearts to understanding,
Therefore You will not exalt them [by giving a verdict against me].
17:5:“He who denounces and informs against his friends for a share of the spoil,
The eyes of his children will also languish and fail.
17:6:“But He has made me a byword and mockery among the people,
And I have become one in whose face people spit.
17:7:“My eye has grown dim (unexpressive) because of grief,
And all my [body’s] members are [wasted away] like a shadow.
17:8:“The upright will be [astonished and] appalled at this,
And the innocent will stir himself up against the godless and polluted.
17:9:“Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his ways,
And he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
17:10:“But as for all of you, come back again,
Even though I do not find a wise man among you.
17:11:“My days are past, my purposes and plans are frustrated and torn apart;
The wishes of my heart [are broken].
17:12:“These [thoughts try to] make the night into the day;
‘The light is near,’ they say in the presence of darkness [but they pervert the truth].
17:13:“But if I look to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) as my home,
If I make my bed in the darkness,
17:14:If I call out to the pit (grave), ‘You are my father’;
And to the worm [that feeds on decay], ‘You are my mother and my sister [because I will soon be closest to you],’
17:15:Where now is my hope?
And who regards or considers or is even concerned about my hope?
17:16:“Will my hope go down with me to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead)?
Shall we go down together in the dust?”
18:1:Bildad Speaks of the Wicked
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
18:2:“How long will you hunt for words and continue these speeches?
Do some clear thinking and show understanding and then we can talk.
18:3:“Why are we regarded as beasts,
As if [we are] stupid (senseless) in your eyes?
18:4:“You who tear yourself apart in anger,
Is the earth to be abandoned for your sake,
Or the rock to be moved out of its place?
18:5:“Indeed, the light of the wicked will be put out,
And the flame of his fire will not shine.
18:6:“The light will be dark in his tent,
And his lamp beside him will be put out.
18:7:“The vigorous stride will be shortened,
And his own counsel and the scheme [in which he trusted] will bring his downfall.
18:8:“For the wicked is thrown into a net by his own feet (wickedness),
And he steps on the webbing [of the lattice-covered pit].
18:9:“A snare catches him by the heel,
And a trap snaps shut on him.
18:10:“A noose is hidden for him on the ground,
And a trap for him on the path.
18:11:“Terrors frighten him on every side
And chase at his heels.
18:12:“The strength [of the wicked] is famished and weakened,
And disaster is ready at his side [if he stops].
18:13:“His skin is devoured by disease;
The firstborn of death [the worst of diseases] consumes his limbs.
18:14:“He is torn from his tent which he trusted [for safety],
And he is marched and brought to the king of terrors (death).
18:15:“Nothing of his dwells in his tent;
Brimstone (burning sulfur) is scattered over his dwelling [to purify it].
18:16:“The roots [of the wicked] are dried up below,
And above, his branch is cut off and withers.
18:17:“Memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name on the street.
18:18:“He is driven and propelled from light into darkness,
And chased from the inhabited world.
18:19:“He has no offspring or prosperity among his people,
Nor any survivor where he sojourned.
18:20:“Those in the west are astonished and appalled at his fate,
And those in the east are seized with horror.
18:21:“Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked and the ungodly,
And such is the place of him who does not know or recognize or honor God.”
19:1:Job Feels Insulted
Then Job answered and said,
19:2:“How long will you torment and exasperate me
And crush me with words?
19:3:“These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me [and harden your hearts against me].
19:4:“And if it were true that I have erred,
My error would remain with me [and I would be conscious of it].
19:5:“If indeed you [braggarts] vaunt and magnify yourselves over me
And prove my disgrace (humiliation) to me,
19:6:Know then that God has wronged me and overthrown me
And has closed His net around me.
19:7:Everything Is Against Him
“Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not heard;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.
19:8:“He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has set darkness upon my paths.
19:9:“He has stripped me of my honor
And removed the crown from my head.
19:10:“He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
He has uprooted my hope like a tree.
19:11:“He has also kindled His wrath [like a fire] against me
And He considers and counts me as one of His adversaries.
19:12:“His troops come together
And build up their way and siege works against me
And camp around my tent.
19:13:“He has put my brothers far from me,
And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
19:14:“My relatives have failed [me],
And my intimate friends have forgotten me.
19:15:“Those who live [temporarily] in my house and my maids consider me a stranger;
I am a foreigner in their sight.
19:16:“I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore him with words.
19:17:“My breath is repulsive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
19:18:“Even young children despise me;
When I get up, they speak against me.
19:19:“All the men of my council hate me;
Those I love have turned against me.
19:20:“My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh,
And I have escaped [death] by the skin of my teeth.
19:21:“Have pity on me! Have pity on me, O you my friends,
For the hand of God has touched me.
19:22:“Why do you persecute me as God does?
Why are you not satisfied with my flesh (anguish)?
19:23:Job Says, “My Redeemer Lives”
“Oh, that the words I now speak were written!
Oh, that they were recorded in a scroll!
19:24:“That with an iron stylus and [molten] lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
19:25:“For I know that my Redeemer and Vindicator lives,
And at the last He will take His stand upon the earth.
19:26:“Even after my [mortal] skin is destroyed [by death],
Yet from my [immortal] flesh I will see God,
19:27:Whom I, even I, will see for myself,
And my eyes will see Him and not another!
My heart faints within me.
19:28:“If you say, ‘How shall we [continue to] persecute him?’
And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find [since we claim the root of these afflictions is found in him]?’
19:29:“Then beware and be afraid of the sword [of divine vengeance] for yourselves,
For wrathful are the punishments of that sword,
So that you may know there is judgment.”
20:1:Zophar Says, “The Triumph of the Wicked Is Short”
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
20:2:“Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me answer,
Because of the uneasiness that is within me.
20:3:“I have heard the reproof which insults me,
But the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.
20:4:“Do you not know this from the old days,
Since the time that man was placed on the earth,
20:5:That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the godless is only for a moment?
20:6:“Though his pride reaches the heavens
And his head touches the clouds,
20:7:Yet he perishes forever like his own refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
20:8:“He flies away like a dream and cannot be found;
Yes, he is chased away like a vision of the night.
20:9:“The eye which saw him sees him no longer,
Neither does his [accustomed] place behold him any longer.
20:10:“His sons favor the poor [and pay his obligations],
And his hands give back his [ill-gotten] wealth.
20:11:“His bones are full of youthful strength
But it lies down with him in the dust.
20:12:“Though evil and wickedness are sweet in his mouth
And he hides it under his tongue,
20:13:Though he desires it and will not let it go
But holds it in his mouth,
20:14:Yet his food turns [to poison] in his stomach;
It is the venom of vipers within him.
20:15:“He swallows [his ill-gotten] riches,
But will vomit them up;
God will drive them out of his belly.
20:16:“He sucks the poison of vipers [which ill-gotten wealth contains];
The viper’s tongue slays him.
20:17:“He does not look at the rivers,
The flowing streams of honey and butter [to enjoy his wealth].
20:18:“He gives back what he has labored for and attained
And cannot swallow it [down to enjoy it];
As to the riches of his labor,
He cannot even enjoy them.
20:19:“For he has oppressed and neglected the poor;
He has violently taken away houses which he did not build.
20:20:“Because he knew no quietness or calm within him [because of his greed],
He does not retain anything he desires.
20:21:“There is nothing left of what he devoured;
Therefore his prosperity does not endure.
20:22:“In the fullness of his excess (great abundance) he will be in trouble;
The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him [he is miserable on every side].
20:23:“When he fills his belly,
God will send His fierce anger on him
And will rain it upon him while he is eating.
20:24:“He may flee from the iron weapon,
But the bow of bronze will pierce him through.
20:25:“The arrow is drawn forth and it comes out of his back [after passing through his body];
Yes, the glittering point comes out of his gall.
Terrors march in upon him;
20:26:Complete darkness (misfortune) is held in reserve for his treasures.
An unfanned fire will devour him;
It will consume the survivor in his tent.
20:27:“The heavens will reveal his wickedness and guilt,
And the earth will rise up against him.
20:28:“The produce and increase of his house will depart [with the victors];
His possessions will be dragged away in the day of God’s wrath.
20:29:“This is the wicked man’s portion from God,
And the heritage decreed and appointed to him by God.”
21:1:Job’s Dialogue Regarding the Wicked
Then Job answered and said,
21:2:“Listen carefully to my speech,
And let this be the consolation.
21:3:“Bear with me, and I also will speak;
And after I have spoken, you may [continue to] mock [me].
21:4:“As for me, is my complaint to man or about him?
And why should I not be impatient and my spirit troubled?
21:5:“Look at me and be astonished and appalled;
And put your hand over your mouth.
21:6:“Even when I remember, I am troubled and afraid;
Horror and trembling take hold of my flesh.
21:7:“Why do the wicked still live,
Become old, and become mighty in power?
21:8:“Their children and descendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes.
21:9:“Their houses are safe from fear;
And the rod of God is not on them.
21:10:“His bull breeds and does not fail;
His cow calves and does not miscarry.
21:11:“They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children skip about.
21:12:“They lift up their voices and sing to the tambourine and the lyre
And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
21:13:“They fully enjoy their days in prosperity,
And so go down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) in a [peaceful] moment.
21:14:“Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us,
For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.
21:15:‘Who [and what] is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
And what would we gain if we plead with Him?’
21:16:“But notice, the prosperity of the wicked is not in their hand (in their power);
The counsel of the wicked [and the mystery of God’s dealings with the ungodly] is far from my comprehension.
21:17:“How often [then] is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out,
And that their disaster falls on them?
Does God distribute pain and destruction and sorrow [to them] in His anger?
21:18:“Are they like straw before the wind,
And like chaff that the storm steals and carries away?
21:19:“You say, ‘God stores away [the punishment of] man’s wickedness for his children.’
Let God repay him so that he may know and experience it.
21:20:“Let his own eyes see his destruction,
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21:21:“For what pleasure does he have in his house and family after he is dead,
When the number of his months [of life] is cut off?
21:22:“Can anyone teach God knowledge,
Seeing that He judges those on high?
21:23:“One dies in his full strength,
Being wholly at ease and quiet and satisfied;
21:24:His pails are full of milk [his sides are filled out with fat],
And the marrow of his bones is moist,
21:25:Whereas another dies with a bitter soul,
Never even tasting pleasure or good fortune.
21:26:“Together they lie down in the dust,
And the worms cover them.
21:27:“Behold, I know your thoughts,
And the plots by which you would wrong me.
21:28:“For you say, ‘Where is the house of the noble man?
And where is the tent, the dwelling place of the wicked?’
21:29:“Have you not asked those who travel this way,
And do you not recognize their witness?
21:30:“That evil men are [now] reserved for the day of disaster and destruction,
They will be led away on the day of [God’s] wrath?
21:31:“But who will confront him with his actions and rebuke him face to face,
And who will repay him for what he has done?
21:32:“When he is carried to his grave,
A guard will keep watch over his tomb.
21:33:“The [dirt] clods of the valley are sweet to him [and gently cover him],
Moreover, all men will follow after him [to a grave],
While countless ones go before him.
21:34:“How then can you vainly comfort me with empty words,
Since your answers remain untrue?”
22:1:Eliphaz Accuses and Exhorts Job
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
22:2:“Can a vigorous man be of use to God,
Or a wise man be useful to himself?
22:3:“Is it any pleasure or joy to the Almighty that you are righteous?
Or is it of benefit to Him that you make your ways perfect?
22:4:“Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you,
That He enters into judgment against you?
22:5:“Is not your wickedness great,
And your sins without end?
22:6:“For you have taken pledges of your brothers without cause,
And stripped men naked.
22:7:“You have not given water to the weary to drink,
And you have withheld bread from the hungry.
22:8:“But the land is possessed by the man with power,
And the favored and honorable man dwells in it.
22:9:“You have sent widows away empty-handed,
And the arms (strength) of the fatherless have been broken.
22:10:“Therefore snares surround you,
And sudden dread terrifies and overwhelms you;
22:11:Or darkness, so that you cannot see,
And a flood of water covers you.
22:12:“Is not God in the height of heaven?
And behold the distant stars, how high they are!
22:13:“You say, ‘What does God know [about me]?
Can He judge through the thick darkness?
22:14:‘Thick clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see,
And He walks on the vault (circle) of the heavens.’
22:15:“Will you keep to the ancient path
That wicked men walked [in the time of Noah],
22:16:Men who were snatched away before their time,
Whose foundations were poured out like a river?
22:17:“They said to God, ‘Depart from us!
What can the Almighty do for us or to us?’
22:18:“Yet He filled their houses with good things;
But the counsel of the wicked and ungodly is far from me.
22:19:“The righteous see it and are glad;
And the innocent mock and laugh at them, saying,
22:20:‘Surely our adversaries are cut off and destroyed,
And fire has consumed their abundance.’
22:21:“Now yield and submit yourself to Him [agree with God and be conformed to His will] and be at peace;
In this way [you will prosper and great] good will come to you.
22:22:“Please receive the law and instruction from His mouth
And establish His words in your heart and keep them.
22:23:“If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up [and restored];
If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents,
22:24:And place your gold in the dust,
And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks [considering it of little value],
22:25:And make the Almighty your gold
And your precious silver,
22:26:Then you will have delight in the Almighty,
And you will lift up your face to God.
22:27:“You will pray to Him, and He will hear you,
And you will pay your vows.
22:28:“You will also decide and decree a thing, and it will be established for you;
And the light [of God’s favor] will shine upon your ways.
22:29:“When you are cast down and humbled, you will speak with confidence,
And the humble person He will lift up and save.
22:30:“He will even rescue the one [for whom you intercede] who is not innocent;
And he will be rescued through the cleanness of your hands.”
23:1:Job Says He Longs for God
Then Job answered and said,
23:2:“Even today my complaint is contentious;
His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
23:3:“Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might [even] come to His seat!
23:4:“I would present my cause before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments.
23:5:“I would learn the words which He would answer,
And understand what He would say to me.
23:6:“Would He contend against me with His great power?
No, surely He would give attention to me.
23:7:“There the righteous and upright could reason with Him;
So I would be acquitted forever by my Judge.
23:8:“Behold, I go forward (to the east), but He is not there;
I go backward (to the west), but I cannot perceive Him;
23:9:To the left (north) He turns, but I cannot behold Him;
He turns to the right hand (south), but I cannot see Him.
23:10:“But He knows the way that I take [and He pays attention to it].
When He has tried me, I will come forth as [refined] gold [pure and luminous].
23:11:“My feet have carefully followed His steps;
I have kept His ways and not turned aside.
23:12:“I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have kept the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
23:13:“But He is unique and unchangeable, and who can turn Him?
And what His soul desires, that He does.
23:14:“For He performs what is planned (appointed) for me,
And He is mindful of many such things.
23:15:“Therefore I would be terrified at His presence;
When I consider [all of this], I tremble in dread of Him.
23:16:“For God has made my heart faint,
And the Almighty has terrified me,
23:17:But I am not silenced by the darkness [of these woes that fell on me],
Nor by the thick darkness which covers my face.
24:1:Job Says God Seems to Ignore Wrongs
“Why does the Almighty not set seasons for judgment?
Why do those who know Him not see His days [for punishment of the wicked]?
24:2:“Some remove the landmarks;
They [violently] seize and pasture flocks [appropriating land and flocks openly].
24:3:“They drive away the donkeys of the orphans;
They take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
24:4:“They crowd the needy off the road;
The poor of the land all hide themselves.
24:5:“Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert,
The poor go to their work, diligently seeking food;
As bread for their children in the desert.
24:6:“They harvest their fodder in a field [that is not their own],
And glean the vineyard of the wicked.
24:7:“They spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering against the cold.
24:8:“They are wet from the rain of the mountains
And cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
24:9:“Others snatch the fatherless [infants] from the breast [to sell or make them slaves],
And against the poor they take a pledge [of clothing].
24:10:“They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing,
And they take away the sheaves [of grain] from the hungry.
24:11:“Within the walls [of the wicked] the poor make [olive] oil;
They tread [the grapes in] the wine presses, but thirst.
24:12:“From the [populous and crowded] city men groan,
And the souls of the wounded cry out for help;
Yet God [seemingly] does not pay attention to the wrong [done to them].
24:13:“Others have been with those who rebel against the light;
They do not want to know its ways
Nor stay in its paths.
24:14:“The murderer rises at dawn;
He kills the poor and the needy,
And at night he becomes a thief.
24:15:“The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
Saying, ‘No eye will see me,’
And he covers his face.
24:16:“In the dark they dig into [the penetrable walls of] houses;
They shut themselves up by day;
They do not know the light [of day].
24:17:“For the morning is the same to him as the thick darkness [of midnight];
For he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness.
24:18:“They are insignificant on the surface of the water;
Their portion is cursed on the earth;
They do not turn toward the vineyards.
24:19:“Drought and heat consume the snow waters;
So does Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) [consume] those who have sinned.
24:20:“A mother will forget him;
The worm feeds on him until he is no longer remembered.
And wickedness will be broken like a tree [which cannot be restored].
24:21:“He preys on the barren (childless) woman
And does no good for the widow.
24:22:“Yet God draws away the mighty by His power;
He rises, but no one has assurance of life.
24:23:“God gives them security, and they are supported;
And His eyes are on their ways.
24:24:“They are exalted for a little while, and then they are gone;
Moreover, they are brought low and like everything [they are] gathered up and taken out of the way;
Even like the heads of grain they are cut off.
24:25:“And if this is not so, who can prove me a liar
And make my speech worthless?”
25:1:Bildad Says Man Is Inferior
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
25:2:“Dominion and awe belong to God;
He establishes peace and order in His high places.
25:3:“Is there any number to His [vast celestial] armies?
And upon whom does His light not rise?
25:4:“How then can man be justified and righteous with God?
Or how can he who is born of a woman be pure and clean?
25:5:“Behold, even the moon has no brightness [compared to God’s majesty and glory]
And the stars are not pure in His sight,
25:6:How much less man, that maggot,
And the son of man, that worm!”
26:1:Job Rebukes Bildad
But Job answered and said,
26:2:“What a help you are to the weak (powerless)!
How you have saved the arm that is without strength!
26:3:“How you have counseled the one who has no wisdom!
And how abundantly you have provided sound wisdom and helpful insight!
26:4:“To whom have you uttered [these] words?
And whose spirit [inspired what] came forth from you?
26:5:The Greatness of God
“The spirits of the dead tremble
Underneath the waters and their inhabitants.
26:6:“Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) is naked before God,
And Abaddon (the place of destruction) has no covering [from His eyes].
26:7:“It is He who spreads out the north over emptiness
And hangs the earth on nothing.
26:8:“He wraps the waters in His clouds [which otherwise would spill on earth all at once],
And the cloud does not burst under them.
26:9:“He covers the face of the full moon
And spreads His cloud over it.
26:10:“He has inscribed a circular limit (the horizon) on the face of the waters
At the boundary between light and darkness.
26:11:“The pillars of the heavens tremble
And are terrified at His rebuke.
26:12:“He stirred up the sea by His power,
And by His understanding He smashed [proud] Rahab.
26:13:“By His breath the heavens are cleared;
His hand has pierced the [swiftly] fleeing serpent.
26:14:“Yet these are just the fringes of His ways [mere samples of His power],
The faintest whisper of His voice!
Who can contemplate the thunder of His [full] mighty power?”
27:1:Job Affirms His Righteousness
Job continued his discourse and said,
27:2:“As God lives, who has taken away my right and denied me justice,
And the Almighty, who has caused bitterness and grief for my soul,
27:3:As long as my life is within me,
And the breath of God is [still] in my nostrils,
27:4:My lips will not speak unjustly,
Nor will my tongue utter deceit.
27:5:“Far be it from me that I should admit you are right [in your accusations against me];
Until I die, I will not remove my integrity from me.
27:6:“I hold fast my uprightness and my right standing with God and I will not let them go;
My heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
27:7:The State of the Godless
“May my enemy be as the wicked,
And he who rises up against me be as the unrighteous (unjust).
27:8:“For what is the hope of the godless, even though he has gained [in this world],
When God takes his life?
27:9:“Will God hear his cry
When trouble and distress come upon him?
27:10:“Will he take delight in the Almighty?
Will he call on God at all times?
27:11:“I will teach you regarding the hand (power) of God;
I will not conceal what is with the Almighty [God’s actual treatment of the wicked].
27:12:“Behold, all of you have seen it;
Why then do you act vainly and foolishly [cherishing worthless concepts]?
27:13:“This [which I am about to explain] is the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the inheritance which tyrants and oppressors receive from the Almighty:
27:14:“Though his children are many, they are destined for the sword;
And his descendants will not have sufficient bread.
27:15:“Those who survive him will be buried because of the plague,
And [their] widows will not be able to weep.
27:16:“Though he heaps up silver like dust
And piles up clothing like clay,
27:17:He may prepare it, but the just will wear it
And the innocent will divide the silver.
27:18:“He builds his house like a spider’s web,
Like a (temporary) hut which a watchman makes.
27:19:“He lies down rich, but never will again;
He opens his eyes, and it is gone.
27:20:“Terrors overtake him like a [suddenly rising] flood;
A windstorm steals him away in the night.
27:21:“The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.
27:22:“For it will hurl [thunderbolts of God’s wrath] at him unsparingly and without compassion;
He flees in haste from its power.
27:23:“People will clap their hands at him [to mock and ridicule him]
And hiss him out of his place.
28:1:Job Tells of Earth’s Treasures
“Surely there is a mine for silver,
And a place where they refine gold.
28:2:“Iron is taken out of the earth,
And copper is smelted from the stone ore.
28:3:“Man puts an end to darkness [by bringing in a light],
And to the farthest bounds he searches out
The rock buried in gloom and deep shadow.
28:4:“He breaks open (mine) shafts far away from where people live,
[In places] forgotten by the [human] foot;
They dangle [in the mines] and hang away from men.
28:5:“[As for] the earth, out of it comes food,
But underneath [its surface, down deep] it is turned over as fire.
28:6:“Its stones are the bed of sapphires;
It holds dust of gold.
28:7:“The path [deep within] no bird of prey knows,
And the falcon’s eye has not caught sight of it.
28:8:“The proud beasts [and their young] have not walked on it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
28:9:“Man puts his hand on [and tears apart] the flinty rock;
He overturns the mountains at the base [looking for treasure].
28:10:“He cuts out channels and passages among the rocks;
And his eye sees every precious thing.
28:11:“Man dams up the streams from flowing [so that they do not trickle into the mine],
And what is hidden he brings out to the light.
28:12:The Search for Wisdom Is Harder
“But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
28:13:“Man does not know the value of it;
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
28:14:“The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
28:15:“It cannot be obtained for pure gold,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
28:16:“It cannot be valued in [terms of] the gold of Ophir,
In the precious onyx or beryl, or the sapphire.
28:17:“Gold and glass cannot equal wisdom,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
28:18:“No mention of coral and crystal can be made;
For the possession of wisdom is even above [that of] rubies or pearls.
28:19:“The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
28:20:“From where then does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?
28:21:“It is hidden from the eyes of all the living
And concealed from the birds of the heavens.
28:22:“Abaddon (the place of destruction) and Death say,
‘We have [only] heard a report of it with our ears.’
28:23:“God understands the way [to wisdom]
And He knows its place [for wisdom is with God alone].
28:24:“For He looks to the ends of the earth
And sees everything under the heavens.
28:25:“When He gave weight and pressure to the wind
And allotted the waters by measure,
28:26:When He made a limit for the rain
And a way for the thunderbolt,
28:27:Then He saw wisdom and declared it;
He established it and searched it out.
28:28:“But to man He said, ‘Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord—that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”
29:1:Job’s Past Was Glorious
And Job again took up his discussion and said,
29:2:“Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
As in the days when God watched over me,
29:3:When His lamp shone upon my head
And by His light I walked through darkness;
29:4:As I was in the prime of my days,
When the friendship and counsel of God were over my tent,
29:5:When the Almighty was still with me
And my boys were around me,
29:6:When my steps [through rich pastures] were washed with butter and cream [from my livestock],
And the rock poured out for me streams of oil [from my olive groves].
29:7:“When I went out to the gate of the city,
When I took my seat [as a city father] in the square,
29:8:The young men saw me and hid themselves,
The aged arose and stood [respectfully];
29:9:The princes stopped talking
And put their hands on their mouths;
29:10:The voices of the nobles were hushed,
And their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
29:11:“For when an ear heard [my name mentioned], it called me happy and fortunate;
And when an eye saw [me], it testified for me [approvingly],
29:12:Because I rescued the poor who cried for help,
And the orphan who had no helper.
29:13:“The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,
And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
29:14:“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban!
29:15:“I was eyes to the blind
And I was feet to the lame.
29:16:“I was a father to the needy;
I investigated the case I did not know [and assured justice].
29:17:“And I smashed the jaws of the wicked
And snatched the prey from his teeth.
29:18:“Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand.
29:19:‘My root is spread out and open to the waters,
And the dew lies all night upon my branch.
29:20:‘My glory and honor are fresh in me [being constantly renewed],
And my bow gains [ever] new strength in my hand.’
29:21:“They listened to me and waited
And kept silent for my counsel.
29:22:“After I spoke, they did not speak again,
And my speech dropped upon them [like a refreshing shower].
29:23:“They waited for me [and for my words] as for the rain,
And they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.
29:24:“I smiled at them when they did not believe,
And they did not diminish the light of my face.
29:25:“I chose a way for them and sat as chief,
And dwelt as a king among his soldiers,
As one who comforts mourners.
30:1:Job’s Present State Is Humiliating
“But now those younger than I mock and laugh at me,
Whose fathers I refused to put with the sheepdogs of my flock.
30:2:“Indeed, how could the strength of their hands profit me?
Vigor had perished from them.
30:3:“They are gaunt with want and famine;
They gnaw the dry and barren ground by night in [the gloom of] waste and desolation.
30:4:“They pluck [and eat] saltwort (mallows) among the bushes,
And their food is the root of the broom shrub.
30:5:“They are driven from the community;
They shout after them as after a thief.
30:6:“They must dwell on the slopes of wadis
And in holes in the ground and in rocks.
30:7:“Among the bushes they cry out [like wild animals];
Beneath the prickly scrub they gather and huddle together.
30:8:“They are the sons of [worthless and nameless] fools,
They have been driven out of the land.
30:9:“And now I have become [the subject of] their taunting;
Yes, I am a byword and a laughingstock to them.
30:10:“They hate me, they stand aloof from me,
And do not refrain from spitting in my face.
30:11:“For God has loosed His bowstring [attacking me] and [He has] afflicted and humbled me;
They have cast off the bridle [of restraint] before me.
30:12:“On my right the [rabble] brood rises;
They push my feet away, and they build up their ways of destruction against me [like an advancing army].
30:13:“They break up and clutter my path [upsetting my plans],
They profit from my destruction;
No one restrains them.
30:14:“As through a wide breach they come,
Amid the crash [of falling walls] they roll on [over me].
30:15:“Terrors are turned upon me;
They chase away my honor and reputation like the wind,
And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
30:16:“And now my soul is poured out within me;
The days of affliction have seized me.
30:17:“My bones are pierced [with aching] in the night season,
And the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
30:18:“By the great force [of my disease] my garment (skin) is disfigured and blemished;
It binds about me [choking me] like the collar of my coat.
30:19:“God has cast me into the mire [a swampland of crisis],
And I have become [worthless] like dust and ashes.
30:20:“I cry to You for help, [Lord,] but You do not answer me;
I stand up, but You [only] gaze [indifferently] at me.
30:21:“You have become harsh and cruel to me;
With the might of Your hand You [keep me alive only to] persecute me.
30:22:“You lift me up on the wind and cause me to ride [upon it];
And You toss me about in the tempest and dissolve me in the storm.
30:23:“For I know that You will bring me to death
And to the house of meeting [appointed] for all the living.
30:24:“However, does not one falling in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand?
Or in his disaster [will he not] therefore cry out for help?
30:25:“Did I not weep for one whose life was hard and filled with trouble?
Was not my heart grieved for the needy?
30:26:“When I expected good, then came evil [to me];
And when I waited for light, then came darkness.
30:27:“I am seething within and my heart is troubled and cannot rest;
Days of affliction come to meet me.
30:28:“I go about mourning without comfort [my skin blackened by disease, not by the heat of the sun];
I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.
30:29:“I am a brother to [howling] jackals,
And a companion to ostriches [which scream dismally].
30:30:“My skin falls from me in blackened flakes,
And my bones are burned with fever.
30:31:“Therefore my lyre (harp) is used for [the sound of] mourning,
And my flute for the [sound of the] voices of those who weep.
31:1:Job Asserts His Integrity
“I have made a covenant (agreement) with my eyes;
How then could I gaze [lustfully] at a virgin?
31:2:“For what is the portion I would have from God above,
And what heritage from the Almighty on high?
31:3:“Does not tragedy fall [justly] on the unjust
And disaster to those who work wickedness?
31:4:“Does not God see my ways
And count all my steps?
31:5:“If I have walked with falsehood,
Or if my foot has chased after deceit,
31:6:Oh, let Him weigh me with accurate scales,
And let God know my integrity.
31:7:“If my step has turned away from the way [of God],
Or if my heart has [covetously] followed my eyes,
Or if any spot [of guilt] has stained my hands,
31:8:Then let me plant and [let] another eat [from the results of my labor],
And let my crops be uprooted and ruined.
31:9:“If my heart has been enticed and I was made a fool by a woman,
Or if I have [covetously] lurked at my neighbor’s door [until his departure],
31:10:Let my wife grind [meal, like a bond slave] for another [man],
And let others kneel down over her.
31:11:“For adultery is a heinous and lustful crime;
Moreover, it would be a sin punishable by the judges.
31:12:“For it is a fire which consumes to Abaddon (destruction, ruin, final torment);
And [illicit passion] would burn and rage and uproot all my [life’s] increase [destroying everything].
31:13:“If I have despised and rejected the claim of my male or female servants
When they filed a complaint against me,
31:14:What then could I do when God arises [to judge me]?
When He calls me to account, what will I answer Him?
31:15:“Did not He who made me in the womb make my servant,
And did not the same One fashion us both in the womb?
31:16:“If I have withheld from the poor what they desired,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to look in vain [for relief],
31:17:Or have eaten my morsel [of food] alone,
And did not share it with the orphan
31:18:(But from my youth the orphan grew up with me as with a father,
And from my mother’s womb I have been the widow’s guide),
31:19:If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
Or any poor person without covering,
31:20:If his loins have not thanked and blessed me [for clothing them],
And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
31:21:If I have lifted my hand against the orphan,
Because I saw [that the judges would be] my help at the [council] gate,
31:22:Then let my shoulder fall away from its socket,
And my arm be broken off at the elbow.
31:23:“For tragedy from God is a terror to me,
And because of His majesty and exaltation I can do nothing [nor endure facing Him].
31:24:“If I have put my trust and confidence in gold,
Or have declared fine gold my hope and assurance,
31:25:If I gloated and rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my [powerful] hand [alone] had obtained so much,
31:26:If I beheld the sun [as an object of worship] when it shone
Or the moon going in its splendor,
31:27:And my heart became secretly enticed [by them],
And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth [in respect to them],
31:28:This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.
31:29:“Have I rejoiced at the destruction of the enemy [who hated me],
Or exulted [in malicious triumph] when evil overtook him?
31:30:“No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By cursing my enemy and asking for his life.
31:31:“I assure you, the men of my tent have said,
‘Who can find one [in need] who has not been satisfied with his meat’?
31:32:“The stranger has not lodged in the street,
Because I have opened my door to the traveler.
31:33:“Have I concealed my transgressions like Adam or like other men,
By hiding my wickedness in my bosom,
31:34:Because I feared the great multitude,
And the contempt of families terrified me,
So that I kept silence and did not acknowledge my sin and did not go out of the door?
31:35:“Oh, that I had one to listen to me!
Look, here is my signature (mark);
Let the Almighty answer me!
Let my adversary write out His indictment [and put His vague accusations in tangible form].
31:36:“Surely I would [proudly] bear it on my shoulder,
And bind the scroll around my head like a crown.
31:37:“I would count out to Him the number of my steps [with every detail of my life],
Approaching His presence as if I were a prince.
31:38:“For if my land has cried out against me,
And its furrows weep together;
31:39:If I have eaten its fruits without paying for them,
Or have caused its [rightful] owners to lose their lives,
31:40:Let thorns grow instead of wheat,
And stinkweed and cockleburs instead of barley.”
So the words of Job [with his friends] are finished.
32:1:Elihu Rebukes Job
So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes [and could not be persuaded otherwise by them].
32:2:But Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became indignant. His indignation was kindled and burned and he became upset with Job because he justified himself rather than God [and even expressed doubts about God’s character].
32:3:Elihu’s anger burned against Job’s three friends because they had found no answer [and were unable to determine Job’s error], and yet they had condemned Job and declared him to be in the wrong [and responsible for his own afflictions].
32:4:Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were years older than he.
32:5:And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he burned with anger.
32:6:Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite said,
“I am young, and you are aged;
For that reason I was anxious and dared not tell you what I think.
32:7:“I thought age should speak,
And a multitude of years should teach wisdom.
32:8:“But there is [a vital force and] a spirit [of intelligence] in man,
And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.
32:9:“Those [who are] abundant in years may not [always] be wise,
Nor may the elders [always] understand justice.
32:10:“Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;
I also will give you my opinion [about Job’s situation] and tell you plainly what I think.’
32:11:“You see, I waited for your words,
I listened to your [wise] reasons,
While you pondered and searched out what to say.
32:12:“I even paid close attention to [what] you [said],
Indeed, not one of you convinced Job [nor could you refute him],
Not one of you supplied [satisfactory] answers to his words.
32:13:“Beware if you say,
‘We have found wisdom;
God thrusts Job down [justly], not man [for God alone is dealing with him].’
32:14:“Now Job has not directed his words against me [therefore I have no reason to be offended],
Nor will I answer him with arguments like yours. [I speak for truth, not for revenge.]
32:15:“They (Job’s friends) are dismayed and embarrassed, they no longer answer;
The words have moved away and failed them,” [says Elihu].
32:16:“And shall I wait, because they say nothing,
But stand still and say no more?
32:17:“I too will give my share of answers;
I too will express my opinion and share my knowledge.
32:18:“For I am full of words;
The spirit within me constrains me.
32:19:“My belly is like unvented wine;
Like new wineskins it is about to burst.
32:20:“I must speak so that I may get relief;
I will open my lips and answer.
32:21:“I will not [I warn you] be partial to any man [that is, let my respect for you mitigate what I say];
Nor flatter any man.
32:22:“For I do not know how to flatter, [in an appropriate way, and I fear that],
My Maker would soon take me away.
33:1:Elihu Claims to Speak for God
“However, Job, please listen to my words,
And pay attention to everything I say.
33:2:“Behold, I have opened my mouth [to begin my speech];
My tongue in my mouth is going to speak.
33:3:“My words will express the uprightness of my heart,
And my lips will speak what they know with utter sincerity.
33:4:“The Spirit of God has made me,
And the breath of the Almighty gives me life [which inspires me].
33:5:“Answer me, if you can;
Set yourselves before me, take your stand.
33:6:“Behold, I belong to God like you;
I too was formed out of the clay.
33:7:“Behold, I will not make you afraid or terrified of me [for I am only mortal and not God],
Nor should any pressure from me weigh heavily upon you.
33:8:“Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
And I have heard the sound of your words, saying:
33:9:‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am innocent and there is no guilt in me.
33:10:‘Behold, God finds pretexts against me;
He counts me as His enemy.
33:11:‘He puts my feet in the stocks [to hinder and humiliate me];
He [suspiciously] watches all my paths,’ [you say].
33:12:“Look, let me answer you, in this you are not right or just;
For God is greater and far superior to man.
33:13:“Why do you complain against Him?
That He does not answer [you with] all His doings.
33:14:“For God speaks once,
And even twice, yet no one notices it [including you, Job].
33:15:“In a dream, a vision of the night [one may hear God’s voice],
When deep sleep falls on men
While slumbering upon the bed,
33:16:Then He opens the ears of men
And seals their instruction,
33:17:That He may turn man aside from his conduct,
And keep him from pride;
33:18:He holds back his soul from the pit [of destruction],
And his life from passing over into Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).
33:19:“Man is also disciplined with pain on his bed,
And with unceasing complaint in his bones,
33:20:So that his life makes him loathe food,
And his soul [loathe] even his favorite dishes.
33:21:“His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,
And his bones which were not seen now stick out.
33:22:“Then his soul draws near to the pit [of destruction],
And his life to those who bring death (the destroyers).
33:23:“If there is an angel as a mediator for him,
One out of a thousand,
To explain to a man what is right for him [that is, how to be in right standing with God],
33:24:Then the angel is gracious to him, and says,
‘Spare him from going down to the pit [of destruction];
I have found a ransom [a consideration, or reason for redemption, an atonement]!’
33:25:“Let his flesh be restored and become fresher than in youth;
Let him return to the days of his youthful strength.
33:26:“He will pray to God, and He shall be favorable to him,
So that he looks at His face with joy;
For God restores to man His righteousness [that is, his right standing with God—with its joys].
33:27:“He sings out to other men,
‘I have sinned and perverted that which was right,
And it was not proper for me!
33:28:‘God has redeemed my life from going to the pit [of destruction],
And my life shall see the light.’”
33:29:[Elihu comments,] “Behold, God does all these things twice, yes, three times, with a man,
33:30:To bring his life back from the pit [of destruction],
That he may be enlightened with the light of the living.
33:31:“Pay attention, Job, listen to me;
Keep silent, and I will speak.
33:32:“If you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I desire to justify you.
33:33:“If not [and you have nothing to say], listen to me;
Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
34:1:Elihu Vindicates God’s Justice
Elihu continued his discourse and said,
34:2:“Hear my words, you wise men,
And listen to me, you who have [so much] knowledge.
34:3:“For the ear puts words to the test
As the palate tastes food.
34:4:“Let us choose for ourselves that which is right;
Let us know among ourselves what is good.
34:5:“For Job has said, ‘I am righteous [and innocent],
But God has taken away my right;
34:6:Although I am right, I am accounted a liar.
My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’
34:7:“What man is like Job,
Who drinks up derision like water,
34:8:Who goes in company with those who do evil
And walks with wicked men?
34:9:“For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
When he takes delight and is pleased with God and obeys Him.’
34:10:“Therefore hear me, you men of understanding.
Far be it from God that He would do wickedness,
And from the Almighty to do wrong.
34:11:“For God pays a man according to his work,
And He will make every man find [appropriate] compensation according to his way.
34:12:“Surely God will not act wickedly,
Nor will the Almighty pervert justice.
34:13:“Who put God in charge over the earth?
And who has laid on Him the whole world?
34:14:“If God should determine to do so,
If He should gather to Himself [that is, withdraw from man] His [life-giving] spirit and His breath,
34:15:All flesh would perish together,
And man would return to dust.
34:16:“If you now have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words.
34:17:“Shall one who hates justice [and is an enemy of right] govern?
And will you condemn Him who is just and mighty?
34:18:“God who says to a king, ‘You are worthless and vile,’
Or to princes and nobles, ‘You are wicked and evil’?
34:19:“Who is not partial to princes,
Nor does He regard the rich above the poor,
For they all are the work of His hands.
34:20:“In a moment they die, even at midnight
The people are shaken and pass away,
And the powerful are taken away without a [human] hand.
34:21:“For God’s eyes are on the ways of a man,
And He sees all his steps.
34:22:“There is no darkness nor deep shadow
Where the evildoers may hide themselves.
34:23:“For He sets no appointed time for a man,
That he should appear before Him in judgment.
34:24:“He breaks mighty men without inquiry,
And sets others in their place.
34:25:“Therefore He knows of their works,
And He overthrows them in the night,
So that they are crushed and destroyed.
34:26:“He strikes them like the wicked
In a public place,
34:27:Because they turned aside from following Him
And would not consider or show regard for any of His ways,
34:28:So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And He heard the cry of the afflicted.
34:29:“When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?
When He hides His face [withdrawing His favor and help], who then can behold Him [and make supplication to Him],
Whether it be a nation or a man by himself?—
34:30:So that godless men would not rule
Nor be snares for the people.
34:31:“For has anyone said to God,
‘I have endured my chastisement;
I will not offend anymore;
34:32:Teach me what I do not see [in regard to how I have sinned];
If I have done wrong (injustice, unrighteousness),
I will not do it again’?
34:33:“Shall God’s retribution [for your sins] be on your terms, because you refuse to accept it?
For you must do the choosing, and not I;
Therefore say what you [truthfully] know.
34:34:“Men of understanding will tell me,
Indeed, every wise man who hears me [will agree],
34:35:‘Job speaks without knowledge,
And his words are without wisdom and insight.
34:36:‘Job ought to be tried to the limit
Because he answers like wicked men!
34:37:‘For he adds rebellion [in his unsubmissive, defiant attitude toward God] to his [unacknowledged] sin;
He claps his hands among us [in open mockery and contempt of God],
And he multiplies his words [of accusation] against God.’”
35:1:Elihu Sharply Reproves Job
Elihu continued speaking [to Job] and said,
35:2:“Do you think this is according to [your] justice?
Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?
35:3:“For you say, ‘What advantage have you [by living a righteous life]?
What profit will I have, more [by being righteous] than if I had sinned?’
35:4:“I will answer you,
And your companions with you.
35:5:“Look to the heavens and see;
And behold the skies which are [much] higher than you.
35:6:“If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him?
And if your transgressions are multiplied, what have you done to Him?
35:7:“If you are righteous, what do you give God,
Or what does He receive from your hand?
35:8:“Your wickedness affects only a man such as you,
And your righteousness affects only a son of man [but it cannot affect God, who is sovereign].
35:9:“Because of the multitudes of oppressions the people cry out;
They cry for help because of the [violent] arm of the mighty.
35:10:“But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
Who gives songs [of rejoicing] in the night,
35:11:Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth
And makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’
35:12:“The people cry out, but He does not answer
Because of the pride of evil men.
35:13:“Surely God will not listen to an empty cry [which lacks trust],
Nor will the Almighty regard it.
35:14:“Even though you say that you do not see Him [when missing His righteous judgment on earth],
Yet your case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!
35:15:“And now, because He has not [quickly] punished in His anger,
Nor has He acknowledged transgression and arrogance well [and seems unaware of the wrong of which a person is guilty],
35:16:Job uselessly opens his mouth
And multiplies words without knowledge [drawing the worthless conclusion that the righteous have no more advantage than the wicked].”
36:1:Elihu Speaks of God’s Dealings with Men
Elihu continued and said,
36:2:“Bear with me a little longer, and I will show you,
That there is yet more to say on God’s behalf.
36:3:“I will bring my knowledge from afar,
And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
36:4:“For truly my words are not false;
He who is perfect in knowledge is with you.
36:5:“Behold, God is mighty, and yet does not despise anyone [nor regard any as trivial];
He is mighty in the strength and power of understanding.
36:6:“He does not prolong the life of the wicked,
But gives the afflicted their justice.
36:7:“He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous [those in right standing with Him];
But with kings upon the throne
He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.
36:8:“And if they are bound in bonds [of adversity],
And held by cords of affliction,
36:9:Then He declares to them [the true character of] their deeds
And their transgressions, that they have acted arrogantly [with presumption and notions of self-sufficiency].
36:10:“He opens their ears to instruction and discipline,
And commands that they return from evil.
36:11:“If they hear and serve Him,
They will end their days in prosperity
And their years in pleasantness and joy.
36:12:“But if they do not hear and obey, they will die by the sword [of God’s destructive judgments]
And they will die [in ignorance] without [true] knowledge.
36:13:“But the godless in heart store up anger [at the divine discipline];
They do not cry [to Him] for help when He binds them [with cords of affliction].
36:14:“They die in youth,
And their life ends among the cult prostitutes.
36:15:“He rescues the afflicted in their affliction,
And opens their ears [so that they pay attention to His voice] in times of oppression.
36:16:“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress and confinement,
Into a broad place where there is no constraint or distress;
And that which was set on your table was full of fatness (rich food).
36:17:“But you [Job] were full of judgment on the wicked,
Judgment and justice take hold of you.
36:18:“Do not let wrath entice you into scoffing;
And do not let the greatness and the extent of the ransom turn you aside.
36:19:“Will your wealth [be sufficient to] keep you from [the confinement of] distress,
Or will all the force of your strength do it?
36:20:“Do not long for the night,
When people vanish from their places.
36:21:“Take heed and be careful, do not turn to wickedness,
For you have chosen this [the vice of complaining against God] rather than [learning from] affliction.
36:22:“Behold, God is exalted in His power;
Who is a ruler or a teacher like Him?
36:23:“Who has appointed God His way,
And who can say [to Him], ‘You have done wrong’?
36:24:“Remember that you should magnify God’s work,
Of which men have sung.
36:25:“All men have seen God’s work;
Man looks at it from a distance.
36:26:“Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him;
The number of His years is unsearchable.
36:27:“For He draws up the drops of water,
They distill rain from the mist,
36:28:Which the clouds pour down,
They drop abundantly upon mankind.”
36:29:“Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds
Or the thundering of His pavilion?
36:30:“Behold, He spreads His lightning around Him [against the dark clouds],
And He covers the depths of the sea.
36:31:“For by these [mighty acts] He judges the peoples;
He gives food in abundance.
36:32:“He covers His hands with the lightning,
And commands it to strike the mark.
36:33:“His thundering voice declares [awesomely] His presence;
The cattle also are told of His coming storm.
37:1:Elihu Says God has Authority over the Storm
“Indeed, at His thundering my heart trembles
And leaps out of its place.
37:2:“Listen carefully to the thunder of His voice,
And the rumbling that goes out of His mouth!
37:3:“He lets it loose under the whole heaven,
And His lightning to the ends of the earth.
37:4:“After it, His voice roars;
He thunders with the voice of His majesty,
And He does not restrain His lightning [against His adversaries] when His voice is heard.
37:5:“God thunders marvelously with His voice;
He does great things which we cannot comprehend.
37:6:“For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’;
And [He speaks] to the showers and to the downpour [of His mighty rains], ‘Be strong.’
37:7:“God seals (brings to a standstill, stops) [by severe weather] the hand of every man,
That all men [whom He has made] may know His work [that is, His sovereign power and their subjection to it].
37:8:“Then the beast goes into its lair
And remains in its hiding place.
37:9:“Out of its chamber comes the storm,
And cold from the north wind.
37:10:“Ice is made by the breath of God,
And the expanse of the waters is frozen.
37:11:“He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
He disperses the cloud of His lightning.
37:12:“Its direction is turned around by His guidance,
That it may do whatever He commands it
On the face of the inhabited earth.
37:13:“Whether [it be] for correction, or for His earth [generally]
Or for [His] mercy and lovingkindness, He causes it to happen.
37:14:“Listen to this, Job;
Stand still and consider the wonders of God.
37:15:“Do you know how God establishes and commands them,
And makes the lightning of His [storm] cloud shine?
37:16:“Do you know about the layers of thick clouds [and how they are balanced and poised in the heavens],
The wonderful works of Him who is perfect in knowledge,
37:17:You whose garments are hot,
When He quiets the earth [in sultry summer] with the [oppressive] south wind?
37:18:“Can you, with Him, spread out the sky,
Strong as a molten mirror?
37:19:“Tell us [Job] what words [of man] shall we say to such a Being;
We cannot state our case because of darkness [that is, our ignorance in the presence of the unsearchable God].
37:20:“So shall it be told Him that I wish to speak?
Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up [and destroyed by God]?
37:21:“Now people cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies [without being blinded],
When the wind has passed and cleared them.
37:22:“Out of the north comes golden splendor [and people can hardly look on it];
Around God is awesome splendor and majesty [far too glorious for man’s eyes].
37:23:“The Almighty—we cannot find Him;
He is exalted in power
And He will not do violence to [nor disregard] justice and abundant righteousness.
37:24:“Men therefore fear Him;
He does not regard nor respect any who are wise in heart [in their own understanding and conceit].”
38:1:God Speaks Now to Job
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,
38:2:“Who is this that darkens counsel [questioning my authority and wisdom]
By words without knowledge?
38:3:“Now gird up your loins like a man,
And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!
38:4:“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know and have understanding.
38:5:“Who determined the measurements [of the earth], if you know?
Or who stretched the [measuring] line on it?
38:6:“On what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
38:7:When the morning stars sang together
And all the sons of God (angels) shouted for joy?
38:8:“Or who enclosed the sea with doors
When it burst forth and went out of the womb;
38:9:When I made the clouds its garment
And thick darkness its swaddling band,
38:10:And marked for it My [appointed] boundary
And set bars and doors [defining the shorelines],
38:11:And said, ‘This far you shall come, but no farther;
And here your proud waves shall stop’?
38:12:God’s Mighty Power
“Since your days began, have you ever commanded the morning,
And caused the dawn to know its place,
38:13:So that light may take hold of the corners of the earth
And shake the wickedness out of it?
38:14:“The earth is changed like clay into which a seal is pressed;
And the things [of the earth] stand out like a [multi-colored] garment.
38:15:“Their light is withheld from the wicked,
And the uplifted arm is broken.
38:16:“Have you entered and explored the springs of the sea
Or [have you] walked in the recesses of the deep?
38:17:“Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
38:18:“Have you understood the expanse of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.
38:19:“Where is the way where light dwells?
And as for darkness, where is its place,
38:20:That you may take it to its territory
And that you may know the paths to its house?
38:21:“You [must] know, since you were born then,
And because you are so extremely old!
38:22:“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
38:23:Which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
For the day of battle and war?
38:24:“Where is the way that the light is distributed,
Or the east wind scattered over the earth?
38:25:“Who has prepared a channel for the torrents of rain and for the flood,
Or a path for the thunderbolt,
38:26:To bring rain on the uninhabited land,
And on the desert where no man lives,
38:27:To satisfy the barren and desolate ground
And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?
38:28:“Has the rain a father?
Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
38:29:“Out of whose womb has come the ice?
And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?
38:30:“Water becomes like stone [and hides itself],
And the surface of the deep is frozen and imprisoned.
38:31:“Can you bind the chains of [the cluster of stars called] Pleiades,
Or loose the cords of [the constellation] Orion?
38:32:“Can you lead forth a constellation in its season,
And guide [the stars of] the Bear with her sons?
38:33:“Do you know the ordinances of the heavens,
Or [can you] establish their rule over the earth?
38:34:“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
So that an abundance of water will cover you?
38:35:“Can you send forth lightnings that they may go
And say to you, ‘Here we are’?
38:36:“Who has put wisdom in the innermost being [of man, or in the layers of clouds]
Or given understanding to the mind [of man, or to the heavenly display]?
38:37:“Who can count the clouds by [earthly] wisdom,
Or pour out the water jars of the heavens,
38:38:When the dust hardens into a mass
And the clods stick together [because of the heat]?
38:39:“Can you [Job] hunt the prey for the lion,
Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions
38:40:When they crouch in their dens
And lie in wait in their lair?
38:41:“Who provides prey for the raven
When its young cry to God
And wander about without food?
39:1:God Speaks of Nature and Its Beings
“Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock give birth [to their young]?
Do you observe the calving of the deer?
39:2:“Can you count the months that they carry offspring,
Or do you know the time when they give birth?
39:3:“They kneel down, they bring forth their young,
They cast out their labor pains.
39:4:“Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field;
They leave and do not return to them.
39:5:“Who sent out the wild donkey free [from dependence on man]?
And who has loosed the bonds of the wild donkey [to survive in the wild],
39:6:To whom I gave the wilderness as his home
And the salt land as his dwelling place?
39:7:“He scorns the tumult of the city,
And does not hear the shouting of the taskmaster.
39:8:“He explores the mountains as his pasture
And searches after every green thing.
39:9:“Will the wild ox be willing to serve you,
Or remain beside your manger at night?
39:10:“Can you bind the wild ox with a harness [to the plow] in the furrow?
Or will he plow the valleys for you?
39:11:“Will you trust him because his strength is great
And leave your labor to him?
39:12:“Will you have faith and depend on him to return your grain
And gather it from your threshing floor?
39:13:“The [flightless] wings of the ostrich wave joyously;
With the pinion (shackles, fetters) and plumage of love,
39:14:For she leaves her eggs on the ground
And warms them in the dust,
39:15:Forgetting that a foot may crush them,
Or that the wild beast may trample them.
39:16:“She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers;
Though her labor is in vain because she is unconcerned [for the safety of her brood],
39:17:For God has made her forget wisdom,
And has not given her a share of understanding.
39:18:“Yet when she lifts herself on high,
[So swift is she that] she laughs at the horse and his rider.
39:19:“Have you given the horse his might?
Have you clothed his neck with quivering and a shaking mane?
39:20:“Have you [Job] made him leap like a locust?
The majesty of his snorting [nostrils] is terrible.
39:21:“He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength;
He goes out to meet the weapons [of armed men].
39:22:“He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
And [in battle] he does not turn back from the sword.
39:23:“The quiver rattles against him,
[As do] the flashing spear and the lance [of his rider].
39:24:“With fierceness and rage he races to devour the ground,
And he does not stand still at the sound of the [war] trumpet.
39:25:“As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’
And he smells the battle from far away,
And senses the thunder of the captains and the war cry.
39:26:“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,
Stretching his wings toward the south [as winter approaches]?
39:27:“Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
And makes his nest on high [in an inaccessible place]?
39:28:“On the cliff he dwells and remains [securely],
Upon the point of the rock and the inaccessible stronghold.
39:29:“From there he spies out the prey;
His eyes see it from far away.
39:30:“His young ones suck up blood;
And where the slain are, there is he.”
40:1:Job: What Can I Say?
Then the Lord said to Job,
40:2:“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
Let him who disputes with God answer it.”
40:3:Then Job replied to the Lord and said,
40:4:“Behold, I am of little importance and contemptible; what can I reply to You?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
40:5:“I have spoken once, but I will not reply again—
Indeed, twice [I have answered], and I will add nothing further.”
40:6:God Questions Job
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, saying,
40:7:“Now gird up your loins (prepare yourself) like a man,
And I will ask you, and you instruct Me.
40:8:“Will you really annul My judgment and set it aside as void?
Will you condemn Me [your God] that you may [appear to] be righteous and justified?
40:9:“Have you an arm like God,
And can you thunder with a voice like His?
40:10:“Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity [since you question the Almighty],
And array yourself with honor and majesty.
40:11:“Pour out the overflowings of your wrath,
And look at everyone who is proud and make him low.
40:12:Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him,
And [if you are so able] tread down the wicked where they stand.
40:13:“[Crush and] hide them in the dust together;
Shut them up in the hidden place [the house of death].
40:14:“[If you can do all this, Job, proving your divine power] then I [God] will also praise you and acknowledge
That your own right hand can save you.
40:15:God’s Power Shown in Creatures
“Behold now, Behemoth, which I created as well as you;
He eats grass like an ox.
40:16:“See now, his strength is in his loins
And his power is in the muscles and sinews of his belly.
40:17:“He sways his tail like a cedar;
The tendons of his thighs are twisted and knit together [like a rope].
40:18:“His bones are tubes of bronze;
His limbs are like bars of iron.
40:19:“He is the first [in magnitude and power] of the works of God;
[Only] He who made him can bring near His sword [to master him].
40:20:“Surely the mountains bring him food,
And all the wild animals play there.
40:21:“He lies down under the lotus plants,
In the hidden shelter of the reeds in the marsh.
40:22:“The lotus plants cover him with their shade;
The willows of the brook surround him.
40:23:“If a river rages and overflows, he does not tremble;
He is confident, though the Jordan [River] swells and rushes against his mouth.
40:24:“Can anyone capture him when he is on watch,
Or pierce his nose with barbs [to trap him]?
41:1:God’s Power Shown in Creatures
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?
Or press down his tongue with a cord?
41:2:“Can you put a rope [made] of rushes into his nose
Or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
41:3:“Will he make many supplications to you [begging to be spared]?
Or will he speak soft words to you [to coax you to treat him kindly]?
41:4:“Will he make a covenant or an arrangement with you?
Will you take him for your servant forever?
41:5:“Will you play with him as with a bird?
Or will you bind him [and put him on a leash] for your maidens?
41:6:“Will traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?
41:7:“Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?
41:8:“Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle [with him]; you will not do such [an ill-advised thing] again!
41:9:“Behold, his [assailant’s] hope and expectation [of defeating Leviathan] is false;
Will not one be overwhelmed even at the sight of him?
41:10:“No one is so fierce [and foolhardy] that he dares to stir up Leviathan;
Who then is he who can stand before Me [or dares to contend with Me, the beast’s creator]?
41:11:“Who has first given to Me that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine. [Who can have a claim against Me who made the unmastered beast?]
41:12:“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
Nor his mighty strength, nor his orderly frame.
41:13:“Who can penetrate or strip off his outer armor?
Who can come to his jaws with a double bridle?
41:14:“Who can open the doors (jaws) of his face?
Around his [open jaws and] teeth there is terror.
41:15:“His strong scales are his pride,
Bound together as with a tight seal.
41:16:“One is so near to another
That no air can come between them.
41:17:“They are joined one to another;
They stick together and cannot be separated.
41:18:“His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the [reddish] eyelids of the dawn.
41:19:“Out of his mouth go burning torches,
And sparks of fire leap out.
41:20:“Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth
As from a boiling pot and [as from] burning rushes.
41:21:“His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
41:22:“In Leviathan’s neck resides strength,
And dismay and terror dance before him.
41:23:“The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm on him and immobile [when he moves].
41:24:“His heart is as hard as a stone,
Indeed, as solid as a lower millstone.
41:25:“When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
41:26:“The sword that reaches him cannot avail,
Nor [does] the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
41:27:“He considers iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.
41:28:“The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are treated as stubble by him.
41:29:“Clubs [also] are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rushing and the rattling of the javelin.
41:30:“His underparts are like sharp pieces of broken pottery;
He moves across and spreads out [grooves] like a threshing sledge on the mire (muddy river banks).
41:31:“He makes the deep water boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a [foaming] pot of ointment.
41:32:“Behind him he makes a shining wake;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired [with foam].
41:33:“Upon earth there is nothing like him—no equal exists,
A creature made without fear.
41:34:“He looks on everything that is high [without terror];
He is monarch over all the sons of pride. [And now, Job, who are you who does not dare to disturb the beast, yet who dares resist Me, the beast’s creator? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore, who can have a claim against God?]”
42:1:Job’s Confession
Then Job answered the Lord and said,
42:2:“I know that You can do all things,
And that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained.
42:3:“[You said to me] ‘Who is this that darkens and obscures counsel [by words] without knowledge?’
Therefore [I now see] I have [rashly] uttered that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
42:4:‘Hear, please, and I will speak;
I will ask You, and You instruct [and answer] me.’
42:5:“I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear,
But now my [spiritual] eye sees You.
42:6:“Therefore I retract [my words and hate myself]
And I repent in dust and ashes.”
42:7:God Displeased with Job’s Friends
It came about that after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.
42:8:Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him [and his prayer] so that I may not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job has.”
42:9:So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
42:10:God Restores Job’s Fortunes
The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
42:11:Then all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him over all the [distressing] adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him a piece of money, and each a ring of gold.
42:12:And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
42:13:He had seven sons and three daughters.
42:14:And he called the name of the first [daughter] Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch.
42:15:In all the land there were found no women so fair as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
42:16:After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations.
42:17:So Job died, an old man and full of days.
psalms:1:1:Book One
The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted.
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked [following their advice and example],
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit [down to rest] in the seat of scoffers (ridiculers).
1:2:But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And on His law [His precepts and teachings] he [habitually] meditates day and night.
1:3:And he will be like a tree firmly planted [and fed] by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season;
Its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers [and comes to maturity].
1:4:The wicked [those who live in disobedience to God’s law] are not so,
But they are like the chaff [worthless and without substance] which the wind blows away.
1:5:Therefore the wicked will not stand [unpunished] in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
1:6:For the Lord knows and fully approves the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked shall perish.
2:1:The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed.
Why are the nations in an uproar [in turmoil against God],
And why do the people devise a vain and hopeless plot?
2:2:The kings of the earth take their stand;
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and His Anointed (the Davidic King, the Messiah, the Christ), saying,
2:3:“Let us break apart their [divine] bands [of restraint]
And cast away their cords [of control] from us.”
2:4:He who sits [enthroned] in the heavens laughs [at their rebellion];
The [Sovereign] Lord scoffs at them [and in supreme contempt He mocks them].
2:5:Then He will speak to them in His [profound] anger
And terrify them with His displeasure, saying,
2:6:“Yet as for Me, I have anointed and firmly installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
2:7:“I will declare the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son;
This day [I proclaim] I have begotten You.
2:8:‘Ask of Me, and I will assuredly give [You] the nations as Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth as Your possession.
2:9:‘You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall shatter them [in pieces] like earthenware.’”
2:10:Now therefore, O kings, act wisely;
Be instructed and take warning, O leaders (judges, rulers) of the earth.
2:11:Worship the Lord and serve Him with reverence [with awe-inspired fear and submissive wonder];
Rejoice [yet do so] with trembling.
2:12:Kiss (pay respect to) the Son, so that He does not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled and set aflame.
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] are all those who take refuge in Him!
3:1:Morning Prayer of Trust in God.
A Psalm of David. When he fled from Absalom his son.
O Lord, how my enemies have increased!
Many are rising up against me.
3:2:Many are saying of me,
“There is no help [no salvation] for him in God.” Selah.
3:3:But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory [and my honor], and the One who lifts my head.
3:4:With my voice I was crying to the Lord,
And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah.
3:5:I lay down and slept [safely];
I awakened, for the Lord sustains me.
3:6:I will not be intimidated or afraid of the ten thousands
Who have set themselves against me all around.
3:7:Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God!
For You have struck all my enemies on the cheek;
You have shattered the teeth of the wicked.
3:8:Salvation belongs to the Lord;
May Your blessing be upon Your people. Selah.
4:1:Evening Prayer of Trust in God.
To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have freed me when I was hemmed in and relieved me when I was in distress;
Be gracious to me and hear [and respond to] my prayer.
4:2:O sons of men, how long will my honor and glory be [turned into] shame?
How long will you [my enemies] love worthless (vain, futile) things and seek deception and lies? Selah.
4:3:But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself [and dealt wonderfully with] the godly man [the one of honorable character and moral courage—the one who does right].
The Lord hears and responds when I call to Him.
4:4:Tremble [with anger or fear], and do not sin;
Meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still [reflect on your sin and repent of your rebellion]. Selah.
4:5:Offer righteous sacrifices;
Trust [confidently] in the Lord.
4:6:Many are saying, “Oh, that we might see some good!”
Lift up the light of Your face upon us, O Lord.
4:7:You have put joy in my heart,
More than [others know] when their wheat and new wine have yielded abundantly.
4:8:In peace [and with a tranquil heart] I will both lie down and sleep,
For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety and confident trust.
5:1:Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.
To the Chief Musician; on wind instruments. A Psalm of David.
Listen to my words, O Lord,
Consider my groaning and sighing.
5:2:Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God,
For to You I pray.
5:3:In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice;
In the morning I will prepare [a prayer and a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].
5:4:For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness;
No evil [person] dwells with You.
5:5:The boastful and the arrogant will not stand in Your sight;
You hate all who do evil.
5:6:You destroy those who tell lies;
The Lord detests and rejects the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
5:7:But as for me, I will enter Your house through the abundance of Your steadfast love and tender mercy;
At Your holy temple I will bow [obediently] in reverence for You.
5:8:O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight (direct, right) before me.
5:9:For there is nothing trustworthy or reliable or truthful in what they say;
Their heart is destruction [just a treacherous chasm, a yawning gulf of lies].
Their throat is an open grave;
They [glibly] flatter with their [silken] tongue.
5:10:Hold them guilty, O God;
Let them fall by their own designs and councils!
Cast them out because of the abundance of their transgressions,
For they are mutinous and have rebelled against You.
5:11:But let all who take refuge and put their trust in You rejoice,
Let them ever sing for joy;
Because You cover and shelter them,
Let those who love Your name be joyful and exult in You.
5:12:For You, O Lord, bless the righteous man [the one who is in right standing with You];
You surround him with favor as with a shield.
6:1:Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.
To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, set [possibly] an octave below. A Psalm of David.
O Lord, do not rebuke or punish me in Your anger,
Nor discipline me in Your wrath.
6:2:Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am weak (faint, frail);
Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed and anguished.
6:3:My soul [as well as my body] is greatly dismayed.
But as for You, O Lord—how long [until You act on my behalf]?
6:4:Return, O Lord, rescue my soul;
Save me because of Your [unfailing] steadfast love and mercy.
6:5:For in death there is no mention of You;
In Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) who will praise You and give You thanks?
6:6:I am weary with my groaning;
Every night I soak my bed with tears,
I drench my couch with my weeping.
6:7:My eye grows dim with grief;
It grows old because of all my enemies.
6:8:Depart from me, all you who do evil,
For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.
6:9:The Lord has heard my supplication [my plea for grace];
The Lord receives my prayer.
6:10:Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly horrified;
Let them turn back, let them suddenly be ashamed [of what they have done].
7:1:The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.
An Ode of David, [perhaps in a wild, irregular, enthusiastic strain,] which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite.
O Lord my God, in You I take refuge;
Save me and rescue me from all those who pursue me,
7:2:So that my enemy will not tear me like a lion,
Dragging me away while there is no one to rescue [me].
7:3:O Lord my God, if I have done this,
If there is injustice in my hands,
7:4:If I have done evil to him who was at peace with me,
Or without cause robbed him who was my enemy,
7:5:Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me;
And let him trample my life to the ground
And lay my honor in the dust. Selah.
7:6:Arise, O Lord, in Your anger;
Lift up Yourself against the rage of my enemies;
Rise up for me; You have commanded judgment and vindication.
7:7:Let the assembly of the nations be gathered around You,
And return on high over them.
7:8:The Lord judges the peoples;
Judge me, O Lord, and grant me justice according to my righteousness and according to the integrity within me.
7:9:Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous [those in right standing with You];
For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.
7:10:My shield and my defense depend on God,
Who saves the upright in heart.
7:11:God is a righteous judge,
And a God who is indignant every day.
7:12:If a man does not repent, God will sharpen His sword;
He has strung and bent His [mighty] bow and made it ready.
7:13:He has also prepared [other] deadly weapons for Himself;
He makes His arrows fiery shafts [aimed at the unrepentant].
7:14:Behold, the [wicked and irreverent] man is pregnant with sin,
And he conceives mischief and gives birth to lies.
7:15:He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has fallen into the [very] pit which he made [as a trap].
7:16:His mischief will return on his own head,
And his violence will come down on the top of his head [like loose dirt].
7:17:I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness and justice,
And I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
8:1:The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity.
To the Chief Musician; set to a Philistine lute [or perhaps to a particular Hittite tune]. A Psalm of David.
O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!
You have displayed Your splendor above the heavens.
8:2:Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
That You might silence the enemy and make the revengeful cease.
8:3:When I see and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have established,
8:4:What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?
8:5:Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
8:6:You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
8:7:All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,
8:8:The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
8:9:O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!
9:1:A Psalm of Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.
To the Chief Musician; on Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
I will give thanks and praise the Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell aloud all Your wonders and marvelous deeds.
9:2:I will rejoice and exult in you;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
9:3:When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and perish before You.
9:4:For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You have sat on the throne judging righteously.
9:5:You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked and unrepentant;
You have wiped out their name forever and ever.
9:6:The enemy has been cut off and has vanished in everlasting ruins,
You have uprooted their cities;
The very memory of them has perished.
9:7:But the Lord will remain and sit enthroned forever;
He has prepared and established His throne for judgment.
9:8:And He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the nations with fairness (equity).
9:9:The Lord also will be a refuge and a stronghold for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble;
9:10:And those who know Your name [who have experienced Your precious mercy] will put their confident trust in You,
For You, O Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You.
9:11:Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion;
Declare among the peoples His [great and wondrous] deeds.
9:12:For He who avenges blood [unjustly shed] remembers them (His people);
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted and abused.
9:13:Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord;
See how I am afflicted by those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
9:14:That I may tell aloud all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)
I may rejoice in Your salvation and Your help.
9:15:The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
9:16:The Lord has made Himself known;
He executes judgment;
The wicked are trapped by the work of their own hands. Higgaion (meditation) Selah.
9:17:The wicked will turn to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
Even all the nations who forget God.
9:18:For the poor will not always be forgotten,
Nor the hope of the burdened perish forever.
9:19:Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be judged before You.
9:20:Put them in [reverent] fear of You, O Lord,
So that the nations may know they are but [frail and mortal] men. Selah.
10:1:A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.
Why do You stand far away, O Lord?
Why do You hide [Yourself, veiling Your eyes] in times of trouble?
10:2:In pride and arrogance the wicked hotly pursue and persecute the afflicted;
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
10:3:For the wicked boasts and sings the praises of his heart’s desire,
And the greedy man curses and spurns [and even despises] the Lord.
10:4:The wicked, in the haughtiness of his face, will not seek nor inquire for Him;
All his thoughts are, “There is no God [so there is no accountability or punishment].”
10:5:His ways prosper at all times;
Your judgments [Lord] are on high, out of his sight [so he never thinks about them];
As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
10:6:He says to himself, “I will not be moved;
For throughout all generations I will not be in adversity [for nothing bad will happen to me].”
10:7:His mouth is full of curses and deceit (fraud) and oppression;
Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness [injustice and sin].
10:8:He lurks in ambush in the villages;
In hiding places he kills the innocent;
He lies in wait for the unfortunate [the unhappy, the poor, the helpless].
10:9:He lurks in a hiding place like a lion in his lair;
He lies in wait to catch the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.
10:10:He crushes [his prey] and crouches;
And the unfortunate fall by his mighty claws.
10:11:He says to himself, “God has [quite] forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see my deed.”
10:12:Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand [in judgment];
Do not forget the suffering.
10:13:Why has the wicked spurned and shown disrespect to God?
He has said to himself, “You will not require me to account.”
10:14:You have seen it, for You have noted mischief and vexation (irritation) to take it into Your hand.
The unfortunate commits himself to You;
You are the helper of the fatherless.
10:15:Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
Seek out his wickedness until You find no more.
10:16:The Lord is King forever and ever;
The nations will perish from His land.
10:17:O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble and oppressed;
You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear to hear,
10:18:To vindicate and obtain justice for the fatherless and the oppressed,
So that man who is of the earth will no longer terrify them.
11:1:The Lord a Refuge and Defense.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
In the Lord I take refuge [and put my trust];
How can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to your mountain;
11:2:For look, the wicked are bending the bow;
They take aim with their arrow on the string
To shoot [by stealth] in darkness at the upright in heart.
11:3:“If the foundations [of a godly society] are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”
11:4:The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven.
His eyes see, His eyelids test the children of men.
11:5:The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
And His soul hates the [malevolent] one who loves violence.
11:6:Upon the wicked (godless) He will rain coals of fire;
Fire and brimstone and a dreadful scorching wind will be the portion of their cup [of doom].
11:7:For the Lord is [absolutely] righteous, He loves righteousness (virtue, morality, justice);
The upright shall see His face.
12:1:God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
To the Chief Musician; set an octave below. A Psalm of David.
Save and help and rescue, Lord, for godly people cease to be,
For the faithful vanish from among the sons of men.
12:2:They speak deceitful and worthless words to one another;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
12:3:May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things [in boasting];
12:4:Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own; who is lord and master over us?”
12:5:“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
12:6:The words and promises of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times.
12:7:You, O Lord, will preserve and keep them;
You will protect him from this [evil] generation forever.
12:8:The wicked strut about [in pompous self-importance] on every side,
As vileness is exalted and baseness is prized among the sons of men.
13:1:Prayer for Help in Trouble.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
13:2:How long must I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart day after day?
How long will my enemy exalt himself and triumph over me?
13:3:Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
Give light (life) to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
13:4:And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
13:5:But I have trusted and relied on and been confident in Your lovingkindness and faithfulness;
My heart shall rejoice and delight in Your salvation.
13:6:I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
14:1:Folly and Wickedness of Men.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
The [spiritually ignorant] fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed repulsive and unspeakable deeds;
There is no one who does good.
14:2:The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the children of men
To see if there are any who understand (act wisely),
Who [truly] seek after God, [longing for His wisdom and guidance].
14:3:They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.
14:4:Have all the workers of wickedness and injustice no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon the Lord?
14:5:There they tremble with great fear,
For God is with the [consistently] righteous generation.
14:6:You [evildoers] shamefully plan against the poor,
But the Lord is his safe refuge.
14:7:Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores His captive people,
Then Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.
15:1:Description of a Citizen of Zion.
A Psalm of David.
O Lord, who may lodge [as a guest] in Your tent?
Who may dwell [continually] on Your holy hill?
15:2:He who walks with integrity and strength of character, and works righteousness,
And speaks and holds truth in his heart.
15:3:He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
15:4:In his eyes an evil person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord [and obediently worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder].
He keeps his word even to his own disadvantage and does not change it [for his own benefit];
15:5:He does not put out his money at interest [to a fellow Israelite],
And does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.
16:1:The Lord, the Psalmist’s Portion in Life and Deliverer in Death.
A Mikhtam of David [probably intended to record memorable thoughts].
Keep and protect me, O God, for in You I have placed my trust and found refuge.
16:2:I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good besides You.”
16:3:As for the saints (godly people) who are in the land,
They are the majestic and the noble and the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.
16:4:The sorrows [pain and suffering] of those who have chosen another god will be multiplied [because of their idolatry];
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
Nor will I take their names upon my lips.
16:5:The Lord is the portion of my inheritance, my cup [He is all I need];
You support my lot.
16:6:The [boundary] lines [of the land] have fallen for me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.
16:7:I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;
Indeed, my heart (mind) instructs me in the night.
16:8:I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
16:9:Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my innermost self] rejoices;
My body too will dwell [confidently] in safety,
16:10:For You will not abandon me to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
16:11:You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
17:1:Prayer for Protection against Oppressors.
A Prayer of David.
Hear the just (righteous) cause, O Lord; listen to my loud [piercing] cry;
Listen to my prayer, that comes from guileless lips.
17:2:Let my verdict of vindication come from Your presence;
May Your eyes look with equity and behold things that are just.
17:3:You have tried my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
You have tested me and You find nothing [evil in me];
I intend that my mouth will not transgress.
17:4:Concerning the deeds of men, by the word of Your lips
I have kept away from the paths of the violent.
17:5:My steps have held closely to Your paths;
My feet have not staggered.
17:6:I have called upon You, for You, O God, will answer me;
Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.
17:7:Wondrously show Your [marvelous and amazing] lovingkindness,
O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand
From those who rise up against them.
17:8:Keep me [in Your affectionate care, protect me] as the apple of Your eye;
Hide me in the [protective] shadow of Your wings
17:9:From the wicked who despoil and deal violently with me,
My deadly enemies who surround me.
17:10:They have closed their unfeeling heart [to kindness and compassion];
With their mouths they speak proudly and make presumptuous claims.
17:11:They track us down and have now surrounded us in our steps;
They set their eyes to force us to the ground,
17:12:He is like a lion eager to tear [his prey],
And like a young lion lurking in hiding places.
17:13:Arise, O Lord, confront him, cast him down;
Save my soul from the wicked with Your sword,
17:14:From men with Your hand, O Lord,
From men of the world [these moths of the night] whose portion [of enjoyment] is in this life—idle and vain,
And whose belly You fill with Your treasure;
They are satisfied with children,
And they leave what they have left [of wealth] to their children.
17:15:As for me, I shall see Your face in righteousness;
I will be [fully] satisfied when I awake [to find myself] seeing Your likeness.
18:1:David Praises the Lord for Rescuing Him.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:
“I love You [fervently and devotedly], O Lord, my strength.”
18:2:The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and the One who rescues me;
My God, my rock and strength in whom I trust and take refuge;
My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower—my stronghold.
18:3:I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
And I am saved from my enemies.
18:4:The cords of death surrounded me,
And the streams of ungodliness and torrents of destruction terrified me.
18:5:The cords of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
18:6:In my distress [when I seemed surrounded] I called upon the Lord
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry for help came before Him, into His very ears.
18:7:Then the earth shook and quaked,
The foundations of the mountains trembled;
They were shaken because He was indignant and angry.
18:8:Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
18:9:He bowed the heavens also and came down;
And thick darkness was under His feet.
18:10:And He rode upon a cherub (storm) and flew;
And He sped on the wings of the wind.
18:11:He made darkness His hiding place (covering); His pavilion (canopy) around Him,
The darkness of the waters, the thick clouds of the skies.
18:12:Out of the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
18:13:The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
18:14:He sent out His arrows and scattered them;
And He sent an abundance of lightning flashes and confused and routed them [in defeat].
18:15:Then the stream beds of the waters appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare
At Your rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
18:16:He reached from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
18:17:He rescued me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.
18:18:They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
But the Lord was my support.
18:19:He brought me out into a broad place;
He rescued me because He was pleased with me and delighted in me.
18:20:The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness (moral character, spiritual integrity);
According to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me.
18:21:For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
18:22:For all His ordinances were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
18:23:I was blameless before Him,
And I kept myself free from my sin.
18:24:Therefore the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness (moral character, spiritual integrity),
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
18:25:With the kind (merciful, faithful, loyal) You show Yourself kind,
With the blameless You show Yourself blameless,
18:26:With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
18:27:For You save an afflicted and humble people,
But bring down those [arrogant fools] with haughty eyes.
18:28:For You cause my lamp to be lighted and to shine;
The Lord my God illumines my darkness.
18:29:For by You I can crush a troop,
And by my God I can leap over a wall.
18:30:As for God, His way is blameless.
The word of the Lord is tested [it is perfect, it is faultless];
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
18:31:For who is God, but the Lord?
Or who is a rock, except our God,
18:32:The God who encircles me with strength
And makes my way blameless?
18:33:He makes my feet like hinds’ feet [able to stand firmly and tread safely on paths of testing and trouble];
He sets me [securely] upon my high places.
18:34:He trains my hands for war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
18:35:You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds and sustains me;
Your gentleness [Your gracious response when I pray] makes me great.
18:36:You enlarge the path beneath me and make my steps secure,
So that my feet will not slip.
18:37:I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
And I did not turn back until they were consumed.
18:38:I shattered them so that they were not able to rise;
They fell [wounded] under my feet.
18:39:For You have encircled me with strength for the battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
18:40:You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me [in defeat],
And I silenced and destroyed those who hated me.
18:41:They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
Even to the Lord [they cried], but He did not answer them.
18:42:Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind;
I emptied them out as the dirt of the streets.
18:43:You have rescued me from the contentions of the people;
You have placed me as the head of the nations;
A people whom I have not known serve me.
18:44:As soon as they hear me, they respond and obey me;
Foreigners feign obedience to me.
18:45:Foreigners lose heart,
And come trembling out of their strongholds.
18:46:The Lord lives, blessed be my rock;
And may the God of my salvation be exalted,
18:47:The God who avenges me,
And subdues peoples (nations) under me.
18:48:He rescues me from my enemies;
Yes, You lift me up above those who rise up against me;
You deliver me from the man of violence.
18:49:Therefore will I give thanks and praise You, O Lord, among the nations,
And sing praises to Your name.
18:50:He gives great triumphs to His king,
And shows steadfast love and mercy to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forever.
19:1:The Works and the Word of God.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And the expanse [of heaven] is declaring the work of His hands.
19:2:Day after day pours forth speech,
And night after night reveals knowledge.
19:3:There is no speech, nor are there [spoken] words [from the stars];
Their voice is not heard.
19:4:Yet their voice [in quiet evidence] has gone out through all the earth,
Their words to the end of the world.
In them and in the heavens He has made a tent for the sun,
19:5:Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
19:6:The sun’s rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
19:7:The law of the Lord is perfect (flawless), restoring and refreshing the soul;
The statutes of the Lord are reliable and trustworthy, making wise the simple.
19:8:The precepts of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
19:9:The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether.
19:10:They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
19:11:Moreover, by them Your servant is warned [reminded, illuminated, and instructed];
In keeping them there is great reward.
19:12:Who can understand his errors or omissions? Acquit me of hidden (unconscious, unintended) faults.
19:13:Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous (deliberate, willful) sins;
Let them not rule and have control over me.
Then I will be blameless (complete),
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
19:14:Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight,
O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer.
20:1:Prayer for Victory over Enemies.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
May the Lord answer you (David) in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high [and defend you in battle]!
20:2:May He send you help from the sanctuary (His dwelling place)
And support and strengthen you from Zion!
20:3:May He remember all your meal offerings
And accept your burnt offering. Selah.
20:4:May He grant you your heart’s desire
And fulfill all your plans.
20:5:We will sing joyously over your victory,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners.
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
20:6:Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.
20:7:Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
But we will remember and trust in the name of the Lord our God.
20:8:They have bowed down and fallen,
But we have risen and stood upright.
20:9:O Lord, save [the king];
May the King answer us in the day we call.
21:1:Praise for Help.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
O Lord the king will delight in Your strength,
And in Your salvation how greatly will he rejoice!
21:2:You have given him his heart’s desire,
And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.
21:3:For You meet him with blessings of good things;
You set a crown of pure gold on his head.
21:4:He asked life of You,
And You gave it to him,
Long life forever and evermore.
21:5:His glory is great because of Your victory;
Splendor and majesty You bestow upon him.
21:6:For You make him most blessed [and a blessing] forever;
You make him joyful with the joy of Your presence.
21:7:For the king [confidently] trusts in the Lord,
And through the lovingkindness (faithfulness, goodness) of the Most High he will never be shaken.
21:8:Your hand will reach out and defeat all your enemies;
Your right hand will reach those who hate you.
21:9:You will make them as [if in] a blazing oven in the time of your anger;
The Lord will swallow them up in His wrath,
And the fire will devour them.
21:10:Their offspring You will destroy from the earth,
And their descendants from the sons of men.
21:11:For they planned evil against You;
They devised a [malevolent] plot
And they will not succeed.
21:12:For You will make them turn their backs [in defeat];
You will aim Your bowstring [of divine justice] at their faces.
21:13:Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength;
We will sing and praise Your power.
22:1:A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] Aijeleth Hashshahar (The Doe of the Dawn). A Psalm of David.
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
22:2:O my God, I call out by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but I find no rest nor quiet.
22:3:But You are holy,
O You who are enthroned in [the holy place where] the praises of Israel [are offered].
22:4:In You our fathers trusted [leaned on, relied on, and were confident];
They trusted and You rescued them.
22:5:They cried out to You and were delivered;
They trusted in You and were not disappointed or ashamed.
22:6:But I am [treated as] a worm [insignificant and powerless] and not a man;
I am the scorn of men and despised by the people.
22:7:All who see me laugh at me and mock me;
They [insultingly] open their lips, they shake their head, saying,
22:8:“He trusted and committed himself to the Lord, let Him save him.
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”
22:9:Yet You are He who pulled me out of the womb;
You made me trust when on my mother’s breasts.
22:10:I was cast upon You from birth;
From my mother’s womb You have been my God.
22:11:Do not be far from me, for trouble is near;
And there is no one to help.
22:12:Many [enemies like] bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
22:13:They open wide their mouths against me,
Like a ravening and a roaring lion.
22:14:I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax;
It is melted [by anguish] within me.
22:15:My strength is dried up like a fragment of clay pottery;
And my [dry] tongue clings to my jaws;
And You have laid me in the dust of death.
22:16:For [a pack of] dogs have surrounded me;
A gang of evildoers has encircled me,
They pierced my hands and my feet.
22:17:I can count all my bones;
They look, they stare at me.
22:18:They divide my clothing among them
And cast lots for my garment.
22:19:But You, O Lord, do not be far from me;
O You my help, come quickly to my assistance.
22:20:Rescue my life from the sword,
My only life from the paw of the dog (the executioner).
22:21:Save me from the lion’s mouth;
From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.
22:22:I will tell of Your name to my countrymen;
In the midst of the congregation I will praise You.
22:23:You who fear the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence], praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him.
Fear Him [with submissive wonder], all you descendants of Israel.
22:24:For He has not despised nor detested the suffering of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He listened.
22:25:My praise will be of You in the great assembly.
I will pay my vows [made in the time of trouble] before those who [reverently] fear Him.
22:26:The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who [diligently] seek Him and require Him [as their greatest need] will praise the Lord.
May your hearts live forever!
22:27:All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will bow down and worship before You,
22:28:For the kingship and the kingdom are the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations.
22:29:All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust (the dead) will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
22:30:Posterity will serve Him;
They will tell of the Lord to the next generation.
22:31:They will come and declare His righteousness
To a people yet to be born—that He has done it [and that it is finished].
23:1:The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me],
I shall not want.
23:2:He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.
23:3:He refreshes and restores my soul (life);
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.
23:4:Even though I walk through the [sunless] valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me.
23:5:You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You have anointed and refreshed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
23:6:Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord.
24:1:The King of Glory Entering Zion.
A Psalm of David.
The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness of it,
The world, and those who dwell in it.
24:2:For He has founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the streams and the rivers.
24:3:Who may ascend onto the mountain of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
24:4:He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to what is false,
Nor has sworn [oaths] deceitfully.
24:5:He shall receive a blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
24:6:This is the generation (description) of those who diligently seek Him and require Him as their greatest need,
Who seek Your face, even [as did] Jacob. Selah.
24:7:Lift up your heads, O gates,
And be lifted up, ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in.
24:8:Who is the King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
24:9:Lift up your heads, O gates,
And lift them up, ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in.
24:10:Who is [He then] this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory [who rules over all creation with His heavenly armies]. Selah.
25:1:Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.
A Psalm of David.
To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
25:2:O my God, in You I [have unwavering] trust [and I rely on You with steadfast confidence],
Do not let me be ashamed or my hope in You be disappointed;
Do not let my enemies triumph over me.
25:3:Indeed, none of those who [expectantly] wait for You will be ashamed;
Those who turn away from what is right and deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed (humiliated, embarrassed).
25:4:Let me know Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
25:5:Guide me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You [and only You] I wait [expectantly] all the day long.
25:6:Remember, O Lord, Your [tender] compassion and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they have been from of old.
25:7:Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.
25:8:Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
25:9:He leads the humble in justice,
And He teaches the humble His way.
25:10:All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and goodness and truth and faithfulness
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
25:11:For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my wickedness and my guilt, for they are great.
25:12:Who is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with submissive wonder]?
He will teach him [through His word] in the way he should choose.
25:13:His soul will dwell in prosperity and goodness,
And his descendants will inherit the land.
25:14:The secret [of the wise counsel] of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will let them know His covenant and reveal to them [through His word] its [deep, inner] meaning.
25:15:My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will bring my feet out of the net.
25:16:Turn to me [Lord] and be gracious to me,
For I am alone and afflicted.
25:17:The troubles of my heart are multiplied;
Bring me out of my distresses.
25:18:Look upon my affliction and my trouble,
And forgive all my sins.
25:19:Look upon my enemies, for they are many;
They hate me with cruel and violent hatred.
25:20:Guard my soul and rescue me;
Do not let me be ashamed or disappointed,
For I have taken refuge in You.
25:21:Let integrity and uprightness protect me,
For I wait [expectantly] for You.
25:22:O God, redeem Israel,
Out of all his troubles.
26:1:Protestation of Integrity and Prayer for Protection.
A Psalm of David.
Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity;
I have [relied on and] trusted [confidently] in the Lord without wavering and I shall not slip.
26:2:Examine me, O Lord, and try me;
Test my heart and my mind.
26:3:For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And I have walked [faithfully] in Your truth.
26:4:I do not sit with deceitful or unethical or worthless men,
Nor seek companionship with pretenders (self-righteous hypocrites).
26:5:I hate the company of evildoers,
And will not sit with the wicked.
26:6:I will wash my hands in innocence,
And I will go about Your altar, O Lord,
26:7:That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving
And declare all Your wonders.
26:8:O Lord, I love the habitation of Your house
And the place where Your glory dwells.
26:9:Do not sweep my soul away with sinners,
Nor [sweep away] my life with men of bloodshed,
26:10:In whose hands is a wicked scheme,
And whose right hand is full of bribes.
26:11:But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
Redeem me and be merciful and gracious to me.
26:12:My foot stands on a level place;
In the congregations I will bless the Lord.
27:1:A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my light and my salvation—
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the refuge and fortress of my life—
Whom shall I dread?
27:2:When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
27:3:Though an army encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
Even in this I am confident.
27:4:One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that I will seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life,
To gaze upon the beauty [the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.
27:5:For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
27:6:And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
In His tent I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
27:7:Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
Be gracious and compassionate to me and answer me.
27:8:When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].”
27:9:Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor leave me,
O God of my salvation!
27:10:Although my father and my mother have abandoned me,
Yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child].
27:11:Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me on a level path
Because of my enemies [who lie in wait].
27:12:Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
For false witnesses have come against me;
They breathe out violence.
27:13:I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
27:14:Wait for and confidently expect the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.
28:1:A Prayer for Help, and Praise for Its Answer.
A Psalm of David.
To you I call, O Lord,
My rock, do not be deaf to me,
For if You are silent to me,
I will become like those who go down to the pit (grave).
28:2:Hear the voice of my supplication (specific requests, humble entreaties) as I cry to You for help,
As I lift up my hands and heart toward Your innermost sanctuary (Holy of Holies).
28:3:Do not drag me away with the wicked
And with those who do evil,
Who speak peace with their neighbors,
While malice and mischief are in their hearts.
28:4:Repay them according to their work and according to the evil of their practices;
Repay them according to the deeds of their hands;
Repay them what they deserve.
28:5:Because they have no regard for the works of the Lord
Nor the deeds of His hands,
He will tear them down and not rebuild them.
28:6:Blessed be the Lord,
Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.
28:7:The Lord is my strength and my [impenetrable] shield;
My heart trusts [with unwavering confidence] in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I shall thank Him and praise Him.
28:8:The Lord is their [unyielding] strength,
And He is the fortress of salvation to His anointed.
28:9:Save Your people and bless Your inheritance;
Be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.
29:1:The Voice of the Lord in the Storm.
A Psalm of David.
Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
29:2:Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty and majesty of His holiness [as the creator and source of holiness].
29:3:The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
The God of glory thunders;
The Lord is over many waters.
29:4:The voice of the Lord is powerful;
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
29:5:The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
29:6:He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
And Sirion (Mount Hermon) like a young, wild ox.
29:7:The voice of the Lord rakes flames of fire (lightning).
29:8:The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
29:9:The voice of the Lord makes the doe labor and give birth
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple all are saying, “Glory!”
29:10:The Lord sat as King at the flood;
Yes, the Lord sits as King forever.
29:11:The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people;
The Lord will bless His people with peace.
30:1:Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.
A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House (Temple). A Psalm of David.
I will extol and praise You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,
And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
30:2:O Lord my God,
I cried to You for help, and You have healed me.
30:3:O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead);
You have kept me alive, so that I would not go down to the pit (grave).
30:4:Sing to the Lord, O you His godly ones,
And give thanks at the mention of His holy name.
30:5:For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may endure for a night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
30:6:As for me, in my prosperity I said,
“I shall never be moved.”
30:7:By Your favor and grace, O Lord, you have made my mountain stand strong;
You hid Your face, and I was horrified.
30:8:I called to You, O Lord,
And to the Lord I made supplication (specific request).
30:9:“What profit is there in my blood (death), if I go down to the pit (grave)?
Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness [to man]?
30:10:“Hear, O Lord, be gracious and show favor to me;
O Lord, be my helper.”
30:11:You have turned my mourning into dancing for me;
You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
30:12:That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
31:1:A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
In You, O Lord, I have placed my trust and taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed;
In Your righteousness rescue me.
31:2:Incline Your ear to me, deliver me quickly;
Be my rock of refuge,
And a strong fortress to save me.
31:3:Yes, You are my rock and my fortress;
For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.
31:4:You will draw me out of the net that they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength and my stronghold.
31:5:Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth and faithfulness.
31:6:I hate those who pay regard to vain (empty, worthless) idols;
But I trust in the Lord [and rely on Him with unwavering confidence].
31:7:I will rejoice and be glad in Your steadfast love,
Because You have seen my affliction;
You have taken note of my life’s distresses,
31:8:And You have not given me into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a broad place.
31:9:Be gracious and compassionate to me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
My eye is clouded and weakened by grief, my soul and my body also.
31:10:For my life is spent with sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And even my body has wasted away.
31:11:Because of all my enemies I have become a reproach and disgrace,
Especially to my neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me on the street run from me.
31:12:I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
31:13:For I have heard the slander and whispering of many,
Terror is on every side;
While they schemed together against me,
They plotted to take away my life.
31:14:But as for me, I trust [confidently] in You and Your greatness, O Lord;
I said, “You are my God.”
31:15:My times are in Your hands;
Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who pursue and persecute me.
31:16:Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me in Your lovingkindness.
31:17:Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I call on You;
Let the wicked (godless) be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).
31:18:Let the lying lips be mute,
Which speak insolently and arrogantly against the [consistently] righteous
With pride and contempt.
31:19:How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who [reverently] fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who take refuge in You,
Before the sons of man!
31:20:In the secret place of Your presence You hide them from the plots and conspiracies of man;
You keep them secretly in a shelter (pavilion) from the strife of tongues.
31:21:Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown His marvelous favor and lovingkindness to me [when I was assailed] in a besieged city.
31:22:As for me, I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from Your eyes.”
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications (specific requests)
When I cried to You [for help].
31:23:O love the Lord, all you His godly ones!
The Lord preserves the faithful [those with moral and spiritual integrity]
And fully repays the [self-righteousness of the] arrogant.
31:24:Be strong and let your hearts take courage,
All you who wait for and confidently expect the Lord.
32:1:Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.
A Psalm of David. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem.
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, favored by God] is he whose transgression is forgiven,
And whose sin is covered.
32:2:Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute wickedness,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
32:3:When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all the day long.
32:4:For day and night Your hand [of displeasure] was heavy upon me;
My energy (vitality, strength) was drained away as with the burning heat of summer. Selah.
32:5:I acknowledged my sin to You,
And I did not hide my wickedness;
I said, “I will confess [all] my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
32:6:Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [for forgiveness] in a time when You [are near and] may be found;
Surely when the great waters [of trial and distressing times] overflow they will not reach [the spirit in] him.
32:7:You are my hiding place; You, Lord, protect me from trouble;
You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance. Selah.
32:8:I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you [who are willing to learn] with My eye upon you.
32:9:Do not be like the horse or like the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bridle and rein to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
32:10:Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in and relies on the Lord shall be surrounded with compassion and lovingkindness.
32:11:Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous [who actively seek right standing with Him];
Shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
33:1:Praise to the Creator and Preserver.
Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright [in heart—those with moral integrity and godly character].
33:2:Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
Sing praises to Him with the harp of ten strings.
33:3:Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully [on the strings] with a loud and joyful sound.
33:4:For the word of the Lord is right;
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
33:5:He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.
33:6:By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,
And all their host by the breath of His mouth.
33:7:He gathers the waters of the sea together as in a wineskin;
He puts the deeps in storehouses.
33:8:Let all the earth fear and worship the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
33:9:For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
33:10:The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He makes the thoughts and plans of the people ineffective.
33:11:The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The thoughts and plans of His heart through all generations.
33:12:Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has chosen as His own inheritance.
33:13:The Lord looks [down] from heaven;
He sees all the sons of man;
33:14:From His dwelling place He looks closely
Upon all the inhabitants of the earth—
33:15:He who fashions the hearts of them all,
Who considers and understands all that they do.
33:16:The king is not saved by the great size of his army;
A warrior is not rescued by his great strength.
33:17:A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
33:18:Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him [and worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and obedience],
On those who hope [confidently] in His compassion and lovingkindness,
33:19:To rescue their lives from death
And keep them alive in famine.
33:20:We wait [expectantly] for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
33:21:For in Him our heart rejoices,
Because we trust [lean on, rely on, and are confident] in His holy name.
33:22:Let Your [steadfast] lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
In proportion as we have hoped in You.
34:1:The Lord, a Provider and the One Who Rescues Me.
A Psalm of David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him out, and he went away.
I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
34:2:My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
The humble and downtrodden will hear it and rejoice.
34:3:O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us lift up His name together.
34:4:I sought the Lord [on the authority of His word], and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
34:5:They looked to Him and were radiant;
Their faces will never blush in shame or confusion.
34:6:This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
And saved him from all his troubles.
34:7:The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience],
And He rescues [each of] them.
34:8:O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good;
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.
34:9:O [reverently] fear the Lord, you His saints (believers, holy ones);
For to those who fear Him there is no want.
34:10:The young lions lack [food] and grow hungry,
But they who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing.
34:11:Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you to fear the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience].
34:12:Who is the man who desires life
And loves many days, that he may see good?
34:13:Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
34:14:Turn away from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
34:15:The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous [those with moral courage and spiritual integrity]
And His ears are open to their cry.
34:16:The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
To cut off the memory of them from the earth.
34:17:When the righteous cry [for help], the Lord hears
And rescues them from all their distress and troubles.
34:18:The Lord is near to the heartbroken
And He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).
34:19:Many hardships and perplexing circumstances confront the righteous,
But the Lord rescues him from them all.
34:20:He keeps all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.
34:21:Evil will cause the death of the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be held guilty and will be condemned.
34:22:The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
35:1:Prayer for Rescue from Enemies.
A Psalm of David.
Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
35:2:Take hold of shield and buckler (small shield),
And stand up for my help.
35:3:Draw also the spear and javelin to meet those who pursue me.
Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”
35:4:Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life;
Let those be turned back [in defeat] and humiliated who plot evil against me.
35:5:Let them be [blown away] like chaff before the wind [worthless, without substance],
With the angel of the Lord driving them on.
35:6:Let their way be dark and slippery,
With the angel of the Lord pursuing and harassing them.
35:7:For without cause they hid their net for me;
Without cause they dug a pit [of destruction] for my life.
35:8:Let destruction come upon my enemy by surprise;
Let the net he hid for me catch him;
Into that very destruction let him fall.
35:9:Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
35:10:All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like You,
Who rescues the afflicted from him who is too strong for him [to resist alone],
And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?”
35:11:Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me of things that I do not know.
35:12:They repay me evil for good,
To the sorrow of my soul.
35:13:But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth (mourning garment);
I humbled my soul with fasting,
And I prayed with my head bowed on my chest.
35:14:I behaved as if grieving for my friend or my brother;
I bowed down in mourning, as one who sorrows for his mother.
35:15:But in my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered together [against me];
The slanderers whom I did not know gathered against me;
They slandered and reviled me without ceasing.
35:16:Like godless jesters at a feast,
They gnashed at me with their teeth [in malice].
35:17:Lord, how long will You look on [without action]?
Rescue my life from their destructions,
My only life from the young lions.
35:18:I will give You thanks in the great congregation;
I will praise You among a mighty people.
35:19:Do not let those who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me;
Nor let those who hate me without cause wink their eye [maliciously].
35:20:For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful words [half-truths and lies] against those who are quiet in the land.
35:21:They open their mouths wide against me;
They say, “Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!”
35:22:You have seen this, O Lord; do not keep silent.
O Lord, do not be far from me.
35:23:Wake Yourself up, and arise to my right
And to my cause, my God and my Lord.
35:24:Judge me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness and justice;
And do not let them rejoice over me.
35:25:Do not let them say in their heart, “Aha, that is what we wanted!”
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up and destroyed him.”
35:26:Let those be ashamed and humiliated together who rejoice at my distress;
Let those be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves over me.
35:27:Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication and want what is right for me;
Let them say continually, “Let the Lord be magnified, who delights and takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
35:28:And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness (justice),
And Your praise all the day long.
36:1:Wickedness of Men and Lovingkindness of God.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.
Transgression speaks [like an oracle] to the wicked (godless) [deep] within his heart;
There is no fear (dread) of God before his eyes.
36:2:For he flatters and deceives himself in his own eyes
Thinking that his sinfulness will not be discovered and hated [by God].
36:3:The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
36:4:He plans wrongdoing on his bed;
He sets himself on a path that is not good;
He does not reject or despise evil.
36:5:Your lovingkindness and graciousness, O Lord, extend to the skies,
Your faithfulness [reaches] to the clouds.
36:6:Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
Your judgments are like the great deep.
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
36:7:How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
36:8:They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You allow them to drink from the river of Your delights.
36:9:For with You is the fountain of life [the fountain of life-giving water];
In Your light we see light.
36:10:O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness (salvation) to the upright in heart.
36:11:Do not let the foot of the proud [person] overtake me,
And do not let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
36:12:There those who [are perverse and] do evil have fallen;
They have been thrust down and cannot rise.
37:1:Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked.
A Psalm of David.
Do not worry because of evildoers,
Nor be envious toward wrongdoers;
37:2:For they will wither quickly like the grass,
And fade like the green herb.
37:3:Trust [rely on and have confidence] in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and feed [securely] on His faithfulness.
37:4:Delight yourself in the Lord,
And He will give you the desires and petitions of your heart.
37:5:Commit your way to the Lord;
Trust in Him also and He will do it.
37:6:He will make your righteousness [your pursuit of right standing with God] like the light,
And your judgment like [the shining of] the noonday [sun].
37:7:Be still before the Lord; wait patiently for Him and entrust yourself to Him;
Do not fret (whine, agonize) because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
37:8:Cease from anger and abandon wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evil.
37:9:For those who do evil will be cut off,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.
37:10:For yet a little while and the wicked one will be gone [forever];
Though you look carefully where he used to be, he will not be [found].
37:11:But the humble will [at last] inherit the land
And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity and peace.
37:12:The wicked plots against the righteous
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
37:13:The Lord laughs at him [the wicked one—the one who oppresses the righteous],
For He sees that his day [of defeat] is coming.
37:14:The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow
To cast down the afflicted and the needy,
To slaughter those who are upright in conduct [those with personal integrity and godly character].
37:15:The sword [of the ungodly] will enter their own heart,
And their bow will be broken.
37:16:Better is the little of the righteous [who seek the will of God]
Than the abundance (riches) of many wicked (godless).
37:17:For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the Lord upholds and sustains the righteous [who seek Him].
37:18:The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
And their inheritance will continue forever.
37:19:They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
And in the days of famine they will have plenty and be satisfied.
37:20:But the wicked (ungodly) will perish,
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the glory of the pastures and like the fat of lambs [that is consumed in smoke],
They vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
37:21:The wicked borrows and does not pay back,
But the righteous is gracious and kind and gives.
37:22:For those blessed by God will [at last] inherit the land,
But those cursed by Him will be cut off.
37:23:The steps of a [good and righteous] man are directed and established by the Lord,
And He delights in his way [and blesses his path].
37:24:When he falls, he will not be hurled down,
Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand and sustains him.
37:25:I have been young and now I am old,
Yet I have not seen the righteous (those in right standing with God) abandoned
Or his descendants pleading for bread.
37:26:All day long he is gracious and lends,
And his descendants are a blessing.
37:27:Depart from evil and do good;
And you will dwell [securely in the land] forever.
37:28:For the Lord delights in justice
And does not abandon His saints (faithful ones);
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked will [in time] be cut off.
37:29:The righteous will inherit the land
And live in it forever.
37:30:The mouth of the righteous proclaims wisdom,
And his tongue speaks justice and truth.
37:31:The law of his God is in his heart;
Not one of his steps will slip.
37:32:The wicked lies in wait for the righteous
And seeks to kill him.
37:33:The Lord will not leave him in his hand
Or let him be condemned when he is judged.
37:34:Wait for and expect the Lord and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
[In the end] when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
37:35:I have seen a wicked, violent man [with great power]
Spreading and flaunting himself like a cedar in its native soil,
37:36:Yet he passed away, and lo, he was no more;
I sought him, but he could not be found.
37:37:Mark the blameless man [who is spiritually complete], and behold the upright [who walks in moral integrity];
There is a [good] future for the man of peace [because a life of honor blesses one’s descendants].
37:38:As for transgressors, they will be completely destroyed;
The future of the wicked will be cut off.
37:39:But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their refuge and stronghold in the time of trouble.
37:40:The Lord helps them and rescues them;
He rescues them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they take refuge in Him.
38:1:Prayer in Time of Discipline.
A Psalm of David; to bring to remembrance.
O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
Nor discipline me in Your burning anger.
38:2:For Your arrows have sunk into me and penetrate deeply,
And Your hand has pressed down on me and greatly disciplined me.
38:3:There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation;
There is no health in my bones because of my sin.
38:4:For my iniquities have gone over my head [like the waves of a flood];
As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
38:5:My wounds are loathsome and foul
Because of my foolishness.
38:6:I am bent over and greatly bowed down;
I go about mourning all day long.
38:7:For my sides are filled with burning,
And there is no health in my flesh.
38:8:I am numb and greatly bruised [deadly cold and completely worn out];
I groan because of the disquiet and moaning of my heart.
38:9:Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.
38:10:My heart throbs violently, my strength fails me;
And as for the light of my eyes, even that has also gone from me.
38:11:My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;
And my neighbors stand far away.
38:12:Those who seek my life lay snares for me,
And those who seek to injure me threaten mischievous things and destruction;
They devise treachery all the day long.
38:13:But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;
I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
38:14:Yes, I am like a man who does not hear,
In whose mouth are no arguments.
38:15:For in You, O Lord, I hope;
You will answer, O Lord my God.
38:16:For I pray, “May they not rejoice over me,
Who, when my foot slips, would boast against me.”
38:17:For I am ready to fall;
My sorrow is continually before me.
38:18:For I do confess my guilt and iniquity;
I am filled with anxiety because of my sin.
38:19:But my [numerous] enemies are vigorous and strong,
And those who hate me without cause are many.
38:20:They repay evil for good, they attack and try to kill me,
Because I follow what is good.
38:21:Do not abandon me, O Lord;
O my God, do not be far from me.
38:22:Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my Salvation.
39:1:The Vanity of Life.
To the Chief Musician; for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
I said, “I will guard my ways
That I may not sin with my tongue;
I will muzzle my mouth
While the wicked are in my presence.”
39:2:I was mute and silent [before my enemies],
I refrained even from good,
And my distress grew worse.
39:3:My heart was hot within me.
While I was musing the fire burned;
Then I spoke with my tongue:
39:4:“Lord, let me know my [life’s] end
And [to appreciate] the extent of my days;
Let me know how frail I am [how transient is my stay here].
39:5:“Behold, You have made my days as [short as] hand widths,
And my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight.
Surely every man at his best is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]! Selah.
39:6:“Surely every man walks around like a shadow [in a charade];
Surely they make an uproar for nothing;
Each one builds up riches, not knowing who will receive them.
39:7:“And now, Lord, for what do I expectantly wait?
My hope [my confident expectation] is in You.
39:8:“Save me from all my transgressions;
Do not make me the scorn and reproach of the [self-righteous, arrogant] fool.
39:9:“I am mute, I do not open my mouth,
Because it is You who has done it.
39:10:“Remove Your plague from me;
I am wasting away because of the conflict and opposition of Your hand.
39:11:“With rebukes You discipline man for sin;
You consume like a moth what is precious to him;
Surely every man is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]. Selah.
39:12:“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and listen to my cry;
Do not be silent at my tears;
For I am Your temporary guest,
A sojourner like all my fathers.
39:13:“O look away from me, that I may smile and again know joy
Before I depart and am no more.”
40:1:God Sustains His Servant.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
40:2:He brought me up out of a horrible pit [of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock, steadying my footsteps and establishing my path.
40:3:He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear [with great reverence]
And will trust confidently in the Lord.
40:4:Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who makes the Lord his trust,
And does not regard the proud nor those who lapse into lies.
40:5:Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of your wonders,
They would be too many to count.
40:6:Sacrifice and meal offering You do not desire, nor do You delight in them;
You have opened my ears and given me the capacity to hear [and obey Your word];
Burnt offerings and sin offerings You do not require.
40:7:Then I said, “Behold, I come [to the throne];
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
40:8:“I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your law is within my heart.”
40:9:I have proclaimed good news of righteousness [and the joy that comes from obedience to You] in the great assembly;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips [from proclaiming Your righteousness],
As You know, O Lord.
40:10:I have not concealed Your righteousness within my heart;
I have proclaimed Your faithfulness and Your salvation.
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.
40:11:Do not withhold Your compassion and tender mercy from me, O Lord;
Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
40:12:For innumerable evils have encompassed me;
My sins have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see.
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has failed me.
40:13:Be pleased, O Lord, to save me;
O Lord, make haste to help me.
40:14:Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back [in defeat] and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.
40:15:Let those be appalled and desolate because of their shame
Who say to me, “Aha, aha [rejoicing in my misfortune]!”
40:16:Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
40:17:Even though I am afflicted and needy,
Still the Lord takes thought and is mindful of me.
You are my help and my rescuer.
O my God, do not delay.
41:1:The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
Blessed [by God’s grace and compassion] is he who considers the helpless;
The Lord will save him in the day of trouble.
41:2:The Lord will protect him and keep him alive;
And he will be called blessed in the land;
You do not hand him over to the desire of his enemies.
41:3:The Lord will sustain and strengthen him on his sickbed;
In his illness, You will restore him to health.
41:4:As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”
41:5:My enemies speak evil of me, saying,
“When will he die and his name perish?”
41:6:And when one comes to see me, he speaks empty words,
While his heart gathers malicious gossip [against me];
When he goes away, he tells it [everywhere].
41:7:All who hate me whisper together about me;
Against me they devise my hurt [imagining the worst for me], saying,
41:8:“A wicked thing is poured out upon him and holds him;
And when he lies down, he will not rise up again.”
41:9:Even my own close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me [betraying me].
41:10:But You, O Lord, be gracious to me and restore me [to health],
So that I may repay them.
41:11:By this I know that You favor and delight in me,
Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
41:12:As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
And You set me in Your presence forever.
41:13:Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting [from this age to the next, and forever].
Amen and Amen (so be it).
42:1:Book Two
Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.
To the Chief Musician. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of the sons of Korah.
As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks,
So my soul pants [longingly] for You, O God.
42:2:My soul (my life, my inner self) thirsts for God, for the living God.
When will I come and see the face of God?
42:3:My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
42:4:These things I [vividly] remember as I pour out my soul;
How I used to go along before the great crowd of people and lead them in procession to the house of God [like a choirmaster before his singers, timing the steps to the music and the chant of the song],
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a great crowd keeping a festival.
42:5:Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become restless and disturbed within me?
Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
42:6:O my God, my soul is in despair within me [the burden more than I can bear];
Therefore I will [fervently] remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of [Mount] Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
42:7:Deep calls to deep at the [thundering] sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
42:8:Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night His song will be with me,
A prayer to the God of my life.
42:9:I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
42:10:As a crushing of my bones [with a sword], my adversaries taunt me,
While they say continually to me, “Where is your God?”
42:11:Why are you in despair, O my soul?
Why have you become restless and disquieted within me?
Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.
43:1:Prayer for Rescue.
Judge and vindicate me, O God; plead my case against an ungodly nation.
O rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man!
43:2:For You are the God of my strength [my stronghold—in whom I take refuge]; why have You rejected me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
43:3:O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.
43:4:Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God, my exceeding joy;
With the lyre I will praise You, O God, my God!
43:5:Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you restless and disturbed within me?
Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall again praise Him,
The help of my [sad] countenance and my God.
44:1:Former Times of Help and Present Troubles.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem.
We have heard with our ears, O God,
Our fathers have told us
The work You did in their days,
In the days of old.
44:2:You drove out the [pagan] nations with Your own hand;
Then you planted and established them (Israel);
[It was by Your power that] You uprooted the [pagan] peoples,
Then You spread them abroad.
44:3:For our fathers did not possess the land [of Canaan] by their own sword,
Nor did their own arm save them,
But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence,
Because You favored and delighted in them.
44:4:You are my King, O God;
Command victories and deliverance for Jacob (Israel).
44:5:Through You we will gore our enemies [like a bull];
Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.
44:6:For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
44:7:But You have saved us from our enemies,
And You have put them to shame and humiliated those who hate us.
44:8:In God we have boasted all the day long,
And we will praise and give thanks to Your name forever. Selah.
44:9:But now You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor,
And You do not go out with our armies [to lead us to victory].
44:10:You make us turn back from the enemy,
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
44:11:You have made us like sheep to be eaten [as mutton]
And have scattered us [in exile] among the nations.
44:12:You sell Your people cheaply,
And have not increased Your wealth by their sale.
44:13:You have made us the reproach and taunt of our neighbors,
A scoffing and a derision to those around us.
44:14:You make us a byword among the nations,
A laughingstock among the people.
44:15:My dishonor is before me all day long,
And humiliation has covered my face,
44:16:Because of the voice of the taunter and reviler,
Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.
44:17:All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten You,
Nor have we been false to Your covenant [which You made with our fathers].
44:18:Our heart has not turned back,
Nor have our steps wandered from Your path,
44:19:Yet You have [distressingly] crushed us in the place of jackals
And covered us with [the deep darkness of] the shadow of death.
44:20:If we had forgotten the name of our God
Or stretched out our hands to a strange god,
44:21:Would not God discover this?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
44:22:But for Your sake we are killed all the day long;
We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
44:23:Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?
Awaken, do not reject us forever.
44:24:Why do You hide Your face
And forget our affliction and our oppression?
44:25:For our life has melted away into the dust;
Our body clings to the ground.
44:26:Rise up! Come be our help,
And ransom us for the sake of Your steadfast love.
45:1:A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.
To the Chief Musician; set to the [tune of] “Lilies.” A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem. A Song of Love.
My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my psalm to the King.
My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.
45:2:You are fairer than the sons of men;
Graciousness is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.
45:3:Strap Your sword on Your thigh, O mighty One,
In Your splendor and Your majesty!
45:4:And in Your majesty ride on triumphantly
For the cause of truth and humility and righteousness;
Let Your right hand guide You to awesome things.
45:5:Your arrows are sharp;
The peoples (nations) fall under You;
Your arrows pierce the hearts of the King’s enemies.
45:6:Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
45:7:You have loved righteousness (virtue, morality, justice) and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, your God, has anointed You
Above Your companions with the oil of jubilation.
45:8:All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes and cassia;
From ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad.
45:9:Kings’ daughters are among Your noble ladies;
At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.
45:10:Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear [to my instruction]:
Forget your people and your father’s house;
45:11:Then the King will desire your beauty;
Because He is your Lord, bow down and honor Him.
45:12:The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
The rich among the people will seek your favor.
45:13:Glorious is the King’s daughter within [the palace];
Her robe is interwoven with gold.
45:14:She will be brought to the King in embroidered garments;
The virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.
45:15:With gladness and rejoicing will they be led;
They will enter into the King’s palace.
45:16:In place of your fathers will be your sons;
You shall make princes in all the land.
45:17:I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;
Therefore the peoples will praise and give You thanks forever and ever.
46:1:God the Refuge of His People.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, set to soprano voices. A Song.
God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable],
A very present and well-proved help in trouble.
46:2:Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains be shaken and slip into the heart of the seas,
46:3:Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains tremble at its roaring. Selah.
46:4:There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
46:5:God is in the midst of her [His city], she will not be moved;
God will help her when the morning dawns.
46:6:The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered and were moved;
He raised His voice, the earth melted.
46:7:The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold [our refuge, our high tower]. Selah.
46:8:Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has wrought desolations and wonders in the earth.
46:9:He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow into pieces and snaps the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.
46:10:“Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.”
46:11:The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold [our refuge, our high tower]. Selah.
47:1:God the King of the Earth.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
O clap your hands, all you people;
Shout to God with the voice of triumph and songs of joy.
47:2:For the Lord Most High is to be feared [and worshiped with awe-inspired reverence and obedience];
He is a great King over all the earth.
47:3:He subdues peoples under us
And nations under our feet.
47:4:He chooses our inheritance for us,
The glory and excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah.
47:5:God has ascended amid shouting,
The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
47:6:Sing praises to God, sing praises;
Sing praises to our King, sing praises.
47:7:For God is the King of all the earth;
Sing praises in a skillful psalm and with understanding.
47:8:God reigns over the nations;
God sits on His holy throne.
47:9:The princes of the people have gathered together as the people of the God of Abraham,
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
He is highly exalted.
48:1:The Beauty and Glory of Zion.
A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
In the city of our God, His holy mountain.
48:2:Fair and beautiful in elevation, the joy of all the earth,
Is Mount Zion [the City of David] in the far north,
The city of the great King.
48:3:God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a stronghold.
48:4:For, lo, the kings assembled themselves,
They [came and] passed by together.
48:5:They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were stricken with terror, they fled in alarm.
48:6:Panic seized them there,
And pain, as that of a woman in childbirth.
48:7:With the east wind
You shattered the ships of Tarshish.
48:8:As we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God:
God will establish her forever. Selah.
48:9:We have thought of Your lovingkindness, O God,
In the midst of Your temple.
48:10:As is Your name, O God,
So is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness (rightness, justice).
48:11:Let Mount Zion be glad,
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your [righteous] judgments.
48:12:Walk about Zion, go all around her;
Count her towers,
48:13:Consider her ramparts,
Go through her palaces,
That you may tell the next generation [about her glory].
48:14:For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide even until death.
49:1:The Folly of Trusting in Riches.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
Hear this, all peoples;
Listen carefully, all inhabitants of the world,
49:2:Both low and high,
Rich and poor together:
49:3:My mouth will speak wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart will be understanding.
49:4:I will incline my ear and consent to a proverb;
On the lyre I will unfold my riddle.
49:5:Why should I fear in the days of evil,
When the wickedness of those who would betray me surrounds me [on every side],
49:6:Even those who trust in and rely on their wealth
And boast of the abundance of their riches?
49:7:None of them can by any means redeem [either himself or] his brother,
Nor give to God a ransom for him—
49:8:For the ransom of his soul is too costly,
And he should cease trying forever—
49:9:So that he should live on eternally,
That he should never see the pit (grave) and undergo decay.
49:10:For he sees that even wise men die;
The fool and the stupid alike perish
And leave their wealth to others.
49:11:Their inward thought is that their houses will continue forever,
And their dwelling places to all generations;
They have named their lands after their own names [ignoring God].
49:12:But man, with all his [self] honor and pomp, will not endure;
He is like the beasts that perish.
49:13:This is the fate of those who are foolishly confident,
And of those after them who approve [and are influenced by] their words. Selah.
49:14:Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead);
Death will be their shepherd;
And the upright shall rule over them in the morning,
And their form and beauty shall be for Sheol to consume,
So that they have no dwelling [on earth].
49:15:But God will redeem my life from the power of Sheol,
For He will receive me. Selah.
49:16:Be not afraid when [an ungodly] man becomes rich,
When the wealth and glory of his house are increased;
49:17:For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
His glory will not descend after him.
49:18:Though while he lives he counts himself happy and prosperous—
And though people praise you when you do well for yourself—
49:19:He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
They shall never again see the light.
49:20:A man [who is held] in honor,
Yet who lacks [spiritual] understanding and a teachable heart, is like the beasts that perish.
50:1:God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.
A Psalm of Asaph
The mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken,
And summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting [from east to west].
50:2:Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shone forth.
50:3:May our God come and not keep silent;
Fire devours before Him,
And around Him a mighty tempest rages.
50:4:He summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
50:5:“Gather My godly ones to Me,
Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
50:6:And the heavens declare His righteousness,
For God Himself is judge. Selah.
50:7:“Hear, O My people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.
50:8:“I do not reprove you for your sacrifices;
Your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
50:9:“I will accept no young bull from your house
Nor male goat from your folds.
50:10:“For every beast of the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.
50:11:“I know every bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is Mine.
50:12:“If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
For the world and all it contains are Mine.
50:13:“Shall I eat the flesh of bulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
50:14:“Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving
And pay your vows to the Most High;
50:15:Call on Me in the day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you shall honor and glorify Me.”
50:16:But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite My statutes
Or to take My covenant on your lips?
50:17:“For you hate instruction and discipline
And cast My words behind you [discarding them].
50:18:“When you see a thief, you are pleased with him and condone his behavior,
And you associate with adulterers.
50:19:“You give your mouth to evil
And your tongue frames deceit.
50:20:“You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
50:21:“These things you have done and I kept silent;
You thought that I was just like you.
Now I will reprimand and denounce you and state the case in order before your eyes.
50:22:“Now consider this, you who forget God,
Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be no one to rescue [you].
50:23:“He who offers a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who orders his way rightly [who follows the way that I show him],
I shall show the salvation of God.”
51:1:A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
51:2:Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and guilt
And cleanse me from my sin.
51:3:For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them;
My sin is always before me.
51:4:Against You, You only, have I sinned
And done that which is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak [Your sentence]
And faultless in Your judgment.
51:5:I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness;
In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].
51:6:Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom.
51:7:Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
51:8:Make me hear joy and gladness and be satisfied;
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
51:9:Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
51:10:Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.
51:11:Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
51:12:Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
51:13:Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted and return to You.
51:14:Rescue me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will sing joyfully of Your righteousness and Your justice.
51:15:O Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
51:16:For You do not delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
51:17:My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.
51:18:By Your favor do good to Zion;
May You rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
51:19:Then will You delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.
52:1:Futility of Boastful Wickedness.
To the Chief Musician. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem. A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
52:2:Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
52:3:You love evil more than good,
And falsehood more than speaking what is right. Selah.
52:4:You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.
52:5:But God will break you down forever;
He will take you away and tear you away from your tent,
And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah.
52:6:The righteous will see it and fear,
And will [scoffingly] laugh, saying,
52:7:“Look, [this is] the man who would not make God his strength [his stronghold and fortress],
But trusted in the abundance of his riches,
Taking refuge in his wealth.”
52:8:But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust [confidently] in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
52:9:I will thank You forever, because You have done it, [You have rescued me and kept me safe].
I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.
53:1:Folly and Wickedness of Men.
To the Chief Musician; in a mournful strain. A skillful song, or didactic or reflective poem of David.
The [empty-headed] fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt and evil, and have committed repulsive injustice;
There is no one who does good.
53:2:God has looked down from heaven upon the children of men
To see if there is anyone who understands,
Who seeks after God [who requires Him, who longs for Him as essential to life].
53:3:Every one of them has turned aside and fallen away;
Together they have become filthy and corrupt;
There is no one who does good, no, not even one.
53:4:Have workers of wickedness no knowledge or no understanding?
They eat up My people as though they ate bread
And have not called upon God.
53:5:There they were, in great terror and dread, where there had been no terror or dread;
For God scattered the bones of him who besieged you;
You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.
53:6:Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores [the fortunes of] His people,
Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
54:1:Prayer for Defense against Enemies.
To the Chief Musician; with stringed instruments. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “David is hiding among us.”
Save me, O God, by Your name;
And vindicate me by Your [wondrous] power.
54:2:Hear my prayer, O God;
Listen to the words of my mouth.
54:3:For strangers have risen against me
And violent men have sought my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah.
54:4:Behold, God is my helper and ally;
The Lord is the sustainer of my soul [my upholder].
54:5:He will pay back the evil to my enemies;
In Your faithfulness destroy them.
54:6:With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to You;
I will give thanks and praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good.
54:7:For He has rescued me from every trouble,
And my eye has looked with satisfaction (triumph) on my enemies.
55:1:Prayer for the Destruction of the Treacherous.
To the Chief Musician; with stringed instruments. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of David.
Listen to my prayer, O God,
And do not hide Yourself from my plea.
55:2:Listen to me and answer me;
I am restless and distraught in my complaint and distracted
55:3:Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the pressure of the wicked;
For they bring down trouble on me,
And in anger they persecute me.
55:4:My heart is in anguish within me,
And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
55:5:Fear and trembling have come upon me;
Horror has overwhelmed me.
55:6:And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
55:7:“I would wander far away,
I would lodge in the [peace of the] wilderness. Selah.
55:8:“I would hurry to my refuge [my tranquil shelter far away]
From the stormy wind and from the tempest.”
55:9:Confuse [my enemies], O Lord, divide their tongues [destroying their schemes],
For I have seen violence and strife in the city.
55:10:Day and night they go around her walls;
Wickedness and mischief are in her midst.
55:11:Destruction is within her;
Oppression and deceit do not depart from her streets and market places.
55:12:For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
Then I could bear it;
Nor is it one who has hated me who insolently exalts himself against me—
Then I could hide from him.
55:13:But it is you, a man my equal and my counsel,
My companion and my familiar friend;
55:14:We who had sweet fellowship together,
Who walked to the house of God in company.
55:15:Let death come deceitfully upon them;
Let them go down alive to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
For evil [of every kind] is in their dwelling and in their hearts, in their midst.
55:16:As for me, I shall call upon God,
And the Lord will save me.
55:17:Evening and morning and at noon I will complain and murmur,
And He will hear my voice.
55:18:He has redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me,
For there were many against me.
55:19:God will hear and humble them,
Even He who sits enthroned from old— Selah.
Because in them there has been no change [of heart],
And they do not fear God [at all].
55:20:He [my companion] has put out his hands against those who were at peace with him;
He has broken his covenant [of friendship and loyalty].
55:21:The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
But his heart was hostile;
His words were softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn swords.
55:22:Cast your burden on the Lord [release it] and He will sustain and uphold you;
He will never allow the righteous to be shaken (slip, fall, fail).
55:23:But You, O God, will bring down the wicked to the pit of destruction;
Men of blood and treachery will not live out half their days.
But I will [boldly and unwaveringly] trust in You.
56:1:Supplication for Rescue and Grateful Trust in God.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Silent Dove Among Those Far Away.” A Mikhtam of David. [A record of memorable thoughts] when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled on me;
All day long the adversary oppresses and torments me.
56:2:My enemies have trampled upon me all day long,
For they are many who fight proudly against me.
56:3:When I am afraid,
I will put my trust and faith in You.
56:4:In God, whose word I praise;
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not fear.
What can mere man do to me?
56:5:All day long they twist my words and say hurtful things;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
56:6:They attack, they hide and lurk,
They watch my steps,
As they have [expectantly] waited to take my life.
56:7:Cast them out because of their wickedness.
In anger bring down the peoples, O God!
56:8:You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not recorded in Your book?
56:9:Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call;
This I know, that God is for me.
56:10:In God, whose word I praise,
In the Lord, whose word I praise,
56:11:In God have I put my trust and confident reliance; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
56:12:Your vows are binding upon me, O God;
I will give thank offerings to You.
56:13:For You have rescued my soul from death,
Yes, and my feet from stumbling,
So that I may walk before God
In the light of life.
57:1:Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Do Not Destroy.” A Mikhtam of David. [A record of memorable thoughts of David] when he fled from Saul in the cave.
Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious and merciful to me,
For my soul finds shelter and safety in You,
And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge and be confidently secure
Until destruction passes by.
57:2:I will cry to God Most High,
Who accomplishes all things on my behalf [for He completes my purpose in His plan].
57:3:He will send from heaven and save me;
He calls to account him who tramples me down. Selah.
God will send out His lovingkindness and His truth.
57:4:My life is among lions;
I must lie among those who breathe out fire—
The sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword.
57:5:Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory and majesty be over all the earth.
57:6:They set a net for my steps;
My very life was bowed down.
They dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah.
57:7:My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast and confident!
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises [to You]!
57:8:Awake, my glory!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
57:9:I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the people;
I will sing praises to You among the nations.
57:10:For Your faithfulness and lovingkindness are great, reaching to the heavens,
And Your truth to the clouds.
57:11:Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory and majesty be over all the earth.
58:1:Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Do Not Destroy.” A Mikhtam of David. [A record of memorable thoughts of David].
Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods (heavenly beings)?
Do you judge fairly, O sons of men?
58:2:No, in your heart you devise wrongdoing;
On earth you deal out the violence of your hands.
58:3:The wicked are estranged from the womb;
These go astray from birth, speaking lies [even twisted partial truths].
58:4:Their poison is like the venom of a serpent;
They are like the deaf horned viper that stops up its ear,
58:5:So that it does not listen to the voice of charmers,
Or of the skillful enchanter casting [cunning] spells.
58:6:O God, break their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.
58:7:Let them flow away like water that runs off;
When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.
58:8:Let them be as a snail which melts away (secretes slime) as it goes along,
Like the miscarriage of a woman which never sees the sun.
58:9:Before your cooking pots can feel the fire of thorns [burning under them as fuel],
He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning ones alike.
58:10:The [unyieldingly] righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance [of God];
He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
58:11:Men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely there is a God who judges on the earth.”
59:1:Prayer for Rescue from Enemies.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Do Not Destroy.” A Mikhtam of David, [a record of memorable thoughts] when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
Set me securely on an inaccessibly high place away from those who rise up against me.
59:2:Deliver me from those who practice wrongdoing,
And save me from bloodthirsty men.
59:3:Look! They lie in wait for my life;
Fierce and powerful men [are uniting together to] launch an attack against me,
Not for my wrongdoing nor for any sin of mine, O Lord.
59:4:They run and set themselves against me though there is no guilt in me;
Stir Yourself to meet and help me, and see [what they are doing]!
59:5:You, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Arise to punish all the nations;
Spare no one and do not be merciful to any who treacherously plot evil. Selah.
59:6:They return at evening, they howl and snarl like dogs,
And go [prowling] around the city.
59:7:Look how they belch out [insults] with their mouths;
Swords [of sarcasm, ridicule, slander, and lies] are in their lips,
For they say, “Who hears us?”
59:8:But You, O Lord, will laugh at them [in scorn];
You scoff at and deride all the nations.
59:9:O [God] my strength, I will watch for You;
For God is my stronghold [my refuge, my protector, my high tower].
59:10:My God in His [steadfast] lovingkindness will meet me;
God will let me look triumphantly on my enemies [who lie in wait for me].
59:11:Do not kill them, or my people will forget;
Scatter them and make them wander [endlessly] back and forth by Your power, and bring them down,
O Lord our shield!
59:12:For the sin of their mouths and the words of their lips,
Let them even be trapped in their pride,
And on account of the curses and lies which they tell.
59:13:Destroy them in wrath, destroy them so that they may be no more;
Let them know that God rules over Jacob (Israel)
To the ends of the earth. Selah.
59:14:They return at evening, they howl and snarl like dogs,
And go [prowling] around the city.
59:15:They wander around for food [to devour]
And growl all night if they are not satisfied.
59:16:But as for me, I will sing of Your mighty strength and power;
Yes, I will sing joyfully of Your lovingkindness in the morning;
For You have been my stronghold
And a refuge in the day of my distress.
59:17:To You, O [God] my strength, I will sing praises;
For God is my stronghold [my refuge, my protector, my high tower], the God who shows me [steadfast] lovingkindness.
60:1:Lament over Defeat in Battle, and Prayer for Help.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “The Lily of the Testimony.” A Mikhtam of David [intended to record memorable thoughts and] to teach; when he struggled with the Arameans of Mesopotamia and the Arameans of Zobah, and when Joab returned and struck twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
O God, You have rejected us and cast us off. You have broken [down our defenses and scattered] us;
You have been angry; O restore us and turn again to us.
60:2:You have made the land quake, You have split it open;
Heal its rifts, for it shakes and totters.
60:3:You have made Your people experience hardship;
You have given us wine to drink that makes us stagger and fall.
60:4:You have set up a banner for those who fear You [with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder—a banner to shield them from attack],
A banner that may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.
60:5:That Your beloved ones may be rescued,
Save with Your right hand and answer us.
60:6:God has spoken in His holiness [in His promises]:
“I will rejoice, I will divide [the land of] Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth [west to east].
60:7:“Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim is My helmet;
Judah is My scepter.
60:8:“Moab is My washbowl;
Over Edom I shall throw My shoe [in triumph];
Over Philistia I raise the shout [of victory].”
60:9:Who will bring me into the besieged city [of Petra]?
Who will lead me to Edom?
60:10:Have You not rejected us, O God?
And will You not go out with our armies?
60:11:Give us help against the enemy,
For the help of man is worthless (ineffectual, without purpose).
60:12:Through God we will have victory,
For He will trample down our enemies.
61:1:Confidence in God’s Protection.
To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
Hear my cry, O God;
Listen to my prayer.
61:2:From the end of the earth I call to You, when my heart is overwhelmed and weak;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I [a rock that is too high to reach without Your help].
61:3:For You have been a shelter and a refuge for me,
A strong tower against the enemy.
61:4:Let me dwell in Your tent forever;
Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah.
61:5:For You have heard my vows, O God;
You have given me the inheritance of those who fear Your name [with reverence].
61:6:You will prolong the king’s life [adding days upon days];
His years will be like many generations.
61:7:He will sit enthroned forever before [the face of] God;
Appoint lovingkindness and truth to watch over and preserve him.
61:8:So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
Paying my vows day by day.
62:1:God Alone a Refuge from Treachery and Oppression.
To the Chief Musician; to Jeduthun [Ethan, the noted musician, founder of an official musical family]. A Psalm of David.
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
From Him comes my salvation.
62:2:He alone is my rock and my salvation,
My defense and my strong tower; I will not be shaken or disheartened.
62:3:How long will you attack a man
So that you may murder him, all of you,
Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
62:4:They consult only to throw him down from his high position [to dishonor him];
They delight in lies.
They bless with [the words of] their mouths,
But inwardly they curse. Selah.
62:5:For God alone my soul waits in silence and quietly submits to Him,
For my hope is from Him.
62:6:He only is my rock and my salvation;
My fortress and my defense, I will not be shaken or discouraged.
62:7:On God my salvation and my glory rest;
He is my rock of [unyielding] strength, my refuge is in God.
62:8:Trust [confidently] in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us. Selah.
62:9:Men of low degree are only a breath (emptiness), and men of [high] rank are a lie (delusion).
In the balances they go up [because they have no measurable weight or value];
They are together lighter than a breath.
62:10:Do not trust in oppression,
And do not vainly hope in robbery;
If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.
62:11:God has spoken once,
Twice I have heard this:
That power belongs to God.
62:12:Also to You, O Lord, belong lovingkindness and compassion,
For You compensate every man according to [the value of] his work.
63:1:The Thirsting Soul Satisfied in God.
A Psalm of David; when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
O God, You are my God; with deepest longing I will seek You;
My soul [my life, my very self] thirsts for You, my flesh longs and sighs for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
63:2:So I have gazed upon You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
63:3:Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
63:4:So will I bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
63:5:My soul [my life, my very self] is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises [to You] with joyful lips.
63:6:When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate and thoughtfully focus on You in the night watches,
63:7:For You have been my help,
And in the shadow of Your wings [where I am always protected] I sing for joy.
63:8:My soul [my life, my very self] clings to You;
Your right hand upholds me.
63:9:But those who seek my life to destroy it
Will [be destroyed and] go into the depths of the earth [into the underworld].
63:10:They will be given over to the power of the sword;
They will be a prey for foxes.
63:11:But the king will rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him [honoring the true God, acknowledging His authority and majesty] will glory,
For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.
64:1:Prayer for Protection from Secret Enemies.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
Guard my life from the terror of the enemy.
64:2:Hide me from the secret counsel and conspiracy of the ungodly,
From the scheming of those who do wrong,
64:3:Who have sharpened their tongues like a sword.
They aim venomous words as arrows,
64:4:To shoot from ambush at the blameless [one];
Suddenly they shoot at him, without fear.
64:5:They encourage themselves in [their pursuit of] an evil agenda;
They talk of laying snares secretly;
They say, “Who will discover us?”
64:6:They devise acts of injustice, saying,
“We are ready with a well-conceived plan.”
For the inward thought and the heart of a man are deep (mysterious, unsearchable).
64:7:But God will shoot them with an [unexpected] arrow;
Suddenly they will be wounded.
64:8:So they will be caused to stumble;
Their own tongue is against them;
All who gaze at them will shake the head [in scorn].
64:9:Then all men will fear [God’s judgment];
They will declare the work of God,
And they will consider and wisely acknowledge what He has done.
64:10:The righteous will rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in Him;
All the upright in heart will glory and offer praise.
65:1:God’s Abundant Favor to Earth and Man.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
To You belongs silence [the submissive wonder of reverence], and [it bursts into] praise in Zion, O God;
And to You the vow shall be performed.
65:2:O You who hear prayer,
To You all mankind comes.
65:3:Wickedness and guilt prevail against me;
Yet as for our transgressions,
You forgive them [removing them from Your sight].
65:4:Blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near
To dwell in Your courts.
We will be filled with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.
65:5:By awesome and wondrous things You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation,
You who are the trust and hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea;
65:6:Who creates the mountains by His strength,
Being clothed with power,
65:7:Who stills the roaring of the seas,
The roaring of their waves,
And the tumult of the peoples,
65:8:So they who dwell at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs [the evidence of Your presence].
You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.
65:9:You visit the earth and make it overflow [with water];
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You provide their grain, when You have prepared the earth.
65:10:You water its furrows abundantly,
You smooth its ridges;
You soften it with showers,
You bless its growth.
65:11:You crown the year with Your bounty,
And Your paths overflow.
65:12:The pastures of the wilderness drip [with dew],
And the hills are encircled with joy.
65:13:The meadows are clothed with flocks
And the valleys are covered with grain;
They shout for joy and they sing.
66:1:Praise for God’s Mighty Deeds and for His Answer to Prayer.
To the Chief Musician. A Song. A Psalm.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
66:2:Sing of the honor and glory and magnificence of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
66:3:Say to God, “How awesome and fearfully glorious are Your works!
Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will pretend to be obedient to You.
66:4:“All the earth will [bow down to] worship You [in submissive wonder],
And will sing praises to You;
They will praise Your name in song.” Selah.
66:5:Come and see the works of God,
He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of men.
66:6:He turned the sea into dry land;
They crossed through the river on foot;
There we rejoiced in Him.
66:7:Who rules by His might forever,
His eyes keep watch on the nations;
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.
66:8:Bless our God, O peoples,
And make the sound of His praise be heard abroad,
66:9:Who keeps us among the living,
And does not allow our feet to slip or stumble.
66:10:For You have tested us, O God;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
66:11:You brought us into the net;
You laid a heavy burden [of servitude] on us.
66:12:You made men (charioteers) ride over our heads [in defeat];
We went through fire and through water,
Yet You brought us out into a [broad] place of abundance [to be refreshed].
66:13:I shall come into Your house with burnt offerings;
I shall pay You my vows,
66:14:Which my lips uttered
And my mouth spoke as a promise when I was in distress.
66:15:I shall offer to You burnt offerings of fat lambs,
With the [sweet] smoke of rams;
I will offer bulls with male goats. Selah.
66:16:Come and hear, all who fear God [and worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and obedience],
And I will tell what He has done for me.
66:17:I cried aloud to Him;
He was highly praised with my tongue.
66:18:If I regard sin and baseness in my heart [that is, if I know it is there and do nothing about it],
The Lord will not hear [me];
66:19:But certainly God has heard [me];
He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
66:20:Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer
Nor His lovingkindness from me.
67:1:The Nations Exhorted to Praise God.
To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
God be gracious and kind-hearted to us and bless us,
And make His face shine [with favor] on us— Selah.
67:2:That Your way may be known on earth,
Your salvation and deliverance among all nations.
67:3:Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
67:4:Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
For You will judge the people fairly
And guide the nations on earth. Selah.
67:5:Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
67:6:The earth has yielded its harvest [as evidence of His approval];
God, our God, blesses us.
67:7:God blesses us,
And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder].
68:1:The God of Sinai and of the Sanctuary.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered;
Let those who hate Him flee before Him.
68:2:As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
As wax melts before the fire,
So let the wicked and guilty perish before [the presence of] God.
68:3:But let the righteous be glad; let them be in good spirits before God,
Yes, let them rejoice with delight.
68:4:Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Lift up a song for Him who rides through the desert—
His name is the Lord—be in good spirits before Him.
68:5:A father of the fatherless and a judge and protector of the widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
68:6:God makes a home for the lonely;
He leads the prisoners into prosperity,
Only the stubborn and rebellious dwell in a parched land.
68:7:O God, when You went out before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness, Selah.
68:8:The earth trembled;
The heavens also poured down rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself trembled at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
68:9:You, O God, sent abroad plentiful rain;
You confirmed Your inheritance when it was parched and weary.
68:10:Your flock found a dwelling place in it;
O God, in Your goodness You provided for the poor.
68:11:The Lord gives the command [to take Canaan];
The women who proclaim the good news are a great host (army);
68:12:“The kings of the [enemies’] armies flee, they flee,
And the beautiful woman who remains at home divides the spoil [left behind].”
68:13:When you lie down [to rest] among the sheepfolds,
You [Israel] are like the wings of a dove [of victory] overlaid with silver,
Its feathers glistening with gold [trophies taken from the enemy].
68:14:When the Almighty scattered [the Canaanite] kings in the land of Canaan,
It was snowing on Zalmon.
68:15:A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan;
A [high] mountain of many summits is Mount Bashan [rising east of the Jordan].
68:16:Why do you look with envy, mountains with many peaks,
At the mountain [of the city of Zion] which God has desired for His dwelling place?
Yes, the Lord will dwell there forever.
68:17:The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands;
The Lord is among them as He was at Sinai, in holiness.
68:18:You have ascended on high, You have led away captive Your captives;
You have received gifts among men,
Even from the rebellious also, that the Lord God may dwell there.
68:19:Blessed be the Lord, who bears our burden day by day,
The God who is our salvation! Selah.
68:20:God is to us a God of acts of salvation;
And to God the Lord belong escapes from death [setting us free].
68:21:Surely God will shatter the head of His enemies,
The hairy scalp of one who goes on in his guilty ways.
68:22:The Lord said, “I will bring your enemies back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the [Red] Sea,
68:23:That your foot may crush them in blood,
That the tongue of your dogs may have its share from your enemies.”
68:24:They have seen Your [solemn] procession, O God,
The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary [in holiness].
68:25:The singers go in front, the players of instruments last;
Between them the maidens playing on tambourines.
68:26:Bless God in the congregations, [give thanks, gratefully praise Him],
The Lord, you who are from [Jacob] the fountain of Israel.
68:27:The youngest is there, Benjamin, ruling them,
The princes of Judah and their company [the southern tribes],
The princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali [the northern tribes].
68:28:Your God has commanded your strength [your power in His service and your resistance to temptation];
Show Yourself strong, O God, who acted on our behalf.
68:29:Because of Your temple at Jerusalem
[Pagan] kings will bring gifts to You [out of respect].
68:30:Rebuke the beasts [living] among the reeds [in Egypt],
The herd of bulls (the leaders) with the calves of the peoples;
Trampling underfoot the pieces of silver;
He has scattered the peoples who delight in war.
68:31:Princes and envoys shall come from Egypt;
Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands [with the offerings of submission] to God.
68:32:Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth,
Sing praises to the Lord! Selah.
68:33:To Him who rides in the highest heavens, the ancient heavens,
Behold, He sends out His voice, a mighty and majestic voice.
68:34:Ascribe strength to God;
His majesty is over Israel
And His strength is in the skies.
68:35:O God, You are awesome and profoundly majestic from Your sanctuary;
The God of Israel gives strength and power to His people.
Blessed be God!
69:1:A Cry of Distress and Imprecation on Adversaries.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Lilies.” A Psalm of David.
Save me, O God,
For the waters have threatened my life [they have come up to my neck].
69:2:I have sunk in deep mire, where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters, where a flood overwhelms me.
69:3:I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched;
My eyes fail while I wait [with confident expectation] for my God.
69:4:Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head;
Those who would destroy me are powerful, being my enemies wrongfully;
I am forced to restore what I did not steal.
69:5:O God, You know my folly;
My wrongs are not hidden from You.
69:6:Do not let those who wait [confidently] for You be ashamed through me, O Lord God of hosts;
Do not let those who seek You [as necessary for life itself] be dishonored through me, O God of Israel,
69:7:Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Confusion and dishonor have covered my face.
69:8:I have become estranged from my brothers
And an alien to my mother’s sons.
69:9:For zeal for Your house has consumed me,
And the [mocking] insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.
69:10:When I wept and humbled myself with fasting,
It became my reproach.
69:11:When I made sackcloth my clothing [as one in mourning],
I became a byword [a mere object of scorn] to them.
69:12:They who sit in the [city’s] gate talk about me and mock me,
And I am the song of the drunkards.
69:13:But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, at an acceptable and opportune time;
O God, in the greatness of Your favor and in the abundance of Your lovingkindness,
Answer me with truth [that is, the faithfulness of Your salvation].
69:14:Rescue me from the mire and do not let me sink;
Let me be rescued from those who hate me and from the deep waters.
69:15:Do not let the floodwater overwhelm me,
Nor the deep waters swallow me up,
Nor the pit [of Sheol] shut its mouth over me.
69:16:Answer me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is sweet and good and comforting;
According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me.
69:17:Do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in distress; answer me quickly.
69:18:Draw near to my soul and redeem it;
Ransom me because of my enemies [so that they do not delight in my distress].
69:19:You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor [how I am insulted];
My adversaries are all before You [each one fully known].
69:20:Reproach and insults have broken my heart and I am so sick.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
And for comforters, but I found none.
69:21:They (self-righteous hypocrites) also gave me gall [poisonous and bitter] for my food,
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
69:22:May their table [with all its abundance and luxury] become a snare [to them];
And when they are in peace [secure at their sacrificial feasts], may it become a trap.
69:23:May their eyes be dimmed so that they cannot see,
And make their loins shake continually [in terror and weakness].
69:24:Pour out Your indignation on them,
And let [the fierceness of] Your burning anger overtake them.
69:25:May their encampment be desolate;
May no one dwell in their tents.
69:26:For they have persecuted him whom You have struck,
And they tell of the pain of those whom You have pierced and wounded.
69:27:Add [unforgiven] iniquity to their iniquity [in Your book],
And may they not come into Your righteousness.
69:28:May they be blotted out of the book of life [and their lives come to an end]
And may they not be recorded with the righteous (those in right standing with God).
69:29:But I am sorrowful and in pain;
May Your salvation, O God, set me [securely] on high.
69:30:I will praise the name of God with song
And magnify Him with thanksgiving.
69:31:And it will please the Lord better than an ox
Or a young bull with horns and hoofs.
69:32:The humble have seen it and are glad;
You who seek God [requiring Him as your greatest need], let your heart revive and live.
69:33:For the Lord hears the needy
And does not despise His who are prisoners.
69:34:Let heaven and earth praise Him,
The seas and everything that moves in them.
69:35:For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah,
That His servants may remain there and possess it.
69:36:The descendants of His servants will inherit it,
And those who love His name will dwell in it.
70:1:Prayer for Help against Persecutors.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.
O God, come quickly to save me;
O Lord, come quickly to help me!
70:2:Let those be ashamed and humiliated
Who seek my life;
Let them be turned back and humiliated
Who delight in my hurt.
70:3:Let them be turned back because of their shame and disgrace
Who say, “Aha, aha!”
70:4:May all those who seek You [as life’s first priority] rejoice and be glad in You;
May those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified!”
70:5:But I am afflicted and needy;
Come quickly to me, O God!
You are my help and my rescuer;
O Lord, do not delay.
71:1:Prayer of an Old Man for Rescue.
In you, O Lord, I have put my trust and confidently taken refuge;
Let me never be put to shame.
71:2:In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
Incline Your ear to me and save me.
71:3:Be to me a rock of refuge and a sheltering stronghold to which I may continually come;
You have given the commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.
71:4:Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked (godless),
From the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man.
71:5:For You are my hope;
O Lord God, You are my trust and the source of my confidence from my youth.
71:6:Upon You have I relied and been sustained from my birth;
You are He who took me from my mother’s womb and You have been my benefactor from that day.
My praise is continually of You.
71:7:I am as a wonder to many,
For You are my strong refuge.
71:8:My mouth is filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all day long.
71:9:Do not cast me off nor send me away in the time of old age;
Do not abandon me when my strength fails and I am weak.
71:10:For my enemies have spoken against me;
Those who watch for my life have consulted together,
71:11:Saying, “God has abandoned him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is no one to rescue him.”
71:12:O God, do not be far from me;
O my God, come quickly to help me!
71:13:Let those who attack my life be ashamed and consumed;
Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor, who seek to injure me.
71:14:But as for me, I will wait and hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
71:15:My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And of Your [deeds of] salvation all day long,
For their number is more than I know.
71:16:I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord God [and in His strength];
I will make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.
71:17:O God, You have taught me from my youth,
And I still declare Your wondrous works and miraculous deeds.
71:18:And even when I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not abandon me,
Until I declare Your [mighty] strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.
71:19:Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the [height of the] heavens,
You who have done great things;
O God, who is like You, [who is Your equal]?
71:20:You who have shown me many troubles and distresses
Will revive and renew me again,
And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
71:21:May You increase my greatness (honor)
And turn to comfort me.
71:22:I will also praise You with the harp,
Your truth and faithfulness, O my God;
To You I will sing praises with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
71:23:My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You,
And my soul, which You have redeemed.
71:24:My tongue also will speak of Your righteousness all day long;
For they are ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek my injury.
72:1:The Reign of the Righteous King.
A Psalm of Solomon.
Give the king [knowledge of] Your judgments, O God,
And [the spirit of] Your righteousness to the king’s son [to guide all his ways].
72:2:May he judge Your people with righteousness,
And Your afflicted with justice.
72:3:The mountains will bring peace and prosperity to the people,
And the hills, in [the establishment of] righteousness.
72:4:May he bring justice to the poor among the people,
Save the children of the needy
And crush the oppressor,
72:5:Let them fear You [with awe-inspired reverence and worship You with obedience] while the sun endures,
And as long as the moon [reflects light], throughout all generations.
72:6:May he come down like rain on the mown grass,
Like showers that water the earth.
72:7:In his days may the righteous flourish,
And peace abound until the moon is no more.
72:8:May he also rule from sea to sea
And from the River [Euphrates] to the ends of the earth.
72:9:The nomads of the desert will bow before him,
And his enemies will lick the dust.
72:10:The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring offerings;
The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts.
72:11:Yes, all kings will bow down before him,
All nations will serve him.
72:12:For he will rescue the needy when he cries for help,
The afflicted and abused also, and him who has no helper.
72:13:He will have compassion on the poor and needy,
And he will save the lives of the needy.
72:14:He will redeem their life from oppression and fraud and violence,
And their blood will be precious in His sight.
72:15:So may he live, and may the gold of Sheba be given to him;
And let them pray for him continually;
Let them bless and praise him all day long.
72:16:There will be an abundance of grain in the soil on the top of the mountains;
Its fruit will wave like [the cedars of] Lebanon,
And those of the city will flourish like grass of the earth.
72:17:May his name endure forever;
May his name continue as long as the sun;
And let men bless themselves by him;
Let all nations call him blessed.
72:18:Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who alone does wonderful things.
72:19:Blessed be His glorious name forever;
And may the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.
72:20:The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.
73:1:Book Three
The End of the Wicked Contrasted with That of the Righteous.
A Psalm of Asaph.
Truly God is good to Israel,
To those who are pure in heart.
73:2:But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps had almost slipped.
73:3:For I was envious of the arrogant
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
73:4:For there are no pains in their death,
Their body is fat and pampered.
73:5:They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like mankind.
73:6:Therefore pride is their necklace;
Violence covers them like a garment [like a long, luxurious robe].
73:7:Their eye bulges from fatness [they have more than the heart desires];
The imaginations of their mind run riot [with foolishness].
73:8:They mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
They speak loftily [with malice].
73:9:They set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue swaggers through the earth.
73:10:Therefore his people return to this place,
And waters of abundance [offered by the irreverent] are [blindly] drunk by them.
73:11:They say, “How does God know?
Is there knowledge [of us] with the Most High?”
73:12:Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who always prosper and are at ease [in the world]; they have increased in wealth.
73:13:Surely then in vain I have cleansed my heart
And washed my hands in innocence.
73:14:For all the day long have I been stricken,
And punished every morning.
73:15:If I had said, “I will say this,” [and expressed my feelings],
I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
73:16:When I considered how to understand this,
It was too great an effort for me and too painful
73:17:Until I came into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood [for I considered] their end.
73:18:Surely You set the wicked-minded and immoral on slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
73:19:How they are destroyed in a moment!
They are completely swept away by sudden terrors!
73:20:Like a dream [which seems real] until one awakens,
O Lord, when stirred, [You observe the wicked], You will despise their image.
73:21:When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced within [as with the fang of an adder],
73:22:Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
73:23:Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
73:24:You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to honor and glory.
73:25:Whom have I in heaven [but You]?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
73:26:My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the rock and strength of my heart and my portion forever.
73:27:For behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful and have abandoned You.
73:28:But as for me, it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge and placed my trust in Him,
That I may tell of all Your works.
74:1:An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Asaph.
O God, why have You rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
74:2:Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance;
Remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.
74:3:Turn your footsteps [quickly] toward the perpetual ruins;
The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
74:4:In the midst of Your meeting place Your enemies have roared [with their battle cry];
They have set up their own emblems for signs [of victory].
74:5:It seems as if one had lifted up
An axe in a forest of trees [to set a record of destruction].
74:6:And now all the carved work [of the meeting place]
They smash with hatchets and hammers.
74:7:They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
They have profaned the dwelling place of Your name.
74:8:They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
74:9:We do not see our symbols;
There is no longer any prophet [to guide us],
Nor does any among us know for how long.
74:10:O God, how long will the adversary scoff?
Is the enemy to revile Your name forever?
74:11:Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand [from judging the enemy]?
Remove Your hand from Your chest, destroy them!
74:12:Yet God is my King of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
74:13:You divided the [Red] Sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
74:14:You crushed the heads of Leviathan (Egypt);
You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
74:15:You broke open fountains and streams;
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.
74:16:The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;
You have established and prepared the [heavenly] light and the sun.
74:17:You have defined and established all the borders of the earth [the divisions of land and sea and of the nations];
You have made summer and winter.
74:18:Remember this, O Lord, the enemy has scoffed,
And a foolish and impious people has spurned Your name.
74:19:Oh, do not hand over the soul of your turtledove to the wild beast;
Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
74:20:Consider the covenant [You made with Abraham],
For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
74:21:Let not the oppressed return dishonored;
Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.
74:22:Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;
Remember how the foolish man scoffs at You all day long.
74:23:Do not forget the [clamoring] voices of Your adversaries,
The uproar of those who rise against You, which ascends continually [to Your ears].
75:1:God Abases the Proud, but Exalts the Righteous.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
We give thanks and praise to You, O God, we give thanks,
For Your [wonderful works declare that Your] name is near;
People declare Your wonders.
75:2:“When I select an appointed time,
I will judge with equity,” [says the Lord].
75:3:“The earth and all the inhabitants of it melt [in tumultuous times].
It is I who will steady its pillars. Selah.
75:4:“I said to the arrogant, ‘Do not boast;’
And to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn [of self-glorification].
75:5:‘Do not lift up your [defiant and aggressive] horn on high,
Do not speak with a stiff neck.’”
75:6:For not from the east, nor from the west,
Nor from the desert comes exaltation.
75:7:But God is the Judge;
He puts down one and lifts up another.
75:8:For a cup [of His wrath] is in the hand of the Lord, and the wine foams;
It is well mixed and fully spiced, and He pours out from it;
And all the wicked of the earth must drain it and drink down to its dregs.
75:9:But as for me, I will declare it and rejoice forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
75:10:All the horns of the wicked He will cut off,
But the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.
76:1:The Victorious Power of the God of Jacob.
To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
God is known in Judah;
His name is great in Israel.
76:2:His tabernacle is in Salem (Jerusalem);
His dwelling place is in Zion.
76:3:There He broke the flaming arrows,
The shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah.
76:4:You are glorious and resplendent,
More majestic than the mountains of prey.
76:5:The stouthearted have been stripped of their spoil,
They have slept the sleep [of death];
And none of the warriors could use his hands.
76:6:At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
Both rider and horse were cast into a dead sleep [of death].
76:7:You, even You, are to be feared [with the submissive wonder of reverence];
Who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?
76:8:You caused judgment to be heard from heaven;
The earth feared and was quiet
76:9:When God arose to [establish] judgment,
To save all the humble of the earth. Selah.
76:10:For the wrath of man shall praise You;
With a remnant of wrath You will clothe and arm Yourself.
76:11:Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them;
Let all who are around Him bring gifts to Him who is to be feared [with awe-inspired reverence].
76:12:He will cut off the spirit of princes;
He is awesome and feared by the kings of the earth.
77:1:Comfort in Trouble from Recalling God’s Mighty Deeds.
To the Chief Musician; according to Jeduthun [one of David’s three chief musicians, founder of an official musical family]. A Psalm of Asaph.
My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud;
My voice rises to God, and He will hear me.
77:2:In the day of my trouble I [desperately] sought the Lord;
In the night my hand was stretched out [in prayer] without weariness;
My soul refused to be comforted.
77:3:I remember God; then I am disquieted and I groan;
I sigh [in prayer], and my spirit grows faint. Selah.
77:4:You have held my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
77:5:I have considered the ancient days,
The years [of prosperity] of long, long ago.
77:6:I will remember my song in the night;
I will meditate with my heart,
And my spirit searches:
77:7:Will the Lord reject forever?
And will He never be favorable again?
77:8:Has His lovingkindness ceased forever?
Have His promises ended for all time?
77:9:Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah.
77:10:And I said, “This is my grief,
That the right hand of the Most High has changed [and His lovingkindness is withheld].”
77:11:I will [solemnly] remember the deeds of the Lord;
Yes, I will [wholeheartedly] remember Your wonders of old.
77:12:I will meditate on all Your works
And thoughtfully consider all Your [great and wondrous] deeds.
77:13:Your way, O God, is holy [far from sin and guilt].
What god is great like our God?
77:14:You are the [awesome] God who works [powerful] wonders;
You have demonstrated Your power among the people.
77:15:You have with Your [great] arm redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
77:16:The waters [of the Red Sea] saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were in anguish;
The deeps also trembled.
77:17:The clouds poured down water;
The skies sent out a sound [of rumbling thunder];
Your arrows (lightning) flashed here and there.
77:18:The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings illumined the world;
The earth trembled and shook.
77:19:Your way [of escape for Your people] was through the sea,
And Your paths through the great waters,
And Your footprints were not traceable.
77:20:You led Your people like a flock
By the hand of Moses and Aaron [to the promised goal].
78:1:God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Asaph.
Listen, O my people, to my teaching;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth [and be willing to learn].
78:2:I will open my mouth in a parable [to instruct using examples];
I will utter dark and puzzling sayings of old [that contain important truth]—
78:3:Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
78:4:We will not hide them from their children,
But [we will] tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
And [tell of] His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done.
78:5:For He established a testimony (a specific precept) in Jacob
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers
That they should teach to their children [the great facts of God’s transactions with Israel],
78:6:That the generation to come might know them, that the children still to be born
May arise and recount them to their children,
78:7:That they should place their confidence in God
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments,
78:8:And not be like their fathers—
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
78:9:The sons of Ephraim were armed as archers and carrying bows,
Yet they turned back in the day of battle.
78:10:They did not keep the covenant of God
And refused to walk according to His law;
78:11:And they forgot His [incredible] works
And His miraculous wonders that He had shown them.
78:12:He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided].
78:13:He divided the [Red] Sea and allowed them to pass through it,
And He made the waters stand up like [water behind] a dam.
78:14:In the daytime He led them with a cloud
And all the night with a light of fire.
78:15:He split rocks in the wilderness
And gave them abundant [water to] drink like the ocean depths.
78:16:He brought streams also from the rock [at Rephidim and Kadesh]
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
78:17:Yet they still continued to sin against Him
By rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
78:18:And in their hearts they put God to the test
By asking for food according to their [selfish] appetite.
78:19:Then they spoke against God;
They said, “Can God prepare [food for] a table in the wilderness?
78:20:“Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out
And the streams overflowed;
Can He give bread also?
Or will He provide meat for His people?”
78:21:Therefore, when the Lord heard, He was full of wrath;
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
And His anger mounted up against Israel,
78:22:Because they did not believe in God [they did not rely on Him, they did not adhere to Him],
And they did not trust in His salvation (His power to save).
78:23:Yet He commanded the clouds from above
And opened the doors of heaven;
78:24:And He rained down manna upon them to eat
And gave them the grain of heaven.
78:25:Man ate the bread of angels;
God sent them provision in abundance.
78:26:He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens
And by His [unlimited] power He guided the south wind.
78:27:He rained meat upon them like the dust,
And winged birds (quail) like the sand of the seas.
78:28:And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
Around their tents.
78:29:So they ate and were well filled,
He gave them what they craved.
78:30:Before they had satisfied their desire,
And while their food was in their mouths,
78:31:The wrath of God rose against them
And killed some of the strongest of them,
And subdued the choice young men of Israel.
78:32:In spite of all this they still sinned,
For they did not believe in His wonderful and extraordinary works.
78:33:Therefore He consumed their days like a breath [in emptiness and futility]
And their years in sudden terror.
78:34:When He killed [some of] them, then those remaining sought Him,
And they returned [to Him] and searched diligently for God [for a time].
78:35:And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
78:36:Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouths
And lied to Him with their tongues.
78:37:For their heart was not steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful to His covenant.
78:38:But He, the source of compassion and lovingkindness, forgave their wickedness and did not destroy them;
Many times He restrained His anger
And did not stir up all His wrath.
78:39:For He [graciously] remembered that they were mere [human] flesh,
A wind that goes and does not return.
78:40:How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And grieved Him in the desert!
78:41:Again and again they tempted God,
And distressed the Holy One of Israel.
78:42:They did not remember [the miracles worked by] His [powerful] hand,
Nor the day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
78:43:How He worked His miracles in Egypt
And His wonders in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided],
78:44:And turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, so that they could not drink.
78:45:He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them,
And frogs which destroyed them.
78:46:He also gave their crops to the grasshopper,
And the fruit of their labor to the locust.
78:47:He destroyed their vines with [great] hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
78:48:He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones,
And their flocks and herds to thunderbolts.
78:49:He sent upon them His burning anger,
His fury and indignation and distress,
A band of angels of destruction [among them].
78:50:He leveled a path for His anger [to give it free run];
He did not spare their souls from death,
But turned over their lives to the plague.
78:51:He killed all the firstborn in Egypt,
The first and best of their strength in the tents [of the land of the sons] of Ham.
78:52:But God led His own people forward like sheep
And guided them in the wilderness like [a good shepherd with] a flock.
78:53:He led them safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea engulfed their enemies.
78:54:So He brought them to His holy land,
To this mountain [Zion] which His right hand had acquired.
78:55:He also drove out the nations before the sons of Israel
And allotted their land as an inheritance, measured out and partitioned;
And He had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents [the tents of those who had been dispossessed].
78:56:Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies (laws).
78:57:They turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were twisted like a warped bow [that will not respond to the archer’s aim].
78:58:For they provoked Him to [righteous] anger with their high places [devoted to idol worship]
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images [by denying Him the love, worship, and obedience that is rightfully and uniquely His].
78:59:When God heard this, He was filled with [righteous] wrath;
And utterly rejected Israel, [greatly hating her ways],
78:60:So that He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
The tent in which He had dwelled among men,
78:61:And gave up His strength and power (the ark of the covenant) into captivity,
And His glory into the hand of the enemy (the Philistines).
78:62:He also handed His people over to the sword,
And was infuriated with His inheritance (Israel).
78:63:The fire [of war] devoured His young men,
And His [bereaved] virgins had no wedding songs.
78:64:His priests [Hophni and Phinehas] fell by the sword,
And His widows could not weep.
78:65:Then the Lord awakened as from sleep,
Like a [mighty] warrior who awakens from the sleep of wine [fully conscious of his power].
78:66:He drove His enemies backward;
He subjected them to lasting shame and dishonor.
78:67:Moreover, He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle stood].
78:68:But He chose the tribe of Judah [as Israel’s leader],
Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital].
78:69:And He built His sanctuary [exalted] like the heights [of the heavens],
Like the earth which He has established forever.
78:70:He also chose David His servant
And took him from the sheepfolds;
78:71:From tending the ewes with nursing young He brought him
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
78:72:So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart;
And guided them with his skillful hands.
79:1:A Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Prayer for Help.
A Psalm of Asaph.
O God, the nations have invaded [the land of Your people] Your inheritance;
They have defiled Your sacred temple;
They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
79:2:They have given the dead bodies of Your servants as food to the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your godly ones to the beasts of the earth.
79:3:They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem,
And there was no one to bury them.
79:4:We have become an object of taunting to our neighbors [because of our humiliation],
A derision and mockery to those who encircle us.
79:5:How long, O Lord? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy [which cannot endure a divided allegiance] burn like fire?
79:6:Pour out Your wrath on the [Gentile] nations that do not know You,
And on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name.
79:7:For they have devoured Jacob
And made his pasture desolate.
79:8:O do not remember against us the sins and guilt of our forefathers.
Let Your compassion and mercy come quickly to meet us,
For we have been brought very low.
79:9:Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name;
Rescue us, forgive us our sins for Your name’s sake.
79:10:Why should the [Gentile] nations say, “Where is their God?”
Let there be known [without delay] among the nations in our sight [and to this generation],
Your vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been poured out.
79:11:Let the groaning and sighing of the prisoner come before You;
According to the greatness of Your power keep safe those who are doomed to die.
79:12:And return into the lap of our neighbors sevenfold
The taunts with which they have taunted You, O Lord.
79:13:So we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture,
Will give You thanks forever;
We will declare and publish Your praise from generation to generation.
80:1:God Implored to Rescue His People from Their Calamities.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Lilies, a Testimony.” A Psalm of Asaph.
Hear us O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who sit enthroned above the cherubim [of the ark of the covenant], shine forth!
80:2:Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your power
And come to save us!
80:3:Restore us, O God;
Cause Your face to shine on us [with favor and approval], and we will be saved.
80:4:O Lord God of hosts,
How long will You be angry with the prayers of Your people?
80:5:You have fed them the bread of tears,
And You have made them drink [bitter] tears in abundance.
80:6:You make us an object of contention to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh [at our suffering] among themselves.
80:7:Restore us, O God of hosts;
And cause Your face to shine on us [with favor and approval], and we will be saved.
80:8:You uprooted a vine (Israel) from Egypt;
You drove out the [Canaanite] nations and planted the vine [in Canaan].
80:9:You cleared away the ground before it,
And it took deep root and filled the land.
80:10:The mountains were covered with its shadow,
And its branches were like the cedars of God.
80:11:Israel sent out its branches to the [Mediterranean] Sea,
And its branches to the [Euphrates] River.
80:12:Why have You broken down its walls and hedges,
So that all who pass by pick its fruit?
80:13:A boar from the woods eats it away,
And the insects of the field feed on it.
80:14:Turn again [in favor to us], O God of hosts;
Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,
80:15:Even the stock which Your right hand has planted,
And [look down on] the son that You have reared and strengthened for Yourself.
80:16:It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish at the rebuke of Your [angry] appearance.
80:17:Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You have made strong for Yourself.
80:18:Then we shall not turn back from You;
Revive us and we will call on Your name.
80:19:Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine on us [in favor and approval], and we shall be saved.
81:1:God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.
To the Chief Musician; set to the Philistine lute. A Psalm of Asaph.
Sing aloud to God our strength;
Shout for joy to the God of Jacob (Israel).
81:2:Raise a song, sound the timbrel,
The sweet sounding lyre with the harp.
81:3:Blow the trumpet at the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our feast day.
81:4:For this is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
81:5:He established it for a testimony in Joseph
When He went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard the language [of One whom] I did not know, saying,
81:6:“I removed the burden from his shoulder;
His hands were freed from the basket.
81:7:“You called in [the time of] trouble and I rescued you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
81:8:“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you—
O Israel, if you would listen to Me!
81:9:“Let there be no strange god among you,
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
81:10:“I am the Lord your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
81:11:“But My people would not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not [consent to] obey Me.
81:12:“So I gave them up to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk in [the path of] their own counsel.
81:13:“Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
81:14:“Then I would quickly subdue and humble their enemies
And turn My hand against their adversaries;
81:15:Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him and cringe before Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
81:16:“But I would feed Israel with the finest of the wheat;
And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
82:1:Unjust Judgments Rebuked.
A Psalm of Asaph.
God stands in the divine assembly;
He judges among the gods (divine beings).
82:2:How long will you judge unjustly
And show partiality to the wicked? Selah.
82:3:Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice and maintain the rights of the afflicted and destitute.
82:4:Rescue the weak and needy;
Rescue them from the hand of the wicked.
82:5:The rulers do not know nor do they understand;
They walk on in the darkness [of complacent satisfaction];
All the foundations of the earth [the fundamental principles of the administration of justice] are shaken.
82:6:I said, “You are gods;
Indeed, all of you are sons of the Most High.
82:7:“Nevertheless you will die like men
And fall like any one of the princes.”
82:8:Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For to You belong all the nations.
83:1:God Implored to Confound His Enemies.
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
Do not keep silent, O God;
Do not hold Your peace or be still, O God.
83:2:For behold, Your enemies are in tumult,
And those who hate You have raised their heads [in hatred of You].
83:3:They concoct crafty schemes against Your people,
And conspire together against Your hidden and precious ones.
83:4:They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation;
Let the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
83:5:For they have conspired together with one mind;
Against You they make a covenant—
83:6:The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Of Moab and the Hagrites,
83:7:Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre.
83:8:Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot [the Ammonites and the Moabites] and have been an arm [of strength] to them. Selah.
83:9:Deal with them as [You did] with Midian,
As with Sisera and Jabin at the brook of Kishon,
83:10:Who were destroyed at En-dor,
Who became like dung for the earth.
83:11:Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb
And all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
83:12:Who said, “Let us possess for ourselves
The pastures of God.”
83:13:O my God, make them like whirling dust,
Like chaff before the wind [worthless and without substance].
83:14:Like fire consumes the forest,
And like the flame sets the mountains on fire,
83:15:So pursue them with Your tempest
And terrify them with [the violence of] Your storm.
83:16:Fill their faces with shame and disgrace,
That they may [persistently] seek Your name, O Lord.
83:17:Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever;
Yes, let them be humiliated and perish,
83:18:That they may know that You alone, whose name is the Lord,
Are the Most High over all the earth.
84:1:Longing for the Temple Worship.
To the Chief Musician; set to a Philistine lute. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
How lovely are Your dwelling places,
O Lord of hosts!
84:2:My soul (my life, my inner self) longs for and greatly desires the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
84:3:The bird has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
84:4:Blessed and greatly favored are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence;
They will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah.
84:5:Blessed and greatly favored is the man whose strength is in You,
In whose heart are the highways to Zion.
84:6:Passing through the Valley of Weeping (Baca), they make it a place of springs;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
84:7:They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power];
Each of them appears before God in Zion.
84:8:O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Listen, O God of Jacob! Selah.
84:9:See our shield, O God,
And look at the face of Your anointed [the king as Your representative].
84:10:For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else];
I would rather stand [as a doorkeeper] at the threshold of the house of my God
Than to live [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.
84:11:For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord bestows grace and favor and honor;
No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
84:12:O Lord of hosts,
How blessed and greatly favored is the man who trusts in You [believing in You, relying on You, and committing himself to You with confident hope and expectation].
85:1:Prayer for God’s Mercy upon the Nation.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
O Lord, You have [at last] shown favor to Your land [of Canaan];
You have restored [from Babylon] the captives of Jacob (Israel).
85:2:You have forgiven the wickedness of Your people;
You have covered all their sin. Selah.
85:3:You have withdrawn all Your wrath,
You have turned away from Your burning anger.
85:4:Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your indignation toward us to cease.
85:5:Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
85:6:Will You not revive us and bring us to life again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
85:7:Show us Your lovingkindness, O Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.
85:8:I will hear [with expectant hope] what God the Lord will say,
For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones—
But let them not turn again to folly.
85:9:Surely His salvation is near to those who [reverently] fear Him [and obey Him with submissive wonder],
That glory [the manifest presence of God] may dwell in our land.
85:10:Steadfast love and truth and faithfulness meet together;
Righteousness and peace kiss each other.
85:11:Truth springs from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.
85:12:Indeed, the Lord will give what is good,
And our land will yield its produce.
85:13:Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way [in which to walk].
86:1:A Psalm of Supplication and Trust.
A Prayer of David.
Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
For I am distressed and needy [I long for Your help].
86:2:Protect my life (soul), for I am godly and faithful;
O You my God, save Your servant, who trusts in You [believing in You and relying on You, confidently committing everything to You].
86:3:Be gracious and merciful to me, O Lord,
For to You I cry out all the day long.
86:4:Make Your servant rejoice,
For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul [all that I am—in prayer].
86:5:For You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive [our sins, sending them away, completely letting them go forever and ever];
And abundant in lovingkindness and overflowing in mercy to all those who call upon You.
86:6:Hear, O Lord, my prayer;
And listen attentively to the voice of my supplications (specific requests)!
86:7:In the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
For You will answer me.
86:8:There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord,
Nor are there any works [of wonder and majesty] like Yours.
86:9:All nations whom You have made shall come and kneel down in worship before You, O Lord,
And they shall glorify Your name.
86:10:For You are great and do wondrous works!
You alone are God.
86:11:Teach me Your way, O Lord,
I will walk and live in Your truth;
Direct my heart to fear Your name [with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder].
86:12:I will give thanks and praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
And will glorify Your name forevermore.
86:13:For great is Your lovingkindness and graciousness toward me;
And You have rescued my life from the depths of Sheol [from death].
86:14:O God, arrogant and insolent men have risen up against me;
A band of violent men have sought my life,
And they have not set You before them.
86:15:But You, O Lord, are a God [who protects and is] merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.
86:16:Turn to me, and be gracious to me;
Grant Your strength [Your might and the power to resist temptation] to Your servant,
And save the son of Your handmaid.
86:17:Show me a sign of [Your] goodwill,
That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, O Lord, helped and comforted me.
87:1:The Privileges of Citizenship in Zion.
A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song.
His foundation is on the holy mountain.
87:2:The Lord loves the gates of Zion
More than all the dwellings of Jacob (Israel).
87:3:Glorious things are spoken of you,
O city of God [Jerusalem]. Selah.
87:4:“I will mention Rahab (Egypt) and Babylon among those who know Me—
Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia (Cush)—
‘This one was born there.’”
87:5:But of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her,”
And the Most High Himself will establish her.
87:6:The Lord will count, when He registers the peoples,
“This one was born there.” Selah.
87:7:The singers as well as the players of flutes will say,
“All my springs and sources of joy are in you [Jerusalem, city of God].”
88:1:A Petition to Be Saved from Death.
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician; set to chant mournfully. A didactic or reflective poem of Heman the Ezrahite.
O Lord, the God of my salvation,
I have cried out [for help] by day and in the night before You.
88:2:Let my prayer come before You and enter into Your presence;
Incline Your ear to my cry!
88:3:For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life draws near the grave (Sheol, the place of the dead).
88:4:I am counted among those who go down to the pit (grave);
I am like a man who has no strength [a mere shadow],
88:5:Cast away [from the living] and abandoned among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in a [nameless] grave,
Whom You no longer remember,
And they are cut off from Your hand.
88:6:You have laid me in the lowest pit,
In dark places, in the depths.
88:7:Your wrath has rested heavily upon me,
And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah.
88:8:You have put my friends far from me;
You have made me an object of loathing to them.
I am shut up and I cannot go out.
88:9:My eye grows dim with sorrow.
O Lord, I have called on You every day;
I have spread out my hands to You [in prayer].
88:10:Will You perform wonders for the dead?
Shall the departed spirits arise and praise You? Selah.
88:11:Will Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave
Or Your faithfulness in Abaddon (the underworld)?
88:12:Will Your wonders be known in the darkness?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness [where the dead forget and are forgotten]?
88:13:But I have cried out to You, O Lord, for help;
And in the morning my prayer will come to You.
88:14:O Lord, why do You reject me?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
88:15:I was afflicted and close to death from my youth on;
I suffer Your terrors; I am overcome.
88:16:Your fierce wrath has swept over me;
Your terrors have destroyed me.
88:17:They have surrounded me like flood waters all day long;
They have completely encompassed me.
88:18:Lover and friend You have placed far from me;
My familiar friends are in darkness.
89:1:The Lord’s Covenant with David, and Israel’s Afflictions.
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Ethan the Ezrahite.
I will sing of the goodness and lovingkindness of the Lord forever;
With my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness from generation to generation.
89:2:For I have said, “Goodness and lovingkindness will be built up forever;
In the heavens [unchangeable and majestic] You will establish Your faithfulness.”
89:3:[God has said] “I have made a covenant with My chosen one;
I have sworn to David My servant,
89:4:I will establish your seed forever
And I will build up your throne for all generations.” Selah.
89:5:The heavens (angels) praise Your wonders, O Lord,
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
89:6:For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the divine beings is like the Lord,
89:7:A God greatly feared and reverently worshiped in the council of the holy [angelic] ones,
And awesome above all those who are around Him?
89:8:O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds You [as an intrinsic, unchangeable part of Your very being].
89:9:You rule the swelling of the sea;
When its waves rise, You still them.
89:10:You have crushed Rahab (Egypt) like one who is slain;
You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
89:11:The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;
The world and all that is in it, You have founded and established them.
89:12:The north and the south, You have created them;
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon shout for joy at Your name.
89:13:You have a strong arm;
Mighty is Your hand, Your right hand is exalted.
89:14:Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and truth go before You.
89:15:Blessed and happy are the people who know the joyful sound [of the trumpet’s blast]!
They walk, O Lord, in the light and favor of Your countenance!
89:16:In Your name they rejoice all the day,
And in Your righteousness they are exalted.
89:17:For You are the glory of their strength [their proud adornment],
And by Your favor our horn is exalted.
89:18:For our shield belongs to the Lord,
And our king to the Holy One of Israel.
89:19:Once You spoke in a vision to Your godly ones,
And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty [giving him the power to be a champion for Israel];
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
89:20:“I have found David My servant;
With My holy oil I have anointed him,
89:21:With whom My hand shall be established and steadfast;
My arm also shall strengthen him.
89:22:“The enemy will not outwit him,
Nor will the wicked man afflict or humiliate him.
89:23:“I will crush his adversaries before him,
And strike those who hate him.
89:24:“My faithfulness and My steadfast lovingkindness shall be with him,
And in My name shall his horn be exalted [great power and prosperity shall be conferred upon him].
89:25:“I will also set his hand on the [Mediterranean] sea,
And his right hand on the rivers [the tributaries of the Euphrates].
89:26:“He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,
My God, and the rock of my salvation.’
89:27:“I will also make him My firstborn (preeminent),
The highest of the kings of the earth.
89:28:“My lovingkindness I will keep for him forevermore,
And My covenant will be confirmed to him.
89:29:“His descendants I will establish forever,
And his throne [will endure] as the days of heaven.
89:30:“If his children turn away from My law
And do not walk in My ordinances,
89:31:If they break My statutes
And do not keep My commandments,
89:32:Then I will punish their transgression with the rod [of discipline],
And [correct] their wickedness with stripes.
89:33:“Nevertheless, I will not break off My lovingkindness from him,
Nor allow My faithfulness to fail.
89:34:“My covenant I will not violate,
Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.
89:35:“Once [for all] I have sworn by My holiness, [My vow which cannot be violated];
I will not lie to David.
89:36:“His descendants shall endure forever
And his throne [will continue] as the sun before Me.
89:37:“It shall be established forever like the moon,
And the witness in the heavens is ever faithful.” Selah.
89:38:But [in apparent contradiction of all this] You [the faithful Lord] have cast off and rejected;
You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.
89:39:You have spurned and repudiated the covenant with Your servant;
You have profaned his crown [by casting it] in the dust.
89:40:You have broken down all his [city] walls;
You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
89:41:All who pass along the road rob him;
He has become the scorn of his neighbors.
89:42:You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
You have made all his enemies rejoice.
89:43:Also, You have turned back the edge of his sword
And have not made him [strong enough] to stand in battle.
89:44:You have put an end to his splendor
And have hurled his throne to the ground.
89:45:You have shortened the days of his youth;
You have covered him with shame. Selah.
89:46:How long, O Lord?
Will You hide Yourself forever?
Will Your wrath burn like fire?
89:47:Remember how fleeting my lifetime is;
For what vanity, [for what emptiness, for what futility, for what wisp of smoke] You have created all the sons of men!
89:48:What man can live and not see death?
Can he rescue his soul from the [powerful] hand of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead)? Selah.
89:49:O Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses [so abundant in the days of David and Solomon],
Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?
89:50:Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants [scorned, insulted, and disgraced];
How I bear in my heart the reproach of all the many peoples,
89:51:With which Your enemies have taunted, O Lord,
With which they have mocked the footsteps of Your anointed.
89:52:Blessed be the Lord forevermore!
Amen and Amen.
90:1:Book Four
God’s Eternity and Man’s Transitoriness.
A Prayer of Moses the man of God.
Lord, You have been our dwelling place [our refuge, our sanctuary, our stability] in all generations.
90:2:Before the mountains were born
Or before You had given birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are [the eternal] God.
90:3:You turn man back to dust,
And say, “Return [to the earth], O children of [mortal] men!”
90:4:For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
Or as a watch in the night.
90:5:You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep [forgotten as soon as they are gone];
In the morning they are like grass which grows anew—
90:6:In the morning it flourishes and springs up;
In the evening it wilts and withers away.
90:7:For we have been consumed by Your anger
And by Your wrath we have been terrified.
90:8:You have placed our wickedness before you,
Our secret sins [which we tried to conceal, You have placed] in the [revealing] light of Your presence.
90:9:For all our days pass away in Your wrath;
We have finished our years like a whispered sigh.
90:10:The days of our life are seventy years—
Or even, if because of strength, eighty years;
Yet their pride [in additional years] is only labor and sorrow,
For it is soon gone and we fly away.
90:11:Who understands the power of Your anger? [Who connects this brevity of life among us with Your judgment of sin?]
And Your wrath, [who connects it] with the [reverent] fear that is due You?
90:12:So teach us to number our days,
That we may cultivate and bring to You a heart of wisdom.
90:13:Turn, O Lord [from Your fierce anger]; how long will it be?
Be compassionate toward Your servants—revoke Your sentence.
90:14:O satisfy us with Your lovingkindness in the morning [now, before we grow older],
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
90:15:Make us glad in proportion to the days You have afflicted us,
And the years we have suffered evil.
90:16:Let Your work [the signs of Your power] be revealed to Your servants
And Your [glorious] majesty to their children.
90:17:And let the [gracious] favor of the Lord our God be on us;
Confirm for us the work of our hands—
Yes, confirm the work of our hands.
91:1:Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no enemy can withstand].
91:2:I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust [with great confidence, and on whom I rely]!”
91:3:For He will save you from the trap of the fowler,
And from the deadly pestilence.
91:4:He will cover you and completely protect you with His pinions,
And under His wings you will find refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and a wall.
91:5:You will not be afraid of the terror of night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
91:6:Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction (sudden death) that lays waste at noon.
91:7:A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But danger will not come near you.
91:8:You will only [be a spectator as you] look on with your eyes
And witness the [divine] repayment of the wicked [as you watch safely from the shelter of the Most High].
91:9:Because you have made the Lord, [who is] my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
91:10:No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.
91:11:For He will command His angels in regard to you,
To protect and defend and guard you in all your ways [of obedience and service].
91:12:They will lift you up in their hands,
So that you do not [even] strike your foot against a stone.
91:13:You will tread upon the lion and cobra;
The young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
91:14:“Because he set his love on Me, therefore I will save him;
I will set him [securely] on high, because he knows My name [he confidently trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never abandon him, no, never].
91:15:“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
91:16:“With a long life I will satisfy him
And I will let him see My salvation.”
92:1:Praise for the Lord’s Goodness.
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.
It is a good and delightful thing to give thanks to the Lord,
To sing praises to Your name, O Most High,
92:2:To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning
And Your faithfulness by night,
92:3:With an instrument of ten strings and with the harp,
With a solemn sound on the lyre.
92:4:For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your works;
At the works of Your hands I joyfully sing.
92:5:How great are Your works, O Lord!
Your thoughts are very deep [beyond man’s understanding].
92:6:A senseless man [in his crude and uncultivated state] knows nothing,
Nor does a [self-righteous] fool understand this:
92:7:That though the wicked sprout up like grass
And all evildoers flourish,
They will be destroyed forever.
92:8:But You, Lord, are on high forever.
92:9:For behold, Your enemies, O Lord,
For behold, Your enemies will perish;
All who do evil will be scattered.
92:10:But my horn [my emblem of strength and power] You have exalted like that of a wild ox;
I am anointed with fresh oil [for Your service].
92:11:My eye has looked on my foes;
My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.
92:12:The righteous will flourish like the date palm [long-lived, upright and useful];
They will grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic and stable].
92:13:Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
92:14:[Growing in grace] they will still thrive and bear fruit and prosper in old age;
They will flourish and be vital and fresh [rich in trust and love and contentment];
92:15:[They are living memorials] to declare that the Lord is upright and faithful [to His promises];
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
93:1:The Majesty of the Lord.
The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty and splendor;
The Lord has clothed and encircled Himself with strength;
the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.
93:2:Your throne is established from of old;
You are from everlasting.
93:3:The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
The floods have lifted up their voice;
The floods lift up their pounding waves.
93:4:More than the sounds of many waters,
More than the mighty breakers of the sea,
The Lord on high is mighty.
93:5:Your precepts are fully confirmed and completely reliable;
Holiness adorns Your house,
O Lord, forever.
94:1:The Lord Implored to Avenge His People.
O Lord God, You to whom vengeance belongs,
O God, You to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth [in judgment]!
94:2:Rise up, O Judge of the earth;
Give to the proud a fitting compensation.
94:3:O Lord, how long will the wicked,
How long will the wicked rejoice in triumph?
94:4:They pour out words, speaking arrogant things;
All who do evil boast proudly.
94:5:They crush Your people, O Lord,
And afflict and abuse Your heritage.
94:6:They kill the widow and the alien
And murder the fatherless.
94:7:Yet they say, “The Lord does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob (Israel) notice it.”
94:8:Consider thoughtfully, you senseless (stupid ones) among the people;
And you [dull-minded] fools, when will you become wise and understand?
94:9:He who made the ear, does He not hear?
He who formed the eye, does He not see?
94:10:He who instructs the nations,
Does He not rebuke and punish,
He who teaches man knowledge?
94:11:The Lord knows the thoughts of man,
That they are a mere breath (vain, empty, futile).
94:12:Blessed [with wisdom and prosperity] is the man whom You discipline and instruct, O Lord,
And whom You teach from Your law,
94:13:That You may grant him [power to calm himself and find] peace in the days of adversity,
Until the pit is dug for the wicked and ungodly.
94:14:For the Lord will not abandon His people,
Nor will He abandon His inheritance.
94:15:For judgment will again be righteous,
And all the upright in heart will follow it.
94:16:Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?
Who will take a stand for me against those who do wickedness?
94:17:If the Lord had not been my help,
I would soon have dwelt in [the land of] silence.
94:18:If I say, “My foot has slipped,”
Your compassion and lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up.
94:19:When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,
Your comforts delight me.
94:20:Can a throne of destruction be allied with You,
One which frames and devises mischief by decree [under the sacred name of law]?
94:21:They band themselves together against the life of the righteous
And condemn the innocent to death.
94:22:But the Lord has become my high tower and defense,
And my God the rock of my refuge.
94:23:He has turned back their own wickedness upon them
And will destroy them by means of their own evil;
The Lord our God will wipe them out.
95:1:Praise to the Lord, and Warning against Unbelief.
O come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord;
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
95:2:Let us come before His presence with a song of thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with songs.
95:3:For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods,
95:4:In whose hand are the depths of the earth;
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
95:5:The sea is His, for He made it [by His command];
And His hands formed the dry land.
95:6:O come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and prayer].
95:7:For He is our God
And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you will hear His voice,
95:8:Do not harden your hearts and become spiritually dull as at Meribah [the place of strife],
And as at Massah [the place of testing] in the wilderness,
95:9:“When your fathers tested Me,
They tried Me, even though they had seen My work [of miracles].
95:10:“For forty years I was grieved and disgusted with that generation,
And I said, ‘They are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not acknowledge or regard My ways.’
95:11:“Therefore I swore [an oath] in My wrath,
‘They absolutely shall not enter My rest [the land of promise].’”
96:1:A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.
O sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
96:2:Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.
96:3:Declare His glory among the nations,
His marvelous works and wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
96:4:For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
96:5:For all the gods of the peoples are [worthless, lifeless] idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
96:6:Splendor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
96:7:Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
96:8:Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name;
Bring an offering and come into His courts.
96:9:Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;
Tremble [in submissive wonder] before Him, all the earth.
96:10:Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the world is firmly and securely established, it shall not be moved;
He will judge and rule the people with fairness.”
96:11:Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all the things it contains;
96:12:Let the field be exultant, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
96:13:Before the Lord, for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.
97:1:The Lord’s Power and Dominion.
The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice;
Let the many islands and coastlands be glad.
97:2:Clouds and thick darkness surround Him [as at Sinai];
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
97:3:Fire goes before Him
And burns up His adversaries on all sides.
97:4:His lightnings have illuminated the world;
The earth has seen and trembled.
97:5:The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
97:6:The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples see His glory and brilliance.
97:7:Let all those be [deeply] ashamed who serve carved images,
Who boast in idols.
Worship Him, all you gods!
97:8:Zion heard this and was glad,
And the daughters (cities) of Judah rejoiced [in relief]
Because of Your judgments, O Lord.
97:9:For You are the Lord Most High over all the earth;
You are exalted far above all gods.
97:10:You who love the Lord, hate evil;
He protects the souls of His godly ones (believers),
He rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
97:11:Light is sown [like seed] for the righteous and illuminates their path,
And [irrepressible] joy [is spread] for the upright in heart [who delight in His favor and protection].
97:12:Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones [those whose moral and spiritual integrity places them in right standing with God],
And praise and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
98:1:A Call to Praise the Lord for His Righteousness.
A Psalm.
O sing to the Lord a new song,
For He has done marvelous and wonderful things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
98:2:The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has [openly] revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
98:3:He has [graciously] remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have witnessed the salvation of our God.
98:4:Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Shout [in jubilation] and sing for joy and sing praises.
98:5:Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
With the lyre and the sound of melody.
98:6:With trumpets and the sound of the horn
Shout with joy before the King, the Lord.
98:7:Let the sea thunder and roar, and all the things it contains,
The world and those who dwell in it.
98:8:Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the mountains sing together for joy and delight
98:9:Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with fairness.
99:1:Praise to the Lord for His Fidelity to Israel.
The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble [with submissive wonder]!
He sits enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!
99:2:The Lord is great in Zion,
And He is exalted and magnified above all the peoples.
99:3:Let them [reverently] praise Your great and awesome name;
Holy is He.
99:4:The strength of the King loves justice and righteous judgment;
You have established fairness;
You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob (Israel).
99:5:Exalt the Lord our God
And worship at His footstool;
Holy is He.
99:6:Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
And Samuel was among those who called on His name;
They called upon the Lord and He answered them.
99:7:He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
They kept His testimonies
And the statutes that He gave them.
99:8:You answered them, O Lord our God;
You were a forgiving God to them,
And yet an avenger of their evil practices.
99:9:Exalt the Lord our God
And worship at His holy hill [Zion, the temple mount],
For the Lord our God is holy.
100:1:All Men Exhorted to Praise God.
A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
100:2:Serve the Lord with gladness and delight;
Come before His presence with joyful singing.
100:3:Know and fully recognize with gratitude that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His].
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
100:4:Enter His gates with a song of thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, bless and praise His name.
100:5:For the Lord is good;
His mercy and lovingkindness are everlasting,
His faithfulness [endures] to all generations.
101:1:The Psalmist’s Profession of Uprightness.
A Psalm of David.
I will sing of [steadfast] lovingkindness and justice;
To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.
101:2:I will behave wisely and follow the way of integrity.
When will You come to me?
I will walk in my house in integrity and with a blameless heart.
101:3:I will set no worthless or wicked thing before my eyes.
I hate the practice of those who fall away [from the right path];
It will not grasp hold of me.
101:4:A perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will not tolerate evil.
101:5:Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will silence;
The one who has a haughty look and a proud (arrogant) heart I will not tolerate.
101:6:My eyes will be on the faithful (honorable) of the land, that they may dwell with me;
He who walks blamelessly is the one who will minister to and serve me.
101:7:He who practices deceit will not dwell in my house;
He who tells lies and half-truths will not continue [to remain] in my presence.
101:8:Morning after morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land,
That I may cut off from the city of the Lord all those who do evil.
102:1:Prayer of an Afflicted Man for Mercy on Himself and on Zion.
A Prayer of the afflicted; when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint to God.
Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And let my cry for help come to You!
102:2:Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress!
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day when I call, answer me quickly.
102:3:For my days have vanished in smoke,
And my bones have been scorched like a hearth.
102:4:My heart has been struck like grass and withered,
Indeed, [absorbed by my heartache] I forget to eat my food.
102:5:Because of the sound of my groaning [in suffering and trouble]
My bones cling to my flesh.
102:6:I am like a [mournful] vulture of the wilderness;
I am like a [desolate] owl of the wasteland.
102:7:I am sleepless and lie awake [mourning],
I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.
102:8:My enemies taunt me all day long;
Those who ridicule me use my name as a curse.
102:9:For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And have mingled my drink with tears
102:10:Because of Your indignation and Your wrath,
For You have lifted me up and thrown me away.
102:11:My days are like an evening shadow that lengthens and vanishes [with the sun];
And as for me, I wither away like grass.
102:12:But You, O Lord, are enthroned forever [ruling eternally as sovereign];
And [the fame and glory of] Your name [endures] to all generations.
102:13:You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
For it is time to be gracious and show favor to her;
Yes, the appointed time [the moment designated] has come.
102:14:For Your servants find [melancholy] pleasure in the stones [of her ruins]
And feel pity for her dust.
102:15:So the nations will fear the name of the Lord,
And all the kings of the earth [will recognize] Your glory.
102:16:For the Lord has built up Zion;
He has appeared in His glory and brilliance;
102:17:He has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
And has not despised their prayer.
102:18:Let this be recorded for the generation to come,
That a people yet to be created will praise the Lord.
102:19:For He looked down from His holy height [of His sanctuary],
From heaven the Lord gazed on the earth,
102:20:To hear the sighing of the prisoner,
To set free those who were doomed to death,
102:21:So that people may declare the name of the Lord in Zion
And His praise in Jerusalem,
102:22:When the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
102:23:He has exhausted my strength [humbling me with sorrow] in the way;
He has shortened my days.
102:24:I said, “O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days;
Your years are [eternal] throughout all generations.
102:25:“At the beginning You founded the earth;
The heavens are the work of Your hands.
102:26:“Even they will perish, but You endure;
Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment.
Like clothing You will change them and they shall be changed.
102:27:“But You remain the same,
And Your years will never end.
102:28:“The children of Your servants will continue,
And their descendants will be established before You.”
103:1:Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.
A Psalm of David.
Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is [deep] within me, bless His holy name.
103:2:Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul,
And do not forget any of His benefits;
103:3:Who forgives all your sins,
Who heals all your diseases;
103:4:Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you [lavishly] with lovingkindness and tender mercy;
103:5:Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the [soaring] eagle.
103:6:The Lord executes righteousness
And justice for all the oppressed.
103:7:He made known His ways [of righteousness and justice] to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
103:8:The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in compassion and lovingkindness.
103:9:He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
103:10:He has not dealt with us according to our sins [as we deserve],
Nor rewarded us [with punishment] according to our wickedness.
103:11:For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence].
103:12:As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
103:13:Just as a father loves his children,
So the Lord loves those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence].
103:14:For He knows our [mortal] frame;
He remembers that we are [merely] dust.
103:15:As for man, his days are like grass;
Like a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
103:16:For the wind passes over it and it is no more,
And its place knows it no longer.
103:17:But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who [reverently] fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
103:18:To those who honor and keep His covenant,
And remember to do His commandments [imprinting His word on their hearts].
103:19:The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all [the universe].
103:20:Bless the Lord, you His angels,
You mighty ones who do His commandments,
Obeying the voice of His word!
103:21:Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You who serve Him and do His will.
103:22:Bless the Lord, all you works of His, in all places of His dominion;
Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul!
104:1:The Lord’s Care over All His Works.
Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, You are very great;
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
104:2:[You are the One] who covers Yourself with light as with a garment,
Who stretches out the heavens like a tent curtain,
104:3:Who lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters [above the firmament],
Who makes the clouds His chariot,
Who walks on the wings of the wind,
104:4:Who makes winds His messengers,
Flames of fire His ministers.
104:5:He established the earth on its foundations,
So that it will not be moved forever and ever.
104:6:You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters were standing above the mountains.
104:7:At Your rebuke they fled;
At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away.
104:8:The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
To the place which You established for them.
104:9:You set a boundary [for the waters] that they may not cross over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.
104:10:You send springs into the valleys;
Their waters flow among the mountains.
104:11:They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst there.
104:12:Beside them the birds of the heavens have their nests;
They lift up their voices and sing among the branches.
104:13:He waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
104:14:He causes grass to grow for the cattle,
And all that the earth produces for cultivation by man,
So that he may bring food from the earth—
104:15:And wine which makes the heart of man glad,
So that he may make his face glisten with oil,
And bread to sustain and strengthen man’s heart.
104:16:The trees of the Lord drink their fill,
The cedars of Lebanon which He has planted,
104:17:Where the birds make their nests;
As for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
104:18:The high mountains are for the wild goats;
The rocks are a refuge for the shephanim.
104:19:He made the moon for the seasons;
The sun knows the [exact] place of its setting.
104:20:You [O Lord] make darkness and it becomes night,
In which prowls about every wild beast of the forest.
104:21:The young lions roar after their prey
And seek their food from God.
104:22:When the sun arises, they withdraw
And lie down in their dens.
104:23:Man goes out to his work
And remains at his labor until evening.
104:24:O Lord, how many and varied are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all;
The earth is full of Your riches and Your creatures.
104:25:There is the sea, great and broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Creatures both small and great.
104:26:There the ships [of the sea] sail,
And Leviathan [the sea monster], which You have formed to play there.
104:27:They all wait for You
To give them their food in its appointed season.
104:28:You give it to them, they gather it up;
You open Your hand, they are filled and satisfied with good [things].
104:29:You hide Your face, they are dismayed;
You take away their breath, they die
And return to their dust.
104:30:You send out Your Spirit, they are created;
You renew the face of the ground.
104:31:May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
May the Lord rejoice and be glad in His works—
104:32:He looks at the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
104:33:I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
104:34:May my meditation be sweet and pleasing to Him;
As for me, I will rejoice and be glad in the Lord.
104:35:Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
And let the wicked be no more.
Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
105:1:The Lord’s Wonderful Works in Behalf of Israel.
O give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the people.
105:2:Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonderful acts and devoutly praise them.
105:3:Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those who seek and require the Lord [as their most essential need] rejoice.
105:4:Seek and deeply long for the Lord and His strength [His power, His might];
Seek and deeply long for His face and His presence continually.
105:5:Remember [with awe and gratitude] the wonderful things which He has done,
His amazing deeds and the judgments uttered by His mouth [on His enemies, as in Egypt],
105:6:O you offspring of Abraham, His servant,
O you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
105:7:He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
105:8:He has remembered His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded and established to a thousand generations,
105:9:The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His sworn oath to Isaac,
105:10:Which He confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
105:11:Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the measured portion of your inheritance.”
105:12:When there were only a few men in number,
Very few [in fact], and strangers in it;
105:13:And they wandered from one nation to another,
From one kingdom to another people,
105:14:He allowed no man to oppress them;
He rebuked kings for their sakes, saying,
105:15:“Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”
105:16:And He called for a famine upon the land [of Egypt];
He cut off every source of bread.
105:17:He sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
105:18:His feet they hurt with shackles;
He was put in chains of iron,
105:19:Until the time that his word [of prophecy regarding his brothers] came true,
The word of the Lord tested and refined him.
105:20:The king sent and released him,
The ruler of the peoples [of Egypt], and set him free.
105:21:He made Joseph lord of his house
And ruler of all his possessions,
105:22:To imprison his princes at his will,
That he might teach his elders wisdom.
105:23:Israel also came into Egypt;
Thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
105:24:There the Lord greatly increased [the number of] His people,
And made them more powerful than their enemies.
105:25:He turned the heart [of the Egyptians] to hate His people,
To deal craftily with His servants.
105:26:He sent Moses His servant,
And Aaron, whom He had chosen.
105:27:They exhibited His wondrous signs among them,
Great miracles in the land of Ham (Egypt).
105:28:He sent [thick, oppressive] darkness and made the land dark;
And Moses and Aaron did not rebel against His words.
105:29:He turned Egypt’s waters into blood
And caused their fish to die.
105:30:Their land swarmed with frogs,
Even in the chambers of their kings.
105:31:He spoke, and there came swarms of flies
And gnats in all their territory.
105:32:He gave them hail for rain,
With flaming fire in their land.
105:33:He struck their vines also and their fig trees,
And shattered the [ice-laden] trees of their territory.
105:34:He spoke, and the [migratory] locusts came,
And the young locusts, even without number,
105:35:And ate up all the vegetation in their land,
And devoured the fruit of their ground.
105:36:He also struck down all the firstborn in their land,
The first fruits and chief substance of all their strength.
105:37:He brought the sons of Israel out [of Egypt] with silver and gold,
And among their tribes there was not one who stumbled.
105:38:Egypt was glad when they departed,
For the dread and fear of them had fallen on the Egyptians.
105:39:The Lord spread a cloud as a covering [by day],
And a fire to illumine the night.
105:40:The Israelites asked, and He brought quail,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
105:41:He opened the rock and water flowed out;
It ran in the dry places like a river.
105:42:For He remembered His holy word
To Abraham His servant;
105:43:He brought out His people with joy,
And His chosen ones with a joyful shout,
105:44:He gave them the lands of the nations [of Canaan],
So that they would possess the fruits of those peoples’ labor,
105:45:So that they might observe His precepts
And keep His laws [obediently accepting and honoring and valuing them].
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
106:1:Israel’s Rebelliousness and the Lord’s Deliverances.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever!
106:2:Who can put into words the mighty deeds of the Lord?
Or who can proclaim all His praise [that is due Him]?
106:3:Blessed are those who observe justice [by honoring God’s precepts],
Who practice righteousness at all times.
106:4:Remember me, O Lord, when You favor Your people.
Visit me with Your salvation [when You rescue them],
106:5:That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
That I may glory with Your inheritance.
106:6:We have sinned like our fathers;
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.
106:7:Our fathers in Egypt did not understand nor appreciate Your miracles;
They did not remember the abundance of Your mercies nor imprint Your lovingkindnesses on their hearts,
But they were rebellious at the sea, at the Red Sea.
106:8:Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake,
That He might make His [supreme] power known.
106:9:He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
And He led them through the depths as through a pasture.
106:10:So He saved them from the hand of the one that hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the [Egyptian] enemy.
106:11:And the waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.
106:12:Then Israel believed in [the validity of] His words;
They sang His praise.
106:13:But they quickly forgot His works;
They did not [patiently] wait for His counsel and purpose [to be revealed regarding them],
106:14:But lusted intensely in the wilderness
And tempted God [with their insistent desires] in the desert.
106:15:So He gave them their request,
But sent a wasting disease among them.
106:16:They envied Moses in the camp,
And Aaron [the high priest], the holy one of the Lord,
106:17:Therefore the earth opened and swallowed Dathan,
And engulfed the company of Abiram.
106:18:And a fire broke out in their company;
The flame consumed the wicked.
106:19:They made a calf in Horeb (Sinai)
And worshiped a cast image.
106:20:Thus they exchanged [the true God who was] their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
106:21:They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done such great things in Egypt,
106:22:Wonders in the land of Ham,
Awesome things at the Red Sea.
106:23:Therefore He said He would destroy them,
[And He would have done so] had not Moses, His chosen one, stepped into the gap before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
106:24:Then they despised the pleasant land [of Canaan];
They did not believe in His word nor rely on it,
106:25:But they sulked and complained in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
106:26:Therefore He lifted up His hand [swearing] to them,
That He would cause them to fall in the wilderness,
106:27:And that He would cast out their descendants among the nations
And scatter them in the lands [of the earth].
106:28:They joined themselves also to [the idol] Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
106:29:Thus they provoked Him to anger with their practices,
And a plague broke out among them.
106:30:Then Phinehas [the priest] stood up and interceded,
And so the plague was halted.
106:31:And that was credited to him for righteousness,
To all generations forever.
106:32:They provoked Him to anger at the waters of Meribah,
So that it went hard with Moses on their account;
106:33:Because they were rebellious against His Spirit,
Moses spoke recklessly with his lips.
106:34:They did not destroy the [pagan] peoples [in Canaan],
As the Lord commanded them,
106:35:But they mingled with the [idolatrous] nations
And learned their ways,
106:36:And served their idols,
Which became a [dreadful] snare to them.
106:37:They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons
106:38:And shed innocent blood,
Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with their blood.
106:39:In this way they became unclean in their practices;
They played the prostitute in their own deeds [by giving their worship, which belongs to God alone, to other “gods”].
106:40:Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people
And He detested His own inheritance.
106:41:He gave them into the hands of the nations,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
106:42:Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were subdued under the [powerful] hand of their enemies.
106:43:Many times He rescued them;
But they were rebellious in their counsel,
And sank down in their wickedness.
106:44:Nevertheless He looked [sympathetically] at their distress
When He heard their cry;
106:45:And He remembered His covenant for their sake,
And relented [rescinding their sentence] according to the greatness of His lovingkindness [when they cried out to Him],
106:46:He also made them objects of compassion
Among those who had carried them away captive.
106:47:Save us, O Lord our God,
And gather us from among the nations,
That we may give thanks to Your holy name
And glory in praising You.
106:48:Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen.”
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
107:1:Book Five
The Lord Rescues People from Many Troubles.
O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His compassion and lovingkindness endure forever!
107:2:Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,
107:3:And gathered them from the lands,
From the east and from the west,
From the north and from the south.
107:4:They wandered in the wilderness in a [solitary] desert region;
And did not find a way to an inhabited city.
107:5:Hungry and thirsty,
They fainted.
107:6:Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He rescued them from their distresses.
107:7:He led them by the straight way,
To an inhabited city [where they could establish their homes].
107:8:Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonderful acts to the children of men!
107:9:For He satisfies the parched throat,
And fills the hungry appetite with what is good.
107:10:Some dwelt in darkness and in the deep (deathly) darkness,
Prisoners [bound] in misery and chains,
107:11:Because they had rebelled against the precepts of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High.
107:12:Therefore He humbled their heart with hard labor;
They stumbled and there was no one to help.
107:13:Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He saved them from their distresses.
107:14:He brought them out of darkness and the deep (deathly) darkness
And broke their bonds apart.
107:15:Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonderful acts to the children of men!
107:16:For He has shattered the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron apart.
107:17:Fools, because of their rebellious way,
And because of their sins, were afflicted.
107:18:They detested all kinds of food,
And they drew near to the gates of death.
107:19:Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He saved them from their distresses.
107:20:He sent His word and healed them,
And rescued them from their destruction.
107:21:Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonderful acts to the children of men!
107:22:And let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And speak of His deeds with shouts of joy!
107:23:Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters;
107:24:They have seen the works of the Lord,
And His wonders in the deep.
107:25:For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind,
Which lifted up the waves of the sea.
107:26:They went up toward the heavens [on the crest of the wave], they went down again to the depths [of the watery trough];
Their courage melted away in their misery.
107:27:They staggered and trembled like a drunken man,
And were at their wits’ end [all their wisdom was useless].
107:28:Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He brought them out of their distresses.
107:29:He hushed the storm to a gentle whisper,
So that the waves of the sea were still.
107:30:Then they were glad because of the calm,
And He guided them to their desired haven (harbor).
107:31:Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonderful acts to the children of men!
107:32:Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people,
And praise Him at the seat of the elders.
107:33:He turns rivers into a wilderness,
And springs of water into a thirsty ground;
107:34:A productive land into a [barren] salt waste,
Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
107:35:He turns a wilderness into a pool of water
And a dry land into springs of water;
107:36:And there He has the hungry dwell,
So that they may establish an inhabited city,
107:37:And sow fields and plant vineyards,
And produce an abundant harvest.
107:38:Also He blesses them so that they multiply greatly,
And He does not let [the number of] their cattle decrease.
107:39:When they are diminished and bowed down (humbled)
Through oppression, misery, and sorrow,
107:40:He pours contempt on princes
And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
107:41:Yet He sets the needy securely on high, away from affliction,
And makes their families like a flock.
107:42:The upright see it and rejoice;
But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth.
107:43:Who is wise? Let him observe and heed these things;
And [thoughtfully] consider the lovingkindness of the Lord.
108:1:Praise and Supplication to God for Victory.
A Song. A Psalm of David.
O God, my heart is steadfast [with confident faith];
I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my soul.
108:2:Awake, harp and lyre;
I will awaken the dawn!
108:3:I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the people;
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
108:4:For Your lovingkindness is great and higher than the heavens;
Your truth reaches to the skies.
108:5:Be exalted [in majesty], O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth.
108:6:That Your beloved [ones] may be rescued,
Save with Your right hand, and answer me!
108:7:God has spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice, I will portion out Shechem [as I divide Canaan among My people],
And measure out the Valley of Succoth.
108:8:“Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the helmet of My head [My stronghold, My defense];
Judah is My scepter.
108:9:“Moab is My washbowl;
Over Edom I will throw My shoe [to show Edom is Mine];
Over Philistia I will shout [in triumph].”
108:10:Who will bring me into the fortified city [of Petra]?
Who will lead me to Edom?
108:11:Have You not rejected us, O God?
And will You not go out, O God, with our armies?
108:12:Give us help against the adversary,
For deliverance by man is in vain [a worthless hope].
108:13:With God we will do valiantly,
For it is He who will trample down our enemies.
109:1:Vengeance Invoked upon Adversaries.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
O God of my praise!
Do not keep silent,
109:2:For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
109:3:They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And have fought against me without a cause.
109:4:In return for my love, they attack me,
But I am in prayer.
109:5:They have repaid me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.
109:6:Appoint a wicked man against him,
And let an attacker stand at his right hand [to kill him].
109:7:When he enters into dispute, let wickedness come about.
Let his prayer [for help] result [only] in sin.
109:8:Let his days be few;
And let another take his office.
109:9:Let his children be fatherless
And his wife a widow.
109:10:Let his children wander and beg;
Let them seek their food and be driven far from their ruined homes.
109:11:Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder the product of his labor.
109:12:Let there be no one to extend kindness to him,
Nor let anyone be gracious to his fatherless children.
109:13:Let his descendants be cut off,
And in the following generation let their name be blotted out.
109:14:Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered by the Lord;
And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
109:15:Let them be before the Lord continually,
That He may cut off their memory from the earth;
109:16:Because the man did not remember to show kindness,
But persecuted the suffering and needy man,
And the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
109:17:He also loved cursing, and it came [back] to him;
He did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.
109:18:He clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
And it seeped into his inner self like water
And like [anointing] oil into his bones.
109:19:Let it be to him as a robe with which he covers himself,
And as a sash with which he is constantly bound.
109:20:Let this be the reward of my attackers from the Lord,
And of those who speak evil against my life.
109:21:But You, O God, the Lord, show kindness to me, for Your name’s sake;
Because Your lovingkindness (faithfulness, compassion) is good, O rescue me;
109:22:For I am suffering and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
109:23:I am vanishing like a shadow when it lengthens and fades;
I am shaken off like the locust.
109:24:My knees are unsteady from fasting;
And my flesh is gaunt and without fatness.
109:25:I also have become a reproach and an object of taunting to others;
When they see me, they shake their heads [in derision].
109:26:Help me, O Lord my God;
Save me according to Your lovingkindness—
109:27:And let them know that this is Your hand;
You, Lord, have done it.
109:28:Let them curse, but You bless.
When adversaries arise, let them be ashamed,
But let Your servant rejoice.
109:29:Let my attackers be clothed with dishonor,
And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
109:30:I will give great praise and thanks to the Lord with my mouth;
And in the midst of many I will praise Him.
109:31:For He will stand at the right hand of the needy,
To save him from those who judge his soul.
110:1:The Lord Gives Dominion to the King.
A Psalm of David.
The Lord (Father) says to my Lord (the Messiah, His Son),
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet [subjugating them into complete submission].”
110:2:The Lord will send the scepter of Your strength from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
110:3:Your people will offer themselves willingly [to participate in Your battle] in the day of Your power;
In the splendor of holiness, from the womb of the dawn,
Your young men are to You as the dew.
110:4:The Lord has sworn [an oath] and will not change His mind:
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
110:5:The Lord is at Your right hand,
He will crush kings in the day of His wrath.
110:6:He will execute judgment [in overwhelming punishment] among the nations;
He will fill them with corpses,
He will crush the chief men over a broad country.
110:7:He will drink from the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He will lift up His head [triumphantly].
111:1:The Lord Praised for His Goodness.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart,
In the company of the upright and in the congregation.
111:2:Great are the works of the Lord,
Studied by all those who delight in them.
111:3:Splendid and majestic is His work,
And His righteousness endures forever.
111:4:He has made His wonderful acts to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and merciful and full of loving compassion.
111:5:He has given food to those who fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence];
He will remember His covenant forever.
111:6:He has declared and made known to His people the power of His works,
In giving them the heritage of the nations.
111:7:The works of His hands are truth and [absolute] justice;
All His precepts are sure (established, reliable, trustworthy).
111:8:They are upheld forever and ever;
They are done in [absolute] truth and uprightness.
111:9:He has sent redemption to His people;
He has ordained His covenant forever;
Holy and awesome is His name—[inspiring reverence and godly fear].
111:10:The [reverent] fear of the Lord is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom;
A good understanding and a teachable heart are possessed by all those who do the will of the Lord;
His praise endures forever.
112:1:Prosperity of the One Who Fears the Lord.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with obedience],
Who delights greatly in His commandments.
112:2:His descendants will be mighty on earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
112:3:Wealth and riches are in his house,
And his righteousness endures forever.
112:4:Light arises in the darkness for the upright;
He is gracious and compassionate and righteous (upright—in right standing with God).
112:5:It is well with the man who is gracious and lends;
He conducts his affairs with justice.
112:6:He will never be shaken;
The righteous will be remembered forever.
112:7:He will not fear bad news;
His heart is steadfast, trusting [confidently relying on and believing] in the Lord.
112:8:His heart is upheld, he will not fear
While he looks [with satisfaction] on his adversaries.
112:9:He has given freely to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever;
His horn will be exalted in honor.
112:10:The wicked will see it and be angered,
He will gnash his teeth and melt away [in despair and death];
The desire of the wicked will perish and come to nothing.
113:1:The Lord Exalts the Humble.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
Praise the name of the Lord.
113:2:Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
113:3:From the rising of the sun to its setting
The name of the Lord is to be praised [with awe-inspired reverence].
113:4:The Lord is high above all nations,
And His glory above the heavens.
113:5:Who is like the Lord our God,
Who is enthroned on high,
113:6:Who humbles Himself to regard
The heavens and the earth?
113:7:He raises the poor out of the dust
And lifts the needy from the ash heap,
113:8:That He may seat them with princes,
With the princes of His people.
113:9:He makes the barren woman live in the house
As a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
114:1:God’s Rescue of Israel from Egypt.
When Israel came out of Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
114:2:Judah became His sanctuary,
And Israel His dominion.
114:3:The [Red] Sea looked and fled;
The Jordan turned back.
114:4:The mountains leaped like rams,
The [little] hills, like lambs.
114:5:What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
114:6:O mountains, that you leap like rams,
O [little] hills, like lambs?
114:7:Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the God of Jacob (Israel),
114:8:Who turned the rock into a pool of water,
The flint into a fountain of water.
115:1:Pagan Idols Contrasted with the Lord.
Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
But to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth and faithfulness.
115:2:Why should the nations say,
“Where, now, is their God?”
115:3:But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
115:4:The idols [of the nations] are silver and gold,
The work of man’s hands.
115:5:They have mouths, but they cannot speak;
They have eyes, but they cannot see;
115:6:They have ears, but they cannot hear;
They have noses, but they cannot smell;
115:7:They have hands, but they cannot feel;
They have feet, but they cannot walk;
Nor can they make a sound with their throats.
115:8:Those who make them will become like them,
Everyone who trusts in them.
115:9:O Israel, trust and take refuge in the Lord! [Be confident in Him, cling to Him, rely on His word!]
He is their help and their shield.
115:10:O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
115:11:You who [reverently] fear the Lord, trust in Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
115:12:The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless,
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
115:13:He will bless those who fear and worship the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder],
Both the small and the great.
115:14:May the Lord give you [great] increase,
You and your children.
115:15:May you be blessed of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
115:16:The heavens are the heavens of the Lord,
But the earth He has given to the children of men.
115:17:The dead do not praise the Lord,
Nor do any who go down into silence;
115:18:But as for us, we will bless and affectionately and gratefully praise the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
116:1:Thanksgiving for Rescue from Death.
I love the Lord, because He hears [and continues to hear]
My voice and my supplications (my pleas, my cries, my specific needs).
116:2:Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.
116:3:The cords and sorrows of death encompassed me,
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
116:4:Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, please save my life!”
116:5:Gracious is the Lord, and [consistently] righteous;
Yes, our God is compassionate.
116:6:The Lord protects the simple (childlike);
I was brought low [humbled and discouraged], and He saved me.
116:7:Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
116:8:For You have rescued my life from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from stumbling and falling.
116:9:I will walk [in submissive wonder] before the Lord
In the land of the living.
116:10:I believed [and clung to my God] when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted.”
116:11:I said in my alarm,
“All men are liars.”
116:12:What will I give to the Lord [in return]
For all His benefits toward me?
[How can I repay Him for His precious blessings?]
116:13:I will lift up the cup of salvation
And call on the name of the Lord.
116:14:I will pay my vows to the Lord,
Yes, in the presence of all His people.
116:15:Precious [and of great consequence] in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His godly ones [so He watches over them].
116:16:O Lord, truly I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid;
You have unfastened my chains.
116:17:I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call on the name of the Lord.
116:18:I will pay my vows to the Lord,
Yes, in the presence of all His people,
116:19:In the courts of the Lord’s house (temple)—
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
117:1:A Psalm of Praise.
O praise the Lord, all you nations!
Praise Him, all you people!
117:2:For His lovingkindness prevails over us [and we triumph and overcome through Him],
And the truth of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
118:1:Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Saving Goodness.
O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness endures forever.
118:2:Oh let Israel say,
“His lovingkindness endures forever.”
118:3:Oh let the house of Aaron say,
“His lovingkindness endures forever.”
118:4:Oh let those who [reverently] fear the Lord, say,
“His lovingkindness endures forever.”
118:5:Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
The Lord answered me and set me free.
118:6:The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
What can [mere] man do to me?
118:7:The Lord is on my side, He is among those who help me;
Therefore I will look [in triumph] on those who hate me.
118:8:It is better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in man.
118:9:It is better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in princes.
118:10:All nations encompassed me;
In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off.
118:11:They encompassed me, yes, they surrounded me [on every side];
In the name of the Lord I will cut them off.
118:12:They swarmed around me like bees;
They flare up and are extinguished like a fire of thorns;
In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off.
118:13:You [my enemy] pushed me violently so that I was falling,
But the Lord helped me.
118:14:The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.
118:15:The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous:
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
118:16:The right hand of the Lord is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
118:17:I will not die, but live,
And declare the works and recount the illustrious acts of the Lord.
118:18:The Lord has disciplined me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.
118:19:Open to me the [temple] gates of righteousness;
I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the Lord.
118:20:This is the gate of the Lord;
The righteous will enter through it.
118:21:I will give thanks to You, for You have heard and answered me;
And You have become my salvation [my Rescuer, my Savior].
118:22:The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone.
118:23:This is from the Lord and is His doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
118:24:This [day in which God has saved me] is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
118:25:O Lord, save now, we beseech You;
O Lord, we beseech You, send now prosperity and give us success!
118:26:Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord;
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord [you who come into His sanctuary under His guardianship].
118:27:The Lord is God, and He has given us light [illuminating us with His grace and freedom and joy].
Bind the festival sacrifices with cords to the horns of the altar.
118:28:You are my God, and I give thanks to You;
[You are] my God, I extol You.
118:29:O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness endures forever.
119:1:Meditations and Prayers Relating to the Law of God.
Aleph.
How blessed and favored by God are those whose way is blameless [those with personal integrity, the upright, the guileless],
Who walk in the law [and who are guided by the precepts and revealed will] of the Lord.
119:2:Blessed and favored by God are those who keep His testimonies,
And who [consistently] seek Him and long for Him with all their heart.
119:3:They do no unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.
119:4:You have ordained Your precepts,
That we should follow them with [careful] diligence.
119:5:Oh, that my ways may be established
To observe and keep Your statutes [obediently accepting and honoring them]!
119:6:Then I will not be ashamed
When I look [with respect] to all Your commandments [as my guide].
119:7:I will give thanks to You with an upright heart,
When I learn [through discipline] Your righteous judgments [for my transgressions].
119:8:I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not utterly abandon me [when I fail].
119:9:Beth.
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping watch [on himself] according to Your word [conforming his life to Your precepts].
119:10:With all my heart I have sought You, [inquiring of You and longing for You];
Do not let me wander from Your commandments [neither through ignorance nor by willful disobedience].
119:11:Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.
119:12:Blessed and reverently praised are You, O Lord;
Teach me Your statutes.
119:13:With my lips I have told of
All the ordinances of Your mouth.
119:14:I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
119:15:I will meditate on Your precepts
And [thoughtfully] regard Your ways [the path of life established by Your precepts].
119:16:I will delight in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word.
119:17:Gimel.
Deal bountifully with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word [treasuring it and being guided by it day by day].
119:18:Open my eyes [to spiritual truth] so that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law.
119:19:I am a stranger on the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
119:20:My soul is crushed with longing
For Your ordinances at all times.
119:21:You rebuke the presumptuous and arrogant, the cursed ones,
Who wander from Your commandments.
119:22:Take reproach and contempt away from me,
For I observe Your testimonies.
119:23:Even though princes sit and talk to one another against me,
Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
119:24:Your testimonies also are my delight
And my counselors.
119:25:Daleth.
My earthly life clings to the dust;
Revive and refresh me according to Your word.
119:26:I have told of my ways, and You have answered me;
Teach me Your statutes.
119:27:Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
So that I will meditate (focus my thoughts) on Your wonderful works.
119:28:My soul dissolves because of grief;
Renew and strengthen me according to [the promises of] Your word.
119:29:Remove from me the way of falsehood and unfaithfulness,
And graciously grant me Your law.
119:30:I have chosen the faithful way;
I have placed Your ordinances before me.
119:31:I cling tightly to Your testimonies;
O Lord, do not put me to shame!
119:32:I will run the way of Your commandments [with purpose],
For You will give me a heart that is willing.
119:33:He.
Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes,
And I will [steadfastly] observe it to the end.
119:34:Give me understanding [a teachable heart and the ability to learn], that I may keep Your law;
And observe it with all my heart.
119:35:Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
For I delight in it.
119:36:Incline my heart to Your testimonies
And not to dishonest gain and envy.
119:37:Turn my eyes away from vanity [all those worldly, meaningless things that distract—let Your priorities be mine],
And restore me [with renewed energy] in Your ways.
119:38:Establish Your word and confirm Your promise to Your servant,
As that which produces [awe-inspired] reverence for You.
119:39:Turn away my reproach which I dread,
For Your ordinances are good.
119:40:I long for Your precepts;
Renew me through Your righteousness.
119:41:Vav.
May Your lovingkindness also come to me, O Lord,
Your salvation according to Your promise;
119:42:So I will have an answer for the one who taunts me,
For I trust [completely] in Your word [and its reliability].
119:43:And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
For I wait for Your ordinances.
119:44:I will keep Your law continually,
Forever and ever [writing Your precepts on my heart].
119:45:And I will walk at liberty,
For I seek and deeply long for Your precepts.
119:46:I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings
And shall not be ashamed.
119:47:For I shall delight in Your commandments,
Which I love.
119:48:And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments,
Which I love;
And I will meditate on Your statutes.
119:49:Zayin.
Remember [always] the word and promise to Your servant,
In which You have made me hope.
119:50:This is my comfort in my affliction,
That Your word has revived me and given me life.
119:51:The arrogant utterly ridicule me,
Yet I do not turn away from Your law.
119:52:I have remembered [carefully] Your ancient ordinances, O Lord,
And I have taken comfort.
119:53:Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked,
Who reject Your law.
119:54:Your statutes are my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.
119:55:O Lord, I remember Your name in the night,
And keep Your law.
119:56:This has become mine [as the gift of Your grace],
That I observe Your precepts [accepting them with loving obedience].
119:57:Heth.
The Lord is my portion;
I have promised to keep Your words.
119:58:I sought Your favor with all my heart;
Be merciful and gracious to me according to Your promise.
119:59:I considered my ways
And turned my feet to [follow and obey] Your testimonies.
119:60:I hurried and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.
119:61:The cords of the wicked have encircled and ensnared me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.
119:62:At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You
Because of Your righteous ordinances.
119:63:I am a companion of all who [reverently] fear You,
And of those who keep and honor Your precepts.
119:64:The earth, O Lord, is full of Your lovingkindness and goodness;
Teach me Your statutes.
119:65:Teth.
You have dealt well with Your servant,
O Lord, according to Your promise.
119:66:Teach me good judgment (discernment) and knowledge,
For I have believed and trusted and relied on Your commandments.
119:67:Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep and honor Your word [with loving obedience].
119:68:You are good and do good;
Teach me Your statutes.
119:69:The arrogant have forged a lie against me,
But I will keep Your precepts with all my heart.
119:70:Their heart is insensitive like fat [their minds are dull and brutal],
But I delight in Your law.
119:71:It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
119:72:The law from Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
119:73:Yodh.
Your hands have made me and established me;
Give me understanding and a teachable heart, that I may learn Your commandments.
119:74:May those who [reverently] fear You see me and be glad,
Because I wait for Your word.
119:75:I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are fair,
And that in faithfulness You have disciplined me.
119:76:O may Your lovingkindness and graciousness comfort me,
According to Your word (promise) to Your servant.
119:77:Let Your compassion come to me that I may live,
For Your law is my delight.
119:78:Let the arrogant be ashamed and humiliated, for they sabotage me with a lie;
But I will meditate on Your precepts.
119:79:May those who fear You [with submissive wonder] turn to me,
Even those who have known Your testimonies.
119:80:May my heart be blameless in Your statutes,
So that I will not be ashamed.
119:81:Kaph.
My soul languishes and grows weak for Your salvation;
I wait for Your word.
119:82:My eyes fail [with longing, watching] for [the fulfillment of] Your promise,
Saying, “When will You comfort me?”
119:83:For I have become like a wineskin [blackened and shriveled] in the smoke [in which it hangs],
Yet I do not forget Your statutes.
119:84:How many are the days of Your servant [which he must endure]?
When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?
119:85:The arrogant (godless) have dug pits for me,
Men who do not conform to Your law.
119:86:All Your commandments are faithful and trustworthy.
They have persecuted me with a lie; help me [Lord]!
119:87:They had almost destroyed me on earth,
But as for me, I did not turn away from Your precepts.
119:88:According to Your steadfast love refresh me and give me life,
So that I may keep and obey the testimony of Your mouth.
119:89:Lamedh.
Forever, O Lord,
Your word is settled in heaven [standing firm and unchangeable].
119:90:Your faithfulness continues from generation to generation;
You have established the earth, and it stands [securely].
119:91:They continue this day according to Your ordinances,
For all things [all parts of the universe] are Your servants.
119:92:If Your law had not been my delight,
Then I would have perished in my time of trouble.
119:93:I will never forget Your precepts,
For by them You have revived me and given me life.
119:94:I am Yours, save me [as Your own];
For I have [diligently] sought Your precepts and required them [as my greatest need].
119:95:The wicked wait for me to destroy me,
But I will consider Your testimonies.
119:96:I have seen that all [human] perfection has its limits [no matter how grand and perfect and noble];
Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity].
119:97:Mem.
Oh, how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
119:98:Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
For Your words are always with me.
119:99:I have better understanding and deeper insight than all my teachers [because of Your word],
For Your testimonies are my meditation.
119:100:I understand more than the aged [who have not observed Your precepts],
Because I have observed and kept Your precepts.
119:101:I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Your word.
119:102:I have not turned aside from Your ordinances,
For You Yourself have taught me.
119:103:How sweet are Your words to my taste,
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
119:104:From Your precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way.
119:105:Nun.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
119:106:I have sworn [an oath] and have confirmed it,
That I will keep Your righteous ordinances.
119:107:I am greatly afflicted;
Renew and revive me [giving me life], O Lord, according to Your word.
119:108:Accept and take pleasure in the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
And teach me Your ordinances.
119:109:My life is continually in my hand,
Yet I do not forget Your law.
119:110:The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet I do not wander from Your precepts.
119:111:I have taken Your testimonies as a heritage forever,
For they are the joy of my heart.
119:112:I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes
Forever, even to the end.
119:113:Samekh.
I hate those who are double-minded,
But I love and treasure Your law.
119:114:You are my hiding place and my shield;
I wait for Your word.
119:115:Leave me, you evildoers,
That I may keep the commandments of my God [honoring and obeying them].
119:116:Uphold me according to Your word [of promise], so that I may live;
And do not let me be ashamed of my hope [in Your great goodness].
119:117:Uphold me that I may be safe,
That I may have regard for Your statutes continually.
119:118:You have turned Your back on all those who wander from Your statutes,
For their deceitfulness is useless.
119:119:You have removed all the wicked of the earth like dross [for they have no value];
Therefore I love Your testimonies.
119:120:My flesh trembles in [reverent] fear of You,
And I am afraid and in awe of Your judgments.
119:121:Ayin.
I have done justice and righteousness;
Do not leave me to those who oppress me.
119:122:Be the guarantee for Your servant for good [as Judah was the guarantee for Benjamin];
Do not let the arrogant oppress me.
119:123:My eyes fail [with longing, watching] for [the fulfillment of] Your salvation,
And for [the fulfillment of] Your righteous word.
119:124:Deal with Your servant according to Your [gracious] lovingkindness,
And teach me Your statutes.
119:125:I am Your servant; give me understanding [the ability to learn and a teachable heart]
That I may know Your testimonies.
119:126:It is time for the Lord to act;
They have broken Your law.
119:127:Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold,
Yes, more than refined gold.
119:128:Therefore I esteem as right all Your precepts concerning everything;
I hate every false way.
119:129:Pe.
Your testimonies are wonderful;
Therefore my soul keeps them.
119:130:The unfolding of Your [glorious] words give light;
Their unfolding gives understanding to the simple (childlike).
119:131:I opened my mouth and panted [with anticipation],
Because I longed for Your commandments.
119:132:Turn to me and be gracious to me and show me favor,
As is Your way to those who love Your name.
119:133:Establish my footsteps in [the way of] Your word;
Do not let any human weakness have power over me [causing me to be separated from You].
119:134:Redeem me from the oppression of man;
That I may keep Your precepts.
119:135:Make Your face shine [with pleasure] upon Your servant,
And teach me Your statutes.
119:136:My eyes weep streams of water
Because people do not keep Your law.
119:137:Tsadhe.
Righteous are You, O Lord,
And upright are Your judgments.
119:138:You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness
And in great faithfulness.
119:139:My zeal has [completely] consumed me,
Because my enemies have forgotten Your words.
119:140:Your word is very pure (refined);
Therefore Your servant loves it.
119:141:I am small and despised,
But I do not forget Your precepts.
119:142:Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And Your law is truth.
119:143:Trouble and anguish have found me,
Yet Your commandments are my delight and my joy.
119:144:Your righteous testimonies are everlasting;
Give me understanding [the ability to learn and a teachable heart] that I may live.
119:145:Qoph.
I cried with all my heart; answer me, O Lord!
I will observe Your statutes.
119:146:I cried to You; save me
And I will keep Your testimonies.
119:147:I rise before dawn and cry [in prayer] for help;
I wait for Your word.
119:148:My eyes anticipate the night watches and I awake before the call of the watchman,
That I may meditate on Your word.
119:149:Hear my voice according to Your [steadfast] lovingkindness;
O Lord, renew and refresh me according to Your ordinances.
119:150:Those who follow after wickedness approach;
They are far from Your law.
119:151:You are near, O Lord,
And all Your commandments are truth.
119:152:Of old I have known from Your testimonies
That You have founded them forever.
119:153:Resh.
Look upon my agony and rescue me,
For I do not forget Your law.
119:154:Plead my cause and redeem me;
Revive me and give me life according to [the promise of] Your word.
119:155:Salvation is far from the wicked,
For they do not seek Your statutes.
119:156:Great are Your tender mercies and steadfast love, O Lord;
Revive me and give me life according to Your ordinances.
119:157:Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
Yet I do not turn away from Your testimonies.
119:158:I see the treacherous and loathe them,
Because they do not respect Your law.
119:159:Consider how I love Your precepts;
Revive me and give me life, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
119:160:The sum of Your word is truth [the full meaning of all Your precepts],
And every one of Your righteous ordinances endures forever.
119:161:Shin.
Princes persecute me without cause,
But my heart stands in [reverent] awe of Your words [so I can expect You to help me].
119:162:I rejoice at Your word,
As one who finds great treasure.
119:163:I hate and detest falsehood,
But I love Your law.
119:164:Seven times a day I praise You,
Because of Your righteous ordinances.
119:165:Those who love Your law have great peace;
Nothing makes them stumble.
119:166:I hope and wait [with complete confidence] for Your salvation, O Lord,
And I do Your commandments.
119:167:My soul keeps Your testimonies [hearing and accepting and obeying them];
I love them greatly.
119:168:I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies,
For all my ways are [fully known] before You.
119:169:Tav.
Let my [mournful] cry come before You, O Lord;
Give me understanding [the ability to learn and a teachable heart] according to Your word [of promise].
119:170:Let my supplication come before You;
Deliver me according to Your word.
119:171:Let my lips speak praise [with thanksgiving],
For You teach me Your statutes.
119:172:Let my tongue sing [praise for the fulfillment] of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteous.
119:173:Let Your hand be ready to help me,
For I have chosen Your precepts.
119:174:I long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my delight.
119:175:Let my soul live that it may praise You,
And let Your ordinances help me.
119:176:I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
Seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.
120:1:Prayer for Breaking Away from the Treacherous.
A Song of Ascents.
In my trouble I cried to the Lord,
And He answered me.
120:2:Rescue my soul, O Lord, from lying lips,
And from a deceitful tongue.
120:3:What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you,
You deceitful tongue?—
120:4:Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With the burning coals of the broom tree.
120:5:Woe to me, for I sojourn in Meshech,
and I live among the tents of Kedar [among hostile people]!
120:6:Too long my soul has had its dwelling
With those who hate peace.
120:7:I am for peace, but when I speak,
They are for war.
121:1:The Lord the Keeper of Israel.
A Song of Ascents.
I will lift up my eyes to the hills [of Jerusalem]—
From where shall my help come?
121:2:My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
121:3:He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
121:4:Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber [briefly] nor sleep [soundly].
121:5:The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
121:6:The sun will not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
121:7:The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your life.
121:8:The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in [everything that you do]
From this time forth and forever.
122:1:Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
122:2:Our feet are standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem,
122:3:Jerusalem, that is built
As a city that is firmly joined together;
122:4:To which the [twelve] tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord,
[As was decreed as] an ordinance for Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
122:5:For there the thrones of judgment were set,
The thrones of the house of David.
122:6:Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you [holy city].
122:7:“May peace be within your walls
And prosperity within your palaces.”
122:8:For the sake of my brothers and my friends,
I will now say, “May peace be within you.”
122:9:For the sake of the house of the Lord our God [which is Jerusalem],
I will seek your (the city’s) good.
123:1:Prayer for the Lord’s Help.
A Song of Ascents.
Unto you I lift up my eyes,
O You who are enthroned in the heavens!
123:2:Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
And as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He is gracious and favorable toward us.
123:3:Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious and favorable toward us,
For we are greatly filled with contempt.
123:4:Our soul is greatly filled
With the scoffing of those who are at ease,
And with the contempt of the proud [who disregard God’s law].
124:1:Praise for Rescue from Enemies.
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,”
Let Israel now say,
124:2:“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
When men rose up against us,
124:3:Then they would have [quickly] swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;
124:4:Then the waters would have engulfed us,
The torrent would have swept over our soul;
124:5:Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.”
124:6:Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us as prey to be torn by their teeth.
124:7:We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
The trap is broken and we have escaped.
124:8:Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
125:1:The Lord Surrounds His People.
A Song of Ascents.
Those who trust in and rely on the Lord [with confident expectation]
Are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but remains forever.
125:2:As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.
125:3:For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land of the righteous,
So that the righteous will not reach out their hands to do wrong.
125:4:Do good, O Lord, to those who are good
And to those who are upright in their hearts.
125:5:But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways [in unresponsiveness to God],
The Lord will lead them away with those who do evil.
Peace be upon Israel.
126:1:Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity.
A Song of Ascents.
When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion (Jerusalem),
We were like those who dream [it seemed so unreal].
126:2:Then our mouth was filled with laughter
And our tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
126:3:The Lord has done great things for us;
We are glad!
126:4:Restore our captivity, O Lord,
As the stream-beds in the South (the Negev) [are restored by torrents of rain].
126:5:They who sow in tears shall reap with joyful singing.
126:6:He who goes back and forth weeping, carrying his bag of seed [for planting],
Will indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
127:1:Prosperity Comes from the Lord.
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
127:2:It is vain for you to rise early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of anxious labors—
For He gives [blessings] to His beloved even in his sleep.
127:3:Behold, children are a heritage and gift from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb a reward.
127:4:Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
127:5:How blessed [happy and fortunate] is the man whose quiver is filled with them;
They will not be ashamed
When they speak with their enemies [in gatherings] at the [city] gate.
128:1:Blessedness of the Fear of the Lord.
A Song of Ascents.
Blessed [happy and sheltered by God’s favor] is everyone who fears the Lord [and worships Him with obedience],
Who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments.
128:2:For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands,
You will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you.
128:3:Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
Within the innermost part of your house;
Your children will be like olive plants
Around your table.
128:4:Behold, for so shall the man be blessed and divinely favored
Who fears the Lord [and worships Him with obedience].
128:5:May the Lord bless you from Zion [His holy mountain],
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life;
128:6:Indeed, may you see your [family perpetuated in your] children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel!
129:1:Prayer for the Overthrow of Zion’s Enemies.
A Song of Ascents.
“Many times they have persecuted me (Israel) from my youth,”
Let Israel now say,
129:2:“Many times they have persecuted me from my youth,
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
129:3:“The [enemies, like] plowers plowed on my back;
They made their furrows [of suffering] long [in Israel].”
129:4:The Lord is righteous;
He has cut in two the [thick] cords of the wicked [which enslaved the people of Israel].
129:5:May all who hate Zion
Be put to shame and turned backward [in defeat].
129:6:Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
Which withers before it grows up,
129:7:With which the reaper does not fill his hand,
Nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
129:8:Nor do those who pass by say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
130:1:Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.
A Song of Ascents.
Out of the depths [of distress] I have cried to You, O Lord.
130:2:Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
130:3:If You, Lord, should keep an account of our sins and treat us accordingly,
O Lord, who could stand [before you in judgment and claim innocence]?
130:4:But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared and worshiped [with submissive wonder].
130:5:I wait [patiently] for the Lord, my soul [expectantly] waits,
And in His word do I hope.
130:6:My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
More than the watchmen for the morning.
130:7:O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
130:8:And He will redeem Israel
From all his sins.
131:1:Childlike Trust in the Lord.
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
131:2:Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child [resting] with his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me [composed and freed from discontent].
131:3:O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
132:1:Prayer for the Lord’s Blessing Upon the Sanctuary.
A Song of Ascents.
O Lord, remember on David’s behalf
All his hardship and affliction;
132:2:How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:
132:3:“I absolutely will not enter my house,
Nor get into my bed—
132:4:I certainly will not permit my eyes to sleep
Nor my eyelids to slumber,
132:5:Until I find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob (Israel).”
132:6:Behold, we heard of it at Ephrathah;
We found it in the field of Jaar.
132:7:Let us go into His tabernacle;
Let us worship at His footstool.
132:8:Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place,
You and the ark [the symbol] of Your strength.
132:9:Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness (right living),
And let Your godly ones shout for joy.
132:10:For the sake of Your servant David,
Do not turn away the face of Your anointed.
132:11:The Lord swore to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“One of your descendants I will set upon your throne.
132:12:“If your children will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their children also shall sit upon your throne forever.”
132:13:For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His dwelling place:
132:14:“This is My resting place forever” [says the Lord];
“Here will I dwell, for I have desired it.
132:15:“I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
132:16:“Her priests also I will clothe with salvation,
And her godly ones will shout aloud for joy.
132:17:“There I will make the horn (strength) of David grow;
I have prepared a lamp for My anointed [fulfilling the promises].
132:18:“His enemies I will clothe with shame,
But upon himself shall his crown shine.”
133:1:The Excellency of Brotherly Unity.
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!
133:2:It is like the precious oil [of consecration] poured on the head,
Coming down on the beard,
Even the beard of Aaron,
Coming down upon the edge of his [priestly] robes [consecrating the whole body].
133:3:It is like the dew of [Mount] Hermon
Coming down on the hills of Zion;
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing: life forevermore.
134:1:Greetings of Night Watchers.
A Song of Ascents.
Behold, bless and praise the Lord, all servants of the Lord (priests, Levites),
Who stand and serve by night in the house of the Lord.
134:2:Lift up your hands to the sanctuary
And bless the Lord.
134:3:May the Lord bless you from Zion,
He who made heaven and earth.
135:1:Praise the Lord’s Wonderful Works. Vanity of Idols.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, O servants of the Lord (priests, Levites),
135:2:You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the courts of the house of our God,
135:3:Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
Sing praises to His name, for it is gracious and lovely.
135:4:For the Lord has chosen [the descendants of] Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His own special treasure and possession.
135:5:For I know that the Lord is great
And that our Lord is above all gods.
135:6:Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all deeps—
135:7:Who causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth;
Who makes lightning for the rain,
Who brings the wind from His storehouses;
135:8:Who struck the firstborn of Egypt,
Both of man and animal;
135:9:Who sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt,
Upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
135:10:Who struck many nations
And killed mighty kings,
135:11:Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, king of Bashan,
And all the kingdoms of Canaan;
135:12:And He gave their land as a heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.
135:13:Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
Your fame and remembrance, O Lord, [endures] throughout all generations.
135:14:For the Lord will judge His people
And He will have compassion on His servants [revealing His mercy].
135:15:The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
135:16:They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;
135:17:They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath in their mouths.
135:18:Those who make idols are like them [absolutely worthless—spiritually blind, deaf, and powerless];
So is everyone who trusts in and relies on them.
135:19:O house of Israel, bless and praise the Lord [with gratitude];
O house of Aaron, bless the Lord;
135:20:O house of Levi, bless the Lord;
You who fear the Lord [and worship Him with obedience], bless the Lord [with grateful praise]!
135:21:Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
Who dwells [with us] at Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
136:1:Thanks for the Lord’s Goodness to Israel.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness (graciousness, mercy, compassion) endures forever.
136:2:Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness endures forever.
136:3:Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness endures forever.
136:4:To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:5:To Him who made the heavens with skill,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:6:To Him who stretched out the earth upon the waters,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:7:To Him who made the great lights,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:8:The sun to rule over the day,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:9:The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:10:To Him who struck the firstborn of Egypt,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:11:And brought Israel out from among them,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:12:With a strong hand and with an outstretched arm,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:13:To Him who divided the Red Sea into parts,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:14:And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:15:But tossed Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:16:To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:17:To Him who struck down great kings,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:18:And killed mighty kings,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:19:Sihon, king of the Amorites,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:20:And Og, king of Bashan,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:21:And gave their land as a heritage,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:22:Even a heritage to Israel His servant,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:23:Who [faithfully] remembered us in our lowly condition,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:24:And has rescued us from our enemies,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:25:Who gives food to all flesh,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;
136:26:Give thanks to the God of heaven,
For His lovingkindness (graciousness, mercy, compassion) endures forever.
137:1:An Experience of the Captivity.
By the rivers of Babylon,
There we [captives] sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion [the city God imprinted on our hearts].
137:2:On the willow trees in the midst of Babylon
We hung our harps.
137:3:For there they who took us captive demanded of us a song with words,
And our tormentors [who made a mockery of us demanded] amusement, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
137:4:How can we sing the Lord’s song
In a strange and foreign land?
137:5:If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget [her skill with the harp].
137:6:Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not prefer Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
137:7:Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom,
The day of [the fall of] Jerusalem,
Who said “Down, down [with her]
To her very foundation.”
137:8:O daughter of Babylon, you devastator,
How blessed will be the one
Who repays you [with destruction] as you have repaid us.
137:9:How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.
138:1:Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I sing praises to You before the [pagan] gods.
138:2:I will bow down [in worship] toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word together with Your name.
138:3:On the day I called, You answered me;
And You made me bold and confident with [renewed] strength in my life.
138:4:All the kings of the land will give thanks and praise You, O Lord,
When they have heard of the promises of Your mouth [which were fulfilled].
138:5:Yes, they will sing of the ways of the Lord [joyfully celebrating His wonderful acts],
For great is the glory and majesty of the Lord.
138:6:Though the Lord is exalted,
He regards the lowly [and invites them into His fellowship];
But the proud and haughty He knows from a distance.
138:7:Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
138:8:The Lord will accomplish that which concerns me;
Your [unwavering] lovingkindness, O Lord, endures forever—
Do not abandon the works of Your own hands.
139:1:God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me.
139:2:You know when I sit down and when I rise up [my entire life, everything I do];
You understand my thought from afar.
139:3:You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And You are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
139:4:Even before there is a word on my tongue [still unspoken],
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.
139:5:You have enclosed me behind and before,
And [You have] placed Your hand upon me.
139:6:Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high [above me], I cannot reach it.
139:7:Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
139:8:If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, You are there.
139:9:If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
139:10:Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will take hold of me.
139:11:If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me,
And the night will be the only light around me,”
139:12:Even the darkness is not dark to You and conceals nothing from You,
But the night shines as bright as the day;
Darkness and light are alike to You.
139:13:For You formed my innermost parts;
You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.
139:14:I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
139:15:My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.
139:16:Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].
139:17:How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
139:18:If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
139:19:O that You would kill the wicked, O God;
Go away from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
139:20:For they speak against You wickedly,
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
139:21:Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
139:22:I hate them with perfect and utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
139:23:Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts;
139:24:And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
140:1:Prayer for Protection against the Wicked.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men;
Protect me from violent men.
140:2:They devise evil things in their hearts;
They continually [gather together and] stir up wars.
140:3:They sharpen their tongues like a serpent’s;
Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.
140:4:Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
Protect me from violent men
Who intend to trip up my steps.
140:5:The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;
They have spread a net by the wayside;
They have set traps for me. Selah.
140:6:I said to the Lord, “You are my God;
Listen to the voice of my supplications, O Lord.
140:7:“O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
You have covered my head in the day of battle.
140:8:“Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
Do not further their evil device, that they not be exalted. Selah.
140:9:“Those who surround me raise their heads;
May the mischief of their own lips come upon them.
140:10:“Let burning coals fall upon them;
Let them be thrown into the fire,
Into deep [water] pits from which they cannot rise.
140:11:“Do not let a slanderer be established in the earth;
Let evil quickly hunt the violent man [to overthrow him and stop his evil acts].”
140:12:I know [with confidence] that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
And [will secure] justice for the poor.
140:13:Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name;
The upright will dwell in Your presence.
141:1:An Evening Prayer for Sanctification and Protection.
A Psalm of David.
Lord, I call upon You; hurry to me.
Listen to my voice when I call to You.
141:2:Let my prayer be counted as incense before You;
The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.
141:3:Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips [to keep me from speaking thoughtlessly].
141:4:Do not incline my heart to [consent to or tolerate] any evil thing,
Or to practice deeds of wickedness
With men who plan and do evil;
And let me not eat of their delicacies (be tempted by their gain).
141:5:Let the righteous [thoughtfully] strike (correct) me—it is a kindness [done to encourage my spiritual maturity].
It is [the choicest anointing] oil on the head;
Let my head not refuse [to accept and acknowledge and learn from] it;
For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds.
141:6:Their [wicked, godless] judges are thrown down the sides of the rocky cliff,
And they [who followed them] will hear my words, for they are pleasant (just).
141:7:As when the one plows and breaks open the ground [and the soil scatters behind him],
Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol [by the injustices of the wicked].
141:8:For my eyes are toward You, O God, the Lord;
In You I take refuge; do not pour out my life nor leave me defenseless.
141:9:Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me,
And from the snares of those who do evil.
141:10:Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
While I pass by and safely escape [from danger].
142:1:Prayer for Help in Trouble.
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of David; when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord;
I make supplication with my voice to the Lord.
142:2:I pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare my trouble before Him.
142:3:When my spirit was overwhelmed and weak within me [wrapped in darkness],
You knew my path.
In the way where I walk
They have hidden a trap for me.
142:4:Look to the right [the point of attack] and see;
For there is no one who has regard for me [to act in my favor].
Escape has failed me and I have nowhere to run;
No one cares about my life.
142:5:I cried out to You, O Lord;
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
142:6:“Give attention to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Rescue me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I.
142:7:“Bring my soul out of prison (adversity),
So that I may give thanks and praise Your name;
The righteous will surround me [in triumph],
For You will look after me.”
143:1:Prayer for Help and Guidance.
A Psalm of David.
Hear my prayer, O Lord,
Listen to my supplications!
Answer me in Your faithfulness, and in Your righteousness.
143:2:And do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For in Your sight no man living is righteous or justified.
143:3:For the enemy has persecuted me,
He has crushed my life down to the ground;
He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have been long dead.
143:4:Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed and weak within me [wrapped in darkness];
My heart grows numb within me.
143:5:I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that You have done;
I ponder the work of Your hands.
143:6:I reach out my hands to You;
My throat thirsts for You, as a parched land [thirsts for water]. Selah.
143:7:Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails;
Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will become like those who go down into the pit (grave).
143:8:Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For I trust in You.
Teach me the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.
143:9:Rescue me, O Lord, from my enemies;
I take refuge in You.
143:10:Teach me to do Your will [so that I may please You],
For You are my God;
Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
143:11:Save my life, O Lord, for Your name’s sake;
In Your righteousness bring my life out of trouble.
143:12:In your lovingkindness, silence and destroy my enemies
And destroy all those who afflict my life,
For I am Your servant.
144:1:Prayer for Rescue and Prosperity.
A Psalm of David.
Blessed be the Lord, my Rock and my great strength,
Who trains my hands for war
And my fingers for battle;
144:2:My [steadfast] lovingkindness and my fortress,
My high tower and my rescuer,
My shield and He in whom I take refuge,
Who subdues my people under me.
144:3:Lord, what is man that You take notice of him?
Or the son of man that You think of him?
144:4:Man is like a mere breath;
His days are like a shadow that passes away.
144:5:Bow Your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
144:6:Flash lightning and scatter my enemies;
Send out Your arrows and confuse and embarrass and frustrate them.
144:7:Stretch out Your hand from above;
Set me free and rescue me from great waters,
Out of the hands of [hostile] foreigners [who surround us]
144:8:Whose mouths speak deceit [without restraint],
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
144:9:I will sing a new song to You, O God;
Upon a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,
144:10:Who gives salvation to kings,
Who sets David His servant free from the evil sword.
144:11:Set me free and rescue me from the hand of [hostile] foreigners,
Whose mouth speaks deceit [without restraint],
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
144:12:Let our sons in their youth be like plants full grown,
And our daughters like corner pillars fashioned for a palace;
144:13:Let our barns be full, supplying every kind of produce,
And our flocks bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields;
144:14:Let our cattle bear
Without mishap and without loss,
And let there be no outcry in our streets!
144:15:How blessed and favored are the people in such circumstance;
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored] are the people whose God is the Lord!
145:1:The Lord Extolled for His Goodness.
A Psalm of praise. Of David.
I will exalt You, my God, O King,
And [with gratitude and submissive wonder] I will bless Your name forever and ever.
145:2:Every day I will bless You and lovingly praise You;
Yes, [with awe-inspired reverence] I will praise Your name forever and ever.
145:3:Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is [so vast and profound as to be] unsearchable [incomprehensible to man].
145:4:One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty and remarkable acts.
145:5:On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
145:6:People will speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
And [with gratitude and submissive wonder] I will tell of Your greatness.
145:7:They will overflow [like a fountain] when they speak of Your great and abundant goodness
And will sing joyfully of Your righteousness.
145:8:The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
145:9:The Lord is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works [the entirety of things created].
145:10:All Your works shall give thanks to You and praise You, O Lord,
And Your godly ones will bless You.
145:11:They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power,
145:12:To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
And the glorious majesty of Your kingdom.
145:13:Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
145:14:The Lord upholds all those [of His own] who fall
And raises up all those who are bowed down.
145:15:The eyes of all look to You [in hopeful expectation],
And You give them their food in due time.
145:16:You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
145:17:The Lord is [unwaveringly] righteous in all His ways
And gracious and kind in all His works.
145:18:The Lord is near to all who call on Him,
To all who call on Him in truth (without guile).
145:19:He will fulfill the desire of those who fear and worship Him [with awe-inspired reverence and obedience];
He also will hear their cry and will save them.
145:20:The Lord keeps all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
145:21:My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh will bless and gratefully praise His holy name forever and ever.
146:1:The Lord an Abundant Helper.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
146:2:While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
146:3:Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation (help).
146:4:When his spirit leaves him, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts and plans perish.
146:5:How blessed and graciously favored is he whose help is the God of Jacob (Israel),
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
146:6:Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them,
Who keeps truth and is faithful forever,
146:7:Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets free the prisoners.
146:8:The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous [the upright in heart].
146:9:The Lord protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow;
But He makes crooked the way of the wicked.
146:10:The Lord shall reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
147:1:Praise for Jerusalem’s Restoration and Prosperity.
Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our [gracious and majestic] God;
Praise is becoming and appropriate.
147:2:The Lord is building up Jerusalem;
He is gathering [together] the exiles of Israel.
147:3:He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their wounds [healing their pain and comforting their sorrow].
147:4:He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by their names.
147:5:Great is our [majestic and mighty] Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is inexhaustible [infinite, boundless].
147:6:The Lord lifts up the humble;
He casts the wicked down to the ground.
147:7:Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
Sing praises to our God with the lyre,
147:8:Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who provides rain for the earth,
Who makes grass grow on the mountains.
147:9:He gives to the beast its food,
And to the young ravens that for which they cry.
147:10:He does not delight in the strength (military power) of the horse,
Nor does He take pleasure in the legs (strength) of a man.
147:11:The Lord favors those who fear and worship Him [with awe-inspired reverence and obedience],
Those who wait for His mercy and lovingkindness.
147:12:Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
147:13:For He has strengthened the bars of your gates,
He has blessed your children within you.
147:14:He makes peace in your borders;
He satisfies you with the finest of the wheat.
147:15:He sends His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
147:16:He gives [to the earth] snow like [a blanket of] wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes.
147:17:He casts out His ice like fragments;
Who can stand before His cold?
147:18:He sends out His word and melts the ice;
He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.
147:19:He declares His word to Jacob,
His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.
147:20:He has not dealt this way with any [other] nation;
They have not known [understood, appreciated, heeded, or cherished] His ordinances.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
148:1:The Whole Creation Invoked to Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
148:2:Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts (armies)!
148:3:Praise Him, sun and moon:
Praise Him, all stars of light!
148:4:Praise Him, highest heavens,
And the waters above the heavens!
148:5:Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For He commanded and they were created.
148:6:He has also established them forever and ever;
He has made a decree which shall not pass away.
148:7:Praise the Lord from the earth,
Sea monsters and all deeps;
148:8:Lightning and hail, snow and fog;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His orders;
148:9:Mountains and all hills;
Fruitful trees and all cedars;
148:10:Beasts and all cattle;
Creeping things and winged birds;
148:11:Kings of the earth and all people;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
148:12:Both young men and virgins;
Old men and children.
148:13:Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted and supreme;
His glory and majesty are above earth and heaven.
148:14:He has lifted up a horn for His people [giving them strength, prosperity, dignity, and preeminence],
Praise for all His godly ones;
For the people of Israel, a people near to Him.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
149:1:Israel Invoked to Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
And praise Him in the congregation of His godly ones (believers).
149:2:Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
Let Zion’s children rejoice in their King.
149:3:Let them praise His name with dancing;
Let them sing praises to Him with the tambourine and lyre.
149:4:For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation.
149:5:Let the godly ones exult in glory;
Let them sing for joy on their beds.
149:6:Let the high praises of God be in their throats,
And a two-edged sword in their hands,
149:7:To execute vengeance on the nations
And punishment on the peoples,
149:8:To bind their kings with chains
And their nobles with fetters of iron,
149:9:To execute on them the judgment written.
This is the honor for all His godly ones.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
150:1:A Psalm of Praise.
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty heavens.
150:2:Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to [the abundance of] His greatness.
150:3:Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.
150:4:Praise Him with tambourine and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flute.
150:5:Praise Him with resounding cymbals;
Praise Him with loud cymbals.
150:6:Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
proverbs:1:1:The Usefulness of Proverbs
The proverbs (truths obscurely expressed, maxims) of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
1:2:To know [skillful and godly] wisdom and instruction;
To discern and comprehend the words of understanding and insight,
1:3:To receive instruction in wise behavior and the discipline of wise thoughtfulness,
Righteousness, justice, and integrity;
1:4:That prudence (good judgment, astute common sense) may be given to the naive or inexperienced [who are easily misled],
And knowledge and discretion (intelligent discernment) to the youth,
1:5:The wise will hear and increase their learning,
And the person of understanding will acquire wise counsel and the skill [to steer his course wisely and lead others to the truth],
1:6:To understand a proverb and a figure [of speech] or an enigma with its interpretation,
And the words of the wise and their riddles [that require reflection].
1:7:The [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome] is the beginning and the preeminent part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence];
But arrogant fools despise [skillful and godly] wisdom and instruction and self-discipline.
1:8:The Enticement of Sinners
My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not reject the teaching of your mother.
1:9:For they are a garland of grace on your head,
And chains and ornaments [of gold] around your neck.
1:10:My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
1:11:If they say, “Come with us;
Let us lie in wait to shed blood,
Let us ambush the innocent without cause;
1:12:Let us swallow them alive like Sheol (the place of the dead),
Even whole, as those who go down to the pit [of death];
1:13:We will find and take all kinds of precious possessions,
We will fill our houses with spoil;
1:14:Throw in your lot with us [they insist];
We will all have one money bag [in common],”
1:15:My son, do not walk on the road with them;
Keep your foot [far] away from their path,
1:16:For their feet run to evil,
And they hurry to shed blood.
1:17:Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net
In the sight of any bird;
1:18:But [when these people set a trap for others] they lie in wait for their own blood;
They set an ambush for their own lives [and rush to their destruction].
1:19:So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
Greed takes away the lives of its possessors.
1:20:Wisdom Warns
Wisdom shouts in the street,
She raises her voice in the markets;
1:21:She calls out at the head of the noisy streets [where large crowds gather];
At the entrance of the city gates she speaks her words:
1:22:“How long, O naive ones [you who are easily misled], will you love being simple-minded and undiscerning?
How long will scoffers [who ridicule and deride] delight in scoffing,
How long will fools [who obstinately mock truth] hate knowledge?
1:23:“If you will turn and pay attention to my rebuke,
Behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
1:24:“Because I called and you refused [to answer],
I stretched out my hand and no one has paid attention [to my offer];
1:25:And you treated all my counsel as nothing
And would not accept my reprimand,
1:26:I also will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when your dread and panic come,
1:27:When your dread and panic come like a storm,
And your disaster comes like a whirlwind,
When anxiety and distress come upon you [as retribution].
1:28:“Then they will call upon me (Wisdom), but I will not answer;
They will seek me eagerly but they will not find me,
1:29:Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord [that is, obeying Him with reverence and awe-filled respect],
1:30:They would not accept my counsel,
And they spurned all my rebuke.
1:31:“Therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own [wicked] way
And be satiated with [the penalty of] their own devices.
1:32:“For the turning away of the naive will kill them,
And the careless ease of [self-righteous] fools will destroy them.
1:33:“But whoever listens to me (Wisdom) will live securely and in confident trust
And will be at ease, without fear or dread of evil.”
2:1:The Pursuit of Wisdom Brings Security
My son, if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,
2:2:So that your ear is attentive to [skillful and godly] wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding [seeking it conscientiously and striving for it eagerly];
2:3:Yes, if you cry out for insight,
And lift up your voice for understanding;
2:4:If you seek skillful and godly wisdom as you would silver
And search for her as you would hidden treasures;
2:5:Then you will understand the [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome]
And discover the knowledge of God.
2:6:For the Lord gives [skillful and godly] wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
2:7:He stores away sound wisdom for the righteous [those who are in right standing with Him];
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity [those of honorable character and moral courage],
2:8:He guards the paths of justice;
And He preserves the way of His saints (believers).
2:9:Then you will understand righteousness and justice [in every circumstance]
And integrity and every good path.
2:10:For [skillful and godly] wisdom will enter your heart
And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
2:11:Discretion will watch over you,
Understanding and discernment will guard you,
2:12:To keep you from the way of evil and the evil man,
From the man who speaks perverse things;
2:13:From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
2:14:Who find joy in doing evil
And delight in the perversity of evil,
2:15:Whose paths are crooked,
And who are devious in their ways;
2:16:To keep you from the immoral woman;
From the seductress with her flattering words,
2:17:Who leaves the companion (husband) of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.
2:18:For her house leads down to death
And her paths lead to the dead;
2:19:None who go to her return again,
Nor do they regain the paths of life—
2:20:So you will walk in the way of good men [that is, those of personal integrity, moral courage and honorable character],
And keep to the paths of the righteous.
2:21:For the upright [those who are in right standing with God] will live in the land
And those [of integrity] who are blameless [in God’s sight] will remain in it;
2:22:But the wicked will be cut off from the land
And the treacherous shall be [forcibly] uprooted and removed from it.
3:1:The Rewards of Wisdom
My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;
3:2:For length of days and years of life [worth living]
And tranquility and prosperity [the wholeness of life’s blessings] they will add to you.
3:3:Do not let mercy and kindness and truth leave you [instead let these qualities define you];
Bind them [securely] around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
3:4:So find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.
3:5:Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
3:6:In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
3:7:Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil.
3:8:It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts]
And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones.
3:9:Honor the Lord with your wealth
And with the first fruits of all your crops (income);
3:10:Then your barns will be abundantly filled
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
3:11:My son, do not reject or take lightly the discipline of the Lord [learn from your mistakes and the testing that comes from His correction through discipline];
Nor despise His rebuke,
3:12:For those whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
3:13:Happy [blessed, considered fortunate, to be admired] is the man who finds [skillful and godly] wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding and insight [learning from God’s word and life’s experiences],
3:14:For wisdom’s profit is better than the profit of silver,
And her gain is better than fine gold.
3:15:She is more precious than rubies;
And nothing you can wish for compares with her [in value].
3:16:Long life is in her right hand;
In her left hand are riches and honor.
3:17:Her ways are highways of pleasantness and favor,
And all her paths are peace.
3:18:She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy [blessed, considered fortunate, to be admired] is everyone who holds her tightly.
3:19:The Lord by His wisdom has founded the earth;
By His understanding He has established the heavens.
3:20:By His knowledge the deeps were broken up
And the clouds drip with dew.
3:21:My son, let them not escape from your sight,
But keep sound wisdom and discretion,
3:22:And they will be life to your soul (your inner self)
And a gracious adornment to your neck (your outer self).
3:23:Then you will walk on your way [of life] securely
And your foot will not stumble.
3:24:When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
3:25:Do not be afraid of sudden fear
Nor of the storm of the wicked when it comes [since you will be blameless];
3:26:For the Lord will be your confidence, firm and strong,
And will keep your foot from being caught [in a trap].
3:27:Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due [its rightful recipients],
When it is in your power to do it.
3:28:Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you.
3:29:Do not devise evil against your neighbor,
Who lives securely beside you.
3:30:Do not quarrel with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.
3:31:Do not envy a man of violence
And do not choose any of his ways.
3:32:For the devious are repulsive to the Lord;
But His private counsel is with the upright [those with spiritual integrity and moral courage].
3:33:The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked,
But He blesses the home of the just and righteous.
3:34:Though He scoffs at the scoffers and scorns the scorners,
Yet He gives His grace [His undeserved favor] to the humble [those who give up self-importance].
3:35:The wise will inherit honor and glory,
But dishonor and shame is conferred on fools.
4:1:A Father’s Instruction
Hear, O children, the instruction of a father,
And pay attention [and be willing to learn] so that you may gain understanding and intelligent discernment.
4:2:For I give you good doctrine;
Do not turn away from my instruction.
4:3:When I was a son with my father (David),
Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother (Bathsheba),
4:4:He taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
Keep my commandments and live.
4:5:“Get [skillful and godly] wisdom! Acquire understanding [actively seek spiritual discernment, mature comprehension, and logical interpretation]!
Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
4:6:“Do not turn away from her (Wisdom) and she will guard and protect you;
Love her, and she will watch over you.
4:7:“The beginning of wisdom is: Get [skillful and godly] wisdom [it is preeminent]!
And with all your acquiring, get understanding [actively seek spiritual discernment, mature comprehension, and logical interpretation].
4:8:“Prize wisdom [and exalt her], and she will exalt you;
She will honor you if you embrace her.
4:9:“She will place on your head a garland of grace;
She will present you with a crown of beauty and glory.”
4:10:Hear, my son, and accept my sayings,
And the years of your life will be many.
4:11:I have instructed you in the way of [skillful and godly] wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.
4:12:When you walk, your steps will not be impeded [for your path will be clear and open];
And when you run, you will not stumble.
4:13:Take hold of instruction; [actively seek it, grip it firmly and] do not let go.
Guard her, for she is your life.
4:14:Do not enter the path of the wicked,
And do not go the way of evil men.
4:15:Avoid it, do not travel on it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
4:16:For the wicked cannot sleep unless they do evil;
And they are deprived of sleep unless they make someone stumble and fall.
4:17:For they eat the bread of wickedness
And drink the wine of violence.
4:18:But the path of the just (righteous) is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until [it reaches its full strength and glory in] the perfect day.
4:19:The way of the wicked is like [deep] darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.
4:20:My son, pay attention to my words and be willing to learn;
Open your ears to my sayings.
4:21:Do not let them escape from your sight;
Keep them in the center of your heart.
4:22:For they are life to those who find them,
And healing and health to all their flesh.
4:23:Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
4:24:Put away from you a deceitful (lying, misleading) mouth,
And put devious lips far from you.
4:25:Let your eyes look directly ahead [toward the path of moral courage]
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you [toward the path of integrity].
4:26:Consider well and watch carefully the path of your feet,
And all your ways will be steadfast and sure.
4:27:Do not turn away to the right nor to the left [where evil may lurk];
Turn your foot from [the path of] evil.
5:1:Pitfalls of Immorality
My son, be attentive to my wisdom [godly wisdom learned by costly experience],
Incline your ear to my understanding;
5:2:That you may exercise discrimination and discretion (good judgment),
And your lips may reserve knowledge and answer wisely [to temptation].
5:3:For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey [like a honeycomb]
And her speech is smoother than oil;
5:4:But in the end she is bitter like [the extract of] wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
5:5:Her feet go down to death;
Her steps take hold of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
5:6:So that she does not think [seriously] about the path of life;
Her ways are aimless and unstable; you cannot know where her path leads.
5:7:Now then, my sons, listen to me
And do not depart from (forget) the words of my mouth.
5:8:Let your way [in life] be far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house [avoid even being near the places of temptation],
5:9:Or you will give your honor to others,
And your years to the cruel one,
5:10:And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned wealth will go to the house of a foreigner [who does not know God];
5:11:And you will groan when your life is ending,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;
5:12:And you say, “How I hated instruction and discipline,
And my heart despised correction and reproof!
5:13:“I have not listened to the voice of my teachers,
Nor have I inclined my ear to those who instructed me.
5:14:“I was almost in total ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
5:15:Drink water from your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship]
And fresh running water from your own well.
5:16:Should your springs (children) be dispersed,
As streams of water in the streets?
5:17:[Confine yourself to your own wife.] Let your children be yours alone,
And not the children of strangers with you.
5:18:Let your fountain (wife) be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity],
And rejoice in the wife of your youth.
5:19:Let her be as a loving hind and graceful doe,
Let her breasts refresh and satisfy you at all times;
Always be exhilarated and delight in her love.
5:20:Why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an immoral woman
And embrace the bosom of an outsider (pagan)?
5:21:For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord,
And He carefully watches all of his paths [all of his comings and goings].
5:22:The iniquities done by a wicked man will trap him,
And he will be held with the cords of his sin.
5:23:He will die for lack of instruction (discipline),
And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray and be lost.
6:1:Parental Counsel
My son, if you have become surety (guaranteed a debt or obligation) for your neighbor,
If you have given your pledge for [the debt of] a stranger or another [outside your family],
6:2:If you have been snared with the words of your lips,
If you have been trapped by the speech of your mouth,
6:3:Do this now, my son, and release yourself [from the obligation];
Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
Go humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor [to pay his debt and release you].
6:4:Give no [unnecessary] sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
6:5:Tear yourself away like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6:6:Go to the ant, O lazy one;
Observe her ways and be wise,
6:7:Which, having no chief,
Overseer or ruler,
6:8:She prepares her food in the summer
And brings in her provisions [of food for the winter] in the harvest.
6:9:How long will you lie down, O lazy one?
When will you arise from your sleep [and learn self-discipline]?
6:10:“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to lie down and rest”—
6:11:So your poverty will come like an approaching prowler who walks [slowly, but surely]
And your need [will come] like an armed man [making you helpless].
6:12:A worthless person, a wicked man,
Is one who walks with a perverse (corrupt, vulgar) mouth.
6:13:Who winks with his eyes [in mockery], who shuffles his feet [to signal],
Who points with his fingers [to give subversive instruction];
6:14:Who perversely in his heart plots trouble and evil continually;
Who spreads discord and strife.
6:15:Therefore [the crushing weight of] his disaster will come suddenly upon him;
Instantly he will be broken, and there will be no healing or remedy [because he has no heart for God].
6:16:These six things the Lord hates;
Indeed, seven are repulsive to Him:
6:17:A proud look [the attitude that makes one overestimate oneself and discount others], a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
6:18:A heart that creates wicked plans,
Feet that run swiftly to evil,
6:19:A false witness who breathes out lies [even half-truths],
And one who spreads discord (rumors) among brothers.
6:20:My son, be guided by your father’s [God-given] commandment (instruction)
And do not reject the teaching of your mother;
6:21:Bind them continually upon your heart (in your thoughts),
And tie them around your neck.
6:22:When you walk about, they (the godly teachings of your parents) will guide you;
When you sleep, they will keep watch over you;
And when you awake, they will talk to you.
6:23:For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching [of the law] is light,
And reproofs (rebukes) for discipline are the way of life,
6:24:To keep you from the evil woman,
From [the flattery of] the smooth tongue of an immoral woman.
6:25:Do not desire (lust after) her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her capture you with her eyelashes.
6:26:For on account of a prostitute one is reduced to a piece of bread [to be eaten up],
And the immoral woman hunts [with a hook] the precious life [of a man].
6:27:Can a man take fire to his chest
And his clothes not be burned?
6:28:Or can a man walk on hot coals
And his feet not be scorched?
6:29:So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her will not be found innocent or go unpunished.
6:30:People do not despise a thief if he steals
To satisfy himself when he is hungry;
6:31:But when he is found, he must repay seven times [what he stole];
He must give all the property of his house [if necessary to meet his fine].
6:32:But whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks common sense and sound judgment and an understanding [of moral principles];
He who would destroy his soul does it.
6:33:Wounds and disgrace he will find,
And his reproach (blame) will not be blotted out.
6:34:For jealousy enrages the [wronged] husband;
He will not spare [the guilty one] on the day of vengeance.
6:35:He will not accept any ransom [offered to buy him off from demanding full punishment];
Nor will he be satisfied though you offer him many gifts (bribes).
7:1:The Wiles of the Prostitute
My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you [so they are readily available to guide you].
7:2:Keep my commandments and live,
And keep my teaching and law as the apple of your eye.
7:3:Bind them [securely] on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
7:4:Say to [skillful and godly] wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And regard understanding and intelligent insight as your intimate friends;
7:5:That they may keep you from the immoral woman,
From the foreigner [who does not observe God’s laws and] who flatters with her [smooth] words.
7:6:For at the window of my house
I looked out through my lattice.
7:7:And among the naive [the inexperienced and gullible],
I saw among the youths
A young man lacking [good] sense,
7:8:Passing through the street near her corner;
And he took the path to her house
7:9:In the twilight, in the evening;
In the black and dark night.
7:10:And there a woman met him,
Dressed as a prostitute and sly and cunning of heart.
7:11:She was boisterous and rebellious;
She would not stay at home.
7:12:At times she was in the streets, at times in the market places,
Lurking and setting her ambush at every corner.
7:13:So she caught him and kissed him
And with a brazen and impudent face she said to him:
7:14:“I have peace offerings with me;
Today I have paid my vows.
7:15:“So I came out to meet you [that you might share with me the feast of my offering],
Diligently I sought your face and I have found you.
7:16:“I have spread my couch with coverings and cushions of tapestry,
With colored fine linen of Egypt.
7:17:“I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
7:18:“Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;
Let us console and delight ourselves with love.
7:19:“For my husband is not at home.
He has gone on a long journey;
7:20:He has taken a bag of money with him,
And he will come home on the appointed day.”
7:21:With her many persuasions she caused him to yield;
With her flattering lips she seduced him.
7:22:Suddenly he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter [not knowing the outcome],
Or as one in stocks going to the correction [to be given] to a fool,
7:23:Until an arrow pierced his liver [with a mortal wound];
Like a bird fluttering straight into the net,
He did not know that it would cost him his life.
7:24:Now therefore, my sons, listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
7:25:Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her [evil, immoral] paths.
7:26:For she has cast down many [mortally] wounded;
Indeed, all who were killed by her were strong.
7:27:Her house is the way to Sheol,
Descending to the chambers of death.
8:1:The Commendation of Wisdom
Does not wisdom call,
And understanding lift up her voice?
8:2:On the top of the heights beside the way,
Where the paths meet, wisdom takes her stand;
8:3:Beside the gates, at the entrance to the city,
At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:
8:4:“To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is directed to the sons of men.
8:5:“O you naive or inexperienced [who are easily misled], understand prudence and seek astute common sense;
And, O you [closed-minded, self-confident] fools, understand wisdom [seek the insight and self-discipline that leads to godly living].
8:6:“Listen, for I will speak excellent and noble things;
And the opening of my lips will reveal right things.
8:7:“For my mouth will utter truth,
And wickedness is repulsive and loathsome to my lips.
8:8:“All the words of my mouth are in righteousness (upright, in right standing with God);
There is nothing contrary to truth or perverted (crooked) in them.
8:9:“They are all straightforward to him who understands [with an open and willing mind],
And right to those who find knowledge and live by it.
8:10:“Take my instruction rather than [seeking] silver,
And take knowledge rather than choicest gold,
8:11:“For wisdom is better than rubies;
And all desirable things cannot compare with her.
8:12:“I, [godly] wisdom, reside with prudence [good judgment, moral courage and astute common sense],
And I find knowledge and discretion.
8:13:“The [reverent] fear and worshipful awe of the Lord includes the hatred of evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way,
And the perverted mouth, I hate.
8:14:“Counsel is mine and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, power and strength are mine.
8:15:“By me kings reign
And rulers decide and decree justice.
8:16:“By me princes rule, and nobles,
All who judge and govern rightly.
8:17:“I love those who love me;
And those who seek me early and diligently will find me.
8:18:“Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring wealth and righteousness (right standing with God).
8:19:“My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold,
And my yield is better than choicest silver.
8:20:“I, [Wisdom, continuously] walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
8:21:That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth and true riches,
And that I may fill their treasuries.
8:22:“The Lord created and possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old [were accomplished].
8:23:“From everlasting I was established and ordained,
From the beginning, before the earth existed, [I, godly wisdom, existed].
8:24:“When there were no ocean depths I was born,
When there were no fountains and springs overflowing with water.
8:25:“Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was born;
8:26:While He had not yet made the earth and the fields,
Or the first of the dust of the earth.
8:27:“When He established the heavens, I [Wisdom] was there;
When He drew a circle upon the face of the deep,
8:28:When He made firm the skies above,
When the fountains and springs of the deep became fixed and strong,
8:29:When He set for the sea its boundary
So that the waters would not transgress [the boundaries set by] His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth—
8:30:Then I was beside Him, as a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight;
Rejoicing before Him always,
8:31:Rejoicing in the world, His inhabited earth,
And having my delight in the sons of men.
8:32:“Now therefore, O sons, listen to me,
For blessed [happy, prosperous, to be admired] are they who keep my ways.
8:33:“Heed (pay attention to) instruction and be wise,
And do not ignore or neglect it.
8:34:“Blessed [happy, prosperous, to be admired] is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at my doorposts.
8:35:“For whoever finds me (Wisdom) finds life
And obtains favor and grace from the Lord.
8:36:“But he who fails to find me or sins against me injures himself;
All those who hate me love and court death.”
9:1:Wisdom’s Invitation
Wisdom has built her [spacious and sufficient] house;
She has hewn out and set up her seven pillars.
9:2:She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine;
She has also set her table.
9:3:She has sent out her maidens, she calls
From the highest places of the city:
9:4:“Whoever is naive or inexperienced, let him turn in here!”
As for him who lacks understanding, she says,
9:5:“Come, eat my food
And drink the wine I have mixed [and accept my gifts].
9:6:“Leave [behind] your foolishness [and the foolish] and live,
And walk in the way of insight and understanding.”
9:7:He who corrects and instructs a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,
And he who rebukes a wicked man gets insults for himself.
9:8:Do not correct a scoffer [who foolishly ridicules and takes no responsibility for his error] or he will hate you;
Correct a wise man [who learns from his error], and he will love you.
9:9:Give instruction to a wise man and he will become even wiser;
Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.
9:10:The [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome] is the beginning and the preeminent part of wisdom [its starting point and its essence],
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding and spiritual insight.
9:11:For by me (wisdom from God) your days will be multiplied,
And years of life shall be increased.
9:12:If you are wise, you are wise for yourself [for your own benefit];
If you scoff [thoughtlessly ridicule and disdain], you alone will pay the penalty.
9:13:The foolish woman is restless and noisy;
She is naive and easily misled and thoughtless, and knows nothing at all [of eternal value].
9:14:She sits at the doorway of her house,
On a seat by the high and conspicuous places of the city,
9:15:Calling to those who pass by,
Who are making their paths straight:
9:16:“Whoever is naive or inexperienced, let him turn in here!”
And to him who lacks understanding (common sense), she says,
9:17:“Stolen waters (pleasures) are sweet [because they are forbidden];
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
9:18:But he does not know that the spirits of the dead are there,
And that her guests are [already] in the depths of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).
10:1:Contrast of the Righteous and the Wicked
The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish [stubborn] son [who refuses to learn] is a grief to his mother.
10:2:Treasures of wickedness and ill-gotten gains do not profit,
But righteousness and moral integrity in daily life rescues from death.
10:3:The Lord will not allow the righteous to hunger [God will meet all his needs],
But He will reject and cast away the craving of the wicked.
10:4:Poor is he who works with a negligent and idle hand,
But the hand of the diligent makes him rich.
10:5:He who gathers during summer and takes advantage of his opportunities is a son who acts wisely,
But he who sleeps during harvest and ignores the moment of opportunity is a son who acts shamefully.
10:6:Blessings are on the head of the righteous [the upright, those in right standing with God],
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
10:7:The memory of the righteous [person] is a [source of] blessing,
But the name of the wicked will [be forgotten and] rot [like a corpse].
10:8:The wise in heart [are willing to learn so they] will accept and obey commands (instruction),
But the babbling fool [who is arrogant and thinks himself wise] will come to ruin.
10:9:He who walks in integrity and with moral character walks securely,
But he who takes a crooked way will be discovered and punished.
10:10:He who [maliciously] winks the eye [of evil intent] causes trouble;
And the babbling fool [who is arrogant and thinks himself wise] will come to ruin.
10:11:The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life and his words of wisdom are a source of blessing,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence and evil.
10:12:Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers and overwhelms all transgressions [forgiving and overlooking another’s faults].
10:13:On the lips of the discerning, [skillful and godly] wisdom is found,
But discipline and the rod are for the back of the one who is without common sense and understanding.
10:14:Wise men store up and treasure knowledge [in mind and heart],
But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.
10:15:The rich man’s wealth is his fortress;
The ruin of the poor is their poverty.
10:16:The wages of the righteous [the upright, those in right standing with God] is [a worthwhile, meaningful] life,
The income of the wicked, punishment.
10:17:He who learns from instruction and correction is on the [right] path of life [and for others his example is a path toward wisdom and blessing],
But he who ignores and refuses correction goes off course [and for others his example is a path toward sin and ruin].
10:18:He who hides hatred has lying lips,
And he who spreads slander is a fool.
10:19:When there are many words, transgression and offense are unavoidable,
But he who controls his lips and keeps thoughtful silence is wise.
10:20:The tongue of the righteous is like precious silver (greatly valued);
The heart of the wicked is worth little.
10:21:The lips of the righteous feed and guide many,
But fools [who reject God and His wisdom] die for lack of understanding.
10:22:The blessing of the Lord brings [true] riches,
And He adds no sorrow to it [for it comes as a blessing from God].
10:23:Engaging in evil is like sport to the fool [who refuses wisdom and chases sin],
But to a man of understanding [skillful and godly] wisdom brings joy.
10:24:What the wicked fears will come upon him,
But the desire of the righteous [for the blessings of God] will be granted.
10:25:When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more,
But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.
10:26:Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
So is the lazy one to those who send him to work.
10:27:The [reverent] fear of the Lord [worshiping, obeying, serving, and trusting Him with awe-filled respect] prolongs one’s life,
But the years of the wicked will be shortened.
10:28:The hope of the righteous [those of honorable character and integrity] is joy,
But the expectation of the wicked [those who oppose God and ignore His wisdom] comes to nothing.
10:29:The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright,
But it is ruin to those who do evil.
10:30:The [consistently] righteous will never be shaken,
But the wicked will not inhabit the earth.
10:31:The mouth of the righteous flows with [skillful and godly] wisdom,
But the perverted tongue will be cut out.
10:32:The lips of the righteous know (speak) what is acceptable,
But the mouth of the wicked knows (speaks) what is perverted (twisted).
11:1:Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
A false balance and dishonest business practices are extremely offensive to the Lord,
But an accurate scale is His delight.
11:2:When pride comes [boiling up with an arrogant attitude of self-importance], then come dishonor and shame,
But with the humble [the teachable who have been chiseled by trial and who have learned to walk humbly with God] there is wisdom and soundness of mind.
11:3:The integrity and moral courage of the upright will guide them,
But the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.
11:4:Riches will not provide security in the day of wrath and judgment,
But righteousness rescues from death.
11:5:The righteousness of the blameless will smooth their way and keep it straight,
But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
11:6:The righteousness of the upright will rescue them,
But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.
11:7:When the wicked man dies, his expectation will perish;
And the hope of [godless] strong men perishes.
11:8:The righteous is rescued from trouble,
And the wicked takes his place.
11:9:With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor,
But through knowledge and discernment the righteous will be rescued.
11:10:When it goes well for the righteous, the city rejoices,
And when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.
11:11:By the blessing [of the influence] of the upright the city is exalted,
But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.
11:12:He who despises his neighbor lacks sense,
But a man of understanding keeps silent.
11:13:He who goes about as a gossip reveals secrets,
But he who is trustworthy and faithful keeps a matter hidden.
11:14:Where there is no [wise, intelligent] guidance, the people fall [and go off course like a ship without a helm],
But in the abundance of [wise and godly] counselors there is victory.
11:15:He who puts up security and guarantees a debt for an outsider will surely suffer [for his foolishness],
But he who hates (declines) being a guarantor is secure [from its penalties].
11:16:A gracious and good woman attains honor,
And ruthless men attain riches [but not respect].
11:17:The merciful and generous man benefits his soul [for his behavior returns to bless him],
But the cruel and callous man does himself harm.
11:18:The wicked man earns deceptive wages,
But he who sows righteousness and lives his life with integrity will have a true reward [that is both permanent and satisfying].
11:19:He who is steadfast in righteousness attains life,
But he who pursues evil attains his own death.
11:20:The perverse in heart are repulsive and shamefully vile to the Lord,
But those who are blameless and above reproach in their walk are His delight!
11:21:Assuredly, the evil man will not go unpunished,
But the descendants of the righteous will be freed.
11:22:As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout,
So is a beautiful woman who is without discretion [her lack of character mocks her beauty].
11:23:The desire of the righteous brings only good,
But the expectation of the wicked brings wrath.
11:24:There is the one who [generously] scatters [abroad], and yet increases all the more;
And there is the one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want and poverty.
11:25:The generous man [is a source of blessing and] shall be prosperous and enriched,
And he who waters will himself be watered [reaping the generosity he has sown].
11:26:The people curse him who holds back grain [when the public needs it],
But a blessing [from God and man] is upon the head of him who sells it.
11:27:He who diligently seeks good seeks favor and grace,
But he who seeks evil, evil will come to him.
11:28:He who leans on and trusts in and is confident in his riches will fall,
But the righteous [who trust in God’s provision] will flourish like a green leaf.
11:29:He who troubles (mismanages) his own house will inherit the wind (nothing),
And the foolish will be a servant to the wise-hearted.
11:30:The fruit of the [consistently] righteous is a tree of life,
And he who is wise captures and wins souls [for God—he gathers them for eternity].
11:31:If the righteous will be rewarded on the earth [with godly blessings],
How much more [will] the wicked and the sinner [be repaid with punishment]!
12:1:Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
Whoever loves instruction and discipline loves knowledge,
But he who hates reproof and correction is stupid.
12:2:A good man will obtain favor from the Lord,
But He will condemn a man who devises evil.
12:3:A man will not be established by wickedness,
But the root of the [consistently] righteous will not be moved.
12:4:A virtuous and excellent wife [worthy of honor] is the crown of her husband,
But she who shames him [with her foolishness] is like rottenness in his bones.
12:5:The thoughts and purposes of the [consistently] righteous are just (honest, reliable),
But the counsels and schemes of the wicked are deceitful.
12:6:The [malevolent] words of the wicked lie in wait for [innocent] blood [to slander],
But the mouth of the upright will rescue and protect them.
12:7:The wicked are overthrown [by their evil] and are no more,
But the house of the [consistently] righteous will stand [securely].
12:8:A man will be commended according to his insight and sound judgment,
But the one who is of a perverse mind will be despised.
12:9:Better is he who is lightly esteemed and has a servant,
Than he who [boastfully] honors himself [pretending to be what he is not] and lacks bread.
12:10:A righteous man has kind regard for the life of his animal,
But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
12:11:He who tills his land will have plenty of bread,
But he who follows worthless things lacks common sense and good judgment.
12:12:The wicked desire the plunder of evil men,
But the root of the righteous yields richer fruit.
12:13:An evil man is [dangerously] ensnared by the transgression of his lips,
But the righteous will escape from trouble.
12:14:A man will be satisfied with good from the fruit of his words,
And the deeds of a man’s hands will return to him [as a harvest].
12:15:The way of the [arrogant] fool [who rejects God’s wisdom] is right in his own eyes,
But a wise and prudent man is he who listens to counsel.
12:16:The [arrogant] fool’s anger is quickly known [because he lacks self-control and common sense],
But a prudent man ignores an insult.
12:17:He who speaks truth [when he testifies] tells what is right,
But a false witness utters deceit [in court].
12:18:There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword,
But the tongue of the wise brings healing.
12:19:Truthful lips will be established forever,
But a lying tongue is [credited] only for a moment.
12:20:Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
But counselors of peace have joy.
12:21:No harm befalls the righteous,
But the wicked are filled with trouble.
12:22:Lying lips are extremely disgusting to the Lord,
But those who deal faithfully are His delight.
12:23:A shrewd man is reluctant to display his knowledge [until the proper time],
But the heart of [over-confident] fools proclaims foolishness.
12:24:The hand of the diligent will rule,
But the negligent and lazy will be put to forced labor.
12:25:Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down,
But a good (encouraging) word makes it glad.
12:26:The righteous man is a guide to his neighbor,
But the way of the wicked leads them astray.
12:27:The lazy man does not catch and roast his prey,
But the precious possession of a [wise] man is diligence [because he recognizes opportunities and seizes them].
12:28:In the way of righteousness is life,
And in its pathway there is no death [but immortality—eternal life].
13:1:Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
A wise son heeds and accepts [and is the result of] his father’s discipline and instruction,
But a scoffer does not listen to reprimand and does not learn from his errors.
13:2:From the fruit of his mouth a [wise] man enjoys good,
But the desire of the treacherous is for violence.
13:3:The one who guards his mouth [thinking before he speaks] protects his life;
The one who opens his lips wide [and chatters without thinking] comes to ruin.
13:4:The soul (appetite) of the lazy person craves and gets nothing [for lethargy overcomes ambition],
But the soul (appetite) of the diligent [who works willingly] is rich and abundantly supplied.
13:5:A righteous man hates lies,
But a wicked man is loathsome, and he acts shamefully.
13:6:Righteousness (being in right standing with God) guards the one whose way is blameless,
But wickedness undermines and overthrows the sinner.
13:7:There is one who pretends to be rich, yet has nothing at all;
Another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
13:8:The ransom for a man’s life is his wealth,
But the poor man does not even have to listen to a rebuke or threats [from the envious].
13:9:The light of the righteous [within him—grows brighter and] rejoices,
But the lamp of the wicked [is a temporary light and] goes out.
13:10:Through pride and presumption come nothing but strife,
But [skillful and godly] wisdom is with those who welcome [well-advised] counsel.
13:11:Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles,
But he who gathers gradually by [honest] labor will increase [his riches].
13:12:Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But when desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
13:13:Whoever despises the word and counsel [of God] brings destruction upon himself,
But he who [reverently] fears and respects the commandment [of God] will be rewarded.
13:14:The teaching of the wise is a fountain and source of life,
So that one may avoid the snares of death.
13:15:Good understanding wins favor [from others],
But the way of the unfaithful is hard [like barren, dry soil].
13:16:Every prudent and self-disciplined man acts with knowledge,
But a [closed-minded] fool [who refuses to learn] displays his foolishness [for all to see].
13:17:A wicked messenger falls into hardship,
But a faithful ambassador brings healing.
13:18:Poverty and shame will come to him who refuses instruction and discipline,
But he who accepts and learns from reproof or censure is honored.
13:19:Desire realized is sweet to the soul;
But it is detestable to fools to turn away from evil [which they have planned].
13:20:He who walks [as a companion] with wise men will be wise,
But the companions of [conceited, dull-witted] fools [are fools themselves and] will experience harm.
13:21:Adversity pursues sinners,
But the [consistently] upright will be rewarded with prosperity.
13:22:A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,
And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for [the hands of] the righteous.
13:23:Abundant food is in the fallow (uncultivated) ground of the poor,
But [without protection] it is swept away by injustice.
13:24:He who withholds the rod [of discipline] hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines and trains him diligently and appropriately [with wisdom and love].
13:25:The [consistently] righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite,
But the stomach of the wicked is in need [of bread].
14:1:Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
The wise woman builds her house [on a foundation of godly precepts, and her household thrives],
But the foolish one [who lacks spiritual insight] tears it down with her own hands [by ignoring godly principles].
14:2:He who walks in uprightness [reverently] fears the Lord [and obeys and worships Him with profound respect],
But he who is devious in his ways despises Him.
14:3:In the mouth of the [arrogant] fool [who rejects God] is a rod for his back,
But the lips of the wise [when they speak with godly wisdom] will protect them.
14:4:Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
But much revenue [because of good crops] comes by the strength of the ox.
14:5:A faithful and trustworthy witness will not lie,
But a false witness speaks lies.
14:6:A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none [for his ears are closed to wisdom],
But knowledge is easy for one who understands [because he is willing to learn].
14:7:Leave the presence of a [shortsighted] fool,
For you will not find knowledge or hear godly wisdom from his lips.
14:8:The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way,
But the foolishness of [shortsighted] fools is deceit.
14:9:Fools mock sin [but sin mocks the fools],
But among the upright there is good will and the favor and blessing of God.
14:10:The heart knows its own bitterness,
And no stranger shares its joy.
14:11:The house of the wicked will be overthrown,
But the tent of the upright will thrive.
14:12:There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him,
But its end is the way of death.
14:13:Even in laughter the heart may be in pain,
And the end of joy may be grief.
14:14:The backslider in heart will have his fill with his own [rotten] ways,
But a good man will be satisfied with his ways [the godly thought and action which his heart pursues and in which he delights].
14:15:The naive or inexperienced person [is easily misled and] believes every word he hears,
But the prudent man [is discreet and astute and] considers well where he is going.
14:16:A wise man suspects danger and cautiously avoids evil,
But the fool is arrogant and careless.
14:17:A quick-tempered man acts foolishly and without self-control,
And a man of wicked schemes is hated.
14:18:The naive [are unsophisticated and easy to exploit and] inherit foolishness,
But the sensible [are thoughtful and far-sighted and] are crowned with knowledge.
14:19:The evil will bow down before the good,
And the wicked [will bow down] at the gates of the righteous.
14:20:The poor man is hated even by his neighbor,
But those who love the rich are many.
14:21:He who despises his neighbor sins [against God and his fellow man],
But happy [blessed and favored by God] is he who is gracious and merciful to the poor.
14:22:Do they not go astray who devise evil and wander from the way of righteousness?
But kindness and truth will be to those who devise good.
14:23:In all labor there is profit,
But mere talk leads only to poverty.
14:24:The crown of the wise is their wealth [of wisdom],
But the foolishness of [closed-minded] fools is [nothing but] folly.
14:25:A truthful witness saves lives,
But he who speaks lies is treacherous.
14:26:In the [reverent] fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And His children will [always] have a place of refuge.
14:27:The [reverent] fear of the Lord [that leads to obedience and worship] is a fountain of life,
So that one may avoid the snares of death.
14:28:In a multitude of people is a king’s glory,
But in a lack of people is a [pretentious] prince’s ruin.
14:29:He who is slow to anger has great understanding [and profits from his self-control],
But he who is quick-tempered exposes and exalts his foolishness [for all to see].
14:30:A calm and peaceful and tranquil heart is life and health to the body,
But passion and envy are like rottenness to the bones.
14:31:He who oppresses the poor taunts and insults his Maker,
But he who is kind and merciful and gracious to the needy honors Him.
14:32:The wicked is overthrown through his wrongdoing,
But the righteous has hope and confidence and a refuge [with God] even in death.
14:33:Wisdom rests [silently] in the heart of one who has understanding,
But what is in the heart of [shortsighted] fools is made known.
14:34:Righteousness [moral and spiritual integrity and virtuous character] exalts a nation,
But sin is a disgrace to any people.
14:35:The king’s favor and good will are toward a servant who acts wisely and discreetly,
But his anger and wrath are toward him who acts shamefully.
15:1:Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
A soft and gentle and thoughtful answer turns away wrath,
But harsh and painful and careless words stir up anger.
15:2:The tongue of the wise speaks knowledge that is pleasing and acceptable,
But the [babbling] mouth of fools spouts folly.
15:3:The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
Watching the evil and the good [in all their endeavors].
15:4:A soothing tongue [speaking words that build up and encourage] is a tree of life,
But a perversive tongue [speaking words that overwhelm and depress] crushes the spirit.
15:5:A [flippant, arrogant] fool rejects his father’s instruction and correction,
But he who [is willing to learn and] regards and keeps in mind a reprimand acquires good sense.
15:6:Great and priceless treasure is in the house of the [consistently] righteous one [who seeks godly instruction and grows in wisdom],
But trouble is in the income of the wicked one [who rejects the laws of God].
15:7:The lips of the wise spread knowledge [sifting it as chaff from the grain];
But the hearts of [shortsighted] fools are not so.
15:8:The sacrifice of the wicked is hateful and exceedingly offensive to the Lord,
But the prayer of the upright is His delight!
15:9:The way [of life] of the wicked is hateful and exceedingly offensive to the Lord,
But He loves one who pursues righteousness [personal integrity, moral courage and honorable character].
15:10:There is severe discipline for him who turns from the way [of righteousness];
And he who hates correction will die.
15:11:Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) and Abaddon (the abyss, the place of eternal punishment) lie open before the Lord—
How much more the hearts and inner motives of the children of men.
15:12:A scoffer [unlike a wise man] resents one who rebukes him and tries to teach him;
Nor will he go to the wise [for counsel and instruction].
15:13:A heart full of joy and goodness makes a cheerful face,
But when a heart is full of sadness the spirit is crushed.
15:14:The mind of the intelligent and discerning seeks knowledge and eagerly inquires after it,
But the mouth of the [stubborn] fool feeds on foolishness.
15:15:All the days of the afflicted are bad,
But a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of the circumstances].
15:16:Better is a little with the [reverent, worshipful] fear of the Lord
Than great treasure and trouble with it.
15:17:Better is a dinner of vegetables and herbs where love is present
Than a fattened ox served with hatred.
15:18:A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
But he who is slow to anger and patient calms disputes.
15:19:The way of the lazy is like a hedge of thorns [it pricks, lacerates, and entangles him],
But the way [of life] of the upright is smooth and open like a highway.
15:20:A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish man despises his mother.
15:21:Foolishness is joy to him who is without heart and lacks [intelligent, common] sense,
But a man of understanding walks uprightly [making his course straight].
15:22:Without consultation and wise advice, plans are frustrated,
But with many counselors they are established and succeed.
15:23:A man has joy in giving an appropriate answer,
And how good and delightful is a word spoken at the right moment—how good it is!
15:24:The [chosen] path of life leads upward for the wise,
That he may keep away from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) below.
15:25:The Lord will tear down the house of the proud and arrogant (self-righteous),
But He will establish and protect the boundaries [of the land] of the [godly] widow.
15:26:Evil plans and thoughts of the wicked are exceedingly vile and offensive to the Lord,
But pure words are pleasant words to Him.
15:27:He who profits unlawfully brings suffering to his own house,
But he who hates bribes [and does not receive nor pay them] will live.
15:28:The heart of the righteous thinks carefully about how to answer [in a wise and appropriate and timely way],
But the [babbling] mouth of the wicked pours out malevolent things.
15:29:The Lord is far from the wicked [and distances Himself from them],
But He hears the prayer of the [consistently] righteous [that is, those with spiritual integrity and moral courage].
15:30:The light of the eyes rejoices the hearts of others,
And good news puts fat on the bones.
15:31:The ear that listens to and learns from the life-giving rebuke (reprimand, censure)
Will remain among the wise.
15:32:He who neglects and ignores instruction and discipline despises himself,
But he who learns from rebuke acquires understanding [and grows in wisdom].
15:33:The [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome] is the instruction for wisdom [its starting point and its essence];
And before honor comes humility.
16:1:Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
The plans and reflections of the heart belong to man,
But the [wise] answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
16:2:All the ways of a man are clean and innocent in his own eyes [and he may see nothing wrong with his actions],
But the Lord weighs and examines the motives and intents [of the heart and knows the truth].
16:3:Commit your works to the Lord [submit and trust them to Him],
And your plans will succeed [if you respond to His will and guidance].
16:4:The Lord has made everything for its own purpose,
Even the wicked [according to their role] for the day of evil.
16:5:Everyone who is proud and arrogant in heart is disgusting and exceedingly offensive to the Lord;
Be assured he will not go unpunished.
16:6:By mercy and lovingkindness and truth [not superficial ritual] wickedness is cleansed from the heart,
And by the fear of the Lord one avoids evil.
16:7:When a man’s ways please the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
16:8:Better is a little with righteousness
Than great income [gained] with injustice.
16:9:A man’s mind plans his way [as he journeys through life],
But the Lord directs his steps and establishes them.
16:10:A divine decision [given by God] is on the lips of the king [as His representative];
His mouth should not be unfaithful or unjust in judgment.
16:11:A just balance and [honest] scales are the Lord’s;
All the weights of the bag are His concern [established by His eternal principles].
16:12:It is repulsive [to God and man] for kings to behave wickedly,
For a throne is established on righteousness (right standing with God).
16:13:Righteous lips are the delight of kings,
And he who speaks right is loved.
16:14:The wrath of a king is like a messenger of death,
But a wise man will appease it.
16:15:In the light of the king’s face is life,
And his favor is like a cloud bringing the spring rain.
16:16:How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.
16:17:The highway of the upright turns away and departs from evil;
He who guards his way protects his life (soul).
16:18:Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall.
16:19:It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly
Than to divide the spoil with the proud (haughty, arrogant).
16:20:He who pays attention to the word [of God] will find good,
And blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is he who trusts [confidently] in the Lord.
16:21:The wise in heart will be called understanding,
And sweet speech increases persuasiveness and learning [in both speaker and listener].
16:22:Understanding (spiritual insight) is a [refreshing and boundless] wellspring of life to those who have it,
But to give instruction and correction to fools is foolishness.
16:23:The heart of the wise instructs his mouth [in wisdom]
And adds persuasiveness to his lips.
16:24:Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
Sweet and delightful to the soul and healing to the body.
16:25:There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him,
But its end is the way of death.
16:26:The appetite of a worker works for him,
For his hunger urges him on.
16:27:A worthless man devises and digs up evil,
And the words on his lips are like a scorching fire.
16:28:A perverse man spreads strife,
And one who gossips separates intimate friends.
16:29:A violent and exceedingly covetous man entices his neighbor [to sin],
And leads him in a way that is not good.
16:30:He who [slyly] winks his eyes does so to plot perverse things;
And he who compresses his lips [as if in a secret signal] brings evil to pass.
16:31:The silver-haired head is a crown of splendor and glory;
It is found in the way of righteousness.
16:32:He who is slow to anger is better and more honorable than the mighty [soldier],
And he who rules and controls his own spirit, than he who captures a city.
16:33:The lot is cast into the lap,
But its every decision is from the Lord.
17:1:Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
Better is a dry morsel [of food served] with quietness and peace
Than a house full of feasting [served] with strife and contention.
17:2:A wise servant will rule over the [unworthy] son who acts shamefully and brings disgrace [to the family]
And [the worthy servant] will share in the inheritance among the brothers.
17:3:The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
But the Lord tests hearts.
17:4:An evildoer listens closely to wicked lips;
And a liar pays attention to a destructive and malicious tongue.
17:5:Whoever mocks the poor taunts his Maker,
And he who rejoices at [another’s] disaster will not go unpunished.
17:6:Grandchildren are the crown of aged men,
And the glory of children is their fathers [who live godly lives].
17:7:Excellent speech does not benefit a fool [who is spiritually blind],
Much less do lying lips benefit a prince.
17:8:A bribe is like a bright, precious stone in the eyes of its owner;
Wherever he turns, he prospers.
17:9:He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love,
But he who repeats or gossips about a matter separates intimate friends.
17:10:A reprimand goes deeper into one who has understanding and a teachable spirit
Than a hundred lashes into a fool.
17:11:A rebellious man seeks only evil;
Therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
17:12:Let a man meet a [ferocious] bear robbed of her cubs
Rather than the [angry, narcissistic] fool in his folly.
17:13:Whoever returns evil for good,
Evil will not depart from his house.
17:14:The beginning of strife is like letting out water [as from a small break in a dam; first it trickles and then it gushes];
Therefore abandon the quarrel before it breaks out and tempers explode.
17:15:He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous
Are both repulsive to the Lord.
17:16:Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom,
When he has no common sense or even a heart for it?
17:17:A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.
17:18:A man lacking common sense gives a pledge
And becomes guarantor [for the debt of another] in the presence of his neighbor.
17:19:He who loves transgression loves strife and is quarrelsome;
He who [proudly] raises his gate seeks destruction [because of his arrogant pride].
17:20:He who has a crooked mind finds no good,
And he who is perverted in his language falls into evil.
17:21:He who becomes the parent of a fool [who is spiritually blind] does so to his sorrow,
And the father of a fool [who is spiritually blind] has no joy.
17:22:A happy heart is good medicine and a joyful mind causes healing,
But a broken spirit dries up the bones.
17:23:A wicked man receives a bribe from the [hidden] pocket
To pervert the ways of justice.
17:24:[Skillful and godly] wisdom is in the presence of a person of understanding [and he recognizes it],
But the eyes of a [thickheaded] fool are on the ends of the earth.
17:25:A foolish son is a grief and anguish to his father
And bitterness to her who gave birth to him.
17:26:It is also not good to fine the righteous,
Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
17:27:He who has knowledge restrains and is careful with his words,
And a man of understanding and wisdom has a cool spirit (self-control, an even temper).
17:28:Even a [callous, arrogant] fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise;
When he closes his lips he is regarded as sensible (prudent, discreet) and a man of understanding.
18:1:Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
He who [willfully] separates himself [from God and man] seeks his own desire,
He quarrels against all sound wisdom.
18:2:A [closed-minded] fool does not delight in understanding,
But only in revealing his personal opinions [unwittingly displaying his self-indulgence and his stupidity].
18:3:When the wicked man comes [to the depth of evil], contempt [of all that is pure and good] also comes,
And with inner baseness (dishonor) comes outer shame (scorn).
18:4:The words of a man’s mouth are like deep waters [copious and difficult to fathom];
The fountain of [mature, godly] wisdom is like a bubbling stream [sparkling, fresh, pure, and life-giving].
18:5:To show respect to the wicked person is not good,
Nor to push aside and deprive the righteous of justice.
18:6:A fool’s lips bring contention and strife,
And his mouth invites a beating.
18:7:A fool’s mouth is his ruin,
And his lips are the snare of his soul.
18:8:The words of a whisperer (gossip) are like dainty morsels [to be greedily eaten];
They go down into the innermost chambers of the body [to be remembered and mused upon].
18:9:He who is careless in his work
Is a brother to him who destroys.
18:10:The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
The righteous runs to it and is safe and set on high [far above evil].
18:11:The rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
And like a high wall [of protection] in his own imagination and conceit.
18:12:Before disaster the heart of a man is haughty and filled with self-importance,
But humility comes before honor.
18:13:He who answers before he hears [the facts]—
It is folly and shame to him.
18:14:The spirit of a man sustains him in sickness,
But as for a broken spirit, who can bear it?
18:15:The mind of the prudent [always] acquires knowledge,
And the ear of the wise [always] seeks knowledge.
18:16:A man’s gift [given in love or courtesy] makes room for him
And brings him before great men.
18:17:The first one to plead his case seems right,
Until another comes and cross-examines him.
18:18:To cast lots puts an end to quarrels
And decides between powerful contenders.
18:19:A brother offended is harder to win over than a fortified city,
And contentions [separating families] are like the bars of a castle.
18:20:A man’s stomach will be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth;
He will be satisfied with the consequence of his words.
18:21:Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.
18:22:He who finds a [true and faithful] wife finds a good thing
And obtains favor and approval from the Lord.
18:23:The poor man pleads,
But the rich man answers roughly.
18:24:The man of too many friends [chosen indiscriminately] will be broken in pieces and come to ruin,
But there is a [true, loving] friend who [is reliable and] sticks closer than a brother.
19:1:On Life and Conduct
Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity
Than a [rich] man who is twisted in his speech and is a [shortsighted] fool.
19:2:Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge,
And he who hurries with his feet [acting impulsively and proceeding without caution or analyzing the consequences] sins (misses the mark).
19:3:The foolishness of man undermines his way [ruining whatever he undertakes];
Then his heart is resentful and rages against the Lord [for, being a fool, he blames the Lord instead of himself].
19:4:Wealth makes many friends,
But a poor man is separated from his friend.
19:5:A false witness will not go unpunished,
And he who breathes out lies will not escape.
19:6:Many will seek the favor of a generous and noble man,
And everyone is a friend to him who gives gifts.
19:7:All the brothers of a poor man hate him;
How much more do his friends abandon him!
He pursues them with words, but they are gone.
19:8:He who gains wisdom and good sense loves (preserves) his own soul;
He who keeps understanding will find good and prosper.
19:9:A false witness will not go unpunished,
And he who breathes lies will perish.
19:10:Luxury is not fitting for a fool;
Much less for a slave to rule over princes.
19:11:Good sense and discretion make a man slow to anger,
And it is his honor and glory to overlook a transgression or an offense [without seeking revenge and harboring resentment].
19:12:The king’s wrath terrifies like the roaring of a lion,
But his favor is as [refreshing and nourishing as] dew on the grass.
19:13:A foolish (ungodly) son is destruction to his father,
And the contentions of a [quarrelsome] wife are like a constant dripping [of water].
19:14:House and wealth are the inheritance from fathers,
But a wise, understanding, and sensible wife is [a gift and blessing] from the Lord.
19:15:Laziness casts one into a deep sleep [unmindful of lost opportunity],
And the idle person will suffer hunger.
19:16:He who keeps and obeys the commandment [of the Lord] keeps (guards) his own life,
But he who is careless of his ways and conduct will die.
19:17:He who is gracious and lends a hand to the poor lends to the Lord,
And the Lord will repay him for his good deed.
19:18:Discipline and teach your son while there is hope,
And do not [indulge your anger or resentment by imposing inappropriate punishment nor] desire his destruction.
19:19:A man of great anger will bear the penalty [for his quick temper and lack of self-control];
For if you rescue him [and do not let him learn from the consequences of his action], you will only have to rescue him over and over again.
19:20:Listen to counsel, receive instruction, and accept correction,
That you may be wise in the time to come.
19:21:Many plans are in a man’s mind,
But it is the Lord’s purpose for him that will stand (be carried out).
19:22:That which is desirable in a man is his loyalty and unfailing love,
But it is better to be a poor man than a [wealthy] liar.
19:23:The fear of the Lord leads to life,
So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.
19:24:The lazy man buries his hand in the [food] dish,
But will not even bring it to his mouth again.
19:25:Strike a scoffer [for refusing to learn], and the naive may [be warned and] become prudent;
Reprimand one who has understanding and a teachable spirit, and he will gain knowledge and insight.
19:26:He who assaults his father and chases away his mother
Is a son who brings shame and disgrace.
19:27:Cease listening, my son, to instruction and discipline
And you will stray from the words of knowledge.
19:28:A wicked and worthless witness mocks justice,
And the mouth of the wicked spreads iniquity.
19:29:Judgments are prepared for scoffers,
And beatings for the backs of [thickheaded] fools.
20:1:On Life and Conduct
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a riotous brawler;
And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.
20:2:The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion;
Whoever provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.
20:3:It is an honor for a man to keep away from strife [by handling situations with thoughtful foresight],
But any fool will [start a] quarrel [without regard for the consequences].
20:4:The lazy man does not plow when the winter [planting] season arrives;
So he begs at the [next] harvest and has nothing [to reap].
20:5:A plan (motive, wise counsel) in the heart of a man is like water in a deep well,
But a man of understanding draws it out.
20:6:Many a man proclaims his own loyalty and goodness,
But who can find a faithful and trustworthy man?
20:7:The righteous man who walks in integrity and lives life in accord with his [godly] beliefs—
How blessed [happy and spiritually secure] are his children after him [who have his example to follow].
20:8:A [discerning] king who sits on the throne of judgment
Sifts all evil [like chaff] with his eyes [and cannot be easily fooled].
20:9:Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart,
I am pure from my sin?”
20:10:Differing weights [one for buying and another for selling] and differing measures,
Both of them are detestable and offensive to the Lord.
20:11:Even a boy is known and distinguished by his acts,
Whether his conduct is pure and right.
20:12:The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The [omnipotent] Lord has made both of them.
20:13:Do not love [excessive] sleep, or you will become poor;
Open your eyes [so that you can do your work] and you will be satisfied with bread.
20:14:“It is [almost] worthless, it is [almost] worthless,” says the buyer [as he negotiates the price];
But when he goes his way, then he boasts [about his bargain].
20:15:There is gold, and an abundance of pearls,
But the lips of knowledge are a vessel of preciousness [the most precious of all].
20:16:[The judge tells the creditor], “Take the clothes of one who is surety for a stranger;
And hold him in pledge [when he guarantees a loan] for foreigners.”
20:17:Food gained by deceit is sweet to a man,
But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel [just as sin may be sweet at first, but later its consequences bring despair].
20:18:Plans are established by counsel;
So make war [only] with wise guidance.
20:19:He who goes about as a gossip reveals secrets;
Therefore do not associate with a gossip [who talks freely or flatters].
20:20:Whoever curses his father or his mother,
His lamp [of life] will be extinguished in time of darkness.
20:21:An inheritance hastily gained [by greedy, unjust means] at the beginning
Will not be blessed in the end.
20:22:Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
Wait [expectantly] for the Lord, and He will rescue and save you.
20:23:Differing weights are detestable and offensive to the Lord,
And fraudulent scales are not good.
20:24:Man’s steps are ordered and ordained by the Lord.
How then can a man [fully] understand his way?
20:25:It is a trap for a man to [speak a vow of consecration and] say rashly, “It is holy!”
And [not until] afterward consider [whether he can fulfill it].
20:26:A wise king sifts out the wicked [from among the good]
And drives the [threshing] wheel over them [to separate the chaff from the grain].
20:27:The spirit (conscience) of man is the lamp of the Lord,
Searching and examining all the innermost parts of his being.
20:28:Loyalty and mercy, truth and faithfulness, protect the king,
And he upholds his throne by lovingkindness.
20:29:The glory of young men is their [physical] strength,
And the honor of aged men is their gray head [representing wisdom and experience].
20:30:Blows that wound cleanse away evil,
And strokes reach to the innermost parts.
21:1:On Life and Conduct
The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord;
He turns it whichever way He wishes.
21:2:Every man’s way is right in his own eyes,
But the Lord weighs and examines the hearts [of people and their motives].
21:3:To do righteousness and justice
Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice [for wrongs repeatedly committed].
21:4:Haughty and arrogant eyes and a proud heart,
The lamp of the wicked [their self-centered pride], is sin [in the eyes of God].
21:5:The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance and advantage,
But everyone who acts in haste comes surely to poverty.
21:6:Acquiring treasures by a lying tongue
Is a fleeting vapor, the seeking and pursuit of death.
21:7:The violence of the wicked will [return to them and] drag them away [like fish caught in a net],
Because they refuse to act with justice.
21:8:The way of the guilty is [exceedingly] crooked,
But as for the pure, his conduct is upright.
21:9:It is better to live in a corner of the housetop [on the flat roof, exposed to the weather]
Than in a house shared with a quarrelsome (contentious) woman.
21:10:The soul of the wicked desires evil [like an addictive substance];
His neighbor finds no compassion in his eyes.
21:11:When the scoffer is punished, the naive [observes the lesson and] becomes wise;
But when the wise and teachable person is instructed, he receives knowledge.
21:12:The righteous one keeps an eye on the house of the wicked—
How the wicked are cast down to ruin.
21:13:Whoever shuts his ears at the cry of the poor
Will cry out himself and not be answered.
21:14:A gift in secret subdues anger,
And a bribe [hidden] in the pocket, strong wrath.
21:15:When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous (the upright, the one in right standing with God),
But to the evildoers it is disaster.
21:16:A man who wanders from the way of understanding (godly wisdom)
Will remain in the assembly of the dead.
21:17:He who loves [only selfish] pleasure will become a poor man;
He who loves and is devoted to wine and [olive] oil will not become rich.
21:18:The wicked become a ransom for the righteous,
And the treacherous in the place of the upright [for they fall into their own traps].
21:19:It is better to dwell in a desert land
Than with a contentious and troublesome woman.
21:20:There is precious treasure and oil in the house of the wise [who prepare for the future],
But a short-sighted and foolish man swallows it up and wastes it.
21:21:He who earnestly seeks righteousness and loyalty
Finds life, righteousness, and honor.
21:22:A wise man scales the city [walls] of the mighty
And brings down the stronghold in which they trust.
21:23:He who guards his mouth and his tongue
Guards himself from troubles.
21:24:“Proud,” “Haughty,” “Scoffer,” are his names
Who acts with overbearing and insolent pride.
21:25:The desire of the lazy kills him,
For his hands refuse to labor;
21:26:He craves all the day long [and does no work],
But the righteous [willingly] gives and does not withhold [what he has].
21:27:The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable and offensive [to the Lord].
How much more [unacceptable and insulting can it be] when he brings it with evil intention?
21:28:A false witness will perish,
But a man who listens to the truth will speak forever and go unchallenged.
21:29:A wicked man puts on a bold face,
But as for the upright, he considers, directs, and establishes his way [with the confidence of integrity].
21:30:There is no [human] wisdom or understanding
Or counsel [that can prevail] against the Lord.
21:31:The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
But deliverance and victory belong to the Lord.
22:1:On Life and Conduct
A good name [earned by honorable behavior, godly wisdom, moral courage, and personal integrity] is more desirable than great riches;
And favor is better than silver and gold.
22:2:The rich and poor have a common bond;
The Lord is the Maker of them all.
22:3:A prudent and far-sighted person sees the evil [of sin] and hides himself [from it],
But the naive continue on and are punished [by suffering the consequences of sin].
22:4:The reward of humility [that is, having a realistic view of one’s importance] and the [reverent, worshipful] fear of the Lord
Is riches, honor, and life.
22:5:Thorns and snares are in the way of the obstinate [for their lack of honor and their wrong-doing traps them];
He who guards himself [with godly wisdom] will be far from them and avoid the consequences they suffer.
22:6:Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents],
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
22:7:The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower is servant to the lender.
22:8:He who sows injustice will reap [a harvest of] trouble,
And the rod of his wrath [with which he oppresses others] will fail.
22:9:He who is generous will be blessed,
For he gives some of his food to the poor.
22:10:Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go away;
Even strife and dishonor will cease.
22:11:He who loves purity of heart
And whose speech is gracious will have the king as his friend.
22:12:The eyes of the Lord keep guard over knowledge and the one who has it,
But He overthrows the words of the treacherous.
22:13:The lazy one [manufactures excuses and] says, “There is a lion outside!
I will be killed in the streets [if I go out to work]!”
22:14:The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit [deep and inescapable];
He who is cursed by the Lord [because of his adulterous sin] will fall into it.
22:15:Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of discipline [correction administered with godly wisdom and lovingkindness] will remove it far from him.
22:16:He who oppresses or exploits the poor to get more for himself
Or who gives to the rich [to gain influence and favor], will only come to poverty.
22:17:Listen carefully and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your mind to my knowledge;
22:18:For it will be pleasant if you keep them in mind [incorporating them as guiding principles];
Let them be ready on your lips [to guide and strengthen yourself and others].
22:19:So that your trust and reliance and confidence may be in the Lord,
I have taught these things to you today, even to you.
22:20:Have I not written to you excellent things
In counsels and knowledge,
22:21:To let you know the certainty of the words of truth,
That you may give a correct answer to him who sent you?
22:22:Do not rob the poor because he is poor [and defenseless],
Nor crush the afflicted [by legal proceedings] at the gate [where the city court is held],
22:23:For the Lord will plead their case
And take the life of those who rob them.
22:24:Do not even associate with a man given to angry outbursts;
Or go [along] with a hot-tempered man,
22:25:Or you will learn his [undisciplined] ways
And get yourself trapped [in a situation from which it is hard to escape].
22:26:Do not be among those who give pledges [involving themselves in others’ finances],
Or among those who become guarantors for others’ debts.
22:27:If you have nothing with which to pay [another’s debt when he defaults],
Why should his creditor take your bed from under you?
22:28:Do not move the ancient landmark [at the boundary of the property]
Which your fathers have set.
22:29:Do you see a man skillful and experienced in his work?
He will stand [in honor] before kings;
He will not stand before obscure men.
23:1:On Life and Conduct
When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
Consider carefully what is [set] before you;
23:2:For you will put a knife to your throat
If you are a man of great appetite.
23:3:Do not desire his delicacies,
For it is deceptive food [offered to you with questionable motives].
23:4:Do not weary yourself [with the overwhelming desire] to gain wealth;
Cease from your own understanding of it.
23:5:When you set your eyes on wealth, it is [suddenly] gone.
For wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies to the heavens.
23:6:Do not eat the bread of a selfish man,
Or desire his delicacies;
23:7:For as he thinks in his heart, so is he [in behavior—one who manipulates].
He says to you, “Eat and drink,”
Yet his heart is not with you [but it is begrudging the cost].
23:8:The morsel which you have eaten you will vomit up,
And you will waste your compliments.
23:9:Do not speak in the ears of a fool,
For he will despise the [godly] wisdom of your words.
23:10:Do not move the ancient landmark [at the boundary of the property]
And do not go into the fields of the fatherless [to take what is theirs],
23:11:For their Redeemer is strong and mighty;
He will plead their case against you.
23:12:Apply your heart to discipline
And your ears to words of knowledge.
23:13:Do not withhold discipline from the child;
If you swat him with a reed-like rod [applied with godly wisdom], he will not die.
23:14:You shall swat him with the reed-like rod
And rescue his life from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).
23:15:My son, if your heart is wise,
My heart will also be glad;
23:16:Yes, my heart will rejoice
When your lips speak right things.
23:17:Do not let your heart envy sinners [who live godless lives and have no hope of salvation],
But [continue to] live in the [reverent, worshipful] fear of the Lord day by day.
23:18:Surely there is a future [and a reward],
And your hope and expectation will not be cut off.
23:19:Listen, my son, and be wise,
And direct your heart in the way [of the Lord].
23:20:Do not associate with heavy drinkers of wine,
Or with gluttonous eaters of meat,
23:21:For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And the drowsiness [of overindulgence] will clothe one with rags.
23:22:Listen to your father, who sired you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.
23:23:Buy truth, and do not sell it;
Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.
23:24:The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who sires a wise child will have joy in him.
23:25:Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her who gave birth to you rejoice [in your wise and godly choices].
23:26:My son, give me your heart
And let your eyes delight in my ways,
23:27:For a prostitute is a deep pit,
And an immoral woman is a narrow well.
23:28:She lurks and lies in wait like a robber [who waits for prey],
And she increases the faithless among men.
23:29:Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Whose eyes are red and dim?
23:30:Those who linger long over wine,
Those who go to taste mixed wine.
23:31:Do not look at wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the glass,
When it goes down smoothly.
23:32:At the last it bites like a serpent
And stings like a viper.
23:33:Your [drunken] eyes will see strange things
And your mind will utter perverse things [untrue things, twisted things].
23:34:And you will be [as unsteady] as one who lies down in the middle of the sea,
And [as vulnerable to disaster] as one who lies down on the top of a ship’s mast, saying,
23:35:“They struck me, but I was not hurt!
They beat me, but I did not feel it!
When will I wake up?
I will seek more wine.”
24:1:Precepts and Warnings
Do not be envious of evil men,
Nor desire to be with them;
24:2:For their minds plot violence,
And their lips talk of trouble [for the innocent].
24:3:Through [skillful and godly] wisdom a house [a life, a home, a family] is built,
And by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation],
24:4:And by knowledge its rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.
24:5:A wise man is strong,
And a man of knowledge strengthens his power;
24:6:For by wise guidance you can wage your war,
And in an abundance of [wise] counselors there is victory and safety.
24:7:Wisdom is too exalted for a [hardened, arrogant] fool;
He does not open his mouth in the gate [where the city’s rulers sit in judgment].
24:8:He who plans to do evil
Will be called a schemer or deviser of evil.
24:9:The devising of folly is sin,
And the scoffer is repulsive to men.
24:10:If you are slack (careless) in the day of distress,
Your strength is limited.
24:11:Rescue those who are being taken away to death,
And those who stagger to the slaughter, Oh hold them back [from their doom]!
24:12:If you [claim ignorance and] say, “See, we did not know this,”
Does He not consider it who weighs and examines the hearts and their motives?
And does He not know it who guards your life and keeps your soul?
And will He not repay [you and] every man according to his works?
24:13:My son, eat honey, because it is good,
And the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.
24:14:Know that [skillful and godly] wisdom is [so very good] for your life and soul;
If you find wisdom, then there will be a future and a reward,
And your hope and expectation will not be cut off.
24:15:Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous;
Do not destroy his resting place;
24:16:For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again,
But the wicked stumble in time of disaster and collapse.
24:17:Do not rejoice and gloat when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad [in self-righteousness] when he stumbles,
24:18:Or the Lord will see your gloating and be displeased,
And turn His anger away from your enemy.
24:19:Do not get upset because of evildoers,
Or be envious of the wicked,
24:20:For there will be no future for the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked will be put out.
24:21:My son, fear the Lord and the king;
And do not associate with those who are given to change [of allegiance, and are revolutionary],
24:22:For their tragedy will rise suddenly,
And who knows the punishment that both [the Lord and the king] will bring on the rebellious?
24:23:These also are sayings of the wise:
To show partiality in judgment is not good.
24:24:He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”
Peoples will curse him, nations will denounce him;
24:25:But to those [honorable judges] who rebuke the wicked, it will go well with them and they will find delight,
And a good blessing will come upon them.
24:26:He kisses the lips [and wins the hearts of people]
Who gives a right and straightforward answer.
24:27:Prepare your work outside
And get it ready for yourself in the field;
Afterward build your house and establish a home.
24:28:Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause,
And do not deceive with your lips [speak neither lies nor half-truths].
24:29:Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;
I will pay the man back for his deed.”
24:30:I went by the field of the lazy man,
And by the vineyard of the man lacking understanding and common sense;
24:31:And, behold, it was all overgrown with thorns,
And nettles were covering its surface,
And its stone wall was broken down.
24:32:When I saw, I considered it well;
I looked and received instruction.
24:33:“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest [and daydream],”
24:34:Then your poverty will come as a robber,
And your want like an armed man.
25:1:Similitudes, Instructions
These are also the proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied:
25:2:It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
25:3:As the heavens for height and the earth for depth,
So the hearts and minds of kings are unsearchable.
25:4:Take away the dross from the silver,
And there comes out [the pure metal for] a vessel for the silversmith [to shape].
25:5:Take away the wicked from before the king,
And his throne will be established in righteousness.
25:6:Do not be boastfully ambitious and claim honor in the presence of the king,
And do not stand in the place of great men;
25:7:For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”
Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,
Whom your eyes have seen.
25:8:Do not rush out to argue your case [before magistrates or judges];
Otherwise what will you do in the end [when your case is lost and]
When your neighbor (opponent) humiliates you?
25:9:Argue your case with your neighbor himself [before you go to court];
And do not reveal another’s secret,
25:10:Or he who hears it will shame you
And the rumor about you [and your action in court] will have no end.
25:11:Like apples of gold in settings of silver
Is a word spoken at the right time.
25:12:Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold
Is a wise reprover to an ear that listens and learns.
25:13:Like the cold of snow [brought from the mountains] in the time of harvest,
So is a faithful messenger to those who send him;
For he refreshes the life of his masters.
25:14:Like clouds and wind without rain
Is a man who boasts falsely of gifts [he does not give].
25:15:By patience and a calm spirit a ruler may be persuaded,
And a soft and gentle tongue breaks the bone [of resistance].
25:16:Have you found [pleasure sweet like] honey? Eat only as much as you need,
Otherwise, being filled excessively, you vomit it.
25:17:Let your foot seldom be in your neighbor’s house,
Or he will become tired of you and hate you.
25:18:Like a club and a sword and a piercing arrow
Is a man who testifies falsely against his neighbor (acquaintance).
25:19:Like a broken tooth or an unsteady foot
Is confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble.
25:20:Like one who takes off a garment in cold weather, or like [a reactive, useless mixture of] vinegar on soda,
Is he who [thoughtlessly] sings [joyful] songs to a heavy heart.
25:21:If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
25:22:For in doing so, you will heap coals of fire upon his head,
And the Lord will reward you.
25:23:The north wind brings forth rain;
And a backbiting tongue, an angry countenance.
25:24:It is better to live in a corner of the housetop [on the flat roof, exposed to the weather]
Than in a house shared with a quarrelsome (contentious) woman.
25:25:Like cold water to a thirsty soul,
So is good news from a distant land.
25:26:Like a muddied fountain and a polluted spring
Is a righteous man who yields and compromises his integrity before the wicked.
25:27:It is not good to eat much honey,
Nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.
25:28:Like a city that is broken down and without walls [leaving it unprotected]
Is a man who has no self-control over his spirit [and sets himself up for trouble].
26:1:Similitudes, Instructions
Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest,
So honor is not fitting for a [shortsighted] fool.
26:2:Like the sparrow in her wandering, like the swallow in her flying,
So the curse without cause does not come and alight [on the undeserving].
26:3:A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
And a rod for the backs of fools [who refuse to learn].
26:4:Do not answer [nor pretend to agree with the frivolous comments of] a [closed-minded] fool according to his folly,
Otherwise you, even you, will be like him.
26:5:Answer [and correct the erroneous concepts of] a fool according to his folly,
Otherwise he will be wise in his own eyes [if he thinks you agree with him].
26:6:He who sends a message by the hand of a fool
Cuts off his own feet (sabotages himself) and drinks the violence [it brings on himself as a consequence].
26:7:Like the legs which are useless to the lame,
So is a proverb in the mouth of a fool [who cannot learn from its wisdom].
26:8:Like one who [absurdly] binds a stone in a sling [making it impossible to throw],
So is he who [absurdly] gives honor to a fool.
26:9:Like a thorn that goes [without being felt] into the hand of a drunken man,
So is a proverb in the mouth of a fool [who remains unaffected by its wisdom].
26:10:Like a [careless] archer who [shoots arrows wildly and] wounds everyone,
So is he who hires a fool or those who [by chance just] pass by.
26:11:Like a dog that returns to his vomit
Is a fool who repeats his foolishness.
26:12:Do you see a man [who is unteachable and] wise in his own eyes and full of self-conceit?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
26:13:The lazy person [who is self-indulgent and relies on lame excuses] says, “There is a lion in the road!
A lion is in the open square [and if I go outside to work I will be killed]!”
26:14:As the door turns on its hinges,
So does the lazy person on his bed [never getting out of it].
26:15:The lazy person buries his hand in the dish [losing opportunity after opportunity];
It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.
26:16:The lazy person is wiser in his own eyes
Than seven [sensible] men who can give a discreet answer.
26:17:Like one who grabs a dog by the ears [and is likely to be bitten]
Is he who, passing by, stops to meddle with a dispute that is none of his business.
26:18:Like a madman who throws
Firebrands, arrows, and death,
26:19:So is the man who deceives his neighbor (acquaintance, friend)
And then says, “Was I not joking?”
26:20:For lack of wood the fire goes out,
And where there is no whisperer [who gossips], contention quiets down.
26:21:Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
So is a contentious man to kindle strife.
26:22:The words of a whisperer (gossip) are like dainty morsels [to be greedily eaten];
They go down into the innermost chambers of the body [to be remembered and mused upon].
26:23:Like a [common] clay vessel covered with the silver dross [making it appear silver when it has no real value]
Are burning lips [murmuring manipulative words] and a wicked heart.
26:24:He who hates, disguises it with his lips,
But he stores up deceit in his heart.
26:25:When he speaks graciously and kindly [to conceal his malice], do not trust him,
For seven abominations are in his heart.
26:26:Though his hatred covers itself with guile and deceit,
His malevolence will be revealed openly before the assembly.
26:27:Whoever digs a pit [for another man’s feet] will fall into it,
And he who rolls a stone [up a hill to do mischief], it will come back on him.
26:28:A lying tongue hates those it wounds and crushes,
And a flattering mouth works ruin.
27:1:Warnings and Instructions
Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring.
27:2:Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.
27:3:Stone is heavy and the sand weighty,
But a fool’s [unreasonable] wrath is heavier and more burdensome than both of them.
27:4:Wrath is cruel and anger is an overwhelming flood,
But who is able to endure and stand before [the sin of] jealousy?
27:5:Better is an open reprimand [of loving correction]
Than love that is hidden.
27:6:Faithful are the wounds of a friend [who corrects out of love and concern],
But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful [because they serve his hidden agenda].
27:7:He who is satisfied loathes honey,
But to the hungry soul any bitter thing is sweet.
27:8:Like a bird that wanders from her nest [with its comfort and safety],
So is a man who wanders from his home.
27:9:Oil and perfume make the heart glad;
So does the sweetness of a friend’s counsel that comes from the heart.
27:10:Do not abandon your own friend and your father’s friend,
And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster.
Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.
27:11:My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
That I may reply to him who reproaches (reprimands, criticizes) me.
27:12:A prudent man sees evil and hides himself and avoids it,
But the naive [who are easily misled] continue on and are punished [by suffering the consequences of sin].
27:13:[The judge tells the creditor,] “Take the garment of one who is surety (guarantees a loan) for a stranger;
And hold him in pledge when he is surety for an immoral woman [for it is unlikely the debt will be repaid].”
27:14:He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning,
It will be counted as a curse to him [for it will either be annoying or his purpose will be suspect].
27:15:A constant dripping on a day of steady rain
And a contentious (quarrelsome) woman are alike;
27:16:Whoever attempts to restrain her [criticism] might as well try to stop the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.
27:17:As iron sharpens iron,
So one man sharpens [and influences] another [through discussion].
27:18:He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit,
And he who faithfully protects and cares for his master will be honored.
27:19:As in water face reflects face,
So the heart of man reflects man.
27:20:Sheol (the place of the dead) and Abaddon (the underworld) are never satisfied;
Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.
27:21:The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold [to separate the impurities of the metal],
And each is tested by the praise given to him [and his response to it, whether humble or proud].
27:22:Even though you pound a [hardened, arrogant] fool [who rejects wisdom] in a mortar with a pestle like grain,
Yet his foolishness will not leave him.
27:23:Be diligent to know the condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
27:24:For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
27:25:When the grass is gone, the new growth is seen,
And herbs of the mountain are gathered in,
27:26:The lambs will supply wool for your clothing,
And the goats will bring the price of a field.
27:27:And there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And for the maintenance of your maids.
28:1:Warnings and Instructions
The wicked flee when no one pursues them,
But the righteous are as bold as a lion.
28:2:When a land does wrong, it has many princes,
But when the ruler is a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability endures.
28:3:A poor man who oppresses and exploits the lowly
Is like a sweeping rain which leaves no food.
28:4:Those who set aside the law [of God and man] praise the wicked,
But those who keep the law [of God and man] struggle with them.
28:5:Evil men do not understand justice,
But they who long for and seek the Lord understand it fully.
28:6:Better is the poor who walks in his integrity
Than he who is crooked and two-faced though he is rich.
28:7:He who keeps the law [of God and man] is a wise and discerning son,
But he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father [and himself].
28:8:He who increases his wealth by interest and usury (excessive interest)
Gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor.
28:9:He who turns his ear away from listening to the law [of God and man],
Even his prayer is repulsive [to God].
28:10:He who leads the upright astray on an evil path
Will himself fall into his own pit,
But the blameless will inherit good.
28:11:The rich man [who is conceited and relies on his wealth instead of God] is wise in his own eyes,
But the poor man who has understanding [because he relies on God] is able to see through him.
28:12:When the righteous triumph, there is great glory and celebration;
But when the wicked rise [to prominence], men hide themselves.
28:13:He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and turns away from his sins will find compassion and mercy.
28:14:Blessed and favored by God is the man who fears [sin and its consequence] at all times,
But he who hardens his heart [and is determined to sin] will fall into disaster.
28:15:Like a roaring lion and a charging bear
Is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
28:16:A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding and common sense [and his wickedness shortens his days],
But he who hates unjust gain will [be blessed and] prolong his days.
28:17:A man who is burdened with the guilt of human blood (murder)
Will be a fugitive until death; let no one support him or give him refuge.
28:18:He who walks blamelessly and uprightly will be kept safe,
But he who is crooked (perverse) will suddenly fall.
28:19:He who cultivates his land will have plenty of bread,
But he who follows worthless people and frivolous pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
28:20:A faithful (right-minded) man will abound with blessings,
But he who hurries to be rich will not go unpunished.
28:21:To have regard for one person over another and to show favoritism is not good,
Because for a piece of bread a man will transgress.
28:22:He who has an evil and envious eye hurries to be rich
And does not know that poverty will come upon him.
28:23:He who [appropriately] reprimands a [wise] man will afterward find more favor
Than he who flatters with the tongue.
28:24:He who robs his father or his mother
And says, “This is no sin,”
Is [not only a thief but also] the companion of a man who destroys.
28:25:An arrogant and greedy man stirs up strife,
But he who trusts in the Lord will be blessed and prosper.
28:26:He who trusts confidently in his own heart is a [dull, thickheaded] fool,
But he who walks in [skillful and godly] wisdom will be rescued.
28:27:He who gives to the poor will never want,
But he who shuts his eyes [from their need] will have many curses.
28:28:When the wicked rise [to power], men hide themselves;
But when the wicked perish, the [consistently] righteous increase and become great.
29:1:Warnings and Instructions
He who hardens his neck and refuses instruction after being often reproved (corrected, criticized),
Will suddenly be broken beyond repair.
29:2:When the righteous are in authority and become great, the people rejoice;
But when the wicked man rules, the people groan and sigh.
29:3:A man who loves [skillful and godly] wisdom makes his father joyful,
But he who associates with prostitutes wastes his wealth.
29:4:The king establishes (stabilizes) the land by justice,
But a man who takes bribes overthrows it.
29:5:A man who flatters his neighbor [with smooth words intending to do harm]
Is spreading a net for his own feet.
29:6:By his wicked plan an evil man is trapped,
But the righteous man sings and rejoices [for his plan brings good things to him].
29:7:The righteous man cares for the rights of the poor,
But the wicked man has no interest in such knowledge.
29:8:Scoffers set a city afire [by stirring up trouble],
But wise men turn away anger [and restore order with their good judgment].
29:9:If a wise man has a controversy with a foolish and arrogant man,
The foolish man [ignores logic and fairness and] only rages or laughs, and there is no peace (rest, agreement).
29:10:The bloodthirsty hate the blameless [because of his integrity],
But the upright are concerned for his life.
29:11:A [shortsighted] fool always loses his temper and displays his anger,
But a wise man [uses self-control and] holds it back.
29:12:If a ruler pays attention to lies [and encourages corruption],
All his officials will become wicked.
29:13:The poor man and the oppressor have this in common:
The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.
29:14:If a king faithfully and truthfully judges the poor,
His throne shall be established forever.
29:15:The rod and reproof (godly instruction) give wisdom,
But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.
29:16:When the wicked are in authority, transgression increases,
But the righteous will see the downfall of the wicked.
29:17:Correct your son, and he will give you comfort;
Yes, he will delight your soul.
29:18:Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His word], the people are unrestrained;
But happy and blessed is he who keeps the law [of God].
29:19:A servant will not be corrected by words alone;
For though he understands, he will not respond [nor pay attention].
29:20:Do you see a [conceited] man who speaks quickly [offering his opinions or answering without thinking]?
There is more hope for a [thickheaded] fool than for him.
29:21:He who pampers his slave from childhood
Will find him to be a son in the end.
29:22:An angry man stirs up strife,
And a hot-tempered and undisciplined man commits many transgressions.
29:23:A man’s pride and sense of self-importance will bring him down,
But he who has a humble spirit will obtain honor.
29:24:Whoever is partner with a thief hates his own life;
He hears the curse [when swearing an oath to testify], but discloses nothing [and commits perjury by omission].
29:25:The fear of man brings a snare,
But whoever trusts in and puts his confidence in the Lord will be exalted and safe.
29:26:Many seek the ruler’s favor,
But justice for man comes from the Lord.
29:27:An unjust man is repulsive to the righteous,
And he who is upright in the way [of the Lord] is repulsive to the wicked.
30:1:The Words of Agur
The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle:
The man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and to Ucal:
30:2:Surely I am more brutish and stupid than any man,
And I do not have the understanding of a man [for I do not know what I do not know].
30:3:I have not learned [skillful and godly] wisdom,
Nor do I have knowledge of the Holy One [who is the source of wisdom].
30:4:Who has ascended into heaven and descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in His garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name?
Certainly you know!
30:5:Every word of God is tested and refined [like silver];
He is a shield to those who trust and take refuge in Him.
30:6:Do not add to His words,
Or He will reprove you, and you will be found a liar.
30:7:Two things I have asked of You;
Do not deny them to me before I die:
30:8:Keep deception and lies far from me;
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
30:9:So that I will not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or that I will not be poor and steal,
And so profane the name of my God.
30:10:Do not slander or malign a servant before his master [stay out of another’s personal life],
Or he will curse you [for your interference], and you will be found guilty.
30:11:There is a generation (class of people) that curses its father
And does not bless its mother.
30:12:There is a generation (class of people) that is pure in its own eyes,
Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
30:13:There is a generation (class of people)—oh, how lofty are their eyes!
And their eyelids are raised in arrogance.
30:14:There is a generation (class of people) whose teeth are like swords
And whose jaw teeth are like knives,
To devour the afflicted from the earth
And the needy from among men.
30:15:The leech has two daughters,
“Give, give!”
There are three things that are never satisfied,
Four that do not say, “It is enough”:
30:16:Sheol, and the barren womb,
Earth that is never satisfied with water,
And fire that never says, “It is enough.”
30:17:The eye that mocks a father
And scorns a mother,
The ravens of the valley will pick it out,
And the young vultures will devour it.
30:18:There are three things which are too astounding and unexpectedly wonderful for me,
Four which I do not understand:
30:19:The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the middle of the sea,
And the way of a man with a maid.
30:20:This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth
And says, “I have done no wrong.”
30:21:Under three things the earth is disquieted and quakes,
And under four it cannot bear up:
30:22:Under a servant when he reigns,
Under a [spiritually blind] fool when he is filled with food,
30:23:Under an unloved woman when she gets married,
And under a maidservant when she supplants her mistress.
30:24:There are four things that are small on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:
30:25:The ants are not a strong people,
Yet they prepare their food in the summer;
30:26:The shephanim are not a mighty folk,
Yet they make their houses in the rocks;
30:27:The locusts have no king,
Yet all of them go out in groups;
30:28:You may grasp the lizard with your hands,
Yet it is in kings’ palaces.
30:29:There are three things which are stately in step,
Even four which are stately in their stride:
30:30:The lion, which is mighty among beasts
And does not turn back before any;
30:31:The strutting rooster, the male goat also,
And the king when his army is with him.
30:32:If you have foolishly exalted yourself,
Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth.
30:33:Surely the churning of milk produces butter,
And wringing the nose produces blood;
So the churning of anger produces strife.
31:1:The Words of Lemuel
The words of King Lemuel, the oracle, which his mother taught him:
31:2:What, O my son?
And what, O son of my womb?
And what [shall I advise you], O son of my vows?
31:3:Do not give your [generative] strength to women [neither foreign wives in marriages of alliances, nor concubines],
Nor your ways to that which destroys kings.
31:4:It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
It is not for kings to drink wine,
Or for rulers to desire strong drink,
31:5:Otherwise they drink and forget the law and its decrees,
And pervert the rights and justice of all the afflicted.
31:6:Give strong drink [as medicine] to him who is ready to pass away,
And wine to him whose life is bitter.
31:7:Let him drink and forget his poverty
And no longer remember his trouble.
31:8:Open your mouth for the mute,
For the rights of all who are unfortunate and defenseless;
31:9:Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And administer justice for the afflicted and needy.
31:10:Description of a Worthy Woman
An excellent woman [one who is spiritual, capable, intelligent, and virtuous], who is he who can find her?
Her value is more precious than jewels and her worth is far above rubies or pearls.
31:11:The heart of her husband trusts in her [with secure confidence],
And he will have no lack of gain.
31:12:She comforts, encourages, and does him only good and not evil
All the days of her life.
31:13:She looks for wool and flax
And works with willing hands in delight.
31:14:She is like the merchant ships [abounding with treasure];
She brings her [household’s] food from far away.
31:15:She rises also while it is still night
And gives food to her household
And assigns tasks to her maids.
31:16:She considers a field before she buys or accepts it [expanding her business prudently];
With her profits she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard.
31:17:She equips herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task]
And makes her arms strong.
31:18:She sees that her gain is good;
Her lamp does not go out, but it burns continually through the night [she is prepared for whatever lies ahead].
31:19:She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hands hold the spindle [as she spins wool into thread for clothing].
31:20:She opens and extends her hand to the poor,
And she reaches out her filled hands to the needy.
31:21:She does not fear the snow for her household,
For all in her household are clothed in [expensive] scarlet [wool].
31:22:She makes for herself coverlets, cushions, and rugs of tapestry.
Her clothing is linen, pure and fine, and purple [wool].
31:23:Her husband is known in the [city’s] gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
31:24:She makes [fine] linen garments and sells them;
And supplies sashes to the merchants.
31:25:Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure;
And she smiles at the future [knowing that she and her family are prepared].
31:26:She opens her mouth in [skillful and godly] wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue [giving counsel and instruction].
31:27:She looks well to how things go in her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
31:28:Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired);
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying,
31:29:“Many daughters have done nobly, and well [with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness],
But you excel them all.”
31:30:Charm and grace are deceptive, and [superficial] beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears the Lord [reverently worshiping, obeying, serving, and trusting Him with awe-filled respect], she shall be praised.
31:31:Give her of the product of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates [of the city].
ecclesiastes:1:1:The Futility of All Endeavors
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
1:2:“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher.
“Vanity of vanities! All [that is done without God’s guidance] is vanity [futile, meaningless—a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes, merely chasing the wind].”
1:3:What advantage does man have from all his work
Which he does under the sun (while earthbound)?
1:4:One generation goes and another generation comes,
But the earth remains forever.
1:5:Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hurries to the place where it rises again.
1:6:The wind blows toward the south,
Then circles toward the north;
The wind circles and swirls endlessly,
And on its circular course the wind returns.
1:7:All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again.
1:8:All things are wearisome and all words are frail;
Man cannot express it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
1:9:That which has been is that which will be [again],
And that which has been done is that which will be done again.
So there is nothing new under the sun.
1:10:Is there anything of which it can be said,
“See this, it is new”?
It has already existed for [the vast] ages [of time recorded or unrecorded]
Which were before us.
1:11:There is no remembrance of earlier things,
Nor also of the later things that are to come;
There will be for them no remembrance
By generations who will come after them.
1:12:The Futility of Wisdom
I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
1:13:And I set my mind to seek and explore by [man’s] wisdom all [human activity] that has been done under heaven. It is a miserable business and a burdensome task which God has given the sons of men with which to be busy and distressed.
1:14:I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.
1:15:What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is defective and lacking cannot be counted.
1:16:I spoke with my heart, saying, “Behold, I have acquired great [human] wisdom and experience, more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of [moral] wisdom and [scientific] knowledge.”
1:17:And I set my mind to know [practical] wisdom and to discern [the character of] madness and folly [in which men seem to find satisfaction]; I realized that this too is a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.
1:18:For in much [human] wisdom there is much displeasure and exasperation; increasing knowledge increases sorrow.
2:1:The Futility of Pleasure and Possessions
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure and gratification; so enjoy yourself and have a good time.” But behold, this too was vanity (futility, meaninglessness).
2:2:I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”
2:3:I explored with my mind how to gratify myself with wine while [at the same time] having my mind remain steady and guide me wisely; and how to take control of foolishness, until I could see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
2:4:I made great works: I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself;
2:5:I made gardens and orchards for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;
2:6:I made pools of water for myself from which to water the forest and make the trees bud.
2:7:I bought male and female slaves and had slaves born in my house. I also possessed herds and flocks larger than any who preceded me in Jerusalem.
2:8:Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male singers and female singers, and the delights and pleasures of men—many concubines.
2:9:So I became great and excelled more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me.
2:10:Whatever my eyes looked at with desire I did not refuse them. I did not withhold from my heart any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor; and this was my reward for all my labor.
2:11:Then I considered all which my hands had done and labored to do, and behold, all was vanity and chasing after the wind and there was no profit (nothing of lasting value) under the sun.
2:12:Wisdom Excels Folly
So I turned to consider [secular] wisdom, madness, and folly; for what will the man do who succeeds the king? Nothing except what has already been done.
2:13:Then I saw that [even secular] wisdom [that brings sorrow] is better than [the pleasures of] folly and self-indulgence as light excels darkness.
2:14:The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and yet I know that [in the end] one fate happens to them both.
2:15:Then I said to myself, “As it happens to the fool, so death will also happen to me. What use is it then for me to be extremely wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This too is vanity (meaningless).”
2:16:For there is no [more] lasting remembrance of the wise man than of the fool, since in the days to come all will be long forgotten. And how does the wise man die? Even as the fool!
2:17:So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun caused me only great sorrow; because all is futility and chasing after the wind.
2:18:The Futility of Labor
So I hated all the fruit (gain) of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will succeed me.
2:19:And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity (futility, self-conceit).
2:20:So I turned aside and let my heart despair over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun.
2:21:For there is a man who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, yet gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it. This too is vanity and a great evil.
2:22:For what does a man get from all his labor and from the striving and sorrow of his heart with which he labors under the sun?
2:23:For all his days his work is painful and sorrowful; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity (worthless).
2:24:There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and assure himself that there is good in his labor. Even this, I have seen, is from the hand of God.
2:25:For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?
2:26:For to the person who pleases Him God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who pleases God. This too is vanity and chasing after the wind.
3:1:A Time for Everything
There is a season (a time appointed) for everything and a time for every delight and event or purpose under heaven—
3:2:A time to be born and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
3:3:A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
3:4:A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
3:5:A time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.
3:6:A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
3:7:A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to keep silent and a time to speak.
3:8:A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.
3:9:What profit is there for the worker from that in which he labors?
3:10:I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
3:11:God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man
He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.
3:12:I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good as long as they live;
3:13:and also that every man should eat and drink and see and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
3:14:I know that whatever God does, it endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor can anything be taken from it, for God does it so that men will fear and worship Him [with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is God].
3:15:That which is has already been, and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by [so that history repeats itself].
3:16:Moreover, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
3:17:I said to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked,” for there is a time [appointed] for every matter and for every deed.
3:18:I said to myself regarding the sons of men, “God is surely testing them in order for them to see that [by themselves, without God] they are [only] animals.”
3:19:For the [earthly] fate of the sons of men and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no preeminence or advantage for man [in and of himself] over an animal, for all is vanity.
3:20:All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.
3:21:Who knows if the spirit of man ascends upward and the spirit of the animal descends downward to the earth?
3:22:So I have seen that there is nothing better than that a man should be happy in his own works and activities, for that is his portion (share). For who will bring him [back] to see what will happen after he is gone?
4:1:The Evils of Oppression
Then I looked again and considered all the acts of oppression that were being practiced under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them.
4:2:So I congratulated and thought more fortunate are those who are already dead than the living who are still living.
4:3:But better off than either of them is the one who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
4:4:I have seen that every [effort in] labor and every skill in work comes from man’s rivalry with his neighbor. This too is vanity (futility, false pride) and chasing after the wind.
4:5:The fool folds his hands [together] and consumes his own flesh [destroying himself by idleness and apathy].
4:6:One hand full of rest and patience is better than two fists full of labor and chasing after the wind.
4:7:Then I looked again at vanity under the sun [in one of its peculiar forms].
4:8:There was a certain man—without a dependent, having neither a child nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “For whom do I labor and deprive myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity (a wisp of smoke, self-conceit); yes, it is a painful effort and an unhappy task.
4:9:Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labor;
4:10:for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and does not have another to lift him up.
4:11:Again, if two lie down together, then they keep warm; but how can one be warm alone?
4:12:And though one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
4:13:A poor yet wise youth is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive instruction and counsel (friendly reproof, warning)—
4:14:for the poor youth has [used his wisdom and] come out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom.
4:15:I have seen all the living under the sun join with the second youth (the king’s acknowledged successor) who replaces him.
4:16:There is no end to all the people; to all who were before them. Yet those who come later will not be happy with him. Surely this also is vanity (emptiness) and chasing after the wind.
5:1:Your Attitude Toward God
Guard your steps and focus on what you are doing as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the [careless or irreverent] sacrifice of fools; for they are too ignorant to know they are doing evil.
5:2:Do not be hasty with your mouth [speaking careless words or vows] or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.
5:3:For the dream comes through much effort, and the voice of the fool through many words.
5:4:When you make a vow or a pledge to God, do not put off paying it; for God takes no pleasure in fools [who thoughtlessly mock Him]. Pay what you vow.
5:5:It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
5:6:Do not allow your speech to cause you to sin, and do not say before the messenger (priest) of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry because of your voice (words) and destroy the work of your hands?
5:7:For in a multitude of dreams and in a flood of words there is worthlessness. Rather [reverently] fear God [and worship Him with awe-filled respect, knowing who He is].
5:8:If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be shocked at the sight [of corruption]; for a higher official watches over another official, and there are higher ones over them [looking out for one another].
5:9:After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.
5:10:The Folly of Riches
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its gain. This too is vanity (emptiness).
5:11:When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what advantage is there to their owners except to see them with their eyes?
5:12:The sleep of a working man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach (greed) of the rich [who hungers for even more] will not let him sleep.
5:13:There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being kept and hoarded by their owner to his own misery.
5:14:For when those riches are lost in bad investments and he becomes the father of a son, then there is nothing in his hand [for the support of the child].
5:15:As he came naked from his mother’s womb, so he will return as he came; and he will take away nothing from all his labor that he can carry in his hand.
5:16:This also is a grievous evil—exactly as he was born, so he shall die. So what advantage has he who labors for the wind?
5:17:All of his life he also eats in darkness [cheerlessly, without sweetness and light], with great frustration, sickness, and anger.
5:18:Behold, here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in all the labor in which he labors under the sun during the few days of his life which God gives him—for this is his [allotted] reward.
5:19:Also, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions, He has also given the power and ability to enjoy them and to receive [this as] his [allotted] portion and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God [to him].
5:20:For he will not often consider the [troubled] days of his life, because God keeps him occupied and focused on the joy of his heart [and the tranquility of God indwells him].
6:1:The Futility of Life
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men:
6:2:a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God has not given him the power or capacity to enjoy them [all those things which are gifts from God], but a stranger [in whom he has no interest succeeds him and] enjoys them. This is vanity and it is a [cause of] great distress.
6:3:If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he is not respected and is not given a proper burial [he is not laid to rest in the sepulcher of his fathers], then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he,
6:4:for the miscarriage comes in futility (in vain) and passes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity.
6:5:It has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge; yet it has more rest and is better off than he.
6:6:Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice over and yet has seen no good and experienced no enjoyment—do not both go to one place [the grave]?”
6:7:All the labor of man is for his mouth [for self-preservation and enjoyment], and yet the desire [of his soul] is not satisfied.
6:8:For what advantage has the wise man over the fool [for being worldly-wise is not the secret to happiness]? What advantage has the poor man who has learned how to walk [publicly] among the living [with men’s eyes on him; for being poor is not the secret to happiness either]?
6:9:What the eyes see [enjoying what is available] is better than [craving] what the soul desires. This too is futility and chasing after the wind.
6:10:Whatever exists has already been named [long ago], and it is known what [a frail being] man is; for he cannot dispute with Him who is mightier than he.
6:11:For there are many other words that increase futility. What then is the advantage for a man?
6:12:For who [limited by human wisdom] knows what is good for man during his lifetime, during the few days of his futile life? He spends them like a shadow [staying busy, but achieving nothing of lasting value]. For who can tell a man what will happen after him [to his work, his treasure, his plans] under the sun [after his life is over]?
7:1:Wisdom and Folly Contrasted
A good name is better than precious perfume,
And the day of one’s death better than the day of one’s birth.
7:2:It is better to go to the house of mourning
Than to go to the house of feasting,
For that [day of death] is the end of every man,
And the living will take it to heart and solemnly ponder its meaning.
7:3:Sorrow is better than laughter,
For when a face is sad (deep in thought) the heart may be happy [because it is growing in wisdom].
7:4:The heart of the wise [learns when it] is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is [senseless] in the house of pleasure.
7:5:It is better to listen to the rebuke of the wise man and pursue wisdom
Than for one to listen to the song of fools and pursue stupidity.
7:6:For like the crackling of [burning] thorn bushes under a pot,
So is the laughter of the fool;
And this too is vanity (futility).
7:7:For oppression makes a wise man foolish,
And a bribe corrupts the [good judgment of the] heart.
7:8:The end of a matter is better than its beginning;
Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit (pride).
7:9:Do not be eager in your heart to be angry,
For anger dwells in the heart of fools.
7:10:Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.
7:11:Wisdom along with an inheritance is good
And an [excellent] advantage for those who see the sun.
7:12:For wisdom is a protection even as money is a protection,
But the [excellent] advantage of knowledge is that wisdom shields and preserves the lives of its possessors.
7:13:Consider the work of God:
Who can make straight what He has bent?
7:14:In the day of prosperity be joyful,
But in the day of adversity consider that
God has made the one as well as the other,
So that man will not find out anything that will be after him.
7:15:I have seen everything during my [fleeting] days of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in [spite of] his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives a long life in [spite of] his wickedness.
7:16:Do not be excessively righteous [like those given to self-conceit], and do not be overly wise (pretentious)—why should you bring yourself to ruin?
7:17:Do not be excessively or willfully wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
7:18:It is good that you take hold of one thing (righteousness) and also not let go of the other (wisdom); for the one who fears and worships God [with awe-filled reverence] will come forth with both of them.
7:19:Wisdom strengthens the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.
7:20:Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who always does good and who never sins.
7:21:Also, do not take seriously everything that is said, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you,
7:22:for you also know that you too have cursed others many times.
7:23:I have tested all this with wisdom. I said, “I will be wise [independently of God],” but true wisdom was far from me.
7:24:Whatever has been is far off, deeply remote and exceedingly mysterious. Who can discover it [for it is beyond the grasp of man]?
7:25:I turned around and directed my heart to know, to investigate and to seek [skillful and godly] wisdom and the reason for things, and to know that wickedness is folly and that foolishness is madness [leading to stupidity and recklessness].
7:26:And I discovered that [of all irrational sins none has been so destructive in beguiling one away from God as immoral women for] more bitter than death is the woman whose heart is [composed of] snares and nets, and whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God will escape from her, but the sinner will be taken captive by her [evil].
7:27:“Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “while adding one thing to another to find an explanation,
7:28:which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand [who pleases God], but I have not found [such] a woman among all these [a thousand in my harem].
7:29:Behold, I have found only this [as a reason]: God made man upright and uncorrupted, but they [both men and women] have sought out many devices [for evil].”
8:1:Obey Rulers
Who is like the wise man?
And who knows the interpretation of a matter?
A man’s wisdom illumines his face,
And causes his stern face to beam.
8:2:I counsel you to keep the command of the king because of the oath before God [by which you swore loyalty to him].
8:3:Do not be in a hurry to get out of his presence. Do not join in a malevolent matter, for the king will do whatever he pleases.
8:4:For the word of a king is authoritative and powerful,
And who will say to him, “What are you doing?”
8:5:Whoever keeps and observes a royal command will experience neither trouble nor misery;
For a wise heart will know the proper time and [appropriate] procedure.
8:6:For there is a proper time and [appropriate] procedure for every delight,
Though mankind’s misery and trouble lies heavily upon him [who rebels against the king].
8:7:For no one knows what will happen;
So who can tell him how and when it will happen?
8:8:There is no man who has power and authority over the wind to restrain the wind,
Nor does he have authority over the day of death;
There is no discharge [from service] during time of war,
And evil will not rescue those who [actively seek to] practice it.
8:9:All this I have seen while applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has exercised power over others to their detriment.
8:10:So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out of the holy place [but did not thereby escape their doom], and they are [praised in spite of their evil and] soon forgotten in the city where they did such things. This too is futility (vanity, emptiness).
8:11:Because the sentence against an evil act is not executed quickly, the hearts of the sons of men are fully set to do evil.
8:12:Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life [seemingly] is prolonged [in spite of his wickedness], still I know that it will be well with those who [reverently] fear God, who fear and worship Him openly [realizing His omnipresence and His power].
8:13:But it will not be well for the evil man, nor will he lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.
8:14:There is a meaningless and futile thing which is done on the earth: that is, there are righteous men whose gain is as though they were evil, and evil men whose gain is as though they were righteous. I say that this too is futility (meaningless, vain).
8:15:Then I commended pleasure and enjoyment, because a man [without God] has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry, for this will stand by him in his toil through the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
8:16:When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to see the activities [of mankind] that take place upon the earth—how some men seem to sleep neither day nor night—
8:17:and I saw all the work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though man may labor in seeking, he will not discover; and [more than that], though a wise man thinks and claims he knows, he will not be able to find it out.
9:1:Men Are in the Hand of God
For I have taken all this to heart, exploring and examining it all, how the righteous (those in right standing with God) and the wise and their deeds are in the hands of God. No man knows whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him.
9:2:It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers sacrifices and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as he who swears an oath is, so is he who is afraid to swear an oath.
9:3:This evil is in all that is done under the sun, that one fate comes to all. Also, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and afterwards they go to the dead.
9:4:[There is no exemption,] but whoever is joined with all the living, has hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.
9:5:For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they no longer have a reward [here], for the memory of them is forgotten.
9:6:Indeed their love, their hatred and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share [in this age] in anything that is done under the sun.
9:7:Go your way, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a cheerful heart [if you are righteous, wise, and in the hands of God]; for God has already approved and accepted your works.
9:8:Let your clothes always be white [with purity], and do not let the oil [of gladness] be lacking on your head.
9:9:Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given you under the sun—all the days of vanity and futility. For this is your reward in life and in your work in which you have labored under the sun.
9:10:Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) where you are going.
9:11:I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the strong, and neither is bread to the wise nor riches to those of intelligence and understanding nor favor to men of ability; but time and chance overtake them all.
9:12:For man also does not know his time [of death]; like fish caught in a treacherous net, and birds caught in the snare, so the sons of men are ensnared in an evil time when a dark cloud suddenly falls on them.
9:13:This [illustration of] wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and great it was to me:
9:14:There was a little city with few men in it and a great king came against it and besieged it and built great battlements against it.
9:15:But there was found in it a poor wise man, and by his wisdom he rescued the city. Yet no man [seriously] remembered that poor man.
9:16:But I say that wisdom is better than strength, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heeded.
9:17:The words of wise men heard in quietness are better than the shouting of one who rules among fools.
9:18:Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
10:1:A Little Foolishness
Dead flies make the oil of the perfumer give off a foul odor; so a little foolishness [in one who is esteemed] outweighs wisdom and honor.
10:2:A wise man’s heart turns him toward the right [which is the way of blessing], but a fool’s heart turns him toward the left [which is the way of condemnation].
10:3:Even when a fool walks along the road, his [common] sense and good judgment fail him and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool.
10:4:If the temper of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post [showing resistance], because composure and calmness prevent great offenses.
10:5:There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which proceeds from the ruler—
10:6:folly is set in many exalted places and in great dignity while the rich sit in humble places.
10:7:I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the ground.
10:8:He who digs a pit [for others] may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a [stone] wall.
10:9:He who quarries stones may be hurt with them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them.
10:10:If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength; but wisdom [to sharpen the axe] helps him succeed [with less effort].
10:11:If the serpent bites before being charmed, then there is no profit for the charmer.
10:12:The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious and win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him;
10:13:the beginning of his talking is foolishness and the end of his talk is wicked madness.
10:14:Yet the fool multiplies words, though no man knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will come after he is gone?
10:15:The labor of a fool so wearies him [because he is ignorant] that he does not even know how to go to a city.
10:16:Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and when your [incompetent] officials and princes feast in the morning.
10:17:Blessed [prosperous and admired] are you, O land, when your king is a man of noble birth, and your princes and officials feast at the proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness.
10:18:Through laziness the rafters [of state affairs] decay and the roof sags, and through idleness [the roof of] the house leaks.
10:19:The officials make a feast for enjoyment [instead of repairing what is broken], and serve wine to make life merry, and money is the answer to everything.
10:20:Moreover, do not curse the king, even in your bedroom, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry the sound and a winged creature will make the matter known.
11:1:Cast Your Bread on the Waters
Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, [be diligently active, make thoughtful decisions], for you will find it after many days.
11:2:Give a portion to seven, or even [divide it] to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.
11:3:If the clouds are full [of rain], they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it lies.
11:4:He who watches the wind [waiting for all conditions to be perfect] will not sow [seed], and he who looks at the clouds will not reap [a harvest].
11:5:Just as you do not know the way and path of the wind or how the bones are formed in the womb of a pregnant woman, even so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.
11:6:Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle with your hands in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening planting will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
11:7:The light is sweet and pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.
11:8:Yes, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. All that is to come will be futility.
11:9:Rejoice, young man, in your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant in the days of your young manhood. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the desires of your eyes, but know that God will bring you into judgment for all these things.
11:10:Therefore, remove sorrow and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, for childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.
12:1:Remember God in Your Youth
Remember [thoughtfully] also your Creator in the days of your youth [for you are not your own, but His], before the evil days come or the years draw near when you will say [of physical pleasures], “I have no enjoyment and delight in them”;
12:2:before the sun and the light, and the moon and the stars are darkened [by impaired vision], and the clouds [of depression] return after the rain [of tears];
12:3:in the day when the keepers of the house (hands, arms) tremble, and the strong men (feet, knees) bow themselves, and the grinders (molar teeth) cease because they are few, and those (eyes) who look through the windows grow dim;
12:4:when the doors (lips) are shut in the streets and the sound of the grinding [of the teeth] is low, and one rises at the sound of a bird and the crowing of a rooster, and all the daughters of music (voice, ears) sing softly.
12:5:Furthermore, they are afraid of a high place and of dangers on the road; the almond tree (hair) blossoms [white], and the grasshopper (a little thing) is a burden, and the caperberry (desire, appetite) fails. For man goes to his eternal home and the mourners go about the streets and market places.
12:6:Earnestly remember your Creator before the silver cord [of life] is broken, or the golden bowl is crushed, or the pitcher at the fountain is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;
12:7:then the dust [out of which God made man’s body] will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
12:8:“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All [that is done without God’s guidance] is vanity (futility).”
12:9:Purpose of the Preacher
Furthermore, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; and he pondered and searched out and arranged many proverbs.
12:10:The Preacher sought to find delightful words, even to write correctly words of truth.
12:11:The words of the wise are like [prodding] goads, and these collected sayings are [firmly fixed in the mind] like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd.
12:12:But beyond this my son, [about going further than the words given by one Shepherd], be warned: the writing of many books is endless [so do not believe everything you read], and excessive study and devotion to books is wearying to the body.
12:13:When all has been heard, the end of the matter is: fear God [worship Him with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is almighty God] and keep His commandments, for this applies to every person.
12:14:For God will bring every act to judgment, every hidden and secret thing, whether it is good or evil.
song_of_solomon:1:1:The Young Shulammite Bride and Jerusalem’s Daughters
The Song of Songs [the best of songs], which is Solomon’s.
1:2:(The Shulammite Bride)
“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!” [Solomon arrives, she turns to him, saying,]
“For your love is better than wine.
1:3:“The aroma of your oils is fragrant and pleasing;
Your name is perfume poured out;
Therefore the maidens love you.
1:4:“Draw me away with you and let us run together!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.”
(The Chorus)
“We will rejoice and be glad in you;
We will remember and extol your love more [sweet and fragrant] than wine.
Rightly do they love you.”
1:5:(The Shulammite Bride)
“I am deeply tanned but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
[I am dark] like the tents of [the Bedouins of] Kedar,
Like the [beautiful] curtains of Solomon.
1:6:“Do not gaze at me because I am deeply tanned,
[I have worked in] the sun; it has left its mark on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me keeper of the vineyards,
But my own vineyard (my complexion) I have not kept.”
1:7:“Tell me, O you whom my soul loves,
Where do you pasture your flock,
Where do you make it lie down at noon?
For why should I be like one who is veiled
Beside the flocks of your companions?”
1:8:Solomon, the Lover, Speaks
(The Bridegroom)
“If you do not know [where your lover is],
O you fairest among women,
Run along, follow the tracks of the flock,
And pasture your young goats
By the tents of the shepherds.
1:9:“To me, my love, you are like
My [favorite] mare among the chariots of Pharaoh.
1:10:“Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with strings of jewels.”
1:11:(The Chorus)
“We will make for you chains and ornaments of gold,
[Studded] with beads of silver.”
1:12:(The Shulammite Bride)
“While the king was at his table,
My perfume (Solomon) sent forth [his] fragrance [surrounding me].
1:13:“My beloved is to me like a pouch of myrrh
Which lies all night between my breasts.
1:14:“My beloved is to me a cluster of henna flowers
In the [fragrant] vineyards of Engedi.”
1:15:(The Bridegroom)
“Behold, how beautiful you are, my darling,
Behold, how beautiful you are!
Your eyes are dove’s eyes.”
1:16:(The Shulammite Bride)
“Behold, how fair and handsome you are, my beloved;
And so delightful!
Our arbor is green and luxuriant.
1:17:“The beams of our houses are cedars,
Our rafters and panels are cypresses.
2:1:The Bride’s Admiration
“I am the rose [of the plain] of Sharon,
The lily of the valleys [that grows in deep places].”
2:2:(The Bridegroom)
“Like the lily among the thorns,
So are you, my darling, among the maidens.”
2:3:(The Shulammite Bride)
“Like an apple tree [rare and welcome] among the trees of the forest,
So is my beloved among the young men!
In his shade I took great delight and sat down,
And his fruit was sweet and delicious to my palate.
2:4:“He has brought me to his banqueting place,
And his banner over me is love [waving overhead to protect and comfort me].
2:5:“Sustain me with raisin cakes,
Refresh me with apples,
Because I am sick with love.
2:6:“Let his left hand be under my head
And his right hand embrace me.”
2:7:(The Bridegroom)
“I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field [which run free],
That you do not rouse nor awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
2:8:(The Shulammite Bride)
“Listen! My beloved!
Behold, he comes,
Climbing on the mountains,
Leaping and running on the hills!
2:9:“My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, he is standing behind our wall,
He is looking through the windows,
He is gazing through the lattice.
2:10:“My beloved speaks and says to me,
‘Arise, my love, my fair one,
And come away.
2:11:‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
2:12:‘The flowers appear on the earth once again;
The time for singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
2:13:‘The fig tree has budded and ripens her figs,
And the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one,
And come away [to climb the rocky steps of the hillside].’”
2:14:(The Bridegroom)
“O my dove, [here] in the clefts in the rock,
In the sheltered and secret place of the steep pathway,
Let me see your face,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your face is lovely.”
2:15:(The Chorus)
“Catch the foxes for us,
The little foxes that spoil and ruin the vineyards [of love],
While our vineyards are in blossom.”
2:16:(The Shulammite Bride)
“My beloved is mine and I am his;
He pastures his flock among the lilies.
2:17:“Until the cool of the day when the shadows flee away,
Return quickly, my beloved, and be like a gazelle
Or a young stag on the mountains of Bether [which separate us].”
3:1:The Bride’s Troubled Dream
(The Shulammite Bride)
“On my bed night after night [I dreamed that] I sought the one
Whom my soul loves;
I sought him but did not find him.
3:2:“I said ‘So I must arise now and go out into the city;
Into the streets and into the squares [places I do not know]
I must seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him but I did not find him.
3:3:“The watchmen who go around the city found me,
And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
3:4:“Scarcely had I passed them
When I found him whom my soul loves.
I held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the chamber of her who conceived me.”
3:5:(The Bridegroom)
“I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
That you do not rouse nor awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
3:6:Solomon’s Wedding Day
(The Shulammite Bride)
“What is this coming up from the wilderness
Like [stately] pillars of smoke
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all the fragrant powders of the merchant?”
3:7:(The Chorus)
“Behold, it is the couch (palanquin) of Solomon;
Sixty mighty men around it,
Of the mighty men of Israel.
3:8:“All of them handle the sword,
All expert in war;
Each man has his sword at his thigh,
Guarding against the terrors of the night.
3:9:“King Solomon has made for himself a palanquin
From the [cedar] wood of Lebanon.
3:10:“He made its posts of silver,
Its back of gold,
Its seat of purple cloth,
The interior lovingly and intricately wrought
By the daughters of Jerusalem.
3:11:“Go forth, O daughters of Zion,
And gaze on King Solomon wearing the crown
With which his mother [Bathsheba] has crowned him
On the day of his wedding,
On the day of his gladness of heart.”
4:1:Solomon’s Love Expressed
(The Bridegroom)
“How fair and beautiful you are, my darling,
How very beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are like those of a dove;
Your hair is like [the shimmering black fleece of] a flock of [Arabian] goats
That have descended from Mount Gilead [beyond the Jordan].
4:2:“Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes
Which have come up from washing,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
4:3:“Your lips are like a ribbon of scarlet,
And your mouth is lovely.
Your temples are like a slice of the pomegranate
Behind your veil.
4:4:“Your neck is like the tower of David,
Built with rows of [glistening] stones,
Whereon hang a thousand shields,
All of them shields of warriors.
4:5:“Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle
Which feed among the lilies.
4:6:“Until the day breaks
And the shadows flee away,
[In my thoughts] I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh
And to the hill of frankincense.
4:7:“O my love, you are altogether beautiful and fair.
There is no flaw nor blemish in you!
4:8:“Come away with me from Lebanon, my [promised] bride,
May you come with me from Lebanon.
Journey down from the top of Amana,
From the summit of Senir and Hermon,
From the dens of lions,
From the mountains of leopards.
4:9:“You have ravished my heart and given me courage, my sister, my [promised] bride;
You have ravished my heart and given me courage with a single glance of your eyes,
With one jewel of your necklace.
4:10:“How beautiful is your love, my sister, my [promised] bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
And the fragrance of your oils
Than all kinds of balsam and spices.
4:11:“Your lips, my [promised] bride, drip honey [as the honeycomb];
Honey and milk are under your tongue,
And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
4:12:“A garden enclosed is my sister, my [promised] bride—
A rock garden locked, a spring sealed up.
4:13:“Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates,
[A paradise] with precious fruits, henna with fragrant plants,
4:14:Fragrant plants and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
With all trees of frankincense,
Myrrh and aloes, along with all the finest spices.
4:15:“You are a fountain in a garden,
A well of fresh and living water,
And streams flowing from Lebanon.”
4:16:(The Shulammite Bride)
“Awake, O north wind,
And come, south wind [blow softly upon my garden];
Make my garden breathe out fragrance, [for the one in whom my soul delights],
Let its spices flow forth.
Let my beloved come into his garden
And eat its choicest fruits.”
5:1:The Torment of Separation
(The Bridegroom)
“I have come into my garden, my sister, my [promised] bride;
I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam and spice [from your sweet words].
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
I have drunk my wine with my milk.
Eat, friends;
Drink and drink deeply, O lovers.”
5:2:(The Shulammite Bride)
“I was asleep, but my heart was awake.
A voice [in my dream]! My beloved was knocking:
‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,
My dove, my perfect one!
For my head is drenched with the [heavy night] dew;
My hair [is covered] with the dampness of the night.’
5:3:“I had taken off my dress,
How can I put it on again?
I had washed my feet,
How could I get them dirty again?
5:4:“My beloved extended his hand through the opening [of the door],
And my feelings were aroused for him.
5:5:“I arose to open for my beloved;
And my hands dripped with myrrh,
And my fingers with liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
5:6:“I opened for my beloved,
But my beloved had turned away and was gone.
My heart went out to him when he spoke.
I searched for him, but I could not find him;
I called him, but he did not answer me.
5:7:“The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me.
They struck me, they wounded me;
The guardsmen of the walls took my shawl from me.
5:8:“I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you tell him—
[Say that] I am sick from love [sick from being without him].”
5:9:(The Chorus)
“What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O most beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
That you should so command us to take an oath?”
5:10:Admiration by the Bride
(The Shulammite Bride)
“My beloved is exquisitely handsome and ruddy,
Outstanding among ten thousand.
5:11:“His head is like [precious] gold, pure gold;
His hair is [curly] like clusters of dates
And black as a raven.
5:12:“His eyes are like doves
Beside streams of water,
Bathed in milk
And reposed in their setting.
5:13:“His cheeks are like a bed of balsam,
Banks of sweet, fragrant herbs.
His lips are lilies
Dripping sweet-scented myrrh.
5:14:“His hands are rods of gold
Set with beryl;
His abdomen is a figure of carved ivory
Inlaid with sapphires.
5:15:“His legs are [strong and steady] pillars of alabaster
Set upon pedestals of fine gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
Stately and choice as the cedars.
5:16:“His mouth is full of sweetness;
Yes, he is altogether lovely and desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.”
6:1:Mutual Delight in Each Other
(The Chorus)
“Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where is your beloved hiding himself,
That we may seek him with you?”
6:2:(The Shulammite Bride)
“My beloved has gone down to his garden,
To the beds of balsam,
To feed his flock in the gardens
And gather lilies.
6:3:“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who feeds his flock among the lilies.”
6:4:(The Bridegroom)
“You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
As lovely as Jerusalem,
As majestic as an army with banners!
6:5:“Turn your [flashing] eyes away from me,
For they have confused and overcome me;
Your hair is like [the shimmering black fleece of] a flock of [Arabian] goats
That have descended from Mount Gilead.
6:6:“Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
Which have come up from their washing,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
6:7:“Your temples are like a slice of the pomegranate
Behind your veil.
6:8:“There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
And maidens without number;
6:9:But my dove, my perfect one, stands alone [above them all];
She is her mother’s only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who bore her.
The maidens saw her and called her blessed and happy,
The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,
6:10:‘Who is this that looks down like the dawn,
Fair and beautiful as the full moon,
Clear and pure as the sun,
As majestic as an army with banners?’
6:11:“I went down to the orchard of nut trees
To see the flowers of the valley,
To see whether the grapevine had budded
And the pomegranates were in flower.
6:12:“Before I was aware [of what was happening], my desire had brought me
Into the area of the princes of my people [the king’s retinue].”
6:13:(The Chorus)
“Return, return, O Shulammite;
Return, return, that we may gaze at you.”
(The Bridegroom)
“Why should you gaze at the Shulammite,
As at the dance of the two armies?
7:1:Admiration by the Bridegroom
“How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O prince’s daughter!
The curves of your hips are like jewels,
The work of the hands of an artist.
7:2:“Your navel is a round goblet
Which never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is like a heap of wheat
Surrounded with lilies.
7:3:“Your two breasts are like two fawns,
The twins of a gazelle.
7:4:“Your neck is like a tower of ivory,
Your eyes the [sparkling] pools of Heshbon
By the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
Which looks toward Damascus.
7:5:“Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,
And the flowing hair of your head like purple threads;
I, the king, am held captive by your tresses.
7:6:“How beautiful and how delightful you are,
My love, with all your delights!
7:7:“Your stature is like that of a palm tree
And your breasts like its clusters [of dates].
7:8:“I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree;
I will grasp its branches.
Let your breasts be like clusters of the grapevine,
And the fragrance of your breath like apples,
7:9:‘And your kisses like the best wine!’”
(The Shulammite Bride)
“It goes down smoothly and sweetly for my beloved,
Gliding gently over his lips while he sleeps.
7:10:The Union of Love
“I am my beloved’s,
And his desire is for me.
7:11:“Come, my beloved, let us go out into the country,
Let us spend the night in the villages.
7:12:“Let us go out early to the vineyards;
Let us see whether the vine has budded
And its blossoms have opened,
And whether the pomegranates have flowered.
There I will give you my love.
7:13:“The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
And over our doors are all [kinds of] choice fruits,
Both new and old,
Which I have saved up for you, my beloved.
8:1:The Lovers Speak
“Oh, that you were like a brother to me,
Who nursed at the breasts of my mother.
If I found you out of doors, I would kiss you;
No one would blame me or despise me, either.
8:2:“I would lead you and bring you
Into the house of my mother, who used to instruct me;
I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates.
8:3:“Let his left hand be under my head
And his right hand embrace me.”
8:4:(The Bridegroom)
“I command you to take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem,
That you do not rouse nor awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
8:5:(The Chorus)
“Who is this coming up from the wilderness
Leaning upon her beloved?”
(The Shulammite Bride)
“Under the apple tree I awakened you [to my love];
There your mother was in labor with you,
There she was in labor and gave you birth.
8:6:“Put me like a seal on your heart,
Like a seal on your arm;
For love is as strong as death,
Jealousy is as severe and cruel as Sheol (the place of the dead).
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
[A most vehement flame] the very flame of the Lord!
8:7:“Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor can rivers drown it.
If a man would offer all the riches of his house for love,
It would be utterly scorned and despised.”
8:8:(The Chorus)
“We have a little sister
And she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
On the day when she is spoken for [in marriage]?
8:9:“If she is a wall (discreet, womanly),
We will build on her a turret (dowry) of silver;
But if she is a door (bold, flirtatious),
We will enclose her with planks of cedar.”
8:10:(The Shulammite Bride)
“I was a wall, and my breasts were like the towers.
Then I became in the king’s eyes
As one [to be respected and allowed] to find peace.
8:11:“Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
He entrusted the vineyard to caretakers;
Each one was to bring him a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.
8:12:“My very own vineyard is at my disposal;
The thousand [shekels of silver] are for you, O Solomon,
And two hundred are for those who tend the fruit.”
8:13:(The Bridegroom)
“O you who sit in the gardens,
My companions are listening for your voice—
Let me hear it.”
8:14:(The Shulammite Bride)
“Hurry, my beloved and come quickly,
Like a gazelle or a young stag [taking me home]
On the mountains of spices.”
isaiah:1:1:Rebellion of God’s People
The vision of [the prophet] Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning [the kingdom of] Judah and [its capital] Jerusalem, which he saw [as revealed by God] during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
1:2:Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth;
For the Lord has spoken:
“I have reared and brought up sons,
But they have rebelled against Me and have broken away.
1:3:“The ox [instinctively] knows its owner,
And the donkey its master’s feeding trough,
But Israel does not know [Me as Lord],
My people do not understand.”
1:4:Ah, sinful nation,
A people loaded down with wickedness [with sin, with injustice, with wrongdoing],
Offspring of evildoers,
Sons who behave corruptly!
They have abandoned (rejected) the Lord,
They have despised the Holy One of Israel [provoking Him to anger],
They have turned away from Him.
1:5:Why should you be stricken and punished again [since no change results from it]?
You [only] continue to rebel.
The whole head is sick
And the whole heart is faint and sick.
1:6:From the sole of the foot even to the head
There is nothing healthy in the nation’s body,
Only bruises, welts, and raw wounds,
Not pressed out or bandaged,
Nor softened with oil [as a remedy].
1:7:Your land lies desolate [because of your disobedience],
Your cities are burned with fire,
Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your very presence;
It is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
1:8:The Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem) is left like a [deserted] shelter in a vineyard,
Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city [isolated, surrounded by devastation].
1:9:If the Lord of hosts
Had not left us a few survivors,
We would be like Sodom,
We would be like Gomorrah.
1:10:God Has Had Enough
Hear the word of the Lord [rulers of Jerusalem],
You rulers of [another] Sodom,
Listen to the law and instruction of our God,
You people of [another] Gomorrah.
1:11:“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me [without your repentance]?”
Says the Lord.
“I have had enough of [your] burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of well-fed cattle [without your obedience];
And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls or lambs or goats [offered without repentance].
1:12:“When you come to appear before Me,
Who requires this of you, this trampling of My [temple] courts [by your sinful feet]?
1:13:“Do not bring worthless offerings again,
[Your] incense is repulsive to Me;
[Your] New Moon and Sabbath [observances], the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing] and [the squalor of] the festive assembly.
1:14:“I hate [the hypocrisy of] your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts.
They have become a burden to Me;
I am weary of bearing them.
1:15:“So when you spread out your hands [in prayer, pleading for My help],
I will hide My eyes from you;
Yes, even though you offer many prayers,
I will not be listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
1:16:“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Get your evil deeds out of My sight.
Stop doing evil,
1:17:Learn to do good.
Seek justice,
Rebuke the ruthless,
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the [rights of the] widow [in court].
1:18:“Let Us Reason”
“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be like wool.
1:19:“If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the best of the land;
1:20:But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
1:21:Zion Corrupted, to Be Redeemed
How the faithful city has become a prostitute [idolatrous, despicable],
She who was full of justice!
Right standing with God once lodged in her,
But now murderers.
1:22:Your silver has turned to lead,
Your wine is diluted with water.
1:23:Your rulers are rebels
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves bribes
And chases after gifts.
They do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the widow’s cause come before them [instead they delay or turn a deaf ear].
1:24:Therefore the Lord God of hosts,
The Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah, I will be freed of My adversaries
And avenge Myself on My enemies.
1:25:“And I will turn My hand against you,
And will [thoroughly] purge away your dross as with lye
And remove all your tin (impurity).
1:26:“Then I will restore your judges as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning;
Afterward you will be called the city of righteousness,
The faithful city.”
1:27:Zion will be redeemed with justice
And her repentant ones with righteousness.
1:28:But rebels and sinners will be crushed and destroyed together,
And those who abandon (turn away from) the Lord will be consumed (perish).
1:29:For you will be ashamed [of the degradation] of the oaks in which you took [idolatrous] pleasure,
And you will be ashamed of the gardens [of passion] which you have chosen [for pagan worship].
1:30:For you will be like an oak whose leaf withers and dies
And like a garden that has no water.
1:31:The strong man will become tinder,
And his work a spark.
So both will burn together
And there will be none to quench them.
2:1:God’s Universal Reign
The word [from God] which Isaiah son of Amoz saw [in a vision] concerning [the nation of] Judah and [its capital city] Jerusalem.
2:2:Now it will come to pass that
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be [firmly] established as the highest of the mountains,
And will be exalted above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
2:3:And many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house (temple) of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go out from Zion
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
2:4:And He will judge between the nations,
And will mediate [disputes] for many peoples;
And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up the sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.
2:5:O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
2:6:Most certainly [Lord] You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob,
Because they are filled with influences from the east,
And they are soothsayers [who foretell] like the Philistines;
Also they strike bargains with the children of foreigners (pagans).
2:7:Their land has also been filled with silver and gold
And there is no end to their treasures;
Their land has also been filled with horses
And there is no end to their chariots.
2:8:Their land has also been filled with idols;
They worship the work of their hands,
That which their own fingers have made.
2:9:So the common man has been humbled [before idols]
And the man of importance has been degraded,
Therefore do not forgive them [O Lord].
2:10:Go among the rocks and hide in the dust
From the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty.
2:11:The proud look of man will be degraded
And the arrogance of men will be humbled,
And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
2:12:A Day of Reckoning Coming
For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning
Against all who are proud and arrogant
And against all who are lifted up,
That they may be degraded.
2:13:And the wrath of God will be against all the cedars of Lebanon [west of the Jordan] that are high and lifted up,
Against all the oaks of Bashan [east of the Jordan],
2:14:Against all the high mountains,
Against all the hills that are lifted up,
2:15:Against every high tower,
Against every fortified wall,
2:16:Against all the ships of Tarshish
And against all the beautiful craft.
2:17:Then the pride of man will be humbled
And the arrogance of men will be degraded;
The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day,
2:18:And the idols will completely vanish (be abolished).
2:19:They [the stricken, deprived of all in which they had trusted] will go into the caves of the rocks
And into the holes of the ground [fleeing]
From the terror and dread of the Lord
And from the splendor of His majesty,
When He arises to terrify the earth.
2:20:In that day men will throw away to the moles and to the bats
Their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
Which they made for themselves [as objects] to worship,
2:21:To go into the caverns of the rocks and into the clefts of the [ragged] cliffs [as they flee]
From the terror and dread of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty,
When He arises to terrify the earth.
2:22:Stop regarding man, whose breath [of life] is in his nostrils [for so little time];
For why should he be esteemed?
3:1:God Will Remove the Leaders
Listen carefully, the Lord God of hosts is removing from Jerusalem and from Judah
Both supply and support, the whole supply of bread
And the whole supply of water;
3:2:The brave man and the warrior [He is also removing],
The judge and the prophet,
The diviner and the elder,
3:3:The captain of fifty and the man of honor,
The counselor and the expert artisan,
And the skillful enchanter.
3:4:And I will make mere boys their princes,
And capricious (impulsive, unpredictable) children will rule over them.
3:5:And the people will be oppressed,
Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor;
The boy will be arrogant and insolent toward the elder
And the vulgar (common) toward the honorable [person of rank].
3:6:When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying,
“You have a robe, you shall be our judge and ruler,
And this pile of ruins will be under your control,”
3:7:He will protest on that day, saying,
“I will not be a governor;
For in my house there is neither bread nor clothing;
You should not make me a judge and ruler of the people.”
3:8:For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,
Because their words and their actions are against the Lord,
To rebel against His glorious presence and defiantly provoke Him.
3:9:Their partiality testifies against them,
They display their sin like Sodom;
They do not even hide it.
Woe (judgment is coming) to them!
For they have brought evil on themselves [as a reward].
3:10:Say to the righteous that it will go well with them,
For they will eat the fruit of their [righteous] actions.
3:11:Woe (judgment is coming) to the wicked! It shall go badly with him,
For what his hand has done shall be done to him.
3:12:O My people! Children are their oppressors,
And women rule over them.
O My people! Your leaders lead you astray
And confuse (destroy, swallow up) the direction of your paths.
3:13:God Will Judge
The Lord rises to contend,
And stands to judge the people.
3:14:The Lord enters into judgment with the elders of His people and their princes,
“For it is you who have devoured the vineyard [with your oppression, you have robbed the people and ruined the country];
The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
3:15:“What do you mean by crushing My people
And grinding the face of the poor?”
Declares the Lord God of hosts.
3:16:Judah’s Women Denounced
Moreover, the Lord said, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud
And walk with outstretched necks and seductive (flirtatious, alluring) eyes,
And trip along with mincing steps and an affected gait
And walk with jingling anklets on their feet,
3:17:Therefore the Lord will afflict the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion with scabs [making them bald],
And the Lord will expose their foreheads (send them into captivity).”
3:18:In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, [braided] caps, crescent [head] ornaments,
3:19:dangling earrings, bracelets, and the hanging veils and scarves,
3:20:head wraps (turbans), [short, jingling] ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets (charms),
3:21:signet [finger] rings, nose rings,
3:22:festival robes, outer tunics, shawls, handbags,
3:23:hand mirrors, [fine linen] undergarments, headbands, and veils [covering the entire body].
3:24:Now it will come to pass that instead of the sweet fragrance of spices there will be [the stench of] rottenness;
Instead of a belt, a rope;
Instead of well-set hair, baldness;
Instead of fine clothes, a robe of sackcloth;
And branding [of captives by the scorching heat] instead of beauty.
3:25:Your men will fall by the sword
And your mighty men in battle.
3:26:And Jerusalem’s gates will lament (cry out in grief) and mourn [as those who wail for the dead];
And she, being ruined and desolate, will sit upon the ground.
4:1:A Remnant Prepared
And in that day seven women will take hold of one man, saying, “We will eat our own food and wear [and provide] our own clothes; only let us be called by your name; take away our shame [of being unmarried].”
4:2:In that day the Branch of the Lord will be splendid and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be excellent and lovely to those of Israel who have survived.
4:3:It will come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy (set apart for God)—everyone who is recorded for [eternal] life in Jerusalem.
4:4:When the Lord has washed away the [moral] filth of the daughters of Zion and has cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning,
4:5:then the Lord will create over the entire site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies, a cloud by day, smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory and brilliance will be a canopy [a defense, a covering of His divine love and protection].
4:6:And there will be a pavilion for shade from the heat by day, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and the rain.
5:1:Parable of the Vineyard
Now let me sing for my greatly Beloved [Lord]
A song of my Beloved about His vineyard (His chosen people).
My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile slope (the promised land, Canaan).
5:2:He dug it all around and cleared away its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine (the people of Judah).
And He built a tower in the center of it;
And also hewed out a wine vat in it.
Then He expected it to produce [the choicest] grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones.
5:3:“And now, says the Lord, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard (My people).
5:4:“What more could have been done for My vineyard that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield worthless ones?
5:5:“So now let me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will take away its thorn-hedge, and it will be burned up;
I will break down its stone wall and it will be trampled down [by enemies].
5:6:“I will turn it into a wasteland;
It will not be pruned or cultivated,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also command the clouds not to rain on it.”
5:7:For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house (nation) of Israel
And the men of Judah are His delightful planting [which He loves].
So He looked for justice, but in fact, [He saw] bloodshed and lawlessness;
[He looked] for righteousness, but in fact, [He heard] a cry of distress and oppression.
5:8:Woes for the Wicked
Woe (judgment is coming) to those who join house to house and join field to field [to increase their holdings by depriving others],
Until there is no more room [for others],
So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!
5:9:In my ears the Lord of hosts said, “Be assured that many houses will become desolate,
Even great and beautiful ones will be unoccupied.
5:10:“For ten acres of vineyard will yield [only] one bath of wine,
And a homer (six bushels) of seed will produce [only] one ephah of grain.”
5:11:Woe (judgment is coming) to those who rise early in the morning to pursue intoxicating drink,
Who stay up late in the night till wine inflames them!
5:12:They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts;
But they do not regard nor even pay attention to the deeds of the Lord,
Nor do they consider the work of His hands.
5:13:Therefore My people go into exile because they lack knowledge [of God];
And their honorable men are famished,
And their common people are parched with thirst.
5:14:Therefore Sheol (the realm of the dead) has increased its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure;
And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her [boisterous] uproar and her [drunken] revelers descend into it.
5:15:So the common man will be bowed down and the man of importance degraded,
And the eyes of the proud (arrogant) will be degraded.
5:16:But the Lord of hosts will be exalted in justice,
And God, the Holy One, will show Himself holy in righteousness [through His righteous judgments].
5:17:Then the lambs will graze [among the ruins] as in their own pasture,
And strangers will eat in the desolate places of the [exiled] wealthy.
5:18:Woe (judgment is coming) to those who drag along wickedness with cords of falsehood,
And sin as if with cart ropes [towing their own punishment];
5:19:Who say, “Let Him move speedily, let Him expedite His work [His promised vengeance], so that we may see it;
And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel approach
And come to pass, so that we may know it!”
5:20:Woe (judgment is coming) to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
5:21:Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are wise in their own eyes
And clever and shrewd in their own sight!
5:22:Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are heroes at drinking wine
And men of strength in mixing intoxicating drinks,
5:23:Who justify the wicked and acquit the guilty for a bribe,
And take away the rights of those who are in the right!
5:24:Therefore, as the tongue of fire consumes the stubble [from straw]
And the dry grass collapses into the flame,
So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away like fine dust;
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts
And despised and discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel.
5:25:Therefore the anger of the Lord has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and has struck them down.
And the mountains trembled, and their dead bodies lay like rubbish in the middle of the streets.
In spite of all this God’s anger is not turned away,
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
5:26:He will lift up a flag to [call] the distant nations [to bring His judgment on Judah],
And will whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
And indeed, they will come with great speed swiftly.
5:27:No one among them is weary or stumbles,
No one slumbers or sleeps;
Nor is the belt at their waist undone [as if unprepared for action],
Nor is the strap of their sandal broken.
5:28:Their arrows are sharp and all their bows are strung and bent;
Their horses’ hoofs seem like flint and their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
5:29:Their roaring is like a lioness, they roar like young lions;
They growl and seize their prey
And carry it off and there is no one to save it.
5:30:And in that day they will roar against them (Judah) like the roaring of the sea.
And if one looks to the land, in fact, there is darkness and distress;
Even the light will be darkened by its clouds.
6:1:Isaiah’s Vision
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw [in a vision] the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, with the train of His royal robe filling the [most holy part of the] temple.
6:2:Above Him seraphim (heavenly beings) stood; each one had six wings: with two wings he covered his face, with two wings he covered his feet, and with two wings he flew.
6:3:And one called out to another, saying,
“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is filled with His glory.”
6:4:And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, and the temple was filling with smoke.
6:5:Then I said,
“Woe is me! For I am ruined,
Because I am a man of [ceremonially] unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
6:6:Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.
6:7:He touched my mouth with it and said, “Listen carefully, this has touched your lips; your wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing] is taken away and your sin atoned for and forgiven.”
6:8:Isaiah’s Commission
Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
6:9:And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on listening, but do not understand;
Keep on looking, but do not comprehend.’
6:10:“Make the heart of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”
6:11:Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,
“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
And houses are without people
And the land is utterly desolate,
6:12:The Lord has removed [His] people far away,
And there are many deserted places in the midst of the land.
6:13:“And though a tenth [of the people] remain in the land,
It will again be subject to destruction [consumed and burned],
Like a massive terebinth tree or like an oak
Whose stump remains when it is chopped down.
The holy seed [the elect remnant] is its stump [the substance of Israel].”
7:1:War against Jerusalem
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Aram (Syria) and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but they could not conquer it.
7:2:When the house of David (Judah) was told, “Aram is allied with Ephraim (Israel),” the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.
7:3:Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz [king of Judah], you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field;
7:4:and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, do not fear and be weak-hearted because of these two stumps of smoldering logs, on account of the fierce anger of [King] Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah (Pekah, usurper of the throne of Israel).
7:5:Because Aram, along with Ephraim (Israel) and the son of Remaliah, have planned evil against you (Judah), saying,
7:6:“Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it; and let us breach its wall and tear it apart [each of us taking a portion] and set up the son of Tabeel over it as its [puppet] king,”
7:7:for this is what the Lord God says, “It shall not stand nor shall it happen.
7:8:For the head (capital) of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is [King] Rezin (now within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces and will no longer be a people).
7:9:And the head (capital) of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son [King Pekah]. If you will not believe [and trust in God and His message], be assured that you will not be established.”’”
7:10:The Child Immanuel
Then the Lord spoke again to [King] Ahaz, saying,
7:11:“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God [one that will convince you that God has spoken and will keep His word]; make your request as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.”
7:12:But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
7:13:Then Isaiah said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too small a thing for you to try the patience of men, but will you try the patience of my God as well?
7:14:Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Listen carefully, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (God with us).
7:15:He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.
7:16:For before the child will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land (Canaan) whose two kings you dread will be deserted [both Ephraim and Aram].
7:17:Trials to Come for Judah
The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim (the ten northern tribes) separated from Judah—[He will call for] the king of Assyria.”
7:18:In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the mouth of the rivers and canals of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
7:19:These [armies, like flies and bees] will all come and settle on the steep and rugged ravines and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thorn bushes and in all the watering places.
7:20:In that day [when foreign armies swarm the land] the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from the regions beyond the Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), [that razor will shave] the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard [leaving Judah stripped, shamed and scorned].
7:21:Now in that day [because of the poverty caused by the invaders] a man will keep alive only a young milk cow and two sheep;
7:22:and because of the abundance of milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left in the land will eat [only] curds and [wild] honey.
7:23:And it will come to pass in that day, in every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be briars and thorns.
7:24:People will come there [to hunt] with arrows and with bows because all the land will be briars and thorns.
7:25:As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the pick and the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place where oxen are pastured and where sheep tread.
8:1:Damascus and Samaria Fall
Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet [for public display] and write on it in ordinary characters: Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
8:2:And I will get faithful witnesses to attest [to this prophecy] for me, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”
8:3:So I approached [my wife] the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz [to remind the people of the prophecy];
8:4:for before the boy knows how to say, ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus (Aram’s capital) and the spoil of Samaria (Israel’s capital) will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”
8:5:Again the Lord spoke to me, saying,
8:6:“Because these people (Judah) have refused the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
And rejoice in Rezin [the king of Aram] and Remaliah’s son [Pekah the king of Israel],
8:7:Now therefore, listen carefully, the Lord is about to bring on them the waters of the [Euphrates] River, strong and abundant—
The king of Assyria and all his glory;
And it will rise over all its channels and canals and go far beyond its banks.
8:8:“Then it will sweep on into Judah; it will overflow and pass through [the hills],
Reaching even to the neck [of which Jerusalem is the head],
And its outstretched wings (the armies of Assyria) will fill the width of Your land, O Immanuel.
8:9:A Believing Remnant
“Be broken [in pieces], O peoples, and be shattered!
Listen, all you [our enemies from the] far countries.
Prepare yourselves [for war], and be shattered;
Prepare yourselves [for war], and be shattered.
8:10:“Take counsel together [against Judah], but it will come to nothing;
Speak the word, but it will not stand,
For God is with us (Immanuel).”
8:11:For in this way the Lord spoke to me with His strong hand [upon me] and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people [behaving as they do], saying,
8:12:“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,
And you are not to fear what they fear nor be in dread of it.
8:13:“It is the Lord of hosts whom you are to regard as holy and awesome.
He shall be your [source of] fear,
He shall be your [source of] dread [not man].
8:14:“Then He shall be a sanctuary [a sacred, indestructible shelter for those who fear and trust Him];
But to both the houses of Israel [both the northern and southern kingdoms—Israel and Judah, He will be] a stone on which to stumble and a rock on which to trip,
A trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
8:15:“Many [among them] will stumble over them;
Then they will fall and be broken,
They will even be snared and trapped.”
8:16:Bind up the testimony, seal the law and the teaching among my (Isaiah’s) disciples.
8:17:And I will wait for the Lord who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; and I will look eagerly for Him.
8:18:Listen carefully, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders [that will occur] in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
8:19:When the people [instead of trusting God] say to you, “Consult the mediums [who try to talk to the dead] and the soothsayers who chirp and whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?
8:20:[Direct those people] to the law and to the testimony! If their teachings are not in accord with this word, it is because they have no dawn.
8:21:They [who consult mediums and soothsayers] will pass through the land deeply distressed and hungry, and when they are hungry, they will become enraged and will curse their king and their God as they look upward.
8:22:Then they will look to the earth, they will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness and overwhelming night.
9:1:Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace
But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish [for with judgment comes the promise of salvation]. In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make them honored [by the presence of the Messiah], by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
9:2:The people who walk in [spiritual] darkness
Will see a great Light;
Those who live in the dark land,
The Light will shine on them.
9:3:You [O God] will increase the nation,
You will multiply their joy;
They will rejoice before You
Like the joy and jubilation of the harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil [of victory].
9:4:For You will break the yoke of Israel’s burden and the staff (goad) on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
9:5:For every boot of the marching warrior in the battle tumult,
And [every soldier’s] garment rolled in blood, will be used for burning, fuel for the fire.
9:6:For to us a Child shall be born, to us a Son shall be given;
And the government shall be upon His shoulder,
And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
9:7:There shall be no end to the increase of His government and of peace,
[He shall rule] on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From that time forward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
9:8:God’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance
The Lord sends a word (message) against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel [the ten northern tribes, the kingdom of Ephraim].
9:9:And all the people know it,
That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria [its capital],
Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:
9:10:“The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild [all the better] with ashlar (hewed stones);
The sycamores have been cut down,
But we will replace them with [expensive] cedars.”
9:11:Therefore the Lord raises against Ephraim adversaries from Rezin [king of Aram]
And spurs their enemies on,
9:12:The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west;
And they devour Israel with gaping jaws.
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
9:13:Yet the people do not turn back [in repentance] to Him who struck them,
Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts [as their most essential need].
9:14:Therefore the Lord cuts off head and tail [the highest and the lowest] from Israel,
Both [the high] palm branch and [the low] bulrush in one day.
9:15:The elderly and honorable man, he is the head;
And the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
9:16:For those who lead this people are causing them to go astray;
And those who are led [astray] by them are swallowed up.
9:17:Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
Nor does He have compassion on their fatherless or their widows;
For every one of them is godless and an evildoer,
And every mouth is speaking foolishness.
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
9:18:For wickedness burns like a fire;
It consumes briars and thorns,
It even sets the forest thickets ablaze;
And it swirls upward in a column of smoke.
9:19:By the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is burned up,
And the people are like fuel for the fire;
No man spares his brother.
9:20:They slice off [in discord] what is on the right hand but are still hungry,
And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;
Each eats the flesh of his own arm.
9:21:[The tribe of] Manasseh devours [the tribe of his brother] Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
And together they are against Judah (the southern kingdom, the house of David).
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
10:1:Assyria Is God’s Instrument
Woe (judgment is coming) to those [judges] who issue evil statutes,
And to those [magistrates] who constantly record unjust and oppressive decisions,
10:2:So as to deprive the needy of justice
And rob the poor of My people of rightful claims,
So that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the fatherless.
10:3:Now what will you do in the day of [God’s] punishment,
And in the storm of devastation which will come from far away?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your wealth [for safekeeping]?
10:4:Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives
Or fall [dead] among the slain [on the battlefield].
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away,
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
10:5:Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger [against Israel],
The staff in whose hand is My indignation and fury [against Israel’s disobedience]!
10:6:I send Assyria against a godless nation
And commission it against the people of My wrath
To take the spoil and to seize the plunder,
And to trample them down like mud in the streets.
10:7:Yet it is not Assyria’s intention [to do My will],
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But instead it is its purpose to destroy
And to cut off many nations.
10:8:For Assyria says, “Are not my princes all kings?
10:9:“Is not Calno [conquered] like Carchemish [on the Euphrates]?
Is not Hamath [subdued] like Arpad [her neighbor]?
Is not Samaria [in Israel] like Damascus [in Aram]?
10:10:“As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose carved images were greater and more feared than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
10:11:Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?” [declares Assyria].
10:12:So when the Lord has completed all His work [of judgment] on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit [the thoughts, the declarations, and the actions] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the haughtiness of his pride.”
10:13:For the Assyrian king has said,
“I have done this by the power of my [own] hand and by my wisdom,
For I have understanding and skill.
I have removed the boundaries of the peoples
And have plundered their treasures;
Like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.
10:14:“My hand has found the wealth of the people like a nest,
And as one gathers eggs that are abandoned, so I have gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing, or that opened its beak and chirped.”
10:15:Is the axe able to lift itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw able to magnify itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like a club moving those who lift it,
Or like a staff raising him who is not [made of] wood [like itself]!
10:16:Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, will send a wasting disease among the stout warriors of Assyria;
And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
10:17:And the Light of Israel will become a fire and His Holy One a flame,
And it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and briars in a single day.
10:18:The Lord will consume the glory of Assyria’s forest and of its fruitful garden, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
10:19:And the remaining trees of Assyria’s forest will be so few in number
That a child could write them down.
10:20:A Remnant Will Return
Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
10:21:A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
10:22:For though your people, O Israel, may be as the sand of the sea,
Only a remnant within them will return;
The destruction is determined [it is decided and destined for completion], overflowing with justice (righteous punishment).
10:23:For the Lord, the God of hosts, will execute a complete destruction, one that is decreed, in the midst of all the land.
10:24:Therefore, the Lord God of hosts says this, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian who strikes you with a rod and lifts up his staff against you, as [the king of] Egypt did.
10:25:For yet a very little while and My indignation [against you] will be fulfilled and My anger will be directed toward the destruction of the Assyrian.”
10:26:The Lord of hosts will brandish a whip against them like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the [Red] Sea and He will lift it up the way He did in [the flight from] Egypt.
10:27:So it will be in that day, that the burden of the Assyrian will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of the fat.
10:28:The Assyrian has come against Aiath [in Judah],
He has passed through Migron [with his army];
At Michmash he stored his equipment.
10:29:They have gone through the pass, saying,
“Geba will be our lodging place for the night.”
Ramah trembles, and Gibeah [the city] of Saul has fled.
10:30:Cry aloud with your voice [in consternation], O Daughter of Gallim!
Pay attention, Laishah! Answer her, Anathoth!
10:31:Madmenah has fled;
The inhabitants of Gebim have fled [with their belongings] to safety.
10:32:Yet today the Assyrian will halt at Nob [the city of priests];
He shakes his fist at the mountain of the Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
10:33:Listen carefully, the Lord, the God of hosts, will lop off the [beautiful] boughs with terrifying force;
The tall in stature will be cut down
And the lofty will be abased and humiliated.
10:34:He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe,
And Lebanon (the Assyrian) will fall by the Mighty One.
11:1:Righteous Reign of the Branch
Then a Shoot (the Messiah) will spring from the stock of Jesse [David’s father],
And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
11:2:And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him—
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and strength,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the [reverential and obedient] fear of the Lord—
11:3:And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;
11:4:But with righteousness and justice He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the downtrodden of the earth;
And He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
11:5:And righteousness will be the belt around His loins,
And faithfulness the belt around His waist.
11:6:And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatted steer together;
And a little child will lead them.
11:7:And the cow and the bear will graze [together],
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
11:8:And the nursing child will [safely] play over the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den [and not be hurt].
11:9:They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
11:10:Then in that day
The nations will make supplications to the Root of Jesse
Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;
And His resting place will be glorious.
11:11:The Restored Remnant
Then it will happen on that day that the Lord
Will again acquire with His hand a second time
The remnant of His people, who will remain,
From Assyria, from [Lower] Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush (Ethiopia), from Elam [in Persia], from Shinar [Babylonia], from Hamath [in Aram],
And from the coastlands bordering the [Mediterranean] Sea.
11:12:And He will lift up a signal for the nations
And assemble the outcasts of Israel,
And will gather the dispersed of Judah
From the four corners of the earth.
11:13:Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart,
And those who harass Judah will be cut off;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
And Judah will not harass Ephraim.
11:14:Ephraim and Judah will [unite and] swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines toward the west;
Together they will plunder the sons (Arabs) of the east.
They will possess Edom and Moab,
And the sons of Ammon will be subject to them.
11:15:And the Lord will utterly destroy
The tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
And with His scorching wind
He will wave His hand over the River;
He will strike and divide it into seven channels
And make [it possible for] people [to] walk over in sandals.
11:16:And there will be a highway from Assyria
For the remnant of His people who will be left,
Just as there was for Israel
In the day when they came up out of the land of Egypt.
12:1:Thanksgiving Expressed
And on that day you will say,
“I will give thanks to You, O Lord;
For though You were angry with me,
Your anger has turned away,
And You comfort me.
12:2:“Behold, God, my salvation!
I will trust and not be afraid,
For the Lord God is my strength and song;
Yes, He has become my salvation.”
12:3:Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the springs of salvation.
12:4:And in that day you will say,
“Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name [in prayer].
Make His deeds known among the peoples [of the earth];
Proclaim [to them] that His name is exalted!”
12:5:Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done excellent and glorious things;
Let this be known throughout the earth.
12:6:Rejoice and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
13:1:Prophecies about Babylon
The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw [in a prophetic vision]:
13:2:Lift up a signal banner on the bare mountain,
Summon them [the Medes and Persians] with a loud voice,
Wave the [beckoning] hand so that they may enter the doorways of the [Babylonian] nobles.
13:3:I [the Lord] have commanded My consecrated ones,
I have even called My great warriors,
My proudly exulting ones [the Medes and the Persians who triumph for My honor]—
To execute My anger.
13:4:A sound of tumult on the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A sound of the uproar of the kingdoms,
Of nations gathered together!
The Lord of hosts is mustering an army for battle.
13:5:They are coming from a distant country,
From the end of heaven [the farthest horizon]—
The Lord and the weapons of His indignation—
To destroy the whole land.
13:6:Judgment on the Day of the Lord
Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty (All Sufficient One—Invincible God)!
13:7:Therefore all hands will fall limp,
And every man’s heart will melt.
13:8:They [of Babylon] will be shocked and terrified,
Pains and anguish will grip them;
They will be in pain like a woman in childbirth.
They will stare aghast and horrified at one another,
Their faces aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare].
13:9:Listen carefully, the day of the Lord is coming,
Cruel, with wrath and raging anger,
To make the land a horror [of devastation];
And He shall exterminate its sinners from it.
13:10:For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash with their light;
The sun will be dark when it rises,
And the moon will not shed its light.
13:11:In this way I will punish the world for its evil
And the wicked for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing];
I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud
And will abase the arrogance of the tyrant.
13:12:I will make mortal man more rare than fine gold,
And mankind [scarcer] than the pure gold of Ophir.
13:13:Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
And the earth will be shaken from its place
At the wrath of the Lord of hosts
In the day of His burning anger.
13:14:And like the hunted gazelle,
Or like sheep that no man gathers,
Each [foreign resident] will turn [and go back] to his own people,
And each one flee to his own land.
13:15:Anyone who is found will be pierced through,
And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
13:16:Their children also will be smashed to pieces
Before their eyes;
Their houses will be looted
And their wives ravished.
13:17:Babylon Will Fall to the Medes
Listen carefully, I will put the Medes [in motion] against them,
Who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold [and therefore cannot be bribed].
13:18:Their bows will cut down the young men [of Babylon];
They will take no pity on the fruit of the womb,
Their eyes will not look with compassion on the children.
13:19:And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.
13:20:Babylon will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will the shepherds let their sheep lie down there.
13:21:But desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and wild goats will dance there.
13:22:Hyenas will howl in their castles,
And jackals in their luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s time has nearly come,
And her days will not be prolonged.
14:1:Israel’s Taunt
For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob (the captives in Babylon) and will again choose Israel, and will settle them in their own land. Foreigners (Gentiles) will join them [as proselytes] and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob (Israel).
14:2:The peoples will take them along and bring them to their own place (Judea), and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the Lord as male and female servants; and they will take captive those whose captives they have been, and they will rule over their [former] oppressors.
14:3:And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved,
14:4:that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,
“How the oppressor has ceased [his insolence],
And how the fury has ceased!
14:5:“The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the [tyrant] rulers
14:6:Which used to strike the peoples in anger with incessant blows,
Which subdued and ruled the nations in wrath with unrelenting persecution.
14:7:“The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;
They break into shouts of joy.
14:8:“Even the cypress trees rejoice over you [kings of Babylon], even the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’
14:9:“Sheol below is excited about you to meet you when you come [you tyrant of Babylon];
It stirs up the spirits of the dead [to greet you], all the leaders of the earth;
It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones [in astonishment at your fall].
14:10:“All of them will respond [tauntingly] and say to you,
‘You have become as weak as we are.
You have become like us.
14:11:‘Your pomp and magnificence have been brought down to Sheol,
Along with the music of your harps;
The maggots [which prey on the dead] are spread out under you [as a bed]
And worms are your covering [Babylonian rulers].’
14:12:“How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning [light-bringer], son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the ground,
You who have weakened the nations [king of Babylon]!
14:13:“But you said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the remote parts of the north.
14:14:‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
14:15:“But [in fact] you will be brought down to Sheol,
To the remote recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).
14:16:“Those who see you will gaze at you,
They will consider you, saying,
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
14:17:Who made the world like a wilderness
And overthrew its cities,
Who did not permit his prisoners to return home?’
14:18:“All the kings of the nations, all of them lie [dead] in glorious array,
Each one in his own sepulcher.
14:19:“But you [king of Babylon] have been cast out of your tomb (denied burial)
Like a rejected branch,
Clothed with the slain who are pierced by the sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit [into which carcasses are thrown],
Like a dead body trampled [underfoot].
14:20:“You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land,
You have slain your people.
May the descendants of evildoers never be named!
14:21:“Prepare a slaughtering place for his sons
Because of the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of their fathers.
They must not rise and take possession of the earth,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”
14:22:“I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, and son and grandson,” declares the Lord.
14:23:“I will also make Babylon a possession of the hedgehog and of swamps of water, and I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.
14:24:Judgment on Assyria
The Lord of hosts has sworn [an oath], saying, “Just as I have intended, so it has certainly happened, and just as I have planned, so it will stand—
14:25:to break the Assyrian in My land, and on My mountains I will trample him underfoot. Then the Assyrian’s yoke will be removed from them (the people of Judah) and his burden removed from their shoulder.
14:26:This is the plan [of God] decided for the whole earth [regarded as conquered and put under tribute by Assyria]; and this is the hand [of God] that is stretched out over all the nations.
14:27:For the Lord of hosts has decided and planned, and who can annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”
14:28:Judgment on Philistia
In the year that King Ahaz [of Judah] died this [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) came:
14:29:“Do not rejoice, O Philistia, any of you,
Because the rod [of Judah] that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s root will come a viper [King Hezekiah of Judah],
And its offspring will be a flying serpent.
14:30:“The firstborn of the helpless [of Judah] will feed [on My meadows],
And the needy will lie down in safety;
But I will kill your root with famine,
And your survivors will be put to death.
14:31:“Howl, O gate; cry, O city!
Melt away, O Philistia, all of you;
For smoke comes out of the north,
And there is no straggler in his ranks and no one stands detached [in Hezekiah’s battalions].
14:32:“Then what answer will one give the messengers of the [Philistine] nation?
That the Lord has founded Zion,
And the afflicted of His people will seek and find refuge in it.”
15:1:Judgment on Moab
The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Moab:
Because in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined;
Because in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.
15:2:They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep.
Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba;
Everyone’s head is shaved, and every beard is cut off [in mourning].
15:3:In their streets they have wrapped themselves with sackcloth;
On their [flat] housetops and in their open squares
Everyone is wailing, dissolved in tears.
15:4:Heshbon and Elealeh [cities claimed by Moab] cry out;
Their voice is heard as far as Jahaz.
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out;
Moab’s soul trembles within him.
15:5:My heart cries out for Moab;
His fugitives are [fleeing] as far as Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah.
For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping;
For on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress over their destruction.
15:6:For the waters of Nimrim are desolate.
Indeed the grass is withered, the new growth dies;
There is no green thing.
15:7:Therefore the abundance which they have acquired and stored away
They carry off over the Brook of the Willows.
15:8:For the cry of distress has echoed around the territory of Moab;
The wailing goes as far as Eglaim and the mournful cry to Beer-elim.
15:9:For the waters of Dimon are full of blood;
Yet I will bring even more woes on Dimon—
A lion upon those of Moab who escape and upon the remnant of the land.
16:1:Prophecy of Moab’s Devastation
Send lambs to the ruler of the land [you Moabites],
From Sela [that is, Petra in Edom] through the wilderness to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).
16:2:For like wandering birds or scattered nestlings,
The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the [river] Arnon.
16:3:[Say to the ruler] “Give us advice, make a decision [for Moab, king of Judah];
Cast your shadow [over us] like night in the midst of noon;
Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive [to his pursuer].
16:4:“Let our outcasts of Moab live among you;
Be a [sheltered] hiding place to them from the destroyer.”
For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased,
Oppressors [who trample men] have completely disappeared from the land,
16:5:A throne will be established in lovingkindness,
And One will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent (dynasty, family) of David;
Judging and seeking justice
And being prompt to do righteousness.
16:6:We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride—
Even of his arrogance, his conceit, his rage,
His untruthful boasting.
16:7:Therefore Moab will wail for Moab; everyone will wail.
You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth,
As those who are utterly stricken and discouraged.
16:8:For the fields of Heshbon have languished and withered, and the vines of Sibmah as well;
The lords of the nations have trampled down [Moab’s] choice vine branches,
Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered into the wilderness;
Its tendrils stretched out, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.
16:9:Therefore I (Isaiah) will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vines of Sibmah.
I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh;
For the war-cry [of the enemy] has fallen on your summer fruits and your harvest.
16:10:Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field;
In the vineyards there will be no singing or joyful sound;
No treader treads out wine in the presses,
For I (God) put an end to the joyful shouting.
16:11:Therefore my heart sounds like a harp [in mournful compassion] for Moab,
And my inner being mourns for Kir-hareseth.
16:12:So it will come to pass when Moab presents himself,
When he wearies himself [worshiping] on his high place [of idolatry]
And comes to his sanctuary [of Chemosh, god of Moab] to pray,
That he will not prevail.
16:13:This is the word which the Lord spoke earlier concerning Moab [when Moab’s pride and resistance to God were first known].
16:14:But now the Lord speaks, saying, “Within three years, as the years of a hired man [who will not serve longer than the agreed time], the glory of Moab will be degraded along with all the great population, and the remnant [that survives] will be very small and of no account.”
17:1:Prophecy about Damascus
The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Damascus [capital of Aram (Syria), and Israel’s defense against Assyria].
“Listen carefully, Damascus will cease to be a city
And will become a fallen ruin.
17:2:“The cities of Aroer [east of the Jordan] are deserted;
They will be [only a refuge] for flocks to lie down in,
And there will be no one to make them afraid.
17:3:“The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
And the kingdom from Damascus
And the remnant of Aram (Syria);
They will be like the [departed] glory of [her ally] the children of Israel,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.
17:4:“Now in that day the [former] glory of Jacob [Israel—his might, his population, his prosperity] will fade,
And the fatness of his flesh will become lean.
17:5:“And it will be like the reaper gathering the standing grain,
As his arm harvests the ears of grain;
Yes, it will be like one gleaning ears of grain
In the [fertile] Valley of Rephaim.
17:6:“Yet gleanings will be left in the land [of Israel] like the shaking of the olive tree,
Two or three olives on the topmost branch,
Four or five on the [outermost] branches of the fruitful tree,”
Declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
17:7:In that day man will have regard for his Maker,
And his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel [with awe-inspired reverence].
17:8:And he will not have regard for the [idolatrous] altars, the work of his hands,
Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made,
Neither the Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah) nor the incense altars.
17:9:In that day the strong cities of Aram and Israel will be like deserted places in the forest,
Or like branches which they abandoned before the children of Israel;
And the land will be a desolation.
17:10:Because you [Judah] have forgotten the God of your salvation
And have not remembered the Rock of your Stronghold—
Therefore you plant lovely plants
And set the grounds with vine slips of a strange god,
17:11:In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,
And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom;
Yet [promising as it is] the harvest will be a heap [of ruins that passes away]
In the day of sickness and incurable pain.
17:12:Oh, the uproar of many peoples
Who roar like the roaring of the seas,
And the noise of nations
Who roar like the rumbling of mighty waters!
17:13:The nations roar on like the roaring of many waters,
But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind,
Or like whirling dust before the storm.
17:14:At evening time, now look, sudden terror!
Before morning the Assyrians are no more.
This is the portion (fate) of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who pillage us.
18:1:Message to Ethiopia
Woe (judgment is coming) to the land of whirring wings
Which is beyond the rivers of Cush (Ethiopia),
18:2:Which sends ambassadors by the sea,
Even in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation [of people] tall and smooth (clean shaven),
To a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
18:3:All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth,
When a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it!
When a trumpet is blown, you will hear it!
18:4:For this is what the Lord has said to me,
“I will be quiet and I will look on from My dwelling place,
Like shimmering heat above the sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
18:5:For before the harvest, when the blossom is over
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
He will cut off the sprigs [without buds] with pruning knives,
And [He will] remove and cut away the spreading branches.
18:6:They (warriors) will be left together for the mountain birds of prey,
And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will [spend the] summer feeding on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
18:7:At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts
From a people tall and smooth (clean shaven),
From a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place [of worship] of the name of the Lord of hosts, to Mount Zion [in Jerusalem].
19:1:Message to Egypt
The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Egypt:
Listen carefully, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,
And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
19:2:“So I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians;
And they will fight, each one against his brother and each one against his neighbor,
City against city, kingdom against kingdom.
19:3:“Then the spirit of the Egyptians will become exhausted within them and emptied out;
And I will confuse their strategy,
So that they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
And mediums and soothsayers.
19:4:“And I will hand over the Egyptians to a hard and cruel master,
And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord God of hosts.
19:5:The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry.
19:6:The canals will become foul-smelling,
The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up,
The reeds and the rushes will rot away.
19:7:The meadows by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile,
And all the sown fields of the Nile
Will become dry, be blown away, and be no more.
19:8:The fishermen will lament (cry out in grief),
And all those who cast a hook into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets upon the waters will languish.
19:9:Moreover, those who make linen from combed flax
And those who weave white cloth will be ashamed.
19:10:[Those who are] the pillars and foundations of Egypt will be crushed;
And all those who work for wages will be grieved in soul.
19:11:The princes of Zoan are complete fools;
The counsel of the Pharaoh’s wisest advisors has become stupid.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings?”
19:12:Where then are your wise men?
Please let them tell you,
And let them understand what the Lord of hosts
Has purposed against Egypt [if they can].
19:13:The princes of Zoan have acted like fools,
The princes of Memphis are deluded [and entertain false hope];
Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes
Have led Egypt astray.
19:14:The Lord has mixed a spirit of distortion within her;
Her leaders have caused Egypt to stagger in all that she does,
As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
19:15:There will be no work for Egypt
Which head or tail, [high] palm branch or [low] bulrush, may do.
19:16:In that day the Egyptians will become like [helpless] women, and they will tremble and be frightened because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He is going to wave over them.
19:17:The land of Judah [Assyria’s ally] will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the Lord of hosts which He is planning against Egypt.
19:18:In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of [the Hebrews of] Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One [of them] will be called the City of Destruction.
19:19:In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a memorial stone to the Lord near its border.
19:20:It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior, a [Great] Defender, and He will rescue them.
19:21:And so the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know [heed, honor, and cherish] the Lord in that day. They will even worship with sacrifices [of animals] and offerings [of produce]; they will make a vow to the Lord and fulfill it.
19:22:The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing it; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and heal them.
19:23:In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship and serve [the Lord] with the Assyrians.
19:24:In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and with Assyria [in a Messianic league], a blessing in the midst of the earth,
19:25:whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage.”
20:1:Prophecy about Egypt and Cush (Ancient Ethiopia)
In the year that the Tartan [the Assyrian commander in chief] came to Ashdod [in Philistia], when Sargon king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it,
20:2:at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, untie the sackcloth from your hips and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, walking around stripped [to his loincloth] and barefoot.
20:3:And the Lord said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has walked stripped and barefoot for three years as a sign and forewarning concerning Egypt and Cush (Ethiopia),
20:4:in the same way the king of Assyria will lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, young and old, stripped and barefoot, even with buttocks uncovered—to the shame of Egypt.
20:5:Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast.
20:6:So the inhabitants of this coastland [the Israelites and their neighbors] will say in that day, ‘Look what has happened to those in whom we hoped and trusted and to whom we fled for help to be spared from the king of Assyria! But we, how will we escape [captivity and exile]?’”
21:1:God Commands That Babylon Be Taken
The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the Desert of the Sea (the seasonally flooded plains just south of Babylon):
As windstorms in the Negev (the South) sweep through,
So it (God’s judgment) comes from the desert, from [the hostile armies of] a terrifying land.
21:2:A harsh vision has been shown to me;
The treacherous one deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media!
All the groaning [caused by Babylon’s ruthless oppressions] I [the Lord] have brought to an end.
21:3:Therefore [continues Isaiah] my loins are filled with anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in childbirth;
I am so bent and bewildered that I cannot hear, I am so terrified that I cannot see.
21:4:My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been turned into fear and trembling for me.
21:5:They set the table [for the doomed banquet], they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains [of Belshazzar’s court], oil your shields [for battle, for your enemy is at the gates]!”
21:6:This is what the Lord says to me,
“Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.
21:7:“When he sees a chariot, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys and a train of camels,
Let him pay attention and listen closely, very closely.”
21:8:And the lookout called like a lion,
“O Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower by day,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
21:9:“Now look! Here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the carved images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”
21:10:O my threshed people [Judah, who must be judged and trampled down by Babylon], my afflicted of the threshing floor.
What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel, I have [joyfully] announced to you [that Babylon is to fall].
21:11:Oracles about Edom and Arabia
The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Dumah (Edom):
Someone keeps calling to me from Seir (Edom),
“Watchman, what is left of the night [of Assyrian oppression]?
Watchman, what is left of the night? [How long until morning?]”
21:12:The watchman says,
“The morning comes [only briefly], but also [comes] the night [of Babylonian oppression].
If you would ask [of me then], ask [again, if Edom really wishes to know];
Come back again.”
21:13:The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Arabia:
In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night,
Caravans of Dedanites.
21:14:Bring water for the thirsty [Dedanites],
O inhabitants of the land of Tema [in Arabia];
Meet the fugitive with bread.
21:15:For they have fled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, from the bent bow
And from the press of battle and grief of war.
21:16:For the Lord has said this to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired man [who will work no longer than was agreed], all the splendor of [the tribe of] Kedar will end;
21:17:and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”
22:1:The Valley of Vision
The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the Valley of Vision:
What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,
22:2:You [Jerusalem] who were full of noise,
A tumultuous city, a joyous and exuberant city;
Your slain were not slain [in a glorious death] with the sword,
Nor did they die in battle.
22:3:All your leaders have fled together [with your king],
And have been captured without the bow [which they had thrown away];
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
Though they had fled far away.
22:4:Therefore I say, “Look away from me;
Let me weep bitterly.
Do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
22:5:For the Lord God of hosts has a day of panic and of tumult, of trampling, of confusion
In the Valley of Vision,
A [day of] breaking down walls
And a crying [for help] to the mountain.
22:6:Elam took up the quiver
With the chariots, infantry and horsemen;
And Kir uncovered the shield.
22:7:And it came to pass that your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took their fixed positions [in an offensive array] at the gate [of Jerusalem].
22:8:Then God removed the [protective] covering of Judah;
And in that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest (Solomon’s armory).
22:9:You saw that the breaches
In the wall of the City of David [the citadel of Zion] were many;
You collected [within the city’s walls] the waters of the Lower Pool (Siloam).
22:10:Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And you tore down the houses [to get materials] to fortify the city wall [by extending it].
22:11:You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the waters of the Old Pool,
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.
22:12:Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to mourning,
To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].
22:13:Instead, there is joy and jubilation,
Killing of oxen and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating meat and drinking wine, saying,
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
22:14:But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in my ears,
“This sin absolutely will not be forgiven you
Until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts.
22:15:For the Lord God of hosts says this, “Go to this [contemptible] steward,
To Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household [but is building himself a tomb worthy of a king, and say to him],
22:16:‘What business do you have here?
And whom do you have here,
That you have hewn out a tomb here for yourself,
You who hew a sepulcher on the height,
You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?
22:17:‘Listen carefully, the Lord is about to hurl you away violently, O man;
And He is about to grasp you firmly
22:18:And roll you up tightly like a ball
And toss you into a vast country;
There you will die
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house.’
22:19:“I will depose you from your office,
And you will be pulled down from your position [of importance].
22:20:“Then it will come to pass in that day
That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.
22:21:“And I will clothe him with your tunic [of distinction]
And tie your sash securely around him.
I will entrust him with your authority;
He will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22:22:“Then I will set on his shoulder the key of the house of David;
When he opens no one will shut,
When he shuts no one will open.
22:23:“I will drive him like a peg in a firm place,
And he will become a throne of honor and glory to his father’s house.
22:24:“So they will hang on him all the honor and glory [the complete responsibility] of his father’s house, offspring and issue [of the family, high and low], all the least of the articles, from the bowls to all the jars.
22:25:In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “the peg (Eliakim) that was driven into the firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the burden hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”
23:1:The Fall of Tyre
The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Tyre:
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house, without harbor;
It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus (Kittim).
23:2:Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon;
Your messengers crossed the sea
23:3:And they were on great waters.
The grain of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile River, was Tyre’s revenue;
And she was the market of nations.
23:4:Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now like a widow bereaved of her children];
For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have neither labored nor given birth [to children];
I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins.”
23:5:When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in agony at the report about Tyre.
23:6:Cross over to Tarshish [to seek safety as exiles];
Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland [of Tyre].
23:7:Is this your jubilant city,
Whose origin dates back to antiquity,
Whose feet used to carry her [far away] to colonize distant places?
23:8:Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?
23:9:The Lord of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,
To bring into contempt and humiliation all the honored of the earth.
23:10:Overflow your land like [the overflow of] the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish;
There is no more restraint [on you to make you pay tribute to Tyre].
23:11:He has stretched out His hand over the sea,
He has shaken the kingdoms;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to destroy her strongholds and her fortresses [like Tyre and Sidon].
23:12:He has said, “You shall never again exult [in triumph], O crushed Virgin Daughter of Sidon.
Arise, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”
23:13:Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)—this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures—they set up their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.
23:14:Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold [of Tyre] is destroyed.
23:15:Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the prostitute’s song:
23:16:Take a harp, walk around the city,
O forgotten prostitute;
Play the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.
23:17:It will come to pass at the end of seventy years that the Lord will remember Tyre. Then she will return to her prostitute’s wages and will play the [role of a] prostitute [by trading] with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.
23:18:But her commercial gain and her prostitute’s wages will be dedicated to the Lord; it will not be treasured or stored up, but her commercial gain will become sufficient food and stately clothing for those who dwell (minister) in the presence of the Lord.
24:1:Judgment on the Earth
Behold, the Lord lays waste to the earth, devastates it, twists and distorts its face and scatters its inhabitants.
24:2:And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor [as God’s impartial judgment of sin comes on all].
24:3:The earth will be completely laid waste and utterly pillaged, for the Lord has spoken this word.
24:4:The earth dries up and crumbles away, the world dries out and crumbles away, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away.
24:5:The earth also is polluted by its inhabitants, because they have transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.
24:6:Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God’s wrath], and few people are left.
24:7:The new wine mourns,
The vine decays;
All the merry-hearted sigh and groan.
24:8:The mirth of the timbrels (tambourines) ceases,
The noise of those who rejoice ends,
The joy of the harp ceases.
24:9:They do not drink wine with a song;
Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
24:10:The city of chaos is broken down;
Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.
24:11:There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine;
All jubilation is darkened,
The joy of the earth is banished.
24:12:Horrible desolation is left in the city,
And the gate is battered into ruins.
24:13:For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples,
As the shaking of an olive tree,
As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over [and only a little of the fruit remains].
24:14:They [who have escaped and remain] raise their voices, they shout for joy;
They rejoice from the [Mediterranean] Sea in the majesty of the Lord.
24:15:Therefore honor and glorify the Lord in the east [in the region of light],
The name of the Lord, the God of Israel [honor His name],
In the coastlands and islands of the [Mediterranean] Sea.
24:16:From the ends of the earth we hear songs, “Glory and honor to the Righteous One,”
But I say, “I waste away, I waste away. Woe to me!
The treacherous deal treacherously,
Indeed, the treacherous deal very treacherously.”
24:17:Terror and pit [of destruction] and snare
Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.
24:18:Then it will be that he who flees at the sound of terror will fall into the pit,
And he who comes up out of the pit will be caught in the snare;
For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
24:19:The earth is broken completely apart,
The earth is split apart,
The earth is shaken violently.
24:20:The earth reels back and forth like a drunkard
And sways like a shack;
Its transgression lies heavily upon it,
And it will fall and not rise again.
24:21:So it will happen in that day
That the Lord will visit and punish the host (fallen angels) of heaven on high,
And the kings of the earth on the earth.
24:22:They will be gathered together
As prisoners [are gathered] in a dungeon;
They will be shut up in prison,
And after many days they will be visited and punished.
24:23:Then the full moon will be embarrassed and the sun ashamed,
For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory and brilliance will shine before His elders.
25:1:Song of Praise for God’s Favor
O Lord, You are my God;
I will exalt You, I will praise and give thanks to Your name;
For You have done miraculous things,
Plans formed long, long ago, [fulfilled] with perfect faithfulness.
25:2:For You have made a city into a heap [of trash],
A fortified city into a ruin;
A palace of foreigners is no longer a city,
It will never be rebuilt.
25:3:Therefore a strong people will honor You;
Cities of terrible and violent nations will fear You.
25:4:For You have been a stronghold for the helpless,
A stronghold for the poor in his distress,
A shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat;
For the breath of tyrants
Is like a rainstorm against a wall.
25:5:Like heat in a dry land, You will subdue the noise of foreigners [rejoicing over their enemies];
Like heat in the shadow of a cloud, the song of the tyrants is silenced.
25:6:On this mountain [Zion] the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples [to welcome His reign on earth],
A banquet of aged wines—choice pieces [flavored] with marrow,
Of refined, aged wines.
25:7:And on this mountain He will destroy the covering that is [cast] over all peoples,
And the veil [of death] that is woven and spread over all the nations.
25:8:He will swallow up death [and abolish it] for all time.
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
And He will take away the disgrace of His people from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
25:9:It will be said in that day,
“Indeed, this is our God for whom we have waited that He would save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let us shout for joy and rejoice in His salvation.”
25:10:For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain [Zion],
And Moab will be trampled down in his place
As straw is trampled down in the [filthy] water of a manure pile.
25:11:And Moab will spread out his hands in the middle of the filth
As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,
But the Lord will humiliate his pride in spite of the [skillful] movements of his hands.
25:12:The high fortifications of your walls He will bring down,
Lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.
26:1:Song of Trust in God’s Protection
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city;
He sets up salvation as walls and ramparts.
26:2:“Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,
The one that remains faithful and trustworthy.
26:3:“You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character],
Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].
26:4:“Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner],
For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].
26:5:“For He has thrown down the [arrogant] ones who dwell on high, the lofty and inaccessible city;
He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He hurls it to the dust.
26:6:“The foot will trample it,
Even the feet of the suffering, and the steps of the helpless.”
26:7:The way of the righteous [those in right-standing with God—living in moral and spiritual integrity] is smooth and level;
O Upright One, make a level path for the just and righteous.
26:8:Indeed, in the path of Your judgments, O Lord,
We have waited expectantly for You;
Your name, even Your memory, is the desire and deep longing of our souls.
26:9:In the night my soul longs for You [O Lord],
Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
For [only] when Your judgments are experienced on the earth
Will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
26:10:Though the wicked is shown compassion and favor,
He does not learn righteousness;
In the land of uprightness he deals unjustly,
And refuses to see the majesty of the Lord.
26:11:Though Your hand is lifted up [to strike], O Lord, the wicked do not see it.
Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame;
Indeed, let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them.
26:12:Lord, You will establish peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all that we have done.
26:13:O Lord our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us;
But through You alone we confess Your name.
26:14:The [wicked] dead will not live [again], the spirits of the dead will not rise and return;
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And You have wiped out every memory of them [every trace of them].
26:15:You have increased the nation, O Lord;
You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
You have extended all the borders of the land.
26:16:O Lord, they sought You in distress;
They managed only a prayerful whisper
When Your discipline was upon them.
26:17:As a woman with child approaches the time to give birth,
She is in pain and struggles and cries out in her labor,
So we were before You, O Lord.
26:18:We have been with child, we have twisted and struggled in labor;
We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish salvation for the earth,
Nor were inhabitants of the world born.
26:19:Your dead will live;
Their dead bodies will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy!
For your dew is a dew of [celestial] light [heavenly, supernatural],
And the earth will give birth to the spirits of the dead.
26:20:Come, my people, enter your chambers
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide for a little while
Until the [Lord’s] wrath is past.
26:21:Listen carefully, the Lord is about to come out of His [heavenly] place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing];
The earth will reveal the [innocent] blood shed upon her
And will no longer cover her slain.
27:1:The Deliverance of Israel
In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent
With His fierce and great and mighty sword [rescuing Israel from her enemy],
Even Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.
27:2:In that day [it will be said of the redeemed nation of Israel],
“A vineyard of wine, sing in praise of it!
27:3:“I, the Lord, am its Keeper;
I water it every moment.
So that no one will harm it,
I guard it night and day.
27:4:“I have no wrath.
Should anyone give Me briars and thorns in battle,
I would step on them, I would set them all on fire.
27:5:“Or let him (Israel) cling to My strength and rely on My protection [My stronghold],
Let him make peace with Me,
Let him make peace with Me.”
27:6:In the generations to come Jacob will take root;
Israel will blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the surface of the world with fruit.
27:7:Like the striking by Him who has struck them, has He struck them?
Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain?
27:8:You contended with them by exile, by driving them away [from Canaan];
He has expelled them with His fierce wind on the day of the east wind.
27:9:Therefore through this the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of Jacob (Israel) will be atoned for and forgiven;
And this will be the full price [that God requires] for taking away his sin:
When Israel makes all the stones of the [pagan] altars like crushed chalk stones;
When the Asherim and the incense altars will not stand.
27:10:For the fortified city is isolated,
A settlement deserted and abandoned like the desert;
There the calf will graze,
And there it will lie down and feed on its branches.
27:11:When its branches are dry, they are broken off;
The women come and make a fire with them.
For they are not a people of understanding,
Therefore He who made them will not have compassion on them,
And He who created them will not be gracious to them.
27:12:In that day the Lord will thresh [out His grain] from the flowing stream of the River [Euphrates] to the Brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel.
27:13:It will come to pass in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost and perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
28:1:Ephraim’s Captivity Predicted
Woe (judgment is coming) to [Samaria] the splendid crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the rich valley
Of those who are overcome with wine!
28:2:Listen carefully, the Lord has a strong and mighty agent [the Assyrian];
Like a tempest of hail, a disastrous storm,
Like a tempest of mighty overflowing waters,
He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.
28:3:The splendid crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trampled by [the foreigners’] feet.
28:4:And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the rich valley,
Will be like the early fig before the summer,
Which one sees,
And as soon as it is in his hand
He [greedily] swallows it [and so will the Assyrians rapidly devour Samaria, Israel’s capital].
28:5:In that day the Lord of hosts will become a magnificent crown
And a glorious diadem to the [converted] remnant of His people,
28:6:A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment [administering the law],
A strength to those who drive back the battle at the gate.
28:7:But even these reel with wine and stagger from strong drink:
The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink;
They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink;
They reel while seeing visions,
They stagger when pronouncing judgment.
28:8:For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, so that there is no place [that is clean.]
28:9:They say “To whom would He teach knowledge?
And to whom would He explain the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?
28:10:“For He says,
‘Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Rule upon rule, rule upon rule,
Here a little, there a little.’”
28:11:Indeed, the Lord will teach this people [in a more humiliating way]
By [men with] stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
28:12:He who said to them, “This is the place of quiet, give rest to the weary,”
And, “This is the resting place,” yet they would not listen.
28:13:Therefore the word of the Lord to them will be [merely monotonous repetitions]:
“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Rule upon rule, rule upon rule,
Here a little, there a little.”
That they may go and stumble backward, and be broken, ensnared, and taken captive.
28:14:Judah Is Warned
Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you arrogant men
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem!
28:15:Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol (the place of the dead) we have made an agreement,
When the overwhelming scourge passes by, it will not reach us,
For we have made lies our refuge and we have concealed ourselves in deception.”
28:16:Therefore the Lord God says this,
“Listen carefully, I am laying in Zion a Stone, a tested Stone,
A precious Cornerstone for the [secure] foundation, firmly placed.
He who believes [who trusts in, relies on, and adheres to that Stone] will not be disturbed or give way [in sudden panic].
28:17:“I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the mason’s level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And waters will flood over the secret [hiding] place.
28:18:“Your covenant with death will be annulled,
And your agreement with Sheol (the place of the dead) will not stand;
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you will become its trampling ground.
28:19:“As often as it passes through, it will seize you;
For morning after morning it will pass through, by day and by night,
And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”
28:20:For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
And the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself [and likewise all their preparations are inadequate].
28:21:For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the Valley of Gibeon,
To do His work, His unusual and incredible work,
And to accomplish His work, His extraordinary work.
28:22:Now do not carry on as scoffers,
Or the bands which bind you will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts [a decree]
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.
28:23:Listen and hear my voice;
Listen carefully and hear my words.
28:24:Does the farmer plow all day to plant seed?
Does he continually dig furrows and harrow his ground [after it is prepared]?
28:25:When he has leveled its surface,
Does he not sow [the seed of] dill and scatter cumin,
And plant wheat in rows,
And barley in its [intended] place and rye within its border?
28:26:For his God instructs [him correctly] and teaches him properly.
28:27:For dill is not threshed with a sharp threshing sledge,
Nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin;
But dill is beaten out with a staff, and cumin with a rod.
28:28:Bread grain is crushed fine,
Indeed, the farmer does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
28:29:This also comes from the Lord of hosts,
Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.
29:1:Jerusalem Is Warned
Woe (judgment is coming) to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David [once] camped!
Add yet another year; let the feasts run their course [but only one year more].
29:2:Then I will harass Ariel,
And she will be a city of mourning and lamenting (crying out in grief)
Yet she will be like an Ariel [an altar hearth] to Me.
29:3:I will camp against you and encircle you,
And I will hem you in with siege works,
And I will raise fortifications against you.
29:4:Then you [Jerusalem] will be brought low,
You will speak from the earth,
And from the dust where you lie face down
Your muffled words will come.
Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the earth [like one produced by a medium],
And your speech will whisper and squeak from the dust.
29:5:But the multitude of your enemies [that assault you] will become like fine dust,
And the multitude of the tyrants like the chaff which blows away;
And it will happen in an instant, suddenly [that your enemy is destroyed].
29:6:You will be punished by the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.
29:7:And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel (Jerusalem),
Even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.
29:8:It will be as when a hungry man dreams
That he is eating,
But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams
That he is drinking,
But when he awakens, in fact, he is faint
And his thirst is not quenched.
So will the multitude of all the nations be
Who fight against Mount Zion.
29:9:Stop and take some time and wonder [at this prophecy],
Blind yourselves and be blinded [at its fulfillment by your spiritual incompetence].
They are drunk, but not from wine;
They stagger, but not from strong drink.
29:10:For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep.
He has closed your eyes, [you who are] the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, [you who are] the seers.
29:11:The entire vision [of all these things] will be to you like the words of a scroll that is sealed, which they give to one who can read, saying, “Read this, please,” he shall say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”
29:12:Then the book will be given to the one who cannot read, saying, “Read this, please.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”
29:13:Then the Lord said,
“Because this nation approaches [Me only] with their words
And honors Me [only] with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me is a tradition that is learned by rote [without any regard for its meaning],
29:14:Therefore, listen carefully, I will again do marvelous and amazing things with this people, wonderful and astonishing things;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the understanding of their discerning men will be hidden.”
29:15:Woe (judgment is coming) to those who [try to] deeply hide their plans from the Lord,
Whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And who say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
29:16:You turn things upside down [with your perversity]!
Shall the potter be considered equal with the clay,
That the thing that is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or the thing that is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
29:17:Blessing after Discipline
Is it not yet a very little while
Until Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,
And the fertile field regarded as a forest?
29:18:On that day the deaf will hear the words of a book,
And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see [the words of the book].
29:19:The afflicted also will increase their joy in the Lord,
And the needy of mankind will rejoice and celebrate in the Holy One of Israel.
29:20:For the tyrant will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,
Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off—
29:21:Those who cause a person to be condemned with a [false] word,
And lay a trap for him who upholds justice at the [city] gate,
And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.
29:22:Therefore, the Lord, who redeemed Abraham [from paganism] says this, concerning the house of Jacob (Israel):
“Jacob will not be ashamed, nor will his face turn pale [with disappointment because of his children’s degenerate behavior];
29:23:For when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My Name;
They will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand in awe and reverent fear of the God of Israel.
29:24:“Those who err in mind will know the truth,
And those who criticize and murmur discontentedly will accept instruction.
30:1:Judah Warned against Egyptian Alliance
“Woe (judgment is coming) to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord,
“Who carry out a plan, but not Mine,
And make an alliance [by pouring out a libation], but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin;
30:2:Who proceed down to Egypt
Without consulting Me,
To take refuge in the stronghold of Pharaoh
And to take shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
30:3:“Therefore the safety and protection of Pharaoh will be your shame
And the refuge in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation and disgrace.
30:4:“For his princes are at Zoan
And his ambassadors arrive at Hanes [in Egypt].
30:5:“All will be ashamed because of a people (the Egyptians) who cannot benefit them,
Who are not a help or benefit, but a shame and also a disgrace.”
30:6:A [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the beasts of the Negev (the South):
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From where come lioness and lion, viper and [fiery] flying serpent,
They carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys
And their treasures on the humps of camels,
To a people (Egyptians) who cannot benefit them.
30:7:For Egypt’s help is worthless and good for nothing.
Therefore, I have called her
“Rahab Who Has Been Exterminated.”
30:8:Now, go, write it on a tablet before them
And inscribe it on a scroll,
So that it may serve in the time to come
As a witness [against them] forevermore.
30:9:For this is a rebellious people, lying sons,
Sons who refuse to listen to
The law and instruction of the Lord;
30:10:Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions from God”;
And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right!
Speak to us pleasant things and smooth words,
Prophesy [deceitful] illusions [that we will enjoy].
30:11:“Get out of the [true] way, turn aside from the path [of God],
Stop bothering us with the Holy One of Israel.”
30:12:Therefore, the Holy One of Israel says this,
“Because you have refused and rejected this word [of Mine]
And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them,
30:13:Therefore this wickedness [this sin, this injustice, this wrongdoing] will be to you
Like a crack [in a wall] about to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,
30:14:“Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar,
Crushed so savagely
that there cannot be found among its pieces a potsherd [large enough]
To take [coals of] fire from a fireplace,
Or to scoop water from a cistern.”
30:15:For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel has said this,
“In returning [to Me] and rest you shall be saved,
In quietness and confident trust is your strength.”
But you were not willing,
30:16:And you said, “No! We will flee on horses!”
Therefore you will flee [from your enemies]!
And [you said], “We will ride on swift horses!”
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
30:17:A thousand of you will flee at the threat of one man;
You will flee at the threat of five,
Until you are left like a flag on the top of a mountain,
And like a signal on a hill.
30:18:God Is Gracious and Just
Therefore the Lord waits [expectantly] and longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed (happy, fortunate) are all those who long for Him [since He will never fail them].
30:19:O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will most certainly be gracious to you at the sound of your cry for help; when He hears it, He will answer you.
30:20:Though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of oppression, yet your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will [constantly] see your Teacher.
30:21:Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.
30:22:And you will defile your carved images overlaid with silver, and your cast images plated with gold. You will scatter them like a bloodstained cloth, and will say to them, “Be gone!”
30:23:Then He will give you rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread [grain] from the produce of the ground, and it will be rich and plentiful. In that day your livestock will graze in large and roomy pastures.
30:24:Also the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.
30:25:On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams of water on the day of the great slaughter (the day of the Lord), when the towers fall [and all His enemies are destroyed].
30:26:The light of the full moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days [concentrated in one], in the day the Lord binds up the fracture of His people and heals the wound He has inflicted [because of their sins].
30:27:Now look, the name of the Lord comes from far away,
Burning with His anger, and heavy with smoke;
His lips are full of indignation,
And His tongue is like a consuming fire.
30:28:His breath is like an overflowing river,
Which reaches to the neck,
To sift the nations back and forth in a sieve [of disaster],
And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.
30:29:You will have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept,
And joy of heart as when one marches [in procession] with a flute,
To go to the [temple on the] mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.
30:30:And the Lord will make His majestic voice heard,
And show the descending of His arm [striking] in [His] fierce anger,
And in the flame of a devouring fire,
In the crashing sound of heavy rain, cloudburst, and hailstones.
30:31:For at the voice of the Lord the Assyrians will be terrified,
When He strikes [them] with the rod.
30:32:And every blow of the rod of punishment,
Which the Lord will lay on them,
Will be to the music of Israel’s tambourines and lyres;
And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight Assyria.
30:33:For Topheth [in Hinnom] has long been ready;
Indeed, it has been prepared for the [Assyrian] king.
He has made it deep and wide,
A pit of fire with plenty of wood;
The breath of the Lord, like a river of brimstone (blazing sulfur), kindles and fans it.
31:1:Look Not to Egypt but to God
Woe (judgment is coming) to those who go down to Egypt for help,
Who rely on horses
And trust in chariots because they are many,
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek and consult the Lord!
31:2:Yet He is also wise and will bring disaster,
And does not retract His words,
But will arise against the house of evildoers
And against the helpers of those who do evil.
31:3:Now the Egyptians are men and not God,
And their horses are flesh and not spirit;
And the Lord will stretch out His hand,
And he (Egypt) who helps will stumble,
And he (Judah) who is helped will fall,
And all of them will perish together.
31:4:For so the Lord says to me,
“As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey,
And though a large group of shepherds is called out against him
He will not be terrified at their voice nor cringe at their noise,
So the Lord of hosts will come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”
31:5:Like flying birds, so will the Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem;
He will protect and save it,
He will pass over and rescue it.
31:6:Return to Him from whom you have so deeply defected, O sons of Israel.
31:7:For in that day every man will reject and throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold [in disgust], which your own hands have sinfully made for you.
31:8:Then the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man,
And a sword not of man will devour him.
And he will flee from the sword [of God],
And his young men will become forced labor.
31:9:“His rock [his stronghold] will pass away because of panic,
And his princes will be terrified at the [sight of the battle] standard,”
Declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
32:1:The Glorious Future
Behold, a King will reign in righteousness,
And princes will rule with justice.
32:2:Each [one of them] will be like a hiding place from the wind
And a shelter from the storm,
Like streams of water in a dry land,
Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched and weary land [to those who turn to them].
32:3:Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded,
And the ears of those who hear will listen attentively.
32:4:The heart (mind) of those who act impulsively will discern the truth,
And the tongue of the stammerers will hurry to speak clearly.
32:5:The fool (the good-for-nothing) will no longer be called noble,
Nor the rogue said to be generous.
32:6:For the fool speaks nonsense,
And his heart (mind) plans wickedness:
To practice ungodliness and to speak error concerning the Lord,
To keep the craving of the hungry unsatisfied
And to deprive the thirsty of drink.
32:7:As for the rogue, his weapons are evil;
He conceives wicked plans
To ruin the poor with lies,
Even when the plea of the needy one is just and right.
32:8:But the noble man conceives noble and magnificent things;
And he stands by what is noble and magnificent.
32:9:Rise up, you women who are carefree,
And hear my voice,
You confident and unsuspecting daughters!
Listen to what I am saying.
32:10:In little more than a year
You will tremble [with anxiety], you unsuspecting and complacent women;
For the vintage has ended,
And the harvest will not come.
32:11:Tremble, you women who are carefree;
Tremble with fear, you complacent ones!
Strip, undress and wear sackcloth on your waist [in grief],
32:12:Beat your breasts [in mourning] for the beautiful fields, for the fruitful vine,
32:13:For the land of my people growing over with thorns and briars—
Yes, [mourn] for all the houses of joy in the joyous city.
32:14:For the palace has been abandoned, the populated city deserted;
The hill [of the city] and the watchtower have become caves [for wild animals] forever,
A delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
32:15:Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high,
And the wilderness becomes a fertile field,
And the fertile field is valued as a forest.
32:16:Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness will live in the fertile field.
32:17:And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
And the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever.
32:18:Then my people will live in a peaceful surrounding,
And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places.
32:19:But it will hail, when the forest comes down,
And the [capital] city will fall in utter humiliation.
32:20:Blessed (happy, fortunate) are you who cast your seed upon all waters [when the river overflows its banks and irrigates the land],
You who allow the ox and the donkey to roam freely.
33:1:The Judgment of God
Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O destroyer,
You who were not destroyed,
And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.
As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;
As soon as you stop dealing treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.
33:2:O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited [expectantly] for You.
Be the arm of Your servants every morning [that is, their strength and their defense],
Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
33:3:At the sound of the tumult, the peoples flee;
At the lifting up of Yourself nations scatter.
33:4:Your spoil [of Israel’s foe] is gathered [by the people of Jerusalem] as the caterpillar gathers;
As locusts swarming so people swarm on it.
33:5:The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
33:6:And He will be the security and stability of your times,
A treasure of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;
The fear of the Lord is your treasure.
33:7:Now look, their brave men shout outside;
The ambassadors [seeking a treaty] of peace weep bitterly.
33:8:The highways are deserted, the traveler has ceased [to appear].
The enemy has broken the covenant, he has rejected the cities,
He has no regard for [any] man.
33:9:The land mourns and dries out,
Lebanon is shamed and [its lush foliage] withers;
Sharon is like a desert plain,
And Bashan and [Mount] Carmel shake off their leaves.
33:10:“Now I will arise,” says the Lord.
“Now I will be exalted; now I will be lifted up.
33:11:“You have conceived dried grass, you will give birth to stubble;
My breath is a fire that will consume you.
33:12:“The peoples will be burned to lime,
Like thorns cut down which are burned in the fire.
33:13:“You who are far away, hear what I have done;
And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”
33:14:The sinners in Zion are terrified;
Trembling has seized the godless.
[They cry] “Who among us can live with the consuming fire?
Who among us can live with everlasting burning?”
33:15:He who walks righteously and speaks with integrity,
Who rejects gain from fraud and from oppression,
Who shakes his hand free from the taking of bribes,
Who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed
And shuts his eyes to avoid looking upon evil;
33:16:He will dwell on the heights,
His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks,
His bread will be given him;
His water will be permanent.
33:17:Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;
They will see a far-distant land.
33:18:Your mind will meditate on the terror [asking]:
“Where is he who counts?
Where is he who weighs [the tribute]?
Where is he who counts the towers?”
33:19:You will no longer see the fierce and insolent people,
A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,
Of a strange and stammering tongue which no one understands.
33:20:Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts and observances;
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a undisturbed settlement,
A tent which will not be taken down;
Not one of its stakes will ever be pulled up,
Nor any of its ropes be severed.
33:21:But there the mighty and magnificent Lord will be for us
A place of broad rivers and streams,
Where no oar-driven boat will go,
And on which no mighty and stately ship will pass.
33:22:For the Lord is our Judge,
The Lord is our Ruler,
The Lord is our King;
He will save us.
33:23:Your ship’s ropes (tackle) hang loose;
They cannot hold the base of their mast firmly,
Nor spread out the sail.
Then an abundance of spoil and plunder will be divided;
Even the lame will take the plunder.
33:24:And no inhabitant [of Zion] will say, “I am sick”;
The people who dwell there will be forgiven their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing].
34:1:God’s Wrath against Nations
Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!
Let the earth and all that is in it hear, and the world and all that comes forth from it.
34:2:For the Lord is angry at all the nations,
And His wrath is against all their armies;
He has utterly doomed them,
He has given them over to slaughter.
34:3:So their slain will be thrown out,
And the stench of their corpses will rise,
And the mountains will flow with their blood.
34:4:All the host of heaven will be dissolved,
And the skies will be rolled up like a scroll;
All their hosts [the stars and the planets] will also wither away
As a leaf withers from the vine,
And as a fig withers from the fig tree.
34:5:For My sword is satiated [with blood] in heaven;
Indeed, it will come down for judgment on Edom
And on the people whom I have doomed for destruction.
34:6:The sword of the Lord is filled with blood [from sacrifices],
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 (Edom’s capital city)
And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
34:7:Wild oxen will also fall with them
And the young bulls with the strong bulls;
And their land will be soaked with blood,
And their dust made greasy with fat.
34:8:For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
A year of retribution for the cause of Zion.
34:9:The streams [of Edom] will be turned into pitch,
And its dust into brimstone,
And its land will become burning pitch.
34:10:The burning will not be quenched night or day;
Its smoke will go up forever.
From generation to generation it will lie in ruins;
No one will ever again pass through it.
34:11:But the pelican and the porcupine will take possession of it;
The owl and the raven will dwell in it.
And He will stretch over it (Edom) the measuring line of desolation
And the plumb line of emptiness.
34:12:Its nobles—there is no one there
Whom they may proclaim king—
And all its princes will be nothing.
34:13:Thorns will come up in its fortified palaces,
Nettles and brambles in its fortified cities;
It will be a haunt for jackals,
An abode for ostriches.
34:14:The creatures of the desert will encounter jackals
And the hairy goat will call to its kind;
Indeed, Lilith (night demon) will settle there
And find herself a place of rest.
34:15:There the arrow snake will make her nest and lay her eggs,
And hatch them and gather her young under her protection;
Indeed, the birds of prey will be gathered there [to breed],
Every one with its own kind.
34:16:Seek from the book of the Lord, and read:
Not one of these [creatures] will be missing;
None will lack its mate.
For His mouth has commanded,
And His Spirit has gathered them.
34:17:The Lord has cast the lot for them,
And His hand has divided and apportioned Edom to the wild beasts by measuring-line.
They will possess it forever;
From generation to generation they will dwell in it.
35:1:Zion’s Joyful Future
The wilderness and the dry land will be glad;
The Arabah (desert) will shout in exultation and blossom
Like the autumn crocus.
35:2:It will blossom abundantly
And rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
The majesty of [Mount] Carmel and [the plain] of Sharon.
They will see the glory of the Lord,
The majesty and splendor of our God.
35:3:Encourage the exhausted, and make staggering knees firm.
35:4:Say to those with an anxious and panic-stricken heart,
“Be strong, fear not!
Indeed, your God will come with vengeance [for the ungodly];
The retribution of God will come,
But He will save you.”
35:5:Then the eyes of the blind will be opened
And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
35:6:Then the lame will leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.
For waters will break forth in the wilderness
And streams in the desert.
35:7:And the burning sand (mirage) will become a pool [of water]
And the thirsty ground springs of water;
In the haunt of jackals, where they lay resting,
Grass becomes reeds and rushes.
35:8:A highway will be there, and a roadway;
And it will be called the Holy Way.
The unclean will not travel on it,
But it will be for those who walk on the way [the redeemed];
And fools will not wander on it.
35:9:No lion will be there,
Nor will any predatory animal come up on it;
They will not be found there.
But the redeemed will walk there.
35:10:And the ransomed of the Lord will return
And come to Zion with shouts of jubilation,
And everlasting joy will be upon their heads;
They will find joy and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
36:1:Sennacherib Invades Judah
Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them.
36:2:And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh [his military commander] from Lachish [the Judean fortress commanding the road from Egypt] to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a large army. And he stood by the canal of the Upper Pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field.
36:3:Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the [royal] household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recording historian, came out to [meet] him.
36:4:Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says, “What is [the reason for] this confidence that you have?
36:5:I say, ‘Your plan and strength for the war are only empty words.’ Now in whom do you trust and on whom do you rely, that you have rebelled against me?
36:6:Listen carefully, you rely on the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.
36:7:But if you say to me, ‘We trust in and rely on the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?
36:8:So now, exchange pledges with my master the king of Assyria and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them.
36:9:How then can you repulse [the attack of] a single commander of the least of my master’s servants, and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
36:10:Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have now come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”
36:11:Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please, speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it; and do not speak to us in Judean (Hebrew) in the hearing of the people who are [stationed] on the wall.”
36:12:But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”
36:13:Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Judean (Hebrew): “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
36:14:This is what the king says, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you;
36:15:nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will most certainly rescue us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
36:16:Do not listen to Hezekiah,’ for this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Make peace with me and come out to me, and each one of you will eat from his own vine and each from his own fig tree and each [one of you] drink from the water of his own cistern,
36:17: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.
36:18:Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, “The Lord will rescue us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations [ever] rescued his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
36:19:Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad [in Aram]? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And when have they rescued Samaria from my hand?
36:20:Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their land from my hand, that [you should think that] the Lord would rescue Jerusalem from my hand?’”
36:21:But they kept silent and did not say a word to him in reply, for King Hezekiah’s command was, “Do not answer him.”
36:22:Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recording historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn [in grief], and told him the words of the Rabshakeh [the Assyrian commander].
37:1:Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help
And when King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord.
37:2:Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the [royal] household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
37:3:They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke and disgrace; for children have come to birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.
37:4:It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh [the commander], whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to taunt and defy the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant [of His people] that is left.’”
37:5:So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
37:6:Isaiah said to them, “You shall say the following to your master: ‘This is what the Lord says, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
37:7:Listen carefully, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”
37:8:So the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah [a fortified city of Judah], for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.
37:9:And Sennacherib king of Assyria, heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Cush (Ethiopia), “He has come out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
37:10:“You shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
37:11:Listen carefully, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, utterly destroying them. So will you be rescued?
37:12:Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed rescue them—Gozan, Haran [of Mesopotamia], Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?
37:13:Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad [of northern Syria], the king of the city of Sepharvaim, [the king of] Hena, or [the king of] Ivvah?’”
37:14:Hezekiah’s Prayer in the Temple
Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.
37:15:And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord saying,
37:16:“O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
37:17:Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to taunt and defy the living God.
37:18:It is true, O Lord, that the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries and their lands,
37:19:and have cast the gods [of those peoples] into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them.
37:20:Now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know and fully realize that You alone, Lord, are God.”
37:21:God Answers through Isaiah
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “For the Lord, the God of Israel says this, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria,
37:22:this is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“She has shown contempt for you and mocked you,
The Virgin Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem);
She has shaken her head behind you,
The Daughter of Jerusalem!
37:23:“Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice
And haughtily lifted up your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
37:24:“Through your servants you have taunted and defied the Lord,
And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars and its choicest cypress trees;
And I will go to its remotest height, its most luxuriant and thickest forest.
37:25:‘I dug wells and drank [foreign] waters,
And with the sole of my feet I dried up
All the canals [of the Nile] of Egypt.’
37:26:“Have you not heard [says the God of Israel]
That I did it long ago,
That I planned it in ancient times?
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you [king of Assyria] would [be My instrument to] turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
37:27:“Therefore their inhabitants had little power,
They were terrorized and shamed;
They were like the grass of the field and the green vegetation,
Like grass on the housetops and like a field [of grain] scorched before it is grown.
37:28:“But I know your sitting down
And your going out and your coming in [every detail of your life],
And your raging against Me.
37:29:“Because your raging against Me
And your arrogance has come up to My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your mouth,
And I will turn you back by the way you came.
37:30:“This shall be the sign [of these things] to you [Hezekiah]: you are to eat this year what grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from the same, and in the third year you are to sow and harvest, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
37:31:The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
37:32:For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant and from Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”’
37:33:“Therefore, the Lord says this concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with shield, or raise an assault ramp against it.
37:34:By the way that he came, by the same way he will return, and he will not come into this city,’ declares the Lord.
37:35:For I will defend this city to save it, for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
37:36:Assyrians Destroyed
And the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the [surviving] men got up early the next morning, they saw all the dead.
37:37:So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned and lived at Nineveh.
37:38:It came to pass as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat [in Armenia]. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
38:1:Hezekiah Healed
In those days Hezekiah [king of Judah] became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, “For the Lord says this, ‘Set your house in order and prepare a will, for you shall die; you will not live.’”
38:2:Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,
38:3:and said, “Please, O Lord, just remember how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth, and with a whole heart [absolutely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept greatly.
38:4:Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying,
38:5:“Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘For the Lord, the God of David your father says this, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; listen carefully, I will add fifteen years to your life.
38:6:I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city [Jerusalem].”’
38:7:“This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken:
38:8:Listen carefully, I will turn the shadow on the stairway [denoting the time of day] ten steps backward, the shadow on the stairway (sundial) of Ahaz.” And the sunlight went ten steps backward on the stairway where it had [previously] gone down.
38:9:This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
38:10:I said, “In mid-life
I am to go through the gates of Sheol (the place of the dead),
I am to be summoned, deprived of the remainder of my years.”
38:11:I said, “I will not see the Lord
The Lord in the land of the living;
I will no longer see man among the inhabitants of the world.
38:12:“My dwelling (body) is pulled up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent;
I have rolled up my life as a weaver [rolls up the finished web].
He cuts me free from the warp [of the loom];
From day to night You bring me to an end.
38:13:“I lay down until morning.
Like a lion, so He breaks all my bones;
From day until night You bring me to an end.
38:14:“Like a swallow, like a crane, so I chirp;
I coo like a dove.
My eyes look wistfully upward;
O Lord, I am oppressed, take my side and be my security.
38:15:“What shall I say?
For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;
I will wander aimlessly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
38:16:“O Lord, by these things men live,
And in all these is the life of my spirit;
Restore me to health and let me live!
38:17:“Indeed, it was for my own well-being that I had such bitterness;
But You have loved back my life from the pit of nothingness (destruction),
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
38:18:“For Sheol cannot praise or thank You,
Death cannot praise You and rejoice in You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
38:19:“It is the living who give praise and thanks to You, as I do today;
A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
38:20:“The Lord is ready to save me;
Therefore we will play my songs on stringed instruments
All the days of our lives at the house of the Lord.”
38:21:Now Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs and rub it [as an ointment] on the inflamed spot, that he may recover.”
38:22:Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”
39:1:Hezekiah Shows His Treasures
At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent [messengers with] letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and had recovered.
39:2:Hezekiah was pleased and showed them his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his entire armory and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his area of dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
39:3:Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did these men say? From where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a far country, from Babylon.”
39:4:Then Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”
39:5:Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts,
39:6:‘Listen carefully, the days are coming when everything that is in your house and everything that your predecessors have stored up until this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.
39:7:And some of your own sons (descendants) who will come from you, whom you will father, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
39:8:Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and faithfulness [to God’s promises to us] in my days.”
40:1:The Greatness of God
“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
40:2:“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
And call out to her, that her time of compulsory service in warfare is finished,
That her wickedness has been taken away [since her punishment is sufficient],
That she has received from the Lord’s hand
Double [punishment] for all her sins.”
40:3:A voice of one is calling out,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness [remove the obstacles];
Make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
40:4:“Every valley shall be raised,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged places a broad valley.
40:5:“And the glory and majesty and splendor of the Lord will be revealed,
And all humanity shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.”
40:6:A voice says, “Call out [prophesy].”
Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”
[The voice answered:] All humanity is [as frail as] grass, and all that makes it attractive [its charm, its loveliness] is [momentary] like the flower of the field.
40:7:The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Most certainly [all] the people are [like] grass.
40:8:The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.
40:9:O Zion, herald of good news,
Get up on a high mountain.
O Jerusalem, herald of good news,
Lift up your voice with strength,
Lift it up, do not fear;
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
40:10:Listen carefully, the Lord God will come with might,
And His arm will rule for Him.
Most certainly His reward is with Him,
And His restitution accompanies Him.
40:11:He will protect His flock like a shepherd,
He will gather the lambs in His arm,
He will carry them in His bosom;
He will gently and carefully lead those nursing their young.
40:12:Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
And marked off the heavens with a span [of the hand],
And calculated the dust of the earth with a measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?
40:13:Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or has taught Him as His counselor?
40:14:With whom did He consult and who enlightened Him?
Who taught Him the path of justice and taught Him knowledge
And informed Him of the way of understanding?
40:15:In fact, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales;
Now look, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
40:16:And [the forests of] Lebanon cannot supply sufficient fuel to start a fire,
Nor are its wild beasts enough for a burnt offering [worthy of the Lord].
40:17:All the nations are as nothing before Him,
They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.
40:18:To whom then will you liken God?
Or with what likeness will you compare Him?
40:19:As for the cast image (idol), a metalworker casts it,
A goldsmith overlays it with gold
And a silversmith casts its silver chains.
40:20:He who is too impoverished for such an offering [to give to his god]
Chooses a tree that will not rot;
He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman
To [carve and] set up an idol that will not totter.
40:21:Do you [who worship idols] not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth [the omnipotence of God and the stupidity of bowing to idols]?
40:22:It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
[It is He] who stretches out the heavens like a veil
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
40:23:It is He who reduces dignitaries to nothing,
Who makes the judges (rulers) of the earth meaningless (useless).
40:24:Scarcely have they been planted,
Scarcely have they been sown,
Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And a strong wind carries them away like stubble.
40:25:“To whom then will you compare Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
40:26:Lift up your eyes on high
And see who has created these heavenly bodies,
The One who brings out their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,
Not one is missing.
40:27:Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?
40:28:Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become tired or grow weary;
There is no searching of His understanding.
40:29:He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who has no might He increases power.
40:30:Even youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
40:31:But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him]
Will gain new strength and renew their power;
They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun];
They will run and not become weary,
They will walk and not grow tired.
41:1:Israel Encouraged
“Listen to Me in silence, you islands and coastlands,
And let the nations gain their strength;
Let them come near, then let them speak;
Let us come together for judgment [and decide the issue between us concerning the enemy from the east].
41:2:“Who has stirred up and put into action one from the east [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great]
Whom He calls in righteousness to His service and whom victory meets at every step?
The Lord turns nations over to him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
Like wind-driven chaff with his bow.
41:3:“He (Cyrus) pursues them and passes along safely,
By a way his feet had not traveled before.
41:4:“Who has performed and done this,
Calling forth [and guiding the destinies of] the generations [of the nations] from the beginning?
‘I, the Lord—the first, and with the last [existing before history began, the ever-present, unchanging God]—I am He.’”
41:5:The islands and coastlands have seen and they fear;
The ends of the earth tremble;
They have drawn near and have come.
41:6:They each help his neighbor
And say to his brother [as he fashions his idols], “Be of good courage!”
41:7:So the craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
And he who smooths metal with the smith’s hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering (welding), “That is good”;
And he fastens the idol with nails,
So that it will not totter nor be moved.
41:8:“But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
The offspring of Abraham My friend,
41:9:You whom I [the Lord] have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its remotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and have not rejected you [even though you are exiled].
41:10:‘Do not fear [anything], for I am with you;
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, be assured I will help you;
I will certainly take hold of you with My righteous right hand [a hand of justice, of power, of victory, of salvation].’
41:11:“Indeed, all those who are angry with you will be put to shame and humiliated;
Those who strive against you will be as nothing and will perish.
41:12:“You shall search for those who quarrel with you, but will not find them;
They who war against you will be as nothing, as nothing at all.
41:13:“For I the Lord your God keep hold of your right hand; [I am the Lord],
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’
41:14:“Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
41:15:“In fact, I have made of you a new, sharp threshing implement with sharp edges;
You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
And make the hills like chaff.
41:16:“You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And a high wind will scatter them;
But you will rejoice in the Lord,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
41:17:“The poor and needy are seeking water, but there is none;
Their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, will answer them Myself;
I, the God of Israel, will not neglect them.
41:18:“I will open rivers on the barren heights
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a reed-pool of water
And the dry land springs of water.
41:19:“I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia, the myrtle and the olive tree;
I will place the juniper in the desert
Together with the box tree and the cypress,
41:20:So that they may see and know,
And consider and understand together,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
That the Holy One of Israel has created it.
41:21:“Present your case [for idols made by men’s hands],” says the Lord.
“Produce your evidence [of divinity],”
Says the king of Jacob.
41:22:Let them bring forward [their evidence] and tell us what is going to happen.
Regarding the former events, tell what they were,
That we may consider them and know their outcome;
Or announce to us the things that are going to come.
41:23:Tell us the things that are to come afterward,
That we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, you should do something good or do evil, that we may be afraid and fear [you] together [as we observe the miracle].
41:24:Hear this! You [idols] are less than nothing,
And your work is worthless;
The worshiper who chooses you [as a god] is repulsive.
41:25:“I have stirred up and put into action one from the north [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great], and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My Name [in prayer].
And he will trample on [the Babylonian] officials as on mortar,
Even as a potter treads clay.”
41:26:Who [among the idols] has declared this from the beginning, so that we could know?
Or from earlier times, so that we could say, “He is [unquestionably] right!”?
In fact, there was no one who declared it,
Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed it;
There was no one at all who heard you speak [for you pagan gods are speechless].
41:27:“I was first to say to Zion, ‘Listen carefully, here they are [the Jews who will be restored to their own land].’
And to Jerusalem, ‘I will provide a messenger (Isaiah) to bring the good news [that Cyrus will be stirred up and put into action to save them].’
41:28:“But when I look [on the pagan prophets and priests], there is no one [who could predict these events],
And there is no counselor among them,
Who, if I ask, can give an answer.
41:29:“In fact, all of these [pagan prophets and priests] are false;
Their works are worthless,
Their cast images are [merely] wind and emptiness.
42:1:God’s Promise concerning His Servant
“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
My Chosen One in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
42:2:“He will not call out or shout aloud,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
42:3:“A broken reed He will not break [off]
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish [He will not harm those who are weak and suffering];
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
42:4:“He will not be disheartened or crushed [in spirit];
[He will persevere] until He has established justice on the earth;
And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
42:5:This is what God the Lord says,
He who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its produce,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk on it,
42:6:“I am the Lord, I have called You (the Messiah) in righteousness [for a righteous purpose],
I will also take You by the hand and keep watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people [Israel],
As a light to the nations (Gentiles),
42:7:To open the eyes of the blind,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who sit in darkness from the prison.
42:8:“I am the Lord, that is My Name;
My glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved idols.
42:9:“Indeed, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
42:10:Sing to the Lord a new song,
Sing His praise from the end of the earth!
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
You islands and coastlands, and those who inhabit them [sing His praise]!
42:11:Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,
The villages where Kedar lives.
Let the inhabitants of Sela shout for joy,
Let them shout joyfully from the tops of the mountains.
42:12:Let them give glory to the Lord
And declare His praise in the islands and coastlands.
42:13:The Lord will go forth like a warrior,
He will stir up His zeal like a man of war;
He will shout out, yes, He will raise a war cry.
He will prevail [mightily] against His enemies.
42:14:The Blindness of the People
“I [the Lord] have been silent for a long time,
I have been still and restrained Myself.
Now I will moan like a woman in labor,
I will both gasp and pant.
42:15:“I will lay waste the mountains and hills
And wither all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into coastlands
And dry up the ponds.
42:16:“I will lead the blind by a way they do not know;
I will guide them in paths that they do not know.
I will make darkness into light before them
And rugged places into plains.
These things I will do [for them],
And I will not leave them abandoned or undone.”
42:17:Those who trust in carved idols will be turned back,
And utterly put to shame,
Who say to cast images,
“You are our gods.”
42:18:Hear, you deaf!
And look, you blind, that you may see.
42:19:Who is blind but My servant [Israel],
Or deaf like My messenger whom I send?
Who is blind like the one who is at peace with Me [in a covenant relationship],
Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?
42:20:You have seen many things, but you do not observe them;
Your ears are open, but no one hears.
42:21:The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake
To make the law great and prove to be glorious.
42:22:But this is a people despoiled and plundered;
All of them are trapped in holes,
Or are hidden away in prisons.
They have become a prey with no one to rescue them,
And a spoil, with no one to say, “Give them back!”
42:23:Who among you will listen to this?
Who will listen and pay attention in the time to come?
42:24:Who gave up Jacob [the kingdom of Judah] for spoil, and [the kingdom of] Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, He against whom we [of Judah] have sinned,
And in whose ways they [of Israel] were unwilling to walk,
And whose law and teaching they did not obey?
42:25:Therefore He poured out on Israel the heat of His anger
And the fierceness of battle;
And engulfed him in fire,
Yet he did not recognize [the lesson of repentance which the Assyrian conquest was intended to teach];
It burned him, but he did not take it to heart.
43:1:Israel Redeemed
But now, this is what the Lord, your Creator says, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel,
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you [from captivity];
I have called you by name; you are Mine!
43:2:“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you.
When you walk through fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
43:3:“For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I have given Egypt [to the Babylonians] as your ransom,
Cush (ancient Ethiopia) and Seba [its province] in exchange for you.
43:4:“Because you are precious in My sight,
You are honored and I love you,
I will give other men in return for you and other peoples in exchange for your life.
43:5:“Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east [where they are scattered],
And gather you from the west.
43:6:“I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring My sons from far way
And My daughters from the ends of the earth,
43:7:Everyone who is called by My Name,
Whom I have created for My glory,
Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”
43:8:Israel Is God’s Witness
Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,
And the deaf, even though they have ears.
43:9:All the nations have gathered together
So that the peoples may be assembled.
Who among them (the idolaters) can predict this [that Judah would return from captivity]
And proclaim to us the former events?
Let them provide their witnesses so that they may be justified,
Or let them hear and say [in acknowledgement], “It is the truth.”
43:10:“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and believe Me
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
And there will be none after Me.
43:11:“I, [only] I, am the Lord,
And there is no Savior besides Me.
43:12:“I have declared [the future] and saved [the nation] and proclaimed [that I am God],
And there was no strange (alien) god among you;
Therefore you are My witnesses [among the pagans],” declares the Lord,
“That I am God.
43:13:“Even from eternity I am He,
And there is no one who can rescue from My hand;
I act, and who can revoke or reverse it?”
43:14:Babylon to Be Destroyed
This is what the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says,
“For your sake I have sent [one] to Babylon,
And I will bring down all of them as fugitives,
Even the Chaldeans [who reign in Babylon], into the ships over which they rejoiced.
43:15:“I am the Lord, your Holy One,
The Creator of Israel, your King.”
43:16:This is what the Lord says,
He who makes a way through the sea
And a path through the mighty waters,
43:17:He who brings out the chariot and the horse,
The army and the mighty warrior,
(They will lie down together, they will not rise again;
They have been extinguished, they have been put out like a lamp’s wick):
43:18:“Do not remember the former things,
Or ponder the things of the past.
43:19:“Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even put a road in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.
43:20:“The beasts of the field will honor Me,
Jackals and ostriches,
Because I have given waters in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My people, My chosen.
43:21:“The people whom I formed for Myself
Will make known My praise.
43:22:The Shortcomings of Israel
“Yet you have not called on Me [in prayer and worship], O Jacob;
But you have grown weary of Me, O Israel.
43:23:“You have not brought Me your sheep or goats for your burnt offerings,
Nor honored Me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
Nor wearied you with [demands for offerings of] incense.
43:24:“You have not bought Me sweet cane with money,
Nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices;
But you have burdened Me with your sins,
You have wearied Me with your wickedness.
43:25:“I, only I, am He who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake,
And I will not remember your sins.
43:26:“Remind Me [of your merits with a thorough report], let us plead and argue our case together;
State your position, that you may be proved right.
43:27:“Your first father [Jacob] sinned,
And your spokesmen [the priests and the prophets—your mediators] have transgressed against Me.
43:28:“So I will profane the officials of the sanctuary,
And I will consign Jacob to destruction and [I will subject] Israel to defamation and abuse.
44:1:The Blessings of Israel
“But now listen, O Jacob, My servant,
And Israel, whom I have chosen:
44:2:This is what the Lord who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you says,
‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
And Jeshurun (Israel, the upright one) whom I have chosen.
44:3:‘For I will pour out water on him who is thirsty,
And streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring
And My blessing on your descendants;
44:4:And they will spring up among the grass
Like willows by the streams of water.’
44:5:“One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;
And another will name himself after Jacob;
And another will write on his hand, ‘I am the Lord’s,’
And be called by the [honorable] name of Israel.
44:6:“For the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts says this,
‘I am the First and I am the Last;
And there is no God besides Me.
44:7:‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim it and declare it;
Yes, let him confront Me,
Since I established the people of antiquity.
And let them [those supposed gods] tell those people [who foolishly follow them] the things to come
And the events that are going to take place.
44:8:‘Do not tremble nor be afraid [of the violent upheavals to come];
Have I not long ago proclaimed it to you and declared it?
And you are My witnesses.
Is there a God besides Me?
There is no other Rock;
I know of none.’”
44:9:The Folly of Idolatry
All who make carved idols are nothing. Their precious objects are worthless [to them], and their own witnesses (worshipers) fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame.
44:10:Who has made a god or cast an idol which is profitable for nothing?
44:11:In fact, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble, let them stand up, let them be terrified, let them together be put to shame.
44:12:The ironsmith shapes iron and uses a chisel and works it over the coals. He forms the [idol’s] core with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He also becomes hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and grows tired.
44:13:The carpenter stretches out a measuring line, he marks out the shape [of the idol] with red chalk; he works it with planes and outlines it with the compass; and he makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, that it may sit in a house.
44:14:He cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and lets it grow strong for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain nourishes it.
44:15:Then it becomes fuel for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also kindles a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god [from the same wood] and worships it. He makes it into a carved idol [with his own hands] and falls down and worships it!
44:16:He burns half of the wood in the fire; over this half he [cooks and] eats meat, he roasts meat and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.”
44:17:But from what is left of the wood he makes a god, his carved idol. He falls down before it, he worships it and prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”
44:18:They do not know, nor do they understand, for God has muddied their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts (minds) as well so that they cannot understand.
44:19:No one remembers, nor has knowledge and understanding [enough] to say [to himself], “I have burned half of this log in the fire, and also baked bread on its coals and have roasted meat and eaten it. Then I make the rest of it into an repulsive thing [to God]; I bow down [to worship] before a block of wood!”
44:20:That kind of man (the idolater) feeds on ashes [and is satisfied with ashes]! A deceived mind has led him astray, so that he cannot save himself, or ask, “Is this thing [that I am holding] in my right hand not a lie?”
44:21:God Forgives and Redeems
“Remember [the foolishness of] these things, O Jacob
And Israel, for you are My servant!
I formed you, you are My servant;
O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.
44:22:“I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud
And your sins like a heavy mist.
Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
44:23:Shout for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!
Shout in triumph, you depths of the earth;
Break forth into jubilant rejoicing, you mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And He shows His glory in Israel.
44:24:For the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb says this,
“I am the Lord, Maker of all things,
Who alone stretches out the heavens,
Who spreads out the earth by Myself,
44:25:Frustrating the signs and confounding the omens of boasters (false prophets),
Making fools out of fortune-tellers,
Counteracting the wise
And making their knowledge ridiculous,
44:26:Confirming the word of His servant
And carrying out the plan of His messengers.
It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall [again] be inhabited!’
And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall [again] be built.’
And I will raise up and restore her ruins.
44:27:“It is I who says to the deep, ‘Be dried up!’
And I will make your rivers dry.
44:28:“It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd (ruler),
And he will carry out all that I desire—’
Saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall [again] be built,’
And of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall [again] be laid.’”
45:1:God Uses Cyrus
This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus [king of Persia],
Whose right hand I have held
To subdue nations before him,
And I will ungird the loins of kings [disarming them];
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
45:2:“I will go before you and level the mountains;
I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.
45:3:“I will give you the treasures of darkness [the hoarded treasures]
And the hidden riches of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you (Cyrus the Great) by your name.
45:4:“For the sake of Jacob My servant,
And of Israel My chosen,
I have also called you by your name;
I have given you an honorable name
Though you have not known Me.
45:5:“I am the Lord, and there is no one else;
There is no God except Me.
I will embrace and arm you, though you have not known Me,
45:6:That people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun [the world over]
That there is no one except Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other,
45:7:The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing peace and creating disaster;
I am the Lord who does all these things.
45:8:God’s Supreme Power
“Rain down, O heavens, from above,
Let the clouds pour down righteousness [all the blessings of God];
Let the earth open up, let salvation bear fruit,
And righteousness spring up with it;
I, the Lord, have created it.
45:9:“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who quarrels with his Maker—
A [worthless] piece of broken pottery among other broken pieces [equally worthless]!
Shall the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or does the thing say, ‘He has no hands’?
45:10:“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who says to a father, ‘What are you fathering?’
Or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”
45:11:For the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker says this,
“Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons,
And give Me orders concerning the work of My hands.
45:12:“I made the earth and created man upon it.
My hands, stretched out the heavens,
And I commanded all their host.
45:13:“I have stirred up Cyrus and put him into action in righteousness [to accomplish My purpose]
And I will make all his ways smooth;
He will build My city and let My exiles go,
Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of hosts.
45:14:For this is what the Lord says,
“The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush (ancient Ethiopia)
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will come over to you and they will be yours;
They will walk behind you, in chains [of subjection to you] they will come over,
And they will bow down before you;
They will make supplication to you, [humbly and earnestly] saying,
‘Most certainly God is with you, and there is no other,
No other God [besides Him].’”
45:15:Truly, You are a God who hides Himself,
O God of Israel, Savior!
45:16:They will be put to shame and also humiliated, all of them;
They who make idols will go away together in humiliation.
45:17:Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an everlasting salvation;
You will not be put to shame or humiliated
for all eternity.
45:18:For the Lord, who created the heavens (He is God, who formed the earth and made it; He established it and did not create it to be a wasteland, but formed it to be inhabited) says this,
“I am the Lord, and there is no one else.
45:19:“I have not spoken in secret,
In a corner of a land of darkness;
I did not say to the descendants of Jacob,
‘Seek Me in vain [with no benefit for yourselves].’
I, the Lord, speak righteousness [the truth—trustworthy, a straightforward correlation between deeds and words],
Declaring things that are upright.
45:20:“Assemble yourselves and come;
Come together, you survivors of the nations!
They are ignorant,
Who carry around their wooden idols [in religious processions or into battle]
And keep on praying to a god that cannot save them.
45:21:“Declare and present your defense of idols;
Indeed, let them consult together.
Who announced this [rise of Cyrus and his conquests] long before it happened?
Who declared it long ago?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A [consistently and uncompromisingly] just and righteous God and a Savior;
There is none except Me.
45:22:“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
45:23:“I have sworn [an oath] by Myself,
The word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear [allegiance].
45:24:“It shall be said of Me, ‘Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’
To Him people will come,
And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
45:25:“In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
Will be justified (declared free of guilt) and will glory [in God].”
46:1:Babylon’s Idols and the True God
Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;
Their idols are on the beasts [of burden] and on the cattle.
Your burdens [of idols] are loaded [on them],
Burdens on the weary animals.
46:2:They stooped over, they have bowed down together;
They could not rescue the burden [of their own idols],
But have themselves gone into captivity.
46:3:“Listen to Me,” [says the Lord], “O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been carried by Me from your birth
And have been carried [in My arms] from the womb,
46:4:Even to your old age I am He,
And even to your advanced old age I will carry you!
I have made you, and I will carry you;
Be assured I will carry you and I will save you.
46:5:“To whom would you liken Me
And make Me equal and compare Me,
That we may be alike?
46:6:“Those who lavish gold from the bag
And weigh out silver on the scales
Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
They bow down, indeed they worship it.
46:7:“They lift it on their shoulders [in religious processions or into battle] and carry it;
They set it in its place and there it remains standing.
It cannot move from its place.
Even if one cries to it [for help], the idol cannot answer;
It cannot save him from his distress.
46:8:“Remember this, and take courage;
Take it to heart, you rebellious and disloyal people.
46:9:“Remember [carefully] the former things [which I did] from ages past;
For I am God, and there is no one else;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
46:10:Declaring the end and the result from the beginning,
And from ancient times the things which have not [yet] been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will do all that pleases Me and fulfills My purpose,’
46:11:Calling a bird of prey from the east,
From a far country, the man (Cyrus) of My purpose.
Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, be assured I will do it.
46:12:“Listen to Me, you stiff-necked people,
You who are far from righteousness (right standing with God).
46:13:“I bring near My righteousness [in the salvation of Israel], it is not far away;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant salvation in Zion,
And My glory for Israel.
47:1:Lament for Babylon
“Come down and sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground [in abject humiliation]; there is no throne for you,
O daughter of the Chaldeans,
For you will no longer be called tender and delicate.
47:2:“Take millstones [as a female slave does] and grind meal;
Remove your veil, strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers [at the command of your captors].
47:3:“Your nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame will also be exposed;
I will take vengeance and will spare no man.”
47:4:Our Redeemer [will do all this], the Lord of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
47:5:“Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you will no longer be called
The queen of kingdoms.
47:6:“I was angry with My people,
I profaned [Judah] My inheritance
And gave them into your hand [Babylon].
You showed them no mercy;
You made your yoke very heavy on the aged.
47:7:“And you said, ‘I shall be a queen forevermore.’
You did not consider these things,
Nor did you [seriously] remember the [ultimate] outcome of such conduct.
47:8:“Now, then, hear this, you who live a luxuriant life,
You who dwell safely and securely,
Who say in your heart (mind),
‘I am [the queen], and there is no one besides me.
I shall not sit as a widow,
Nor know the loss of children.’
47:9:“But these two things shall come to you abruptly, in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many [claims of power through your] sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your enchantments.
47:10:“For you [Babylon] have trusted and felt confident in your wickedness; you have said,
‘No one sees me.’
Your wisdom and your knowledge have led you astray,
And you have said in your heart (mind),
‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’
47:11:“Therefore disaster will come on you;
You will not know how to make it disappear [with your magic].
And disaster will fall on you
For which you cannot atone [with all your offerings to your gods];
And destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you suddenly.
47:12:“Persist, then, [Babylon] in your enchantments
And your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to profit [from them],
Perhaps you may prevail and cause trembling.
47:13:“You are wearied by your many counsels.
Just let the astrologers,
The stargazers,
Those who predict by the new moons [each month]
Stand up and save you from the things that will come upon you [Babylon].
47:14:“In fact, they are like stubble;
Fire burns them.
They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame [much less save the nation],
There is no blazing coal for warming
Nor fire before which to sit!
47:15:“This is how they have become to you, those [astrologers and sorcerers] with whom you have labored,
Those who have done business with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own way.
There is no one to save you.
48:1:Israel’s Obstinacy
“Hear this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel
And who come from the seed of Judah,
You who swear [allegiance] by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth (sincerity) nor in righteousness [with moral and spiritual integrity].
48:2:“For they call themselves [citizens of Jerusalem] after the holy city
And depend on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name.
48:3:“I have declared the former things [which happened to Israel] in times past;
They went forth from My mouth and I proclaimed them;
Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
48:4:“Because I know that you are obstinate,
And your neck is an iron tendon
And your brow is bronze [both unyielding],
48:5:I have declared them to you long ago;
Before they came to pass I announced them to you,
So that you could not say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my carved image and my cast image have commanded them.’
48:6:“You have heard [these things foretold]; look at all this [that has been fulfilled].
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you [specific] new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known.
48:7:“They are created now [called into being by the prophetic word] and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard of them,
So that you will not say, ‘Oh yes! I knew them.’
48:8:“You have not heard, you have not known;
Even from long ago your ear has not been open.
For I [the Lord] knew that you [Israel] would act very treacherously;
You have been called a transgressor and a rebel from birth.
48:9:“For the sake of My Name I refrain from My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain Myself from you,
So that I do not cut you off.
48:10:“Indeed, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested and chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
48:11:“For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it [I refrain and do not completely destroy you];
For how can My Name be defiled and profaned [as it would if My chosen people were completely destroyed]?
And I will not give My glory to another [by permitting the worshipers of idols to triumph over you].
48:12:End of Captivity Promised
“Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called;
I am He, I am the First, I am the Last.
48:13:“My hand founded and established the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I call to them, they stand together [in obedience to carry out My decrees].
48:14:“Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them [the idols and Chaldean astrologers] has declared these things?
The Lord loves him (Cyrus of Persia); he will do His pleasure and purpose against Babylon,
And his arm will be against the Chaldeans [who reign in Babylon].
48:15:“I, even I, have spoken; indeed, I have called Cyrus;
I have brought him, and will make his way successful.
48:16:“Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
From the time that it happened, I was there.
And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His [Holy] Spirit.”
48:17:This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says,
“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit (benefit),
Who leads you in the way that you should go.
48:18:“Oh, that you had paid attention to My commandments!
Then your peace and prosperity would have been like a [flowing] river,
And your righteousness [the holiness and purity of the nation] like the [abundant] waves of the sea.
48:19:“Your offspring would have been like the sand,
And your descendants [in number] like the grains of sand;
Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”
48:20:Get out of Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans [who reign there]!
Declare with a voice of jubilation, proclaim this,
Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
48:21:They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He made the waters flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock and the waters flowed.
48:22:“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.
49:1:Salvation Reaches to the End of the Earth
Listen to Me, O islands and coastlands,
And pay attention, you peoples from far away.
The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the body of My mother He has named Me.
49:2:He has made My mouth like a sharp sword,
In the shadow of His hand He has kept Me hidden;
And He has made Me a sharpened arrow,
In His quiver He has hidden Me.
49:3:And [the Lord] said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel,
In Whom I will show My glory.”
49:4:Then I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity (pride, uselessness);
However My justice is with the Lord,
And My reward is with My God.”
49:5:And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him and that Israel might be gathered to Him,
—For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God is My strength—
49:6:He says, “It is too trivial a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will also make You a light to the nations
That My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
49:7:This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, Israel’s Holy One says,
To the thoroughly despised One,
To the One hated by the nation
To the Servant of rulers,
“Kings will see and arise,
Princes shall also bow down,
Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”
49:8:This is what the Lord says,
“In a favorable time I have answered You,
And in a day of salvation I have helped You;
And I will keep watch over You and give You for a covenant of the people,
To restore the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands,
49:9:Saying to those who are bound and captured, ‘Go forth,’
And to those who are in [spiritual] darkness, ‘Show yourselves [come into the light of the Savior].’
They will feed along the roads [on which they travel],
And their pastures will be on all the bare heights.
49:10:“They will not hunger or thirst,
Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down;
For He who has compassion on them will lead them,
And He will guide them to springs of water.
49:11:“And I will make all My mountains a roadway,
And My highways will be raised.
49:12:“In fact, these will come from far away;
And, lo, these shall come from the north and from the west,
And these from the land of Aswan (southern Egypt).”
49:13:Shout for joy, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,
And break forth into singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people
And will have compassion on His afflicted.
49:14:Promise to Zion
But Zion (Jerusalem in captivity) said, “The Lord has abandoned me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
49:15:[The Lord answered] “Can a woman forget her nursing child
And have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
49:16:“Indeed, I have inscribed [a picture of] you on the palms of My hands;
Your city walls [Zion] are continually before Me.
49:17:“Your builders hurry;
Your destroyers and devastators
Will go away from you.
49:18:“Lift up your eyes and look around [at the returning exiles];
All these gather together and they come to you [to rebuild you].
As I live,” declares the Lord,
“You [Zion] will indeed clothe yourself with all of them as jewels and tie them on as a bride.
49:19:“For your ruins and desolate places and your land [once the scene] of destruction—
Certainly now [in the coming years] will be too cramped for the inhabitants,
And those who once engulfed you will be far away.
49:20:“The children of your bereavement [those born in captivity] will yet say in your ears,
‘The place is too cramped for me’;
Make room for me that I may live here.
49:21:“Then [Zion], you will say in your heart,
‘Who has borne me these children,
Since I have been bereaved of my children
And am barren, an exile and a wanderer?
And who has reared these?
Indeed, I was left alone;
From where then did these children come?’”
49:22:This is what the Lord God says,
“Listen carefully, I will lift up My hand to the [Gentile] nations
And set up My banner to the peoples;
And they will bring your sons in the fold of their garments,
And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
49:23:“Kings will be your attendants,
And their princesses your nurses.
They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth
And lick the dust of your feet;
And you shall know [with an understanding based on personal experience] that I am the Lord;
For they shall not be put to shame who wait and hope expectantly for Me.
49:24:“Can the spoils of war be taken from the mighty man,
Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?”
49:25:Indeed, this is what the Lord says,
“Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away,
And the tyrant’s spoils of war will be rescued;
For I will contend with your opponent,
And I will save your children.
49:26:“I will make those who oppress you consume their own flesh [in mutually destructive wars]
And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine;
And all mankind will know [with a knowledge grounded in personal experience] that I, the Lord, am your Savior
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
50:1:God Helps His Servant
The Lord declares this;
“Where is the certificate of divorce
By which I have sent your mother away, [O Israel]?
Or to which one of My creditors did I sell you [as slaves]?
In fact, You were sold for your wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing],
And for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
50:2:“Why, when I came, was there no man [to greet Me]?
When I called, why was there no one to answer?
Is My hand really so short that it cannot redeem [My servants]?
Or have I no power to rescue?
Listen carefully, with My rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers into a desert;
Their fish stink because there is no water
And die of thirst.
50:3:“I clothe the heavens with the blackness [of storm clouds]
And make sackcloth [of mourning] their clothing.”
50:4:The Lord God has given Me [His Servant] the tongue of disciples [as One who is taught],
That I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple [as One who is taught].
50:5:The Lord God has opened My ear,
And I have not been rebellious
Nor have I turned back.
50:6:I turned My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;
I did not hide My face from insults and spitting.
50:7:For the Lord God helps Me,
Therefore, I have not been ashamed or humiliated.
Therefore, I have made My face like flint,
And I know that I shall not be put to shame.
50:8:He who declares Me in the right is near;
Who will [dare to] contend with Me?
Let us stand up to each other;
Who is My adversary?
Let him approach Me.
50:9:In fact, the Lord God helps Me;
Who is he who condemns Me [as guilty]?
Indeed, they will all wear out like a garment;
The moth will eat them.
50:10:Who is among you who fears the Lord,
Who obeys the voice of His Servant,
Yet who walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him trust and be confident in the name of the Lord and let him rely on his God.
50:11:Listen carefully, all you who kindle your own fire [devising your own man-made plan of salvation],
Who surround yourselves with torches,
Walk by the light of your [self-made] fire
And among the torches that you have set ablaze.
But this you will have from My hand:
You will lie down in [a place of] torment.
51:1:Israel Exhorted
“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness (right standing with God),
Who seek and inquire of the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut
And to the excavation of the quarry from which you were dug.
51:2:“Look to Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
For I called him when he was but one,
Then I blessed him and made him many.”
51:3:For the Lord will comfort Zion [in her captivity];
He will comfort all her ruins.
And He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and the voice of a melody.
51:4:“Listen carefully to Me [says the Lord], O My people,
And hear Me, O My nation;
For a [divine] law will go forth from Me,
And I will quickly establish My justice as a light to the peoples.
51:5:“My righteousness (justice) is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The islands and coastlands will wait for Me,
And they will wait with hope and confident expectation for My arm.
51:6:“Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the heavens will be torn to pieces and vanish like smoke,
And the earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die in like manner.
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness (justice) [and faithfully fulfilled promise] will not be broken.
51:7:“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness (right standing with God),
The people in whose heart is My law and instruction;
Do not fear the reproach and taunting of man,
Nor be distressed at their reviling.
51:8:“For the moth will eat them like a garment,
And the worm will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness and justice [faithfully promised] will exist forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”
51:9:Awake, awake, put on strength and might, O arm of the Lord;
Awake as in the ancient days, as in the generations of long ago.
Was it not You who cut Rahab (Egypt) in pieces,
Who pierced the dragon [of Egypt]?
51:10:Was it not You who dried up the [Red] Sea,
The waters of the great deep,
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the redeemed to cross over?
51:11:So the redeemed of the Lord will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion;
Everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
51:12:“I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies
And of a son of man who is made [as destructible] as grass,
51:13:That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you continually tremble with fear all day long because of the rage of the oppressor,
As he takes aim to destroy?
And where is the rage of the oppressor?
51:14:The [captive] exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his food be lacking.
51:15:For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord of hosts is His name.
51:16:I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the [renewed] heavens and lay the foundations of the [renewed] earth, and to say to Zion (Jerusalem), ‘You are My people.’”
51:17:Wake yourself up! Wake yourself up! Stand up, O Jerusalem,
You who have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of His wrath,
You who have drunk the cup of staggering and intoxication to the dregs [leaving only sediment].
51:18:There is no one to guide her among all the sons she has borne,
Nor is there anyone to take her by the hand among all the sons she has reared.
51:19:These two tragedies have befallen you;
Who will show sympathy for you and mourn with you?
The desolation and destruction [on the land and city], famine and sword [on the inhabitants];
How shall I comfort you?
51:20:Your sons have fainted;
They lie helpless at the head of every street,
Like an antelope in a net,
Full [from drinking] of the wrath of the Lord,
The rebuke of your God.
51:21:Therefore, now hear this, you who are afflicted,
Who are drunk, but not with wine [but overwhelmed by the wrath of God].
51:22:So says your Lord, the Lord, who is also your God
Who pleads the cause of His people,
“Listen carefully, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering and intoxication,
The cup of My wrath;
You shall never drink it again.
51:23:“I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
Who have said to you, ‘Lie down so that we may walk over you.’
You have even made your back like the ground
And like the street for those who walk over it.”
52:1:Cheer for Downtrodden Zion
Awake, awake,
Put on your strength, O Zion;
Put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
Will no longer come into you.
52:2:Shake yourself from the dust, arise,
O captive Jerusalem;
Rid yourself of the chains around your neck,
O captive Daughter of Zion.
52:3:For the Lord says this, “You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed, but not with money.”
52:4:For the Lord God says this, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to live there; and [many years later Sennacherib] the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
52:5:But now, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without reason? Those who rule over them howl [with taunting and mockery of salvation],” declares the Lord, “and My name is continually blasphemed all day long.
52:6:Therefore My people shall know My Name and what it means. Therefore in that day I am the One who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’”
52:7:How beautiful and delightful on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace,
Who brings good news of good [things],
Who announces salvation,
Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
52:8:Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
Together they shout for joy;
For they will see face to face
The return of the Lord to Zion.
52:9:Break forth, shout joyfully together,
You ruins of Jerusalem;
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
52:10:The Lord has bared His holy arm (His infinite power)
Before the eyes of all the nations [revealing Himself as the One by Whom Israel is redeemed from captivity],
That all the ends of the earth may see
The salvation of our God.
52:11:Depart, depart, go out from there (the lands of exile),
Touch no unclean thing;
Go out of the midst of her (Babylon), purify yourselves,
You who carry the articles of the Lord [on your journey from there].
52:12:For you will not go out in a hurry [as when you left Egypt],
Nor will you go in flight [fleeing, as you did from the Egyptians];
For the Lord will go before you,
And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
52:13:The Exalted Servant
Indeed, My Servant (the Messiah) will act wisely and prosper;
He will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.
52:14:Just as many were astonished and appalled at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form [marred] more than the sons of men.
52:15:So He will sprinkle many nations [with His blood, providing salvation],
Kings will shut their mouths because of Him;
For what they had not been told they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand.
53:1:The Suffering Servant
Who has believed [confidently trusted in, relied on, and adhered to] our message [of salvation]?
And to whom [if not us] has the arm and infinite power of the Lord been revealed?
53:2:For He [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender shoot (plant),
And like a root out of dry ground;
He has no stately form or majestic splendor
That we would look at Him,
Nor [handsome] appearance that we would be attracted to Him.
53:3:He was despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief;
And like One from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or esteem Him.
53:4:But [in fact] He has borne our griefs,
And He has carried our sorrows and pains;
Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken,
Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him].
53:5:But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing];
The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him,
And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.
53:6:All of us like sheep have gone astray,
We have turned, each one, to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the wickedness of us all [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]
To fall on Him [instead of us].
53:7:He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth [to complain or defend Himself];
Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before her shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
53:8:After oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation [His contemporaries], who [among them] concerned himself with the fact
That He was cut off from the land of the living [by His death]
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke [of death] was due?
53:9:His grave was assigned with the wicked,
But He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
53:10:Yet the Lord was willing
To crush Him, causing Him to suffer;
If He would give Himself as a guilt offering [an atonement for sin],
He shall see His [spiritual] offspring,
He shall prolong His days,
And the will (good pleasure) of the Lord shall succeed and prosper in His hand.
53:11:As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He shall see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge [of what He has accomplished] the Righteous One,
My Servant, shall justify the many [making them righteous—upright before God, in right standing with Him],
For He shall bear [the responsibility for] their sins.
53:12:Therefore, I will divide and give Him a portion with the great [kings and rulers],
And He shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
Because He [willingly] poured out His life to death,
And was counted among the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore and took away the sin of many,
And interceded [with the Father] for the transgressors.
54:1:The Fertility of Zion
“Shout for joy, O barren one, she who has not given birth;
Break forth into joyful shouting and rejoice, she who has not gone into labor [with child]!
For the [spiritual] sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.
54:2:“Enlarge the site of your tent [to make room for more children];
Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not spare them;
Lengthen your tent ropes
And make your pegs (stakes) firm [in the ground].
54:3:“For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
And your descendants will take possession of nations
And will inhabit deserted cities.
54:4:“Do not fear, for you will not be put to shame,
And do not feel humiliated or ashamed, for you will not be disgraced.
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
And you will no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.
54:5:“For your husband is your Maker,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of the whole earth.
54:6:“For the Lord has called you,
Like a wife who has been abandoned, grieved in spirit,
And like a wife [married] in her youth when she is [later] rejected and scorned,”
Says your God.
54:7:“For a brief moment I abandoned you,
But with great compassion and mercy I will gather you [to Myself again].
54:8:“In an outburst of wrath
I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,”
Says the Lord your Redeemer.
54:9:“For this is like the waters of Noah to Me,
As I swore [an oath] that the waters of Noah
Would not flood the earth again;
In the same way I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
Nor will I rebuke you.
54:10:“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
Nor will My covenant of peace be shaken,”
Says the Lord who has compassion on you.
54:11:“O you afflicted [city], storm-tossed, and not comforted,
Listen carefully, I will set your [precious] stones in mortar,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
54:12:“And I will make your battlements of rubies,
And your gates of [shining] beryl stones,
And all your [barrier] walls of precious stones.
54:13:“And all your [spiritual] sons will be disciples [of the Lord],
And great will be the well-being of your sons.
54:14:“You will be firmly established in righteousness:
You will be far from [even the thought of] oppression, for you will not fear,
And from terror, for it will not come near you.
54:15:“If anyone fiercely attacks you it will not be from Me.
Whoever attacks you will fall because of you.
54:16:“Listen carefully, I have created the smith who blows on the fire of coals
And who produces a weapon for its purpose;
And I have created the destroyer to inflict ruin.
54:17:“No weapon that is formed against you will succeed;
And every tongue that rises against you in judgment you will condemn.
This [peace, righteousness, security, and triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And this is their vindication from Me,” says the Lord.
55:1:The Free Offer of Mercy
“Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy grain and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost [simply accept it as a gift from God].
55:2:“Why do you spend money for that which is not bread,
And your earnings for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight in abundance.
55:3:“Incline your ear [to listen] and come to Me;
Hear, so that your soul may live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
According to the faithful mercies [promised and] shown to David.
55:4:“Listen carefully, I have appointed him [David, representing the Messiah] to be a witness to the nations [regarding salvation],
A leader and commander to the peoples.
55:5:“In fact, you [Israel] will call a nation that you do not know,
And a nation that does not know you will run to you,
Because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you.”
55:6:Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call on Him [for salvation] while He is near.
55:7:Let the wicked leave (behind) his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion (mercy) on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
55:8:“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
55:9:“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts higher than your thoughts.
55:10:“For as the rain and snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth,
Making it bear and sprout,
And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
55:11:So will My word be which goes out of My mouth;
It will not return to Me void (useless, without result),
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
55:12:“For you will go out [from exile] with joy
And be led forth [by the Lord Himself] with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
55:13:“Instead of the thorn bush the cypress tree will grow,
And instead of the nettle the myrtle tree will grow;
And it will be a memorial to the Lord,
For an everlasting sign [of His mercy] which will not be cut off.”
56:1:Rewards for Obedience to God
This is what the Lord says,
“Maintain justice and do righteousness,
For My salvation is soon to come,
And My righteousness and justice is soon to be revealed.
56:2:“Blessed (happy, fortunate) is the man who does this,
And the son of man who takes hold of it,
Who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
56:3:Do not let the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
“The Lord will most certainly separate me from His people.”
And do not let the eunuch say, “Look, I am a dry tree.”
56:4:This is what the Lord says,
“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths
And choose what pleases Me,
And hold firmly to My covenant,
56:5:To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial,
And a name better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.
56:6:“Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord,
To be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it
And holds fast to My covenant [by conscientious obedience];
56:7:All these I will bring to My holy mountain
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar;
For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
56:8:The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares:
“I will gather yet others to them (Israel), to those [already] gathered.”
56:9:All you beasts of the field,
All you beasts (hostile nations) in the forest,
Come to eat.
56:10:Israel’s watchmen are blind,
They are all without knowledge.
They are all mute dogs, they cannot bark;
Panting, lying down, they love to slumber.
56:11:And the dogs are greedy; they never have enough.
They are shepherds who have no understanding;
They have all turned to their own way,
Each one to his unlawful gain, without exception.
56:12:“Come,” [they say,] “let us get wine, and let us fill ourselves with strong drink;
And tomorrow will be like today, very great indeed.”
57:1:Evil Leaders Rebuked
The righteous man perishes [at the hand of evil], and no one takes it to heart;
Faithful and devout men are taken away, while no one understands
That the righteous person is taken away [to be spared] from disaster and evil.
57:2:He enters into peace [through death];
They rest in their beds (graves),
Each one who walked uprightly [following God’s will, living with integrity].
57:3:“But come here, you sons of a sorceress [raised in deception and superstition],
Offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute.
57:4:“Of whom do you make fun?
Against whom do you open wide your mouth
And stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of rebellion (sin),
Offspring of deceit,
57:5:Who inflame yourselves [with lust in pagan rites] among the oaks (terebinth trees),
Under every green and leafy tree,
Who slaughter the children [in sacrifice] in the ravines
Under the clefts of the rocks?
57:6:“Among the smooth stones of the ravine
Is your portion, they (the idols) are your lot;
Even to them you have poured out a drink offering,
You have offered a grain offering.
Should I be quiet concerning these things [leaving them unpunished—bearing them with patience]?
57:7:“Upon a high and lofty mountain
You have [openly and shamelessly] made your [idolatrous and adulterous] bed;
Even there you went up to offer sacrifice [to idols, in spiritual unfaithfulness to Me].
57:8:“Behind the door and the doorpost
You have set up your [pagan] symbol;
Indeed, far removed from Me, you have uncovered yourself,
And have gone up and made your bed wide.
And you have made a [new] agreement for yourself with the adulterers,
You have loved their bed,
You have looked [with passion] on their manhood.
57:9:“You have gone to the king [of a pagan land] with oil
And increased your perfumes;
You have sent your messengers a great distance
And made them go down to Sheol (the realm of the dead).
57:10:“You were wearied by the length of your road,
Yet you did not say, ‘It is no use.’
You found renewed strength,
Therefore you did not grow weak.
57:11:“About whom were you worried and fearful
That you lied and did not remember Me,
Nor give Me a thought?
Was I not silent even for a long time
And [as a result] you do not fear Me?
57:12:“I will declare your [hypocritical] righteousness and your deeds,
But they will not benefit you.
57:13:“When you cry out [for help], let your [ridiculous] collection of idols save you.
But the wind will carry them all away,
A [mere] breath will take them.
But he who takes refuge in Me will possess the land [Judea]
And will inherit My holy mountain.”
57:14:And it will be said,
“Build up, build up, clear the way.
Remove the stumbling block out of the way [of the spiritual return] of My people.”
57:15:For the high and exalted One
He who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy says this,
“I dwell on the high and holy place,
But also with the contrite and humble in spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the humble
And to revive the heart of the contrite [overcome with sorrow for sin].
57:16:“For I will not contend forever,
Nor will I always be angry;
For [if I did stay angry] the spirit [of man] would grow weak before Me,
And the breath of those whom I have created.
57:17:“Because of the wickedness of his unjust gain I was angry and struck him;
I hid My face and was angry,
And he went on turning away and backsliding, in the way of his [own willful] heart.
57:18:“I have seen his [willful] ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him [also] and will restore comfort to him and to those who mourn for him,
57:19:As I create the praise of his lips,
Peace, peace, to him who is far away [both Jew and Gentile] and to him who is near!”
Says the Lord;
“And I will heal him [making his lips blossom anew with thankful praise].”
57:20:But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
For it cannot be quiet,
And its waters toss up mire and mud.
57:21:“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
58:1:Observances of Fasts
“Cry aloud, do not hold back;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.
58:2:“Yet they seek Me day by day and delight [superficially] to know My ways,
As [if they were in reality] a nation that has done righteousness
And has not abandoned (turned away from) the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me righteous judgments,
They delight in the nearness of God.
58:3:‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You do not see it?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’
Hear this [O Israel], on the day of your fast [when you should be grieving for your sins] you find something you desire [to do],
And you force your hired servants to work [instead of stopping all work, as the law teaches].
58:4:“The facts are that you fast only for strife and brawling and to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You do not fast as you do today to make your voice heard on high.
58:5:“Is a fast such as this what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself [with sorrow in his soul]?
Is it only to bow down his head like a reed
And to make sackcloth and ashes as a bed [pretending to have a repentant heart]?
Do you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?
58:6:“[Rather] is this not the fast which I choose,
To undo the bonds of wickedness,
To tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke,
To let the oppressed go free
And break apart every [enslaving] yoke?
58:7:“Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not to hide yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?
58:8:“Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your healing (restoration, new life) will quickly spring forth;
Your righteousness will go before you [leading you to peace and prosperity],
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
58:9:“Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away from your midst the yoke [of oppression],
The finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and [every form of] wicked (sinful, unjust) speech,
58:10:And if you offer yourself to [assist] the hungry
And satisfy the need of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
58:11:“And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
58:12:“And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up and restore the age-old foundations [of buildings that have been laid waste];
You will be called Repairer of the Breach,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
58:13:Keeping the Sabbath
“If you turn back your foot from [unnecessary travel on] the Sabbath,
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a [spiritual] delight, and the holy day of the Lord honorable,
And honor it, not going your own way
Or engaging in your own pleasure
Or speaking your own [idle] words,
58:14:Then you will take pleasure in the Lord,
And I will make you ride on the high places of the earth,
And I will feed you with the [promised] heritage of Jacob your father;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
59:1:Separation from God
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save,
Nor His ear so impaired
That it cannot hear.
59:2:But your wickedness has separated you from your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
59:3:For your hands are defiled with blood
And your fingers with wickedness [with sin, with injustice, with wrongdoing];
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.
59:4:No one sues righteously [but for the sake of doing injury to others—to take some undue advantage], and no one pleads [his case] in truth; [but rather]
They trust in empty arguments and speak lies;
They conceive trouble and bring forth injustice.
59:5:They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s webs;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from an egg which is crushed a viper breaks out.
59:6:Their webs will not serve as clothing,
Nor will they cover themselves with what they make;
Their works are works of wickedness [of sin, of injustice, of wrongdoing],
And the act of violence is in their hands.
59:7:Their feet run to evil,
And they rush to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness [of sin, of injustice, of wrongdoing];
Devastation and destruction are in their highways.
59:8:They do not know the way of peace,
And there is no justice in their tracks.
They have made them into crooked paths;
Whoever walks on them does not know peace.
59:9:A Confession of Wickedness
Therefore justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not overtake us.
We [expectantly] hope for light, but only see darkness;
We hope for gleam of light, but we walk in darkness and gloom.
59:10:We grope for a wall like the blind,
We grope like those who have no eyes.
We stumble at midday as in the twilight;
Among those who are healthy we are like dead men.
59:11:We all groan and growl like bears,
And coo sadly like doves;
We hope for justice, but there is none,
For salvation, but it is far from us.
59:12:For our transgressions are multiplied before You [O Lord],
And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And we know and recognize our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]:
59:13:Rebelling against and denying the Lord,
Turning away from [following] our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and muttering from the heart lying words.
59:14:Justice is pushed back,
And righteous behavior stands far away;
For truth has fallen in the city square,
And integrity cannot enter.
59:15:Yes, truth is missing;
And he who turns away from evil makes himself a prey.
Now the Lord saw it,
And it displeased Him that there was no justice.
59:16:He saw that there was no man,
And was amazed that there was no one to intercede [on behalf of truth and right];
Therefore His own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His own righteousness sustained Him.
59:17:For He [the Lord] put on righteousness like a coat of armor,
And salvation like a helmet on His head;
He put on garments of vengeance for clothing
And covered Himself with zeal [and great love for His people] as a cloak.
59:18:As their deeds deserve, so He will repay:
Wrath to His adversaries, retribution to His enemies;
To the islands and coastlands He will repay.
59:19:So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west
And His glory from the rising of the sun.
For He will come in like a narrow, rushing stream
Which the breath of the Lord drives [overwhelming the enemy].
59:20:“A Redeemer (Messiah) will come to Zion,
And to those in Jacob (Israel) who turn from transgression (sin),” declares the Lord.
59:21:“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you [writing the law of God on the heart], and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouths of your [true, spiritual] children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”
60:1:A Glorified Zion
“Arise [from spiritual depression to a new life], shine [be radiant with the glory and brilliance of the Lord]; for your light has come,
And the glory and brilliance of the Lord has risen upon you.
60:2:“For in fact, darkness will cover the earth
And deep darkness will cover the peoples;
But the Lord will rise upon you [Jerusalem]
And His glory and brilliance will be seen on you.
60:3:“Nations will come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.
60:4:“Lift up your eyes around you and see;
They all gather together, they come to you.
Your sons will come from far away,
And your daughters will be looked after at their side.
60:5:“Then you will see and be radiant,
And your heart will tremble [with joy] and rejoice
Because the abundant wealth of the seas will be brought to you,
The wealth of the nations will come to you.
60:6:“A multitude of camels [from the eastern trading tribes] will cover you [Jerusalem],
The young camels of Midian and Ephah;
All those from Sheba [who once came to trade] will come
Bringing gold and frankincense
And proclaiming the praises of the Lord.
60:7:“All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you [as the eastern pastoral tribes join the trading tribes],
The rams of Nebaioth will serve you;
They will go up with acceptance [as sacrifices] on My altar,
And I will glorify the house of My honor and splendor.
60:8:“Who are these who fly like a cloud
And like doves to their windows?
60:9:“The islands and coastlands will confidently wait for Me;
And the ships of Tarshish will come first,
To bring your sons from far away,
Their silver and gold with them,
For the name of the Lord your God,
For the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you.
60:10:“Foreigners will build up your walls,
And their kings will serve you;
For in My [righteous] wrath I struck you,
But in My favor and grace I have had compassion on you.
60:11:“Your gates will be open continually;
They shall not be shut day or night,
So that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations—
With their kings led in procession.
60:12:“For the nation or the kingdom which will not serve you [Jerusalem] shall perish,
And the nations [that refuse to serve] shall be utterly ruined.
60:13:“The glory of Lebanon will come to you,
The cypress, the juniper, and the cedar together,
To beautify the place of My sanctuary;
And I will honor and make the place of My feet glorious.
60:14:“The sons of those who oppressed you will come bowing down to you [in submission],
And all those who despised you and treated you disrespectfully will bow down at the soles of your feet,
And they will call you the City of the Lord,
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
60:15:“Whereas you [Jerusalem] have been abandoned and hated
With no one passing through,
I will make you an object of pride forever,
A joy from generation to generation.
60:16:“You will suck the milk of the [Gentile] nations
And suck the breast (abundance) of kings;
Then you will recognize and know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
60:17:“Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
And instead of iron I will bring silver,
And instead of wood, bronze,
And instead of stones, iron.
And [instead of the tyranny of the present] I will appoint peace as your officers,
And righteousness your rulers.
60:18:“Violence will not be heard again in your land,
Nor devastation or destruction within your borders;
But you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise [to God].
60:19:“The sun will no longer be your light by day,
Nor shall the bright glow of the moon give light to you,
But the Lord will be an everlasting light for you;
And your God will be your glory and splendor.
60:20:“Your sun will no longer set,
Nor will your moon wane;
For the Lord will be your everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning will be over.
60:21:“Then all your people will be [uncompromisingly and consistently] righteous;
They will possess the land forever,
The branch of My planting,
The work of My hands,
That I may be glorified.
60:22:“The smallest one will become a thousand (a clan),
And the least one a mighty nation.
I, the Lord, will quicken it in its [appointed] time.”
61:1:Exaltation of the Afflicted
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed and commissioned me
To bring good news to the humble and afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up [the wounds of] the brokenhearted,
To proclaim release [from confinement and condemnation] to the [physical and spiritual] captives
And freedom to prisoners,
61:2:To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance and retribution of our God,
To comfort all who mourn,
61:3:To grant to those who mourn in Zion the following:
To give them a turban instead of dust [on their heads, a sign of mourning],
The oil of joy instead of mourning,
The garment [expressive] of praise instead of a disheartened spirit.
So they will be called the trees of righteousness [strong and magnificent, distinguished for integrity, justice, and right standing with God],
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
61:4:Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,
They will raise up and restore the former desolations;
And they will renew the ruined cities,
The desolations (deserted settlements) of many generations.
61:5:Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,
And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
61:6:But you shall be called the priests of the Lord;
People will speak of you as the ministers of our God.
You will eat the wealth of nations,
And you will boast of their riches.
61:7:Instead of your [former] shame you will have a double portion;
And instead of humiliation your people will shout for joy over their portion.
Therefore in their land they will possess double [what they had forfeited];
Everlasting joy will be theirs.
61:8:For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery with a burnt offering.
And I will faithfully reward them,
And make an everlasting covenant with them.
61:9:Then their offspring will be known among the nations,
And their descendants among the peoples.
All who see them [in their prosperity] will recognize and acknowledge them
That they are the people whom the Lord has blessed.
61:10:I will rejoice greatly in the Lord,
My soul will exult in my God;
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has covered me with a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom puts on a turban,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
61:11:For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
And as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
So the Lord God will [most certainly] cause righteousness and justice and praise
To spring up before all the nations [through the power of His word].
62:1:Zion’s Glory and New Name
For Zion’s sake I (Isaiah) will not be silent,
And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,
Until her righteousness and vindication go forth as brightness,
And her salvation goes forth like a burning torch.
62:2:The nations will see your righteousness and vindication [by God],
And all kings [will see] your glory;
And you will be called by a new name
Which the mouth of the Lord will designate.
62:3:You will also be [considered] a crown of glory and splendor in the hand of the Lord,
And a royal diadem [exceedingly beautiful] in the hand of your God.
62:4:It will no longer be said of you [Judah], “Azubah (Abandoned),”
Nor will it any longer be said of your land, “Shemamah (Desolate)”;
But you will be called, “Hephzibah (My Delight is in Her),”
And your land, “Married”;
For the Lord delights in you,
And to Him your land will be married [owned and protected by the Lord].
62:5:For as a young man marries a virgin [O Jerusalem],
So your sons will marry you;
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So your God will rejoice over you.
62:6:On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed and stationed watchmen (prophets),
Who will never keep silent day or night;
You who profess the Lord, take no rest for yourselves,
62:7:And give Him no rest [from your prayers] until He establishes Jerusalem
And makes her a praise on the earth.
62:8:The Lord has sworn [an oath] by His right hand and by His mighty arm,
“I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies,
Nor will [the invading] foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored.”
62:9:But they who have harvested it will eat it and praise the Lord,
And they who have gathered it will drink it [at the feasts celebrated] in the courtyards of My sanctuary.
62:10:Go through, go through the gates,
Clear the way for the people;
Build up, build up the highway,
Remove the stones, lift up a banner over the peoples.
62:11:Listen carefully, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth,
Say to the Daughter of Zion, “Look now, your salvation is coming [in the Lord];
Indeed, His reward is with Him, and His restitution accompanies Him.”
62:12:And they will call them “The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord”;
And you will be called “Sought Out, A City Not Deserted.”
63:1:God’s Vengeance on the Nations
Who is this who comes from Edom,
With crimson-stained garments from Bozrah [in Edom],
This One (the Messiah) who is majestic in His apparel,
Marching in the greatness of His might?
“It is I, [the One] who speaks in righteousness [proclaiming vindication], mighty to save.”
63:2:Why is Your apparel red,
And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?
63:3:“I have trodden the wine trough alone,
And of the peoples there was no one with Me.
I also trod them in My anger
And trampled them in My wrath;
And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments,
And I stained all My clothes.
63:4:“For the day of vengeance [against ungodliness] was in My heart,
And My year of redemption [of those who put their trust in Me—the year of My redeemed] has come.
63:5:“I looked, but there was no one to help,
And I was amazed and appalled that there was no one to uphold [truth and right].
So My own arm brought salvation to Me,
And My wrath sustained Me.
63:6:“I trampled the peoples in My anger
And made them drunk with [the cup of] My wrath,
And I spilled their lifeblood on the earth.”
63:7:God’s Ancient Mercies Recalled
I will tell of the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
According to all that the Lord has done for us,
And His great goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has shown them according to His compassion
And according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses.
63:8:For He said, “Be assured, they are My people,
Sons who will not be faithless.”
So He became their Savior [in all their distresses].
63:9:In all their distress He was distressed,
And the angel of His presence saved them,
In His love and in His compassion He redeemed them;
And He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
63:10:But they rebelled
And grieved His Holy Spirit;
Therefore He changed into their enemy,
And He fought against them.
63:11:Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses [and they said],
Where is He who brought our fathers up out of the [Red] Sea, with the shepherds of His flock [Moses and Aaron]?
Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in their midst,
63:12:Who caused His glorious arm and infinite power to go at the right hand of Moses,
Dividing the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name,
63:13:Who led them through the depths [of the Red Sea],
Like a horse in the wilderness, [so that] they did not stumble?
63:14:Like the cattle that go down into the valley [to find better pasture and rest],
The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
So You led Your people [O Lord]
To make for Yourself a beautiful and glorious name [preparing the way for the acknowledgment of Your name by all nations].
63:15:“You Are Our Father”
Look down from heaven and see from Your lofty dwelling place, holy and glorious.
Where are Your zeal and Your mighty acts [Your miracles which you did for Your people]?
The stirring of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained and withheld from me.
63:16:For [most certainly] You are our Father, even though Abraham [our ancestor] does not know us
And Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, O Lord, are [still] our Father,
Our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.
63:17:O Lord, why do You cause us to stray from Your ways
And harden our heart from fearing You [with reverence and awe]?
Return for Your servants’ sake, the tribes of Your heritage.
63:18:Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for [only] a little while;
Our adversaries have trampled it down.
63:19:We have become like those over whom You have never ruled,
Like those who were not called by Your name.
64:1:Prayer for Mercy and Help
Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and come down,
That the mountains might quake at Your presence—
64:2:As [sure as] fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
64:3:When You did awesome and amazing things which we did not expect,
You came down [at Sinai]; the mountains quaked at Your presence.
64:4:For from days of old no one has heard, nor has ear perceived,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who works and acts in behalf of the one who [gladly] waits for Him.
64:5:You meet him who rejoices in doing that which is morally right,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
Indeed, You were angry, for we sinned;
We have long continued in our sins [prolonging Your anger].
And shall we be saved [under such circumstances]?
64:6:For we all have become like one who is [ceremonially] unclean [like a leper],
And all our deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags;
We all wither and decay like a leaf,
And our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing], like the wind, takes us away [carrying us far from God’s favor, toward destruction].
64:7:There is no one who calls on Your name,
Who awakens and causes himself to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us
And have handed us over to the [consuming and destructive] power of our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing].
64:8:Yet, O Lord, You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our Potter,
And we all are the work of Your hand.
64:9:Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord,
Do not remember our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing] forever.
Now look, consider, for we are all Your people.
64:10:Your holy cities have become a wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
64:11:Our holy and beautiful house [the temple built by Solomon],
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And all our precious objects are in ruins.
64:12:Considering these [tragedies], will You restrain Yourself, O Lord [and not help us]?
Will You keep silent and humiliate and oppress us beyond measure?
65:1:A Rebellious People
“I let Myself be sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I let Myself be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’
To the nation [Israel] which did not call on My Name.
65:2:“I have spread out My hands all the day long to a rebellious and stubborn people,
Who walk in the way that is not good, [following] after their own thoughts and intentions,
65:3:The people who continually provoke Me to My face,
Sacrificing [to idols] in gardens and making offerings with incense on bricks [instead of at the designated altar];
65:4:Who sit among the graves [trying to conjure up evil spirits] and spend the night in the secret places [where spirits are thought to dwell];
Who eat swine’s flesh,
And their pots hold the broth of unclean meat;
65:5:Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me,
For I am too holy for you [and you might defile me]!’
These [people] are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
65:6:“Indeed, it is written before Me,
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will even repay it [directly] into their arms,
65:7:Both your own wickedness and the wickedness of your fathers,” says the Lord.
“Since they too have made offerings with incense on the mountains
And scorned and taunted Me on the hills,
I therefore will measure [punishment for] their former work [directly] into their arms.”
65:8:This is what the Lord says,
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing and benefit in it,’
So I will do for the sake of My servants
In order not to destroy all of them.
65:9:“I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And an heir of My mountains from Judah;
Even My chosen ones shall inherit it,
And My servants will live there.
65:10:“And [the plain of] Sharon will be a place for flocks to graze,
And the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
For My people who seek Me [who long for Me and require My presence in their lives].
65:11:“But you who abandon (turn away from) the Lord,
Who forget and ignore My holy mountain (Zion),
Who set a table for Gad [the Babylonian god of fortune],
And who fill a jug of mixed wine for Meni [the god of fate],
65:12:I will destine you for the sword, [says the Lord],
And all of you will bow down to the slaughter,
Because when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not listen or obey.
But you did [what was] evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”
65:13:Therefore, the Lord God says this,
“Listen carefully, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry;
Indeed, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty;
Indeed, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
65:14:“Indeed, My servants will shout for joy from a happy heart,
But you will cry out with a heavy heart,
And you shall wail and howl from a broken spirit.
65:15:“And you will leave your name behind to My chosen ones [who will use it] as a curse,
And the Lord God will put you to death,
But He will call His servants by another name [a much greater name, just as the name Israel was greater than the name Jacob].
65:16:“Because he who blesses himself on the earth
Will bless himself by the God of truth and faithfulness;
And he who swears [an oath] on the earth
Will swear by the God of truth and faithfulness;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My sight.
65:17:New Heavens and a New Earth
“Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things [of life] will not be remembered or come to mind.
65:18:“But be glad and rejoice forever over what I create;
Behold, I am creating Jerusalem to be a source of rejoicing
And her people a joy.
65:19:“I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
65:20:“No longer shall there be in it an infant who lives only a few days,
Or an old man who does not finish his days;
For the youth who dies at the age of a hundred,
And the one who does not reach the age of a hundred
Will be thought of as accursed.
65:21:“They will build houses and live in them;
They will plant vineyards and eat the fruit.
65:22:“They will not build and another occupy;
They will not plant and another eat [the fruit].
For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen [people] will fully enjoy [and long make use of] the work of their hands.
65:23:“They will not labor in vain,
Or bear children for disaster;
For they are the descendants of those blessed by the Lord,
And their offspring with them.
65:24:“It shall also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
65:25:The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox [there will no longer be predator and prey]; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain (Zion),” says the Lord.
66:1:Heaven Is God’s Throne
This is what the Lord says,
“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.
Where, then, is a house that you could build for Me?
And where will My resting place be?
66:2:“For all these things My hand has made,
So all these things came into being [by and for Me],” declares the Lord.
“But to this one I will look [graciously],
To him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who [reverently] trembles at My word and honors My commands.
66:3:Hypocrisy Rebuked
“He who kills an ox [for pagan sacrifice] is [as guilty] as one who kills a man;
He who sacrifices a lamb, as one who breaks a dog’s neck;
He who offers a grain offering, as one who offers swine’s blood;
He who offers incense, as one who blesses an idol.
Such people have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delights in their repulsive acts;
66:4:So I will choose their punishments,
And will bring the things they dread upon them
Because I called, but no one answered;
I spoke, but they did not listen or obey.
But they did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”
66:5:Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble [with awe-filled reverence] at His word:
“Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for My Name’s sake,
Have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy.’
But they will be put to shame.
66:6:“The sound of an uproar from the city! A voice from the temple!
The voice of the Lord, providing retribution to His enemies.
66:7:“Before she (Zion) was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her labor pain came, she gave birth to a boy.
66:8:“Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things?
Can a land be born in one day?
Or can a nation be brought forth in a moment?
As soon as Zion was in labor, she also brought forth her sons.
66:9:“Shall I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the Lord.
“Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God.
66:10:Joy in Jerusalem’s Future
“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her;
Rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her,
66:11:That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts,
That you may drink deeply and be delighted with her bountiful bosom.”
66:12:For the Lord says this, “Behold, I extend peace to her (Jerusalem) like a river,
And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
And you will be nursed, you will be carried on her hip and [playfully] rocked on her knees.
66:13:“As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;
And you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
66:14:When you see this, your heart will rejoice;
Your bones will flourish like new grass.
And the [powerful] hand of the Lord will be revealed to His servants,
But His indignation will be toward His enemies.
66:15:For indeed, the Lord will come in fire
And His chariots will be like the stormy wind,
To render His anger with rage,
And His rebuke with flames of fire.
66:16:For the Lord will execute judgment by fire
And by His sword on all mankind,
And those slain by the Lord will be many.
66:17:“Those who [vainly attempt to] sanctify and cleanse themselves to go to the gardens [to sacrifice to idols],
Following after one in the center,
Who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things and mice,
Will come to an end together,” says the Lord.
66:18:“For I know their works and their thoughts. The time is coming to gather all nations and languages, and they will come and see My glory.
66:19:I will set up a [miraculous] sign among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations: Tarshish, Pul (Put), Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant islands and coastlands that have not heard of My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare and proclaim My glory among the nations.
66:20:Then they shall bring all your countrymen (children of Israel) from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels—to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.
66:21:I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
66:22:“For just as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I make will remain and endure before Me,” declares the Lord,
“So your offspring and your name will remain and endure.
66:23:“And it shall be that from New Moon to New Moon
And from Sabbath to Sabbath,
All mankind will come to bow down and worship before Me,” says the Lord.
66:24:“Then they will go forth and look
Upon the dead bodies of the [rebellious] men
Who have transgressed against Me;
For their worm (maggot) will not die,
And their fire will not go out;
And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
jeremiah:1:1:Jeremiah’s Call and Commission
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, [one] of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,
1:2:to whom the word of the Lord came during the thirteenth year (627 b.c.) of the reign of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
1:3:It came [to Jeremiah] also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, [continuing] until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, [and continuing] until the exile of [the people of] Jerusalem in the fifth month (July-August, 586 b.c.).
1:4:Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
1:5:“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument],
And before you were born I consecrated you [to Myself as My own];
I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
1:6:Then I said, “Ah, Lord God!
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
For I am [only] a young man.”
1:7:But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am [only] a young man,’
Because everywhere I send you, you shall go,
And whatever I command you, you shall speak.
1:8:“Do not be afraid of them [or their hostile faces],
For I am with you [always] to protect you and deliver you,” says the Lord.
1:9:Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me,
“Behold (hear Me), I have put My words in your mouth.
1:10:“See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To uproot and break down,
To destroy and to overthrow,
To build and to plant.”
1:11:The Almond Branch and Boiling Pot
The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see the branch of an almond tree.”
1:12:Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am [actively] watching over My word to fulfill it.”
1:13:The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north [its mouth about to pour out on the south, on Judea].”
1:14:Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north the evil [which the prophets foretold as the result of national sin] will reveal itself and spill out on all the people of the land.
1:15:“For, behold, I will call all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north,” says the Lord; “and they will come and each one will set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its surrounding walls, and against all the cities of Judah [as My judicial act, the consequence of Judah’s deliberate disobedience].
1:16:“I will speak My judgments against them for all the wickedness of those who have abandoned (rejected) Me, offered sacrifices or burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the [idolatrous] works of their own hands.
1:17:“But you [Jeremiah], gird up your loins [in preparation]! Get up and tell them all which I command you. Do not be distraught and break down at the sight of their [hostile] faces, or I will bewilder you before them and allow you to be overcome.
1:18:“Now behold, I have made you today like a fortified city and like an iron pillar and like bronze walls against the whole land—against the [successive] kings of Judah, against its leaders, against its priests, and against the people of the land [giving you divine strength which no hostile power can overcome].
1:19:“They will fight against you, but they will not [ultimately] prevail over you, for I am with you [always] to protect you and deliver you,” says the Lord.
2:1:Judah’s Apostasy
Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
2:2:“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord,
“I remember [earnestly] the lovingkindness and devotion of your youth,
Your time of betrothal [like that of a bride during the early years in Egypt and again at Sinai],
When you followed Me in the wilderness,
Through a land not sown.
2:3:“Israel was holy [something set apart from ordinary purposes, consecrated] to the Lord,
The first fruits of His harvest [in which no outsider was allowed to share].
All who ate of it [injuring Israel] became guilty;
Evil came on them,” says the Lord.’”
2:4:Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
2:5:Thus says the Lord,
“What injustice or unrighteousness did your fathers find in Me,
That they have wandered far from Me
And [habitually] walked after emptiness and futility and became empty?
2:6:“They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord
Who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and of pits,
Through a land of drought and of the deep darkness [of the shadow of death],
Through a land that no man passed through
And where no man lived?’
2:7:“I brought you into a plentiful land
To eat its fruit and [enjoy] its good things.
But you came and defiled My land
And you made My inheritance repulsive.
2:8:“[Even] the priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
And those who deal with the law [given to Moses] did not know Me.
The rulers and shepherds also transgressed against Me,
And the prophets prophesied by [the authority and in the name of] Baal
And walked after [idolatrous] things that did not benefit [them].
2:9:“Therefore I will still contend (struggle) with you [by bringing judgment on you],” says the Lord,
“And I will contend with your children’s children.”
2:10:“For cross over to the coasts of Kittim (Cyprus) [to the west] and see,
Send also to Kedar (Arabia) [to the east] and carefully observe and consider
And see whether there has been such [a thing] as this!
2:11:“Has a nation [ever] changed gods
Even though they were not gods [but merely man-made objects]?
But My people have exchanged their Glory (the true God)
For that [man-made idol] which does not benefit [them].
2:12:“Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
Be shocked and shudder with horror [at the behavior of the people],” says the Lord.
2:13:“For My people have committed two evils:
They have abandoned (rejected) Me,
The fountain of living water,
And they have carved out their own cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That cannot hold water.
2:14:“Is Israel a servant? Is he a slave by birth?
Why has he become a captive and a prey?
2:15:“The young lions have roared at him,
They have made their voices heard and roared loudly.
And they have made his land a waste;
His cities have been destroyed and are burned ruins, without inhabitant.
2:16:“Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes [as powerful enemies]
Have shaved the crown of your head [to degrade you].
2:17:“Have you not brought this on yourself
By abandoning (rejecting) the Lord your God
When He led you in the way?
2:18:“Now what are you doing by going to Egypt [in search of an ally],
To drink the [muddy] waters of the Nile?
Or what are you doing by going to Assyria [in search of an ally],
To drink the [muddy] waters of the Euphrates?
2:19:“Your own wickedness will discipline you,
And your desertion of the faith will punish you.
Know therefore that it is an evil and bitter thing
For you to abandon (reject) the Lord your God,
And for you to be indifferent to Me and dismiss the [reverent] fear of Me,” says the Lord God of hosts.
2:20:“For long ago you broke your yoke [in deliberate disobedience]
And tore off your bonds [of the law that I gave you];
You said, ‘I will not serve and obey You!’
For on every high hill
And under every green tree
You have lain down [in idolatrous worship] like a [compliant] prostitute.
2:21:“Yet I had planted you [O house of Israel as] a choice vine,
A completely faithful seed.
How then have you turned against Me
Into degenerate shoots of a foreign and wild vine [alien to Me]?
2:22:“For though you wash yourself with lye
And use much soap,
The stain of your guilt is [still] before Me [and you are soiled and dirty],” says the Lord God.
2:23:“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,
I have not gone after [man-made gods like] the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley;
Know [without any doubt] what you have done!
You are a swift and restless young [female] camel [in the heat of her passion] running here and there,
2:24:Or [you have the untamed and reckless nature of] a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,
That sniffs the wind in her passion [for the scent of a mate].
In her mating season who can restrain her?
No males seeking her need to weary themselves;
In her month they will find her [looking for them].
2:25:“[Cease your mad running after idols to]
Keep your feet from becoming bare
And your throat from becoming dry;
But you said, ‘It is hopeless!
For I have loved strangers and foreign gods,
And I will walk after them.’
2:26:“As the thief is shamed when he is caught,
So the house of Israel is shamed—
They, their kings, their leaders,
Their priests, and their prophets—
2:27:Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their backs to Me,
And not their faces;
But in the time of their trouble they will say,
‘Arise [O Lord] and save us.’
2:28:“But where are your gods
Which you made for yourself?
Let them get up, if they can save you
In the time of your trouble!
For [as many as] the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah. [Why do not your many man-made idols run to help you?]
2:29:“Why do you complain and contend with Me?
You have all rebelled (transgressed) against Me,” says the Lord.
2:30:“In vain I have punished your people [with the consequences of their disobedience];
They received no insight from correction [and refused to change].
Your [own] sword has devoured your prophets
Like a destroying lion.
2:31:“O generation [that you are], consider and regard carefully the word of the Lord.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel [like a land without food],
A land of thick and deep darkness [like a path without light]?
Why do My people say, ‘We [have broken loose and we] are free to roam [at will];
We will no longer come to You’?
2:32:“Can a virgin forget [to wear] her ornaments,
Or a bride her attire [that identifies her as a married woman]?
Yet My people have forgotten Me
Days without number.
2:33:“How well you prepare your path
To seek and obtain [adulterous] love!
Even the most wicked of women
Have learned [indecent] ways from you.
2:34:“Also on your skirts is found
The lifeblood of the innocent poor;
You did not find them breaking in [a house].
But in spite of all these things [your disobedience, your love of idolatry, your lack of compassion]—
2:35:Yet you keep saying, ‘I am innocent;
Surely His anger has turned away from me.’
Behold (listen very carefully), I will bring you to judgment and will plead my case against you
Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
2:36:“Why do you go around and wander so much
Changing your way?
Also, you will be shamed by Egypt
As you were shamed by Assyria.
2:37:“From Egypt also you will come away [as captives]
With your hands on your head;
For the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust (confide),
And you will not be successful with them.”
3:1:The Polluted Land
That is to say, “If a man divorces his wife
And she goes [away] from him
And becomes another man’s [wife],
Will he return to her again? [Of course not!]
Will not that land [where such a thing happened] be completely desecrated?
But you [rebelled against Me and you] are a prostitute with many lovers;
Yet you turn to Me.” says the Lord.
3:2:“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see;
Where have you not been violated?
You sat by the road waiting [eagerly] for them [those man-made gods]
Like an Arab [tribesman who waits to attack] in the desert,
And you have desecrated the land
With your [vile] prostitution and your wickedness (disobedience to God).
3:3:“Therefore the showers have been withheld,
And there has been no spring rain.
Yet you have the forehead (appearance) of a prostitute;
You refuse to be ashamed.
3:4:“Will you not just now call out to Me,
‘My Father, you were the guide and companion of my youth?
3:5:‘Will He be angry forever?
Will He be indignant to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken,
And you have done all the evil things [you could],
And you have had your way and have carried out your wickedness.”
3:6:Faithless Israel
Moreover, the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king [of Judah], “Have you seen what that faithless Israel has done—how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there she was a prostitute?
3:7:I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous (faithless) sister Judah saw it.
3:8:And I saw [that even though Judah knew] that for all the acts of adultery (idolatry) of faithless Israel, I [the Lord] had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid; but she went and was a prostitute also [following after idols].
3:9:Because of the thoughtlessness of Israel’s prostitution [her immorality mattered little to her], she desecrated the land and committed adultery with [idols of] stones and trees.
3:10:Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with her whole heart, but rather in [blatant] deception [she merely pretended obedience to King Josiah’s reforms],” declares the Lord.
3:11:God Invites Repentance
And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself less guilty than treacherous Judah [a land of renegades].
3:12:Go and proclaim these words toward the north [where the ten tribes have been taken as captives] and say,
‘Return, faithless Israel,’ says the Lord;
‘I will not look on you in anger.
For I am gracious and merciful,’ says the Lord;
‘I will not be angry forever.
3:13:‘Only understand fully and acknowledge your wickedness and guilt,
That you have rebelled (transgressed) against the Lord your God
And have scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord.
3:14:‘Return, O faithless children [of the twelve tribes],’ says the Lord,
‘For I am a master and husband to you,
And I will take you [not as a nation, but individually]—one from a city and two from a [tribal] family—
And I will bring you to Zion.’
3:15:“Then [in the final time] I will give you [spiritual] shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and [true] understanding.
3:16:“It will be in those days when you have [repented and] multiplied and increased in the land,” says the Lord, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will not come to mind, nor will they [seriously] remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again [for instead of the ark, which symbolized My presence, I will be present].
3:17:At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name (renown) of the Lord; and they will not walk anymore after the stubbornness of their [own] evil heart.
3:18:In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.
3:19:“Then I said,
‘How [gloriously and honorably] I would set you among My children
And give you a pleasant land—a wonderful heritage,
The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’
And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father
And not turn away from following Me.’
3:20:“Surely, as a wife treacherously (unfaithfully) leaves her husband,
So you have dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel,” says the Lord.
3:21:A voice is heard on the barren heights,
The weeping and pleading of the children of Israel,
Because they have lost their way,
They have [deliberately] forgotten the Lord their God.
3:22:“Return, O faithless sons,” [says the Lord],
“I will heal your unfaithfulness.”
[They answer] “Behold, we come to You,
For You are the Lord our God.
3:23:“Truly, [the hope of salvation from] the hill [where idols are worshiped] is a deception,
A tumult and noisy multitude on the mountains;
Truly in the Lord our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
3:24:“But the shameful act [of idolatry] has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth—their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
3:25:Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor and humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers; from our youth even to this day we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
4:1:Judah Threatened with Invasion
“If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord,
“If you will return to Me,
And if you will put away your detestable things and remove your man-made gods from My sight,
And not stray or waver,
4:2:And if you swear [your oaths], ‘As the Lord lives,’
In truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
Then the nations will bless themselves in Him,
And in Him they will glory.”
4:3:For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,
“Plow your uncultivated ground [for a season],
And do not sow among thorns.
4:4:“Circumcise (dedicate, sanctify) yourselves to the Lord
And remove the foreskin [sins] of your heart,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Or else My wrath will go forth like fire [consuming all that gets in its way]
And burn and there will be no one to quench it,
Because of the evil of your acts.”
4:5:Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
“Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble yourselves, and let us go
Into the fortified cities.’
4:6:“Raise a banner toward Zion [to mark the way for those seeking safety inside Jerusalem’s walls]!
Seek refuge, do not stand [immobile],
For I am bringing evil from the north (the army of Babylon),
And great destruction.
4:7:“A lion has left his lair,
And a destroyer of nations is on his way.
He has gone out from his place
To desolate your land;
Your cities will be in ruins
Without an inhabitant.
4:8:“For this reason, put on sackcloth [for mourning],
Lament (mourn with expressions of grief for the dead) and wail,
For the fierce anger of the Lord
Has not turned back from us.”
4:9:“It shall come about in that day,” says the Lord, “that the heart and courage of the king will fail (be paralyzed), and also the heart of the princes; the priests will be appalled and the prophets will be astounded and horrified.”
4:10:Then I said, “Alas, Lord God! Surely You have completely deceived and misled this people and Jerusalem, [for the prophets represented You as] saying [to Your people], ‘You will have peace,’ but [in fact] a sword reaches to their throat.”
4:11:In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the wilderness [comes at My command] against the daughter of My people—not [a wind] to winnow and not to cleanse [from chaff, as when threshing, but]
4:12:a wind too strong and full for this comes at My word. Now I will also speak judgment against My people.”
4:13:“Behold, the enemy comes up like clouds,
His chariots like the whirlwind;
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe (judgment is coming) to us, for we are ruined!”
4:14:O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness,
That you may be saved.
How long will your wicked and immoral thoughts
Lodge within you?
4:15:For a voice declares from Dan [far in the north],
And proclaims evil from Mount Ephraim.
4:16:“Warn the [neighboring] nations now [that our enemy is coming]!
Announce to Jerusalem,
‘Besiegers are coming from a far country,
And they lift their voices and shout against the cities of Judah.
4:17:‘Like watchmen of a field they are against her on all sides,
Because she has rebelled against Me,’ says the Lord.
4:18:“Your ways and your deeds
Have brought these things on you.
This is your tragedy and doom; how bitter,
How it has touched your heart!”
4:19:Lament over Judah’s Devastation
My soul, my soul! I writhe in anguish and pain! Oh, the walls of my heart!
My heart is pounding and throbbing within me;
I cannot be silent,
For you have heard, O my soul,
The sound of the trumpet,
The alarm of war.
4:20:News of one [terrible] disaster comes close after another,
For the whole land is devastated;
Suddenly my tents are spoiled and destroyed,
My [tent] curtains [ruined] in a moment.
4:21:How long [O Lord] must I see the banner [marking the way for flight]
And hear the sound of the trumpet [urging the people to run for safety]?
4:22:“For My people are stupid and foolish,” [says the Lord to Jeremiah];
“They do not know Me;
They are foolish children
And have no understanding.
They are shrewd [enough] to do evil,
But they do not know [how] to do good.”
4:23:I looked at the earth [in my vision], and behold, it was [as at the time of creation] formless and void;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
4:24:I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were trembling,
And all the hills moved back and forth.
4:25:I looked, and behold, there was no man,
And all the birds of the air had fled.
4:26:I looked, and behold, the fertile land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were pulled down
Before the [presence of the] Lord, before His fierce anger.
4:27:Therefore says the Lord,
“The whole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will not cause total destruction.
4:28:“For this reason the earth shall mourn
And the heavens above shall become dark,
Because I have spoken, I have decided,
And I will not change my mind (relent), nor will I turn back from it.”
4:29:Every city runs away at the sound of the horsemen and archers.
They go into the thickets and climb among the rocks;
Every city is deserted,
And no man lives in them.
4:30:And you, O desolate one, what will you do?
Though you clothe yourself in scarlet,
Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
Though you enlarge your eyes with paint,
You make yourself beautiful in vain.
Your lovers (allies) despise you;
They seek your life.
4:31:For I heard a cry like a woman in labor,
The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
The cry of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), who gasps for breath,
Who stretches out her hands, saying,
“Woe is me [my judgment comes]! I faint [in fear] before the murderers.”
5:1:Jerusalem’s Godlessness
“Roam back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem,
And look now and take note.
And look in her open squares
To see if you can find a man [as Abraham sought in Sodom],
One who is just, who [has integrity and moral courage and] seeks truth (faithfulness);
Then I will pardon Jerusalem—[for the sake of one uncompromisingly righteous person].
5:2:“And though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’
Surely they swear [their oaths] falsely.”
5:3:O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth?
You [have seen their faithless heart and] have stricken them,
But they did not weaken;
You have consumed them,
But they refused to take correction or instruction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
They have refused to repent and return to You.
5:4:Then I said, “[Surely] these are only the poor (uneducated);
They are [sinfully] foolish and have no [spiritual] understanding,
For they do not know the way of the Lord
Or the ordinance of their God [and the requirements of His just and righteous law].
5:5:“I will go to the great [men]
And speak to them,
For they [must] know the way of the Lord,
The ordinance of their God.”
But [I found the reverse to be true, that] they too had all alike broken the yoke [of God’s law]
And had burst the bonds [of obedience to Him].
5:6:Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them,
A wolf of the deserts will destroy them,
A leopard is watching their cities.
Everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
Because their transgressions are many,
Their desertions of faith are countless.
5:7:“Why should I [overlook these offenses and] forgive you?
Your children have abandoned (rejected) Me
And sworn [their oaths] by those who are not gods.
When I had fed them until they were full [and bound them to Me by a promise],
They committed [spiritual] adultery,
Assembling in troops at the houses of prostitutes (idols).
5:8:“They were like well-fed, lusty stallions,
Each one neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
5:9:“Shall I not punish them [for these things]?” says the Lord;
“Shall I not avenge Myself
On a nation such as this?”
5:10:“Go up through the rows of Jerusalem’s vineyards and destroy [them],
But do not completely destroy everything.
Strip away her branches and the tendrils [of her vines],
For they are not the Lord’s.
5:11:“For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
Have dealt very treacherously (faithlessly) with Me,” declares the Lord.
5:12:They have lied about and denied the Lord
By saying, “It is not He [who speaks through His prophets];
Misfortune and evil shall not come on us,
Nor will we see war or famine.
5:13:“The prophets are like the wind [their prophecy will not come to pass],
And the word [of God] is not in them.
In this manner it will be done to them [as they prophesied, not to us].”
5:14:Judgment Proclaimed
Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts,
“Because you [people] have spoken this word,
Behold, I am making My words a fire in your mouth [Jeremiah]
And this people wood, and My words will consume them.
5:15:“Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from far away, O house of Israel,” says the Lord.
“It is a mighty and enduring nation,
It is an ancient nation,
A nation whose language you do not know,
Whose words you do not comprehend.
5:16:“Their quiver is [filled with the dead] like an open grave;
They are all mighty men [heroes of their nation].
5:17:“They will consume your harvest and [eat up] your bread;
They will consume your sons and your daughters;
They will consume your flocks and your herds;
They will consume your vines and your fig trees.
With the sword they will break down and demolish your fortified cities in which you trust.
5:18:“But even in those days,” says the Lord, “I will not totally destroy you.
5:19:It will come about when your people say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘As you have abandoned (rejected) Me,’ [says the Lord,] ‘and have served strange and foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
5:20:“Declare this in the house of Jacob
And proclaim it in Judah, saying:
5:21:‘Now hear this, O foolish people without heart,
Who have eyes but do not see,
Who have ears but do not hear.
5:22:‘Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord.
‘Do you not tremble [in awe] in My presence?
For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,
An eternal decree and a perpetual barrier beyond which it cannot pass.
Though the waves [of the sea] toss and break, yet they cannot prevail [against the sand ordained to hold them back];
Though the waves and the billows roar, yet they cannot cross over [the barrier].
[Is not such a God to be feared?]
5:23:‘But this people has a stubborn heart and a rebellious will [that draws them away from Me];
They have turned away and have gone [into idolatry].
5:24:‘They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear and worship the Lord our God [with profound awe and reverence],
Who gives rain in its season,
Both the autumn and the spring rain,
Who keeps for us
The appointed weeks of the harvest.”
5:25:‘Your wickedness has turned these [blessings] away,
And your sins have withheld good [harvests] from you.
5:26:‘For wicked men are found among My people,
They watch like fowlers who lie in wait;
They set a trap,
They catch men.
5:27:‘As a cage is full of birds,
So are their houses full of deceit and treachery;
Therefore they have become influential and rich.
5:28:‘They are fat and they are sleek (prosperous),
They excel in acts of wickedness;
They do not plead the cause,
The cause of the orphan, so that they [the wicked] may prosper,
And they do not defend the rights of the poor.
5:29:‘Shall I not punish them [for these things]?’ says the Lord.
‘Shall I not avenge Myself
On such a nation as this?’
5:30:“An appalling and horrible thing [bringing desolation and destruction]
Has come to pass in the land:
5:31:The prophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule on their own authority;
And My people love [to have] it so!
But what will you do when the end comes?
6:1:Destruction of Jerusalem Impending
“Run for safety, you children of Benjamin,
Out of the midst of Jerusalem!
And blow a trumpet in Tekoa [in Judah]
And raise a signal-fire in Beth-haccherem [near Jerusalem];
For evil is looking down [with eager anticipation] from the north,
And great destruction.
6:2:“I will destroy the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), the lovely and delicate one [so like a luxurious pasture].
6:3:“Shepherds with their flocks will come against her;
They will pitch their tents all around her;
They will pasture, each one in his place [eating up all her rich grasses].
6:4:“[They shout], ‘Prepare for war against her;
Arise, let us [take her by surprise and] attack her at noon.
But alas, the daylight pales,
The evening shadows grow long.
6:5:‘Arise, let us [awaken to] attack her at night
And destroy her [fortified] palaces!’”
6:6:For the Lord of hosts has said,
“Cut down her trees
And build a siege [mound] against Jerusalem.
This is the city which must be punished;
There is nothing but oppression inside her [walls].
6:7:“As a fountain springs up and pours out its fresh waters,
So she [continually] pours out her fresh wickedness.
Violence and destruction are heard inside her [walls];
Sickness and wounds are always before Me.
6:8:“Be wise and be warned, O Jerusalem,
Or I will be alienated from you,
And make you a desolation,
An uninhabited land.”
6:9:Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“They will thoroughly gather like [fruit on] a vine what is left of Israel;
Pass your hand [over the vine] again and again [Babylon, tool of destruction] like a grape gatherer,
Over the branches [stripping the tendrils off the vine].”
6:10:To whom shall I (Jeremiah) speak and give warning
That they may hear?
Behold, their ears are closed [absolutely deaf to God]
And they cannot listen.
Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reprimand and an object of scorn to them;
They have no delight in it.
6:11:But I am full of the wrath (judgment) of the Lord;
I am tired of restraining it.
“[I will] pour it out on the children in the street
And on the young men gathered together;
For both the husband and wife shall be taken,
The aged and the very old [though full of days they are not exempt from judgment].
6:12:“Their houses shall be turned over to others,
Their fields and their wives together;
For I will stretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.
6:13:“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is greedy for [unfair] gain;
And from the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals deceitfully.
6:14:“They have treated superficially the [bloody] broken wound of My people,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
When there is no peace.
6:15:“Were they ashamed because they had committed disgusting and vile things?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
They did not even know how to blush [at their idolatry].
Therefore they will fall among those who fall;
At the time that I punish them
They will be overthrown,” says the Lord.
6:16:Thus says the Lord,
“Stand by the roads and look; ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is; then walk in it,
And you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’
6:17:“I have set watchmen (prophets) over you,
Saying, ‘Listen and pay attention to the [warning] sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
6:18:“Therefore hear, O [Gentile] nations,
And see, O congregation, what [vengeful act] is to be done to them.
6:19:“Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people,
The fruit of their schemes,
Because they have not listened and paid attention to My words,
And as for My law, they have rejected it also.
6:20:“For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba
And the sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable
And your sacrifices are not sweet and pleasing to Me.”
6:21:Therefore, thus says the Lord,
“Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people.
The fathers and the sons together
Will stumble against them;
The neighbor and his friend will perish.”
6:22:The Enemy from the North
Thus says the Lord,
“Behold, a people is coming from the north country,
And a great nation shall be stirred up and put into action from the remote parts of the earth.
6:23:“They seize bow and spear;
They are cruel and inhuman and have no mercy.
Their voice sounds like the roaring sea;
They ride [in formation] on horses,
Arrayed as a man for battle
Against you, O Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)!”
6:24:We have heard the report of it;
Our hands become limp and helpless.
Anguish has gripped us,
Pain like that of a woman in childbirth.
6:25:Do not go out into the field
Nor walk on the road,
For the enemy is armed with the sword;
Terror is on every side.
6:26:O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah],
Clothe yourself in sackcloth and wallow in ashes;
Mourn [aloud] as for an only son,
A most bitter cry [of sorrow and regret],
For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us [on both prophet and people].
6:27:“I [the Lord] have set you as an assayer [O Jeremiah] and as a tester [of the ore] of My people,
That you may know and analyze their acts.”
6:28:They are all the worst [kind] of [stiff-necked, godless] rebels,
Going around spreading slander.
They are [not gold and silver ore, but] bronze and iron;
They are all corrupt.
6:29:The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
In vain they continue refining,
But the wicked are not separated and removed.
6:30:They call them rejected silver [only dross, without value],
Because the Lord has rejected them.
7:1:Message at the Temple Gate
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
7:2:“Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter by these gates to worship the Lord.’”
7:3:Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Change your ways and your behavior, and I will let you live in this place.
7:4:“Do not trust in the deceptive and lying words [of the false prophets who claim that Jerusalem will be protected by God because of the temple], saying, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’
7:5:For if you thoroughly change your ways and your behavior, if you thoroughly and honestly practice justice between a man and his neighbor,
7:6:if you do not oppress the transient and the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood [by oppression and by unjust judicial murders] in Jerusalem, nor follow after other gods to your own ruin,
7:7:then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers [to live in] forever and ever.
7:8:“Behold, you are trusting in deceptive and useless words that bring no benefit.
7:9:Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear [oaths] falsely, offer sacrifices or burn incense to Baal, and follow after other gods that you have not known,
7:10:and [then dare to] come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My Name, and say, ‘We are protected and set free [by this act of religious ritual]!’—only to go on with this wickedness and these disgusting and loathsome things?
7:11:Has this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes [a place of retreat for you between acts of violence]? Behold, I Myself have seen it,” says the Lord.
7:12:“But go now to My place which was in Shiloh [in Ephraim], where I first set My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
7:13:And now, because you have done all these things,” says the Lord, “and I spoke [persistently] to you, even rising up early and speaking, but you did not listen, and I called you but you did not answer,
7:14:therefore, I will do to this house (the temple) which is called by My Name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, just as I did to Shiloh.
7:15:I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers (relatives through Jacob), all the descendants of Ephraim.
7:16:“Therefore, do not pray for this people [of Judah] or lift up a cry or entreaty for them or make intercession to Me, for I do not hear you.
7:17:Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
7:18:The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods that they may offend and provoke Me to anger.
7:19:Do they offend and provoke Me to anger?” says the Lord. “Is it not themselves [they offend], to their own shame?”
7:20:Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and [the fire will] not be quenched.”
7:21:Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat.
7:22:“For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.
7:23:But this thing I did command them: ‘Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, so that it may be well with you.’
7:24:But they did not obey Me or bend their ear [to hear Me], but followed the counsels and the stubbornness of their [own] evil heart (mind), and [they turned and] went backward instead of forward.
7:25:Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have [persistently] sent you all My servants the prophets, sending them daily, early [and late].
7:26:Yet they did not listen to Me and obey Me or bend their ear [to hear Me], but stiffened their neck; they did more evil and behaved worse than their fathers.
7:27:“You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall [also] call to them, but they will not answer you.
7:28:You shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or accept correction and warning; truth and faithfulness have perished and have completely vanished from their mouths.
7:29:‘Cut off your hair [your crown, O Jerusalem] and throw it away,
And take up a mournful cry on the barren heights,
For the Lord has rejected and abandoned
The generation of His wrath.’
7:30:For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the Lord; “they have set their disgusting and shamefully vile things in the house which is called by My Name, to defile it.
7:31:They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire [to honor Molech, the fire god]—which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart (mind).
7:32:“Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of the Slaughter, for [in bloody warfare] they will bury [the dead] in Topheth until there is no more room.
7:33:And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth and no one will frighten them away.
7:34:Then I will cause the voices of joy and gladness, and the voices of the bridegroom and the bride to vanish from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem; for the land will become a ruin—a wasteland.
8:1:The Sin and Treachery of Judah
“At that time,” says the Lord, “they [the Babylonian army] will bring out from their graves the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
8:2:They will [carelessly scatter and] spread them out before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which the dead have loved and which they have served, and which they have walked after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or be buried; they will be like dung on the face of the earth.
8:3:And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant of those who remain of this evil family (nation), who remain in all the places to which I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts.
8:4:“Moreover [Jeremiah], you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord,
“Do men fall and not rise up again?
Does one turn away [from God] and not repent and return [to Him]?
8:5:“Why then has this people of Jerusalem
Turned away with a perpetual turning away [from Me]?
They hold tightly to deceit (idolatry);
They refuse to repent and return [to God].
8:6:“I have listened and heard,
But they have spoken what is not right;
No man repented of his wickedness,
Saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his [individual] course,
As the horse rushes like a torrent into battle.
8:7:“Even the stork in the sky
Knows her seasons [of migration],
And the turtledove, the swallow and the crane
Observe the time of their return.
But My people do not know
The law of the Lord.
8:8:“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
And the law of the Lord is with us [and we are learned in its language and teachings]’?
Behold, [the truth is that] the lying pen of the scribes
Has made the law into a lie [a mere code of ceremonial observances].
8:9:“The wise men are shamed,
They are dismayed and caught.
Behold, they have [manipulated and] rejected the [truth in the] word of the Lord,
And what kind of wisdom and insight do they have?
8:10:“Therefore I will give their wives to others
And their fields to new owners;
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is greedy for [unjust] gain;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone practices deceit and deals in corruption.
8:11:“For they have treated the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
When there is no peace.
8:12:“Were they ashamed because of the extremely disgusting and shamefully vile things they had done?
They were not at all ashamed,
And they did not know how to blush.
Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time of their punishment they shall be overthrown,”
Says the Lord.
8:13:“I will gather and snatch them away [utterly consuming them],” says the Lord.
“There will be no grapes on the vine,
Nor figs on the fig tree,
And even the leaf will wither;
And the things that I have given them will pass away [by the hand of those whom I have appointed].”’”
8:14:Why are we sitting still [the people wonder]?
Assemble yourselves, and let us enter the fortified cities
And let us die there,
For the Lord our God has decreed our ruin
And given us bitter and poisonous water to drink,
Because we have sinned against the Lord.
8:15:We waited for peace and salvation, but no good came,
And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!
8:16:The snorting of [Nebuchadnezzar’s] horses is heard from Dan [on Palestine’s northern border].
At the sound of the neighing of his strong stallions
The whole land quakes;
For they come and devour the land and all that is in it,
The city and those who live in it.
8:17:“For behold, I am sending serpents among you,
Vipers which cannot be charmed,
And they will bite you,” says the Lord.
8:18:Oh, that I (Jeremiah) could find comfort from my sorrow [for my grief is beyond healing],
My heart is sick and faint within me!
8:19:Behold, [hear the sound of] the cry of the daughter of my people from the distant land [of Babylon]:
“Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her King within her?”
[But the Lord answers] “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images and with foreign idols?”
8:20:“The harvest is past, the summer has ended and the gathering of fruit is over,
But we are not saved,” [comes the voice of the people again].
8:21:For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I (Jeremiah) am broken;
I mourn, anxiety has gripped me.
8:22:Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then has not the [spiritual] health of the daughter of my people been restored?
9:1:A Lament over Zion
Oh that my head were waters
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For the slain of the daughter of my people!
9:2:Oh that I had in the wilderness
A lodging place (a mere shelter) for wayfaring men,
That I might leave my people
And go away from them!
For they are all adulterers [worshiping idols instead of the Lord],
[They are] an assembly of treacherous men [of weak character, men without integrity].
9:3:“They bend their tongue like their bow;
[Their] lies and not truth prevail and grow strong in the land;
For they proceed from evil to evil,
And they do not know and understand and acknowledge Me,” says the Lord.
9:4:“Let everyone beware of his neighbor
And do not trust any brother.
For every brother is a supplanter [like Jacob, a deceiver, ready to grab his brother’s heel],
And every neighbor goes around as a slanderer.
9:5:“Everyone deceives and mocks his neighbor
And does not speak the truth.
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They exhaust themselves with sin and cruelty.
9:6:“Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit [oppression upon oppression and deceit upon deceit];
Through deceit they refuse to know (understand) Me,” says the Lord.
9:7:Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Behold, I will refine them [through suffering] and test them;
For how else should I deal with the daughter of My people?
9:8:“Their tongue is a murderous arrow;
It speaks deceit;
With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor,
But in his heart he lays traps and waits in ambush for him.
9:9:“Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord.
“Shall I not avenge Myself
On such a nation as this?
9:10:“I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains,
And a [funeral] dirge for the pastures of the wilderness,
Because they are burned up and desolated so that no one passes through [them];
Nor can anyone hear the lowing of cattle.
Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they are gone.
9:11:“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
A haunt and dwelling place of jackals;
And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
9:12:Who is the wise man who may understand this [without any doubt]? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, so that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?
9:13:The Lord said, “Because they have turned away from My law which I set before them, and have not listened to and obeyed My voice nor walked in accordance with it,
9:14:but have walked stubbornly after their [own] heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,”
9:15:therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them bitter and poisonous water to drink.
9:16:“I will [also] scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.”
9:17:Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Consider and call for the mourning women to come;
Send for the wailing women to come.
9:18:“Let them hurry and take up a wailing for us,
That our eyes may shed tears
And our eyelids flow with water.
9:19:“For a sound of wailing is heard [coming] from Zion:
‘How we are ruined!
We are greatly perplexed and utterly shamed,
Because we have left the land,
Because they have torn down our dwellings.’”
9:20:Now hear the word of the Lord, O you women,
And let your ear hear the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters a song of mourning,
And each one [teach] her neighbor a dirge.
9:21:For death has come up through our windows;
It has entered our palaces,
Cutting off the children from the streets
And the young men from the town squares.
9:22:Speak, “Thus says the Lord,
‘The dead bodies of men will fall like dung on the open field,
And like sheaves [of grain] behind the reaper,
And no one will gather them.’”
9:23:Thus says the Lord, “Let not the one who is wise and skillful boast in his insight; let not the one who is mighty and powerful boast in his strength; let not the one who is rich boast in his [temporal satisfactions and earthly] abundance;
9:24:but let the one who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me [and acknowledges Me and honors Me as God and recognizes without any doubt], that I am the Lord who practices lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these things I delight,” says the Lord.
9:25:“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised [physically] and yet uncircumcised [spiritually]—
9:26:Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those who live in the desert who clip off the hair on their temples; for all these nations are uncircumcised (sinful, impure), and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
10:1:A Satire on Idolatry
Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.
10:2:Thus says the Lord,
“Do not learn the way of the [pagan] nations,
And do not be terrified and distressed by the signs of the heavens
Although the pagans are terrified by them;
10:3:For the customs and decrees of the peoples are [mere] delusion [exercises in futility];
It is only wood which one cuts from the forest [to make a god],
The work of the hands of the craftsman with the axe or cutting tool.
10:4:“They adorn the idol with silver and with gold;
They fasten it with hammers and nails
So that it will not fall apart.
10:5:“They are like scarecrows in a cucumber field;
They cannot speak;
They have to be carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not be afraid of them,
For they can do no harm or evil,
Nor can they do any good.”
10:6:There is none like You, O Lord;
You are great, and great is Your mighty and powerful name.
10:7:Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
For it is appropriate and it is Your due!
For among all the wise men of the nations
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
10:8:But they are altogether irrational and stupid and foolish
In their discipline of delusion—their idol is [only] wood [it is ridiculous, empty and worthless]!
10:9:Silver that has been beaten [into plates] is brought from Tarshish,
And gold from Uphaz,
The work of the craftsman and of the hand of the goldsmith;
Violet and purple are their clothing;
They are all the work of skilled men.
10:10:But the Lord is the true God and the God who is Truth;
He is the living God and the everlasting King.
The earth quakes and shudders at His wrath,
And the nations are not able to endure His indignation.
10:11:In this manner you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
10:12:God made the earth by His power;
He established the world by His wisdom
And by His understanding and skill He has stretched out the heavens.
10:13:When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
And He causes the clouds and the mist to ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain,
And brings out the wind from His treasuries and from His storehouses.
10:14:Every man has become [like a brute] irrational and stupid, without knowledge [of God];
Every goldsmith is shamed by his carved idols;
For his molten images are frauds and lies,
And there is no breath in them.
10:15:They are worthless and devoid of promise, a work of delusion and mockery;
In their time of [trial and] punishment they will perish [without hope].
10:16:The Portion of Jacob [the true God on whom Israel has a claim] is not like these;
For He is the Designer and Maker of all things,
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance [and He will not fail them]—
The Lord of hosts is His name.
10:17:Gather up your bundle [of goods] from the ground,
You who live under siege.
10:18:For thus says the Lord;
“Behold, I am slinging out at this time the people of this land,
And will cause them [great] distress,
That they may find it [to be as I have said].”
10:19:“Woe to me because of my [spiritual] brokenness!” [says Jeremiah, speaking for the nation.]
“My wound is incurable.”
But I said, “Surely this sickness and suffering and grief are mine,
And I must bear it.”
10:20:My tent is destroyed,
And all my [tent] cords are broken;
My children have been taken from me [as captives] and are no more.
There is no one to stretch out my tent again
And to set up my [tent] curtains.
10:21:For the shepherds [of the people] have become [like brutes,] irrational and stupid,
And have not searched for the Lord or asked about Him or realized their need for Him;
Therefore they have not been wise and have not prospered,
And all their flocks are scattered.
10:22:The sound of a report! Behold, [the invader] comes—
A great commotion from the country of the north (Babylonia)—
To make the cities of Judah
A desolation, a haunt and dwelling place of jackals.
10:23:O Lord, I know that the path of [life of] a man is not in himself;
It is not within [the limited ability of] man [even one at his best] to choose and direct his steps [in life].
10:24:O Lord, correct me [along with Your people], but with mercy and in just measure—
Not in Your anger, or You will crush me and bring me to nothing.
10:25:Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know nor recognize You
And on the families that do not call Your name.
For they have devoured Jacob;
They have devoured him and consumed him
And made his land a desolate waste.
11:1:The Broken Covenant
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,
11:2:“Hear the words of this [solemn] covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the people of Jerusalem.
11:3:Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant
11:4:which I commanded your fathers at the time that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice and do according to all that I command you. So you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’
11:5:that I may complete the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.”’” Then I answered, “Amen (so be it), O Lord.”
11:6:And the Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Hear the words of this [solemn] covenant and do them.
11:7:For I solemnly warned your fathers at the time that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning them persistently, saying, “Obey My voice.”
11:8:Yet they did not obey or incline their ear [to listen to Me], but everyone walked in the stubborn way of his [own] evil heart. Therefore I brought on them all [the suffering threatened in] the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’”
11:9:Then the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the people of Jerusalem.
11:10:They have returned to the wickedness of their ancestors who refused to hear My words; they have followed other gods [in order] to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My [solemn] covenant which I made with their fathers.”
11:11:Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold I am bringing disaster and suffering on them which they will not be able to escape; though they cry to Me, I will not listen to them.
11:12:Then the cities of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry to the [man-made] gods to whom they burn incense, but they cannot save them in the time of their disaster.
11:13:For [as many as] the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah; and [as many as] the number of the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.
11:14:“Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, for I shall not listen when they cry to Me in the time of their disaster.
11:15:“What right has My beloved [to be] in My house
When she has done many vile things and acted treacherously [over and over again]?
Can vows and the meat of your sacrifices remove your wickedness from you and cancel the consequences of your sin,
So that you can [escape your judgment and] rejoice?”
11:16:The Lord [acknowledged you once as worthy and] called your name,
“A green olive tree, fair and beautiful in fruit and form”;
But with the roar of a great tempest
He has set fire to it,
And its branches are worthless.
11:17:For the Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil and horror against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me [to anger] by offering sacrifices and burning incense to Baal.
11:18:Plots against Jeremiah
Then the Lord gave me knowledge [of their plot], and I knew it;
So You [O Lord] revealed their deeds to me.
11:19:But I was like a gentle and tame lamb brought to the slaughter;
And I did not know that they had devised plots and schemes against me, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit;
Let us cut him off from the land of the living,
That his name be remembered no longer.”
11:20:But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,
Who tests the feelings and the heart (mind),
Let me see Your vengeance on them,
For to You I have committed my cause.
11:21:Therefore thus says the Lord regarding the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, so that you will not die by our hand.”
11:22:Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I am about to punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and their daughters will die by famine;
11:23:and there will be no remnant [of the conspirators] left, for I will bring disaster and horror on the men of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.”
12:1:Jeremiah’s Prayer
You, O Lord are [uncompromisingly] righteous and consistently just when I plead my case with You;
Yet let me discuss issues of justice with You:
Why has the way of the wicked prospered?
Why are those who deal in treachery (deceit) at ease and thriving?
12:2:You have planted them, they have also taken root;
They grow, they have even produced fruit.
You are honored by their [hypocritical] lips
But [You are] far from their heart and mind.
12:3:But You, O Lord, know me [and understand my devotion to You];
You see me;
And You examine the attitude of my heart toward You.
Drag out the faithless like sheep for the slaughter [O Lord]
And set them apart for the day of slaughter.
12:4:How long must the land mourn
And the grass of the countryside wither?
Because of the wickedness and hypocrisy of those who live in it,
The beasts and the birds are consumed and are swept away [by the drought],
Because men [mocking me] have said, “He will not [live long enough to] see [what happens at] our final end.”
12:5:[The Lord rebukes Jeremiah for his impatience, saying] “If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out,
Then how can you compete with horses?
If you fall down in a land of peace [where you feel secure],
Then how will you do [among the lions] in the [flooded] thicket beside the Jordan?
12:6:“For even your [tribal] brothers and the household of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously (unfaithfully) with you;
Indeed they are [like a pack of hounds] howling after you.
Do not believe them, although they may say kind words and promise you good things.”
12:7:God’s Answer
“I have abandoned My house,
I have given up My [precious] inheritance (Judah);
I have given the [dearly] beloved of My life
Into the hands of her enemies.
12:8:“My inheritance has become to Me
Like a lion in the forest;
She has raised her voice and roared against Me;
So I have come to [treat her as if I] hate her.
12:9:“Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me [unlike the others]?
Are the birds of prey (enemies) surrounding her on every side?
Go, gather all the [wild] beasts of the field;
Bring them to devour [her]!
12:10:“Many shepherds (invaders) have destroyed My vineyard (Judah),
They have trampled My field underfoot;
They have made My pleasant field
A desolate wilderness.
12:11:“They have made it a wasteland,
Desolate, it mourns before Me;
The whole land has been made a wasteland,
Because no man takes it to heart.
12:12:“Destroyers have come
On all the caravan roads in the desert,
For the sword of the Lord (Babylon) is devouring
From one end of the land even to the other;
No one has peace or a way of escape.
12:13:“They have planted wheat but have reaped thorns;
They have exhausted themselves but without profit.
So be ashamed of your harvest
Because of the fierce and raging anger of the Lord.”
12:14:Thus says the Lord regarding all My evil neighbors (Gentile nations) who strike at the inheritance which I have granted to My people Israel, “Behold, I will uproot them from their land and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.
12:15:And it shall come about that after I have uprooted them, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will bring them back again, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land.
12:16:And if these [neighboring nations] will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My Name, saying, ‘As the Lord lives’—even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up among My people.
12:17:But if [any nation] will not listen and obey, I will [completely] uproot and destroy that nation, says the Lord.”
13:1:The Ruined Waistband
Thus the Lord said to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it on your loins, but do not put it in water.”
13:2:So I bought the waistband according to the word of the Lord and put it on my loins.
13:3:Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying,
13:4:“Get up and take the waistband that you have bought, which is [wrapped] around your loins, and go to the [river] Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.”
13:5:So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had commanded me.
13:6:And after many days the Lord said to me, “Get up, go to the Euphrates and get the waistband which I commanded you to hide there.”
13:7:Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the waistband was decayed and ruined; it was completely worthless.
13:8:Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
13:9:“Thus says the Lord, ‘In this same way I shall destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
13:10:These wicked and malevolent people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubborn way of their heart and have followed other gods [which are nothing—just man-made carvings] to serve them and to worship them, let them be just like this waistband which is completely worthless.
13:11:For as the waistband clings to the body of a man, so I caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory; but they did not listen and obey.’
13:12:Captivity Threatened
“Therefore you are to speak this word to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jar should be filled with wine.”’ The people will say to you, ‘Do we not already know that every jar should be filled with wine?’
13:13:Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to fill with drunkenness all the people of this land, even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all the people of Jerusalem.
13:14:I will smash them one against another, both the fathers and the sons together,” says the Lord. “I shall destroy them [nothing will restrain Me]; I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion.”’”
13:15:Listen and pay close attention, do not be haughty and overconfident,
For the Lord has spoken [says Jeremiah].
13:16:Give glory to the Lord your God,
Before He brings darkness
And before your feet stumble
On the dark and shadowy mountains,
And while you are longing for light
He turns it into the shadow of death,
And makes it into thick darkness.
13:17:But if you will not listen and obey,
My soul will weep in secret for your pride;
My eyes will weep bitterly
And flow with tears,
Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.
13:18:Say to the king and the queen mother,
“Humble yourselves and take a lowly seat,
For your beautiful crown [the crown of your glory]
Has come down from your head.”
13:19:The cities of the South (the Negev) have been closed up,
And there is no one to open them;
All Judah has been carried into exile,
Completely carried away into exile.
13:20:“Lift up your eyes and see
Those coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you [to shepherd],
Your beautiful flock?
13:21:“What will you say [O Jerusalem] when the Lord appoints [foreign nations to rule] over you—
Those former friends and allies whom you have encouraged [to be your companions]—
Will not pain seize you
Like [that of] a woman in childbirth?
13:22:“And if you [wonder and] say in your heart,
‘Why have these things happened to me?’
It is because of the greatness and nature of your sin
That your skirts have been pulled away [subjecting you to public disgrace]
And [like a barefoot slave] your heels have been wounded.
13:23:“Can the Ethiopian change his skin
Or the leopard his spots?
Then you also can do good
Who are accustomed to evil and even trained to do it.
13:24:“Therefore I will scatter you like drifting straw
[Driven away] by the desert wind.
13:25:“This is your destiny, the portion [of judgment] measured to you
From Me,” says the Lord,
“Because you have forgotten Me
And trusted in [pagan] lies [the counterfeit gods, and the pretense of alliance].”
13:26:“So I Myself will throw your skirts up over your face,
That your shame may be exposed [publicly].
13:27:“I have seen your vile and detestable acts,
Even your adulteries and your lustful neighings [after idols],
And the lewdness of your prostitution
On the hills in the fields.
Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will you remain unclean [by ignoring My precepts]?”
14:1:Drought and a Prayer for Mercy
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
14:2:“Judah mourns
And her gates languish;
Her people sit on the ground in mourning clothes
And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
14:3:“Their nobles have sent their servants for water;
They have come to the cisterns and found no water.
They have returned with empty vessels;
They have been shamed and humiliated,
And they cover their heads.
14:4:“The ground is cracked
Because there has been no rain on the land;
The farmers are distressed,
And they have covered their heads [in shame].
14:5:“The doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young
Because there is no grass.
14:6:“And the wild donkeys stand on the barren heights;
They pant for air like jackals,
Their eyesight fails
Because there is no grass.
14:7:“O Lord, though our many sins testify against us” [prays Jeremiah],
“Act now [for us and] for Your name’s sake [so that the faithless may witness Your faithfulness]!
For our backslidings are countless;
We have sinned against You.
14:8:“O Hope of Israel,
Her Savior in time of distress and trouble,
Why should You be like a sojourner (temporary resident) in the land
Or like a traveler who turns aside and spreads his tent to linger [only] for a night?
14:9:“Why should You be [hesitant and inactive] like a man astounded and perplexed,
Like a mighty man unable to save?
Yet You, O Lord, are among us,
And we are called by Your name;
Do not leave us!”
14:10:Thus says the Lord to this people [Judah], “In the manner and to the degree [already pointed out] they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; He will now remember [in detail] their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”
14:11:So the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for good things for this people.
14:12:Though they fast, I will not hear their cry; and though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them [because they are done as obligations, and not as acts of loving obedience]. Instead I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”
14:13:False Prophets
But I said, “Alas, Lord God! Behold, the [false] prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I [the Lord] will give you lasting peace in this place.’”
14:14:Then the Lord said to me, “The [counterfeit] prophets are prophesying lies in My Name. I have neither sent them nor authorized them nor spoken to them. They are prophesying to you made-up visions [pretending to call forth responses from handmade gods], a worthless divination and the deceit of their own mind.
14:15:Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the [false] prophets who are prophesying in My Name, although I did not send them—yet they keep saying, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’: by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end and be consumed.
14:16:And the people to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword; and they will have no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour out their [own] wickedness on them [and not only on the imposters posing as prophets, for the people could not have been deceived without their own consent].
14:17:“Therefore [Jeremiah] you will say this word to them,
‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day,
And let them never cease;
For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a great blow,
With a very serious and severely infected wound.
14:18:‘If I go out into the field,
Then I gaze on those slaughtered with the sword!
And if I enter the city,
Then I gaze on [those tormented with] the diseases of famine!
For both prophet and priest [who should have guided the people]
Go about [bewildered and exiled] in a land (Babylon) that they do not know or understand.’”
14:19:Have You [O Lord] completely rejected Judah?
Do You loathe Zion?
Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us?
We looked for peace and completeness, but nothing good came;
And [we hoped] for a time of healing, but behold, terror!
14:20:We know and acknowledge, O Lord,
Our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You.
14:21:Do not treat us with contempt and condemn us, for Your own name’s sake;
Do not disgrace Your glorious throne;
Remember [with consideration] and do not break Your [solemn] covenant with us.
14:22:Are there any among the idols of the nations who can send rain?
Or can the heavens [of their own will] give showers?
Is it not You, O Lord our God?
Therefore we will wait and hope [confidently] in You,
For You are the one who has made all these things [the heavens and the rain].
15:1:Judgment Must Come
Then the Lord said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me [interceding for them], My heart would still not be [turned with favor] toward this people [Judah]. Send them away from My presence and out of My sight and let them go!
15:2:And it shall be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord:
“Those [destined] for death, to death;
Those for the sword, to the sword;
Those for famine, to famine;
Those for captivity, to captivity.”’
15:3:I will appoint four kinds of destroyers over them,” says the Lord, “the sword to slay, the dogs to tear and drag away, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy.
15:4:I will make them an object of horror to all nations of the earth because of Manasseh [the despicable] son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for the [evil and detestable] things which he did in Jerusalem.
15:5:“For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
Or who will mourn for you,
Or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?
15:6:“You have abandoned (rejected) Me,” says the Lord.
“You keep going backward.
Therefore I shall stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;
I am tired of delaying [your punishment]!
15:7:“I will winnow (sort, separate) them with a winnowing fork
At the gates of the land;
I will deprive them of children, I will destroy My people;
They did not repent and turn from their [evil] ways.
15:8:“I will make their widows more numerous before Me
Than the sand of the seas;
I will bring against them, against the mother of the young men,
A destroyer at noonday;
I will suddenly cause anguish and terror
To fall on her.
15:9:“She who has borne seven [sons] languishes;
She has breathed out her soul.
Her sun has set while it was still day;
She has been shamed and humiliated.
So I will hand over [the rest of] the survivors to the sword
Before their enemies,” says the Lord.
15:10:Woe to me, my mother, that you have given birth to me
To be a man of strife and a man of contention to all the earth!
I have not loaned, nor have men lent money to me,
Yet everyone curses me.
15:11:The Lord said, “Surely [it will go well for Judah’s obedient remnant for] I will set you free for good purposes;
Surely [Jeremiah] I will [intercede for you with the enemy and I will] cause the enemy to plead with you [for help]
In a time of disaster and a time of distress.
15:12:“Can anyone crush iron,
The iron from the north, or bronze?
15:13:“Your [nation’s] riches and your treasures
I will give as plunder without price [to the Babylonians],
Because of all your sins
And within all your territories.
15:14:“Then I will make your enemies bring [you along with] your possessions
Into a land which you do not know [for there you will serve your conquerors];
For a fire has been kindled in My anger,
Which will burn upon you.”
15:15:Jeremiah’s Prayer and God’s Answer
O Lord, You know and understand;
Remember me [thoughtfully], take notice of me,
take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;
Know that for Your sake I endure [continual] rebuke and dishonor.
15:16:Your words were found and I ate them,
And Your words became a joy to me and the delight of my heart;
For I have been called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.
15:17:I did not sit with the group of those who celebrate,
Nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone because Your [powerful] hand was upon me,
For You had filled me with indignation [at their sin].
15:18:Why has my pain been perpetual
And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will you indeed be to me like a deceptive brook
With water that is unreliable?
15:19:Therefore, thus says the Lord [to Jeremiah],
“If you repent [and give up this mistaken attitude of despair and self-pity], then I will restore you [to a state of inner peace]
So that you may stand before Me [as My obedient representative];
And if you separate the precious from the worthless [examining yourself and cleansing your heart from unwarranted doubt concerning My faithfulness],
You will become My spokesman.
Let the people turn to you [and learn to value My values]—
But you, you must not turn to them [with regard for their idolatry and wickedness].
15:20:“And I will make you to this people
A fortified wall of bronze;
They will fight against you,
But they will not prevail over you,
For I am with you [always] to save you
And protect you,” says the Lord.
15:21:“So I will rescue you out of the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the [grasping] palm of the terrible and ruthless [tyrant].”
16:1:Distresses Foretold
The word of the Lord also came to me, saying,
16:2:“You shall not take a wife or have sons and daughters in this place (Jerusalem).”
16:3:For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who give birth to them, and the fathers who father them in this land:
16:4:“They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried; they will be like dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.”
16:5:For thus says the Lord, “Do not enter a house of mourning, nor go to lament (express grief) or bemoan [the dead], for I have taken My peace away from this people,” says the Lord, “even My lovingkindness and compassion.
16:6:Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, nor will they be lamented (mourned over with expressions of grief in death), nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them [in mourning].
16:7:People will not offer food to the mourners, to comfort anyone [as they grieve] for the dead, nor give them a cup of consolation to drink for anyone’s father or mother.
16:8:And you [Jeremiah] shall not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink.”
16:9:For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I will remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and the shout of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
16:10:“Now when you tell these people all these words and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed all this great tragedy against us? And what is our iniquity, what is the sin which we have committed against the Lord our God?’
16:11:Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your fathers have abandoned (rejected) Me,’ says the Lord, ‘and have walked after other gods and have served them and bowed down to the handmade idols and have abandoned (rejected) Me and have not kept My law,
16:12:and because you have done worse [things] than your fathers. Just look, every one of you walks in the stubbornness of his own evil heart, so that you do not listen [obediently] to Me.
16:13:Therefore I will hurl you out of this land [of Judah] into the land [of the Babylonians] which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no compassion.’
16:14:God Will Restore Them
“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’
16:15:but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries to which He had driven them.’ And I will bring them back to their land which I gave to their fathers.
16:16:“Behold (listen carefully), I will send for many fishermen,” says the Lord, “and they will fish for them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and out of the clefts of the rocks.
16:17:For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their wickedness concealed from My eyes.
16:18:I will first doubly repay and punish them for their wickedness and their sin [before I return them to their land], because they have profaned My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.”
16:19:[Then said Jeremiah] “O Lord, my Strength and my Stronghold,
And my Refuge in the day of distress and need,
The nations will come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
‘Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies and illusion,
[Worthless] things in which there is no benefit!’
16:20:“Can a man make gods for himself?
Such [things] are not gods!
16:21:“Therefore,” [says the Lord] “behold, I will make them know—
This time I will make them know
My power and My might;
And they will know and recognize [without any doubt] that My Name is the Lord.”
17:1:The Deceitful Heart
The sin of Judah is written down with an iron stylus;
With a diamond point it is engraved upon the tablet of their heart
And on the horns of their altars.
17:2:As they remember their children,
So they remember [in detail] their [pagan] altars and their Asherim
Beside green trees on the high hills.
17:3:O [Jerusalem] My mountain in the countryside,
I will give [to the Babylonians, as the cost of your sin] your wealth and all your treasures as plunder,
And throughout your territory, your high places of sin.
17:4:And you will, through your own fault, let go of your [grip on your] inheritance
That I gave you;
And I will make you serve your enemies
In a land which you do not know;
For you have kindled a fire in My anger
Which will burn forever.
17:5:Thus says the Lord,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in and relies on mankind,
Making [weak, faulty human] flesh his strength,
And whose mind and heart turn away from the Lord.
17:6:“For he will be like a shrub in the [parched] desert;
And shall not see prosperity when it comes,
But shall live in the rocky places of the wilderness,
In an uninhabited salt land.
17:7:“Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord
And whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord.
17:8:“For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters,
That spreads out its roots by the river;
And will not fear the heat when it comes;
But its leaves will be green and moist.
And it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought
Nor stop bearing fruit.
17:9:“The heart is deceitful above all things
And it is extremely sick;
Who can understand it fully and know its secret motives?
17:10:“I, the Lord, search and examine the mind,
I test the heart,
To give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.
17:11:“Like the partridge that hatches eggs which she has not laid,
So is he who makes a fortune in ways that are unjust.
It will be lost to him before his days are over,
And in the end he will be [nothing but] a fool.”
17:12:A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning,
Is the place of our sanctuary (the temple).
17:13:O Lord, the hope of Israel,
All who abandon You will be shamed.
Those who turn away on earth will be written down,
Because they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living waters.
17:14:Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;
Save me and I will be saved,
For You are my praise.
17:15:Behold, they keep saying to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord [that is, the disaster that you prophesied]?
Let it come now!”
17:16:But as for me, I have not tried to escape from being a shepherd [walking] after You,
Nor have I longed for the woeful day [of judgment];
You know that, whatever I said
Was [spoken] in Your presence and was from You.
17:17:Do not be a terror to me;
You are my refuge and my hope in the day of disaster.
17:18:Let those who persecute me be shamed, but as for me, protect me from shame;
Let them lose courage, but let me be undaunted.
Bring on them a day of tragedy,
And destroy them with double destruction!
17:19:The Sabbath Must Be Kept
Thus the Lord said to me, “Go and stand in the public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, and [stand] also in all the gates of Jerusalem;
17:20:and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the people of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.
17:21:Thus says the Lord, “Pay attention for your own good, [and for the sake of your future] do not carry any load on the Sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.
17:22:You shall not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy [by setting it apart as a day of worship], as I commanded your fathers.
17:23:Yet they would not listen and obey and control their behavior; but they were stiff-necked in order not to hear and take instruction.
17:24:But it will come about, if you listen diligently to Me,” says the Lord, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy by doing no work on it,
17:25:then kings and princes who will sit on the throne of David will enter through the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses—the kings and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city will be inhabited and endure throughout the ages.
17:26:People will come from the cities of Judah and the places all around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the South (the Negev), bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord.
17:27:But if you will not listen to Me and keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load as you come in the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in her gates that cannot be extinguished, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”’”
18:1:The Potter and the Clay
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
18:2:“Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will make you hear My words.”
18:3:Then I went down to the potter’s house, and saw that he was working at the wheel.
18:4:But the vessel that he was making from clay was spoiled by the potter’s hand; so he made it over, reworking it and making it into another pot that seemed good to him.
18:5:Then the word of the Lord came to me:
18:6:“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” says the Lord. “Look carefully, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
18:7:At one moment I might [suddenly] speak concerning a nation or kingdom, that I will uproot and break down and destroy;
18:8:if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent and reverse My decision concerning the devastation that I intended to do.
18:9:Or at another time I might [suddenly] speak about a nation or kingdom that I will build up or establish;
18:10:and if they do evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will reverse My decision concerning the good with which I had promised to bless them.
18:11:Now then, say to the men of Judah and to the citizens of Jerusalem, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am shaping a disaster and working out a plan against you. Turn back, each of you from his evil way; correct your habits and change your actions for the better.”’
18:12:But they will say, ‘That is hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act in accordance with the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
18:13:“Therefore thus says the Lord,
‘Ask now among the nations,
Who has heard of such things?
The virgin Israel
Has done a very vile and horrible thing.
18:14:‘Will the snow of [Mount] Lebanon melt and vanish from its rocks [which tower above Israel]?
Will the cold, rushing waters of foreign lands [that flow down from the distant land] be dried up?
18:15:‘Yet My people have forgotten Me;
They burn incense to worthless gods,
They have stumbled from their ways
From the ancient roads,
To walk in pathways,
Not on a highway,
18:16:Making their land a desolation and a horror,
A thing to be hissed at perpetually;
Everyone who passes by will be astounded
And shake his head [in scorn].
18:17:‘I will scatter them like an east wind
Before the enemy;
I will show them My back and not My face
In the day of their disaster [says the Lord].’”
18:18:Then [my enemies] said, “Come and let us work out schemes against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest [as Jeremiah predicts], nor the counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with our tongue [by making charges against him before the king], and let us ignore anything he says.”
18:19:Pay attention to me, O Lord [and intercede];
Listen to what my adversaries are saying [and are plotting against me]—
18:20:Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet they have dug a pit for me.
Remember [with compassion] that I stood before You
To speak good on their behalf,
To turn Your anger away from them.
18:21:Therefore, give their children over to the famine;
Give them over to the power of the sword.
And let their wives become childless and widowed;
Let their men meet death [by virulent disease],
Their young men be struck down by the sword in battle.
18:22:Let an outcry be heard from their houses
When You suddenly bring [a troop of] raiders upon them,
For they have dug a pit to capture me
And have hidden snares for my feet.
18:23:Yet You, O Lord, know
All their deadly plotting against me;
Do not forgive their wickedness
Or blot out their sin from Your sight.
But let them be overthrown before You;
Deal with them in the time of Your anger.
19:1:The Broken Jar
Thus says the Lord, “Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests
19:2:and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I tell you,
19:3:and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold (listen carefully), I am going to bring such disaster on this place that the ears of everyone who hears about it will tingle [in shock].
19:4:Because the people [of Jerusalem] have abandoned (rejected) Me and have made this an alien and profaned place by burning sacrifices and incense in it to other gods, that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent
19:5:and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind (heart);
19:6:therefore, listen very closely, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when this place shall no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.
19:7:I will pour out and nullify the counsel (plans) of [the men of] Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will make their people fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their lives; and I will give their dead bodies as food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.
19:8:I will make this city a desolation and an object of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be amazed and will hiss [in scorn] because of all its plagues and disasters.
19:9:And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and each one will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and distress brought by their enemies and those who seek their lives.”’
19:10:“Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you,
19:11:and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “This is the way I will break this people and this city as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it cannot be mended. They will bury [corpses] in Topheth until there is no more room left [in that place] to bury [the dead].
19:12:This I will do to this place,” says the Lord, “and to its inhabitants; and I will even make this city like Topheth.
19:13:The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like this place, Topheth, all the houses on whose rooftops incense has been burned to all the host of heaven (sun, moon, stars), and where drink offerings have been poured out to other gods.”’”
19:14:Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people:
19:15:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to bring on this city and on all its towns, all the devastation that I have declared against it, because they have become stiff-necked and refused to hear and obey My words.’”
20:1:Pashhur Persecutes Jeremiah
Now Pashhur the son of Immer, the priest, who was [also] chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.
20:2:Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate by the house of the Lord.
20:3:And the next day Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name Pashhur, but Magor-missabib (terror on every side).
20:4:For thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; they will fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he will carry them away to Babylon as captives and will slaughter them with the sword.
20:5:Moreover, I will hand over all the riches of this city, all the result of its labor, all its precious things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will hand over to their enemies, and they will plunder them, and take them away and carry them to Babylon.
20:6:And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; you will go to Babylon, and there you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have falsely prophesied.’”
20:7:Jeremiah’s Complaint
[Jeremiah said,] O Lord, You have persuaded me and I was deceived;
You are stronger than I and You have prevailed.
I am a laughingstock all day long;
Everyone mocks me.
20:8:For whenever I speak, I must shout out;
I shout violence and destruction,
Because the word of the Lord has become to me
A reprimand and a mockery and has brought me insult all day long.
20:9:If I say, “I will not remember Him
Or speak His name anymore,”
Then my heart becomes a burning fire
Shut up in my bones.
And I am weary of enduring and holding it in;
I cannot endure it [nor contain it any longer].
20:10:For I have heard the whispering and defaming words of many,
“Terror on every side!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
All my familiar and trusted friends,
[Those who are] watching for my fall, say,
“Perhaps he will be persuaded and deceived; then we will overcome him,
And take our revenge on him.”
20:11:But the Lord is with me as a dread champion [one to be greatly feared];
Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not overcome [me].
They will be completely shamed, for they have not acted wisely and have failed [in their schemes];
Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.
20:12:But, O Lord of hosts, You who examine the righteous,
Who see the heart and the mind,
Let me see Your vengeance on them;
For to You I have committed my cause.
20:13:Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
For He has rescued the life of the needy one
From the hand of evildoers.
20:14:Cursed be the day on which I was born;
Do not bless the day on which my mother gave birth to me!
20:15:Cursed be the man who brought the news
To my father, saying,
“A son has been born to you!”
Making him very glad.
20:16:And let that man be like the cities
Which the Lord overthrew without regret.
Let him hear an outcry in the morning
And a shout of alarm at noon;
20:17:Because he did not kill me before my birth,
So that my mother might have been my grave,
And her womb always pregnant.
20:18:Why did I come out of the womb
To see trouble and sorrow,
So that my days have been filled with shame?
21:1:Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the priest the son of Maaseiah, saying,
21:2:“Please inquire of the Lord for us, because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal [favorably] with us according to all His wonderful works and force him to withdraw from us.”
21:3:Then Jeremiah said to them, “Say this to Zedekiah:
21:4:‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Behold, I will turn back and dull the edge of the weapons of war that are in your hands, [those] with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls; and I will bring them into the center of this city (Jerusalem).
21:5:I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm in anger, in fury, and in great indignation and wrath.
21:6:I will also strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great virulent disease.
21:7:Then afterward,” says the Lord, “I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the virulent disease, the sword, and the famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemy, into the hand of those who seek their lives. And he will strike them with the edge of the sword; he will not spare them nor have mercy and compassion on them.”’
21:8:“And to this people you (Jeremiah) shall also say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.
21:9:He who remains in this city [of Jerusalem] will die by the sword and by famine and by virulent disease. But he who goes outside and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and his life will be like a prize of war to him.
21:10:For I have set My face against this city to do harm and not good,” says the Lord. “It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire.”’
21:11:“And concerning the royal house of the king of Judah [you shall say], ‘Hear the word of the Lord,
21:12:O house of David, thus says the Lord:
“Administer justice in the morning,
And rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor,
That My wrath will not roar up like fire
And burn so [hotly] that none can extinguish it,
Because of the evil of their deeds.
21:13:“Understand this, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain,” says the Lord—
“You who say, ‘Who will come down against us?
Or who will enter into our dwelling places?’
21:14:“But I will punish you in accordance with the [appropriate] consequences of your decisions and your actions,” says the Lord.
“I will kindle a fire in your forest,
And it will devour all that is around you.”’”
22:1:Warning of Jerusalem’s Fall
Thus says the Lord, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak this word there:
22:2:‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David—you and your servants and your people who enter by these gates.
22:3:Thus says the Lord, “Execute justice and righteousness, and rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor. And do no wrong; do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
22:4:For if you will indeed obey this word, then kings will enter through the gates of this palace, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people.
22:5:But if you will not hear and obey these words, I swear [an oath] by Myself,” says the Lord, “that this house will become a desolation.”’”
22:6:For thus says the Lord in regard to the house of the king of Judah:
“You are [as valuable] to Me as [the green pastures of] Gilead [east of the Jordan]
Or as the [plentiful] summit of Lebanon [west of the Jordan],
Yet most certainly [if you will not listen to Me] I will make you a wilderness,
And uninhabited cities.
22:7:“For I will prepare and appoint destroyers [to execute My judgments] against you,
Each with his weapons;
And they will cut down your [palaces built of] choicest cedars
And throw them in the fire.
22:8:“Many nations will pass by this city; and each man will say to another, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this great city?’
22:9:Then they will answer, ‘Because the people ignored and abandoned the [solemn] covenant with the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.’”
22:10:Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him;
But weep bitterly for the one who goes away [into exile],
For he will never return
And see his native country [again].
22:11:For thus says the Lord in regard to Shallum (Jehoahaz) the [third] son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father and who went from this place, “Shallum will not return here anymore;
22:12:he will die in the place where they led him captive and not see this land again.
22:13:Messages about the Kings
“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who builds his house by [acts of] unrighteousness
And his upper chambers by injustice,
Who uses his neighbor’s service without pay
And does not give him wages [for his work],
22:14:Who says, ‘I will build myself a spacious house
With large upper rooms,
And cut out its [wide] windows,
And panel it with cedar and paint it vermilion.”
22:15:“Do you think that you become a king because you have much more cedar [in your palace than Solomon]?
Did not your father [Josiah], as he ate and drank,
Do just and righteous acts [being upright and in right standing with God]?
Then all was well with him.
22:16:“He defended the cause of the afflicted and needy;
Then all was well.
Is that not what it means to know Me?”
Says the Lord.
22:17:“But your eyes and your heart
Are only intent on your own dishonest gain,
On shedding innocent blood,
On oppression and extortion and violence.”
22:18:Therefore thus says the Lord in regard to Jehoiakim the [second] son of Josiah, king of Judah,
“The relatives will not lament (mourn over with expressions of grief) for him:
‘Alas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister,’ [how great our loss]!
The subjects will not lament for him:
‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, majesty [how great was his glory]!’
22:19:“He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey—
Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
22:20:“Go up [north] to Lebanon and cry out,
And raise your voice in [the hills of] Bashan [across the Jordan];
Cry out also from Abarim,
For all your lovers (allies) have been destroyed.
22:21:“I spoke to you in your [times of] prosperity,
But you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This has been your attitude and practice from your youth;
You have not obeyed My voice.
22:22:“The wind [of adversity] will carry away all your shepherds (rulers, statesmen),
And your lovers (allies) will go into exile.
Surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated and disgraced
Because of all your wickedness.
22:23:“O inhabitant of [Jerusalem, whose palaces are made from the cedars of] Lebanon,
You who nest in the cedars,
How you will groan and how miserable you will be when pains come on you,
Pain like a woman in childbirth!
22:24:“As I live,” says the Lord, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet [ring] on My right hand, yet would I pull you (Coniah) off.
22:25:And I will place you in the hand of those who seek your life and in the hand of those whom you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
22:26:I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country where you were not born, and there you will die.
22:27:But as for the land to which they long to return, they will not return to it.
22:28:“Is this man [King] Coniah a despised, broken jar?
Is he a vessel in which no one takes pleasure?
Why are he and his [royal] descendants hurled out
And cast into a land which they do not know or understand?
22:29:“O land, land, land,
Hear the word of the Lord!
22:30:Thus says the Lord,
‘Write this man [Coniah] down as childless,
A man who will not prosper (succeed) in his lifetime;
For not one of his descendants will succeed
In sitting on the throne of David
Or ruling again in Judah.’”
23:1:The Coming Messiah: the Righteous Branch
“Woe to the shepherds (civil leaders, rulers) who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord.
23:2:Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, in regard to the shepherds who care for and feed My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; hear this, I am about to visit and attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” says the Lord.
23:3:“Then I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries to which I have driven them and bring them back to their folds and pastures; and they will be fruitful and multiply.
23:4:I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. And they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” says the Lord.
23:5:“Behold (listen closely), the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;
And He will reign as King and act wisely
And will do [those things that accomplish] justice and righteousness in the land.
23:6:“In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called;
‘The Lord Our Righteousness.’
23:7:“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’
23:8:but [they will say], ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries to which I had driven them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”
23:9:False Prophets Denounced
Concerning the prophets:
My heart [says Jeremiah] is broken within me,
All my bones shake;
I have become like a drunken man,
A man whom wine has overcome,
Because of the Lord
And because of His holy words [declared against unfaithful leaders].
23:10:For the land is full of adulterers (unfaithful to God);
The land mourns because of the curse [of God upon it].
The pastures of the wilderness have dried up.
The course of action [of the false prophets] is evil and they rush into wickedness;
And their power is not right.
23:11:“For both [false] prophet and priest are ungodly (profane, polluted);
Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.
23:12:“Therefore their way will be to them like slippery paths
In the dark; they will be pushed and fall into them;
For I will bring disaster on them,
In the year of their punishment,” says the Lord.
23:13:“And I have seen a foolish and an offensive thing in the prophets of Samaria:
They prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to go astray.
23:14:“Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem:
They commit adultery and walk in lies;
They encourage and strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one has turned back from his wickedness.
All of them have become like Sodom to Me,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
23:15:Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts in regard to the prophets,
‘Behold, I am going to feed them [the bitterness of] wormwood
And make them drink the poisonous water [of gall],
For from the [counterfeit] prophets of Jerusalem
Profaneness and ungodliness have spread into all the land.’”
23:16:Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Do not listen to the words of the [false] prophets who prophesy to you.
They are teaching you worthless things and are leading you into futility;
They speak a vision of their own mind and imagination
And not [truth] from the mouth of the Lord.
23:17:“They are continually saying to those who despise Me [and My word],
‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’;
And they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own heart,
‘No evil will come on you.’
23:18:“But who [among them] has stood in the council of the Lord,
That he would perceive and hear His word?
Who has marked His word [noticing and observing and paying attention to it] and has [actually] heard it?
23:19:“Behold, the tempest of the Lord has gone forth in wrath,
A whirling tempest;
It will whirl and burst on the heads of the wicked.
23:20:“The anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has set in motion and accomplished the thoughts and intentions of His heart;
In the last days you will clearly understand it.
23:21:“I did not send [these counterfeit] prophets,
Yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
Yet they prophesied.
23:22:“But if they had stood in My council,
Then they would have caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have turned My people from their evil way
And from the evil of their decisions and deeds.
23:23:“Am I a God who is at hand,” says the Lord,
“And not a God far away?”
23:24:“Can anyone hide himself in secret places
So that I cannot see him?” says the Lord.
“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.
23:25:“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My Name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed [visions when on my bed at night].’
23:26:How long [shall this state of affairs continue]? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart,
23:27:who think that they can make My people forget My Name by their [contrived] dreams which each one tells another, just as their fathers forgot My Name because of Baal?
23:28:The prophet who has a dream may tell his dream; but he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat [for nourishment]?” says the Lord.
23:29:Is not My word like fire [that consumes all that cannot endure the test]?” says the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks the [most stubborn] rock [in pieces]?
23:30:Therefore behold (hear this), I am against the [counterfeit] prophets,” says the Lord, “[I am descending on them with punishment, these prophets] who steal My words from one another [imitating the words of the true prophets].
23:31:Hear this, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their [own deceitful] tongues and say, ‘Thus says the Lord.’
23:32:Hear this, I am against those who have prophesied false and made-up dreams,” says the Lord, “and have told them and have made My people err and go astray by their lies and by their reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them nor do they benefit and enhance [the life of] these people in the slightest way,” says the Lord.
23:33:“Now when this people or a prophet or a priest asks you [in jest], ‘What is the oracle of the Lord [the burden to be lifted up and carried]?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘What oracle [besides the one that declares you people to be the burden]!’ The Lord says, ‘I will unburden Myself and I will abandon you.’
23:34:And as for the prophet, the priest, or [any of] the people, whoever says, ‘The oracle of the Lord,’ [as if he knows God’s will], I will punish that man and his household.
23:35:[For the future, in speaking of the words of the Lord] thus each of you shall say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’
23:36:For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man’s own word will become the oracle, [for as they mockingly call all prophecies oracles, whether good or bad, so will it prove to be to them; God will take them at their own word]; and you have perverted the words [not of a lifeless idol, but] of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God.
23:37:Thus you will [reverently] say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’
23:38:For if you say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ surely thus says the Lord, ‘Because you said this word, “The oracle of the Lord!” when I have also sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’”’
23:39:“Therefore behold, I, even I, will assuredly forget you and send you away from My presence, you and the city (Jerusalem) which I gave to you and to your fathers.
23:40:And I will bring an everlasting disgrace on you and a perpetual humiliation (shame) which will not be forgotten.”
24:1:Baskets of Figs and the Returnees
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken Jeconiah [who was also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah [along] with the craftsmen and smiths into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, the Lord showed me [in a vision] two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord.
24:2:One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are the first to ripen; but the other basket had very bad figs, so rotten that they could not be eaten.
24:3:Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad figs, very bad, so rotten that they cannot be eaten.”
24:4:Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
24:5:“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent from this place into the land of the Chaldeans.
24:6:For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not overwhelm them, and I will plant them and not uproot them.
24:7:I will give them a heart to know Me, [understanding fully] that I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.
24:8:‘And as for the bad figs, which are so rotten that they cannot be eaten,’ surely thus says the Lord, ‘so I will abandon Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and those who live in the land of Egypt.
24:9:I will make them a focus of ridicule and disappointment [tossed back and forth] among all the kingdoms of the earth, a [notorious] disgrace, a byword, a taunt and a curse in all places where I will scatter them.
24:10:I will send the sword, famine and virulent disease among them until they are consumed from the land which I gave to them and to their fathers.’”
25:1:Prophecy of the Captivity
The word that came to Jeremiah in regard to all the people of Judah in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),
25:2:which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
25:3:“For these twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day—the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you over and over again, but you have not listened.
25:4:Although the Lord has persistently sent to you all His servants the prophets, you have not listened nor [even] inclined your ear to hear [His message],
25:5:saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way and the evil of your actions [that you may not forfeit the right to] live in the land that the Lord has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever;
25:6:and do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.’
25:7:Yet you have not listened to Me,” says the Lord, “so that you have provoked Me to anger with the work (idols) of your hands to your own harm.
25:8:“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words,
25:9:behold (hear this), I will send for all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will send for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant [to enact My plan], and I will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing [that is, an object of warning and ridicule] and an everlasting desolation.
25:10:Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones [grinding meal] and the light of the lamp [to light the night].
25:11:This whole land will be a waste and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
25:12:Babylon Will Be Judged
‘Then when seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia),’ says the Lord, ‘for their wickedness, and will make the land [of the Chaldeans] a perpetual waste.
25:13:I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.
25:14:(For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even the Chaldeans [who enslaved other nations]; and I will repay [all of] them according to their deeds and according to the work of their [own] hands.)’”
25:15:For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.
25:16:They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”
25:17:Then I (Jeremiah) took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom the Lord had sent me drink it:
25:18:Jerusalem and the cities of Judah [being most guilty because their privileges were greatest], its kings and princes, to make them a horror, a ruin, a hissing and a curse, as it is to this day;
25:19:Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, all his people,
25:20:and all the foreign (mixed) population, all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (and [their cities of] Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod);
25:21:Edom, Moab, and the children of Ammon;
25:22:all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the islands and the coastlands across the [Mediterranean] Sea;
25:23:Dedan, Tema, Buz [the neighboring tribes north of Arabia], and all who clip off the side-growth of their hair;
25:24:all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign population who live in the desert;
25:25:all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam (Persia), and all the kings of Media;
25:26:all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another—and all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth. And the king of Sheshach (Babylon) shall drink after them.
25:27:“Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Drink, be drunk, vomit, and fall to rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you.”’
25:28:And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “You shall surely drink!
25:29:For behold, I am beginning to work disaster in the city which is called by My Name, and shall you go unpunished? You will not be exempt from punishment, for I am calling for a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” says the Lord of hosts.’
25:30:“Therefore prophesy all these words against them and say to them:
‘The Lord will roar from on high
And utter His voice from His holy dwelling;
He will roar mightily against His fold and pasture.
He will jubilantly shout like those who tread the grapes [in the wine press],
Against all the inhabitants of the earth.
25:31:‘A noise has come to the end of the earth,
For the Lord has a controversy with and an indictment against the nations.
He is entering into judgment with all mankind;
As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ says the Lord.”
25:32:Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Behold, evil is going forth
From nation to nation,
And a great whirling tempest is rising
From the remotest part of the earth.
25:33:“And those slain by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. They will not be lamented (mourned over with expressions of grief) or gathered or buried; they will be like dung on the ground.
25:34:“Wail, you shepherds, and cry;
And roll in ashes, you masters of the flock.
For the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions have come in full,
And you will fall and be broken into pieces like a choice vessel.
25:35:“The shepherds will have no way to flee,
Nor the masters of the flock any [way of] escape.
25:36:“A voice! The cry of the shepherds
And the wailing of the masters of the flock!
For the Lord is destroying their pasture,
25:37:“And the peaceful folds are devastated and made silent
Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
25:38:“He has left His lair like the lion;
For their land has become a horror
Because of the fierceness of the oppressor
And because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”
26:1:Cities of Judah Warned
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying,
26:2:“Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand in the court of the Lord’s house [Jeremiah], and speak to all [the people of] the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the Lord’s house all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not omit a word!
26:3:It may be that they will listen and everyone will turn from his wickedness, so that I may relent and reverse [My decision concerning] the disaster which I am planning to do to them because of their malevolent deeds.’
26:4:And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “If you will not listen to Me and obey My law which I have set before you,
26:5:and listen and follow [carefully] the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you repeatedly—though you have not listened—
26:6:then I will make this house [the temple] like Shiloh, and I will make this city [subject to] the curse of all nations of the earth [because it will be so vile in their sight].”’”
26:7:A Plot to Murder Jeremiah
The priests and the [false] prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.
26:8:Now when Jeremiah finished proclaiming everything that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the [false] prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must die!
26:9:Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh [after the ark of the Lord had been taken by our enemies] and this city [Jerusalem] will be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered around Jeremiah in the [outer area of the] house of the Lord.
26:10:When the princes (court officials) of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat in the entrance of the New Gate of the house of the Lord.
26:11:Then the priests and the [false] prophets said to the princes and to all the people, “This man is deserving of death, for he has prophesied against this city as you have heard with your own ears.”
26:12:Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.
26:13:Therefore, now change your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; then the Lord will relent and reverse His decision concerning the misfortune which He has pronounced against you.
26:14:As for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as seems good and suitable to you.
26:15:But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”
26:16:Jeremiah Is Spared
Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the [false] prophets, “This man is not deserving of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”
26:17:Then some of the elders of the land stood up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,
26:18:“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Zion will be plowed like a field,
And Jerusalem will become [heaps of] ruins,
And the mountain of the house [of the Lord—Mount Moriah, on which stands the temple, shall become covered not with buildings, but] like a densely wooded height.”’
26:19:“Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put Micah to death? Did he not [reverently] fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord? And did not the Lord relent and reverse His decision concerning the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But [here] we are [thinking of] committing a great evil against ourselves.”
26:20:And there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath-jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land in words similar to all those of Jeremiah.
26:21:And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put Uriah to death; but when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt.
26:22:Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain [other] men with him [went] to Egypt.
26:23:And they brought Uriah [God’s spokesman] from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who executed him with a sword and threw his dead body among the graves of the common people.
26:24:But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not given into the hands of the people to put him to death.
27:1:The Nations to Submit to Nebuchadnezzar
In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
27:2:Thus says the Lord to me, “Make for yourself bonds and yokes and put them on your neck,
27:3:and send word to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the sons of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon by the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
27:4:Command them to go to their masters, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, you shall say this to your masters:
27:5:“I have made the earth, the men and the animals that are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to whomever pleases Me.
27:6:Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant and instrument, and I have also given the wild animals of the field to serve him.
27:7:All nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the [appointed] time [of punishment] for his own land comes; then many nations and great kings shall make him their servant.
27:8:“But any nation or kingdom that will not serve this same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,” says the Lord, “with the sword, with famine and with pestilence (virulent disease), until I have destroyed it by Nebuchadnezzar’s hand.
27:9:And as for you, do not listen to your [counterfeit] prophets, your diviners, your dreams and dreamers, your soothsayers or your sorcerers, who say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’
27:10:For they prophesy a lie to you which will cause you to be removed far from your land; and I will drive you out and you will perish.
27:11:But the nation which will bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, that nation I will let remain on its own land,” says the Lord, “to cultivate it and live in it.”’”
27:12:I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah in the same way, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live!
27:13:Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by famine and by virulent disease, as the Lord has spoken to any nation which will not serve the king of Babylon?
27:14:Do not listen to and believe the words of the [false] prophets who are saying to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you;
27:15:for I have not sent them,” says the Lord, “but they are prophesying falsely in My Name, in order that I may drive you out and that you may perish, you [together] with the [false] prophets who prophesy to you.”
27:16:Then I said to the priests and to all these people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your [false] prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ‘Behold, the articles of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a lie to you.
27:17:Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city become a ruin?
27:18:But if they are [true] prophets, and if the word of the Lord is [really spoken] by them, let them now entreat the Lord of hosts that the articles which are [still] left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon.
27:19:For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the [bronze] pillars, the [bronze] Sea, the [bronze] bases [of the ten basins in Solomon’s temple used for washing sacrificial animals], and the rest of the articles that are left in this city (Jerusalem),
27:20:which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.
27:21:“Yes, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the articles which remain in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem,
27:22:‘They will be carried to Babylon and they will be there until the day that I visit them [with My favor],’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’”
28:1:Hananiah’s False Prophecy
In the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and the fifth month, the [false] prophet Hananiah the son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon [one of the priests’ cities], spoke [without godly authority] to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying:
28:2:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
28:3:Within two years I am going to bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon.
28:4:And I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, along with all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ says the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”
28:5:Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who stood in the house of the Lord,
28:6:and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord confirm and fulfill your words which you have prophesied to bring back the articles of the Lord’s house and all the captives, from Babylon to this place.
28:7:Nevertheless, listen now to this word which I am about to speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people!
28:8:The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of disaster and of virulent disease.
28:9:But as for the prophet who [on the contrary] prophesies of peace, when that prophet’s word comes to pass, [only] then will it be known that the Lord has truly sent him.”
28:10:Then Hananiah the [false] prophet took the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and smashed it.
28:11:Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Even so within two full years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
28:12:The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah [some time] after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
28:13:“Go and tell Hananiah, ‘The Lord says this, “You have broken yokes of wood, but you have made in their place bars of iron.”
28:14:For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “I have put the iron yoke [of servitude] on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. And I have even given him the beasts of the field.”’”
28:15:Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.
28:16:Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am about to send you away from the face of the earth. This year you will die, because you have spoken and counseled rebellion against the Lord.’”
28:17:So Hananiah the [false] prophet died [two months later], the same year, in the seventh month.
29:1:Message to the Exiles
Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders in exile and to the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
29:2:(This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes (court officials) of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.)
29:3:The letter was hand-carried by Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,
29:4:“So says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captives whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,
29:5:‘Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.
29:6:Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there and do not decrease [in number].
29:7:Seek peace and well-being for the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its peace (well-being) you will have peace.’
29:8:For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your [false] prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you; pay no attention and attach no significance to the dreams which they dream or to yours,
29:9:for they prophesy falsely to you in My Name. I have not sent them,’ says the Lord.
29:10:“For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years [of exile] have been completed for Babylon, I will visit (inspect) you and keep My good promise to you, to bring you back to this place.
29:11:For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope.
29:12:Then you will call on Me and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear [your voice] and I will listen to you.
29:13:Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
29:14:I will be found by you,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and I will [free you and] gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’
29:15:“Because you [who have remained in Jerusalem] have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’
29:16:thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who live in this city, your brothers (fellow people of Judah) who did not go with you into captivity—
29:17:thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold (listen very carefully), I am sending the sword, famine, and virulent disease (pestilence) on them, and I will make them like rotten figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.
29:18:I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with virulent disease; and I will make them a terror (warning) to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a horror, a hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them,
29:19:because they have not listened to and honored My words,’ says the Lord, ‘which I sent to them again and again by My servants the prophets. Moreover, you [exiles] did not listen [either],’ says the Lord.
29:20:Hear, therefore, the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
29:21:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in My Name, ‘Behold, I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will slaughter them before your eyes [yes, all the false prophets in Babylon whom you follow shall die]!
29:22:Because of them, this curse shall be taken up and used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,
29:23:because they have acted foolishly in Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and in My Name have spoken false and concocted words, which I did not command them. I am He who knows and I am a witness,’ says the Lord.”
29:24:Also you shall speak to Shemaiah of Nehelam [among the exiles in Babylon], saying,
29:25:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
29:26:“The Lord has made you [Zephaniah] priest instead of Jehoiada the [deputy] priest, to be the overseer in the house of the Lord over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in the iron collar,
29:27:now therefore [continued the letter from Shemaiah in Babylon to Zephaniah in Jerusalem], why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesies to you?
29:28:For he has sent word to us in Babylon, saying, ‘This captivity [of yours] will be long; build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’”’”
29:29:Zephaniah the priest read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.
29:30:Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying,
29:31:“Send [this message] to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam, “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie,”
29:32:therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He will not have anyone [born] to live among this people, nor will he see the good that I am about to do to My people,” says the Lord, “because he has spoken and preached rebellion against the Lord.”’”
30:1:Freedom from Captivity Promised
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
30:2:“Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Write in a book all the words which I have spoken to you.
30:3:For behold (hear this), the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will return them to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they will take possession of it.’”
30:4:Now these are the words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:
30:5:“Thus says the Lord,
‘We have heard a terrified voice
Of panic and dread, and there is no peace.
30:6:‘Ask now, and see
Whether a man can give birth [to a child].
Why then do I see every man
With his hands on his loins, as a woman in labor?
Why have all faces turned pale?
30:7:‘Alas! for that day is great,
There is none like it;
It is the time of Jacob’s [unequaled] trouble,
But he will be saved from it.
30:8:‘It shall come about on that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘that I will break the yoke off your neck and I will tear off your bonds and force apart your shackles; and strangers will no longer make slaves of the people [of Israel].
30:9:But they shall serve the Lord their God and [the descendant of] David their King, whom I will raise up for them.
30:10:‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ says the Lord,
‘Nor be dismayed or downcast, O Israel;
For behold, I will save you from a distant land [of exile]
And your descendants from the land of their captivity.
Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease,
And no one will make him afraid.
30:11:‘For I am with you,’ says the Lord, ‘to save you;
For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you,
But I will not destroy you completely.
But I will judge and discipline you fairly
And will by no means regard you as guiltless and leave you unpunished.’
30:12:“For thus says the Lord,
‘Your wound is incurable
And your injury is beyond healing.
30:13:‘There is no one to plead your cause;
No [device to close and allow the] healing of your wound,
No recovery for you.
30:14:‘All your lovers (allies) have forgotten you;
They do not seek and long for you.
For I have injured you with the wound of an enemy,
With the punishment of a cruel and merciless foe,
Because your guilt is great
And your sins are glaring and innumerable.
30:15:‘Why do you cry out over your injury [since it is the natural result of your sin]?
Your pain is incurable (deadly).
Because your guilt is great
And your sins are glaring and innumerable,
I have done these things to you.
30:16:‘Therefore all who devour you will be devoured;
And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity.
And they who plunder you will become plunder,
And all who prey upon you I will give for prey.
30:17:‘For I will restore health to you
And I will heal your wounds,’ says the Lord,
‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying:
“This is Zion; no one seeks her and no one cares for her.”’
30:18:Restoration of Jacob
“Thus says the Lord,
‘Behold (hear this), I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
And have mercy on his dwelling places;
The city will be rebuilt on its [old, mound-like] ruin,
And the palace will stand on its rightful place.
30:19:‘From them (city, palace) will come [songs of] thanksgiving
And the voices of those who dance and celebrate.
And I will multiply them and they will not be diminished [in number];
I will also honor them and they will not be insignificant.
30:20:‘Their children too will be as in former times,
And their congregation will be established before Me;
And I will punish all their oppressors.
30:21:‘Their prince will be one of them,
And their ruler will come forward from among them.
I will bring him near and he shall approach Me,
For who is he who would have the boldness and would dare [on his own initiative] to risk his life to approach Me?’ says the Lord.
30:22:‘Then you shall be My people,
And I will be your God.’”
30:23:Behold, the tempest of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
A sweeping and gathering tempest;
It will burst on the head of the wicked.
30:24:The fierce (righteous) anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has fulfilled and until He has accomplished
The intent of His heart (mind);
In the latter days you will understand this.
31:1:Israel’s Mourning Turned to Joy
“At that time,” says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”
31:2:Thus says the Lord,
“The people who survived the sword
Found grace in the wilderness [of exile]—
Israel (the Northern Kingdom), when it went to find its rest.”
31:3:The Lord appeared to me (Israel) from ages past, saying,
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.
31:4:“Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt,
O Virgin Israel!
You will again be adorned with your tambourines and timbrels
And go out to the dances of those who celebrate.
31:5:“Again you will plant vineyards
On the mountains of Samaria;
The planters will plant
And enjoy the [abundant] fruit [in peace].
31:6:“For there will be a day when the watchmen
On the hills of Ephraim cry out,
‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’”
31:7:For thus says the Lord,
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
And shout for the first and foremost of the nations [the chosen people, Israel];
Proclaim, give praise and say,
‘O Lord save Your people,
The remnant of Israel!’
31:8:“Behold, I am bringing them from the north country,
And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth,
Among them [will be] the blind and the lame,
The woman with child and she who labors in childbirth, together;
A great company, they will return here [to Jerusalem].
31:9:“They will come with weeping [in repentance and for joy],
And by [their] prayer [for the future] I will lead them;
I will make them walk by streams of waters,
On a straight path in which they will not stumble,
For I am a Father to Israel,
And Ephraim (Israel) is My firstborn.”
31:10:Hear the word of the Lord, O you nations,
And declare it in the isles and coastlands far away,
And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
And will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”
31:11:For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
And has redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
31:12:“They will come and sing aloud and shout for joy on the height of Zion,
And will be radiant [with joy] over the goodness of the Lord—
For the grain, for the new wine, for the oil,
And for the young of the flock and the herd.
And their life will be like a watered garden,
And they shall never sorrow or languish again.
31:13:“Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and old, together,
For I will turn their mourning into joy
And will comfort them and make them rejoice after their sorrow.
31:14:“I will fully satisfy the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” says the Lord.
31:15:Thus says the Lord,
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
Lamentation (songs of mourning) and bitter weeping.
Rachel (Israel) is weeping for her children;
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are gone.”
31:16:Thus says the Lord,
“Restrain your voice from weeping
And your eyes from tears,
For your work will be rewarded,” says the Lord;
“And your children will return from the enemy’s land.
31:17:“There is [confident] hope for your future,” says the Lord;
“Your children will come back to their own country.
31:18:“I have surely heard Ephraim (Israel) moaning and grieving,
‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like a bull unaccustomed to the yoke or an untrained calf;
Bring me back that I may be restored,
For You are the Lord my God.
31:19:‘After I turned away [from You], I repented;
After I was instructed, I struck my thigh [in remorse];
I was ashamed and even humiliated
Because I carried the disgrace of my youth [as a nation].’
31:20:“Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a darling and beloved child?
For as often as I have spoken against him,
I certainly still remember him.
Therefore My affection is renewed and My heart longs for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,” says the Lord.
31:21:“Place for yourself road signs [toward Canaan],
Make for yourself guideposts;
Turn your thought and attention to the highway,
To the way by which you went [into exile].
Retrace your steps, O virgin of Israel,
Return to these your cities.
31:22:“How long will you hesitate [to return],
O you faithless and renegade daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing in the land [of Israel]:
A woman will encompass (tenderly love) a man.”
31:23:Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once more they will speak these words in the land of Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and in her cities when I restore their fortunes and release them from exile,
‘The Lord bless you, O habitation of justice and righteousness,
O holy mountain!’
31:24:And [the people of] Judah and all its cities will live there together—the farmer and they who wander about with flocks.
31:25:For I [fully] satisfy the weary soul, and I replenish every languishing and sorrowful person.”
31:26:At this I (Jeremiah) awoke and looked, and my [trancelike] sleep was sweet [in the assurance it gave] to me.
31:27:A New Covenant
“Behold (listen carefully), the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.
31:28:It will be that as I have watched over them to uproot and to break down, to overthrow, destroy, and afflict with disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant [with good],” says the Lord.
31:29:“In those days they will not say again,
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
31:30:But everyone will die [only] for his own wickedness; every man who eats sour grapes—his [own] teeth shall be set on edge.
31:31:“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and with the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom),
31:32:not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says the Lord.
31:33:“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the Lord, “I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.
31:34:And each man will no longer teach his neighbor and his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me [through personal experience], from the least of them to the greatest,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness, and I will no longer remember their sin.”
31:35:Thus says the Lord,
Who gives the sun for light by day
And the fixed order of the moon and of the stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea’s roaring billows or stills the waves when they roar;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
31:36:“If this fixed order departs
From before Me,” says the Lord,
“Then the descendants of Israel also will cease
From being a nation before Me forever.”
31:37:Thus says the Lord,
“If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off and abandon all the descendants of Israel
For all that they have done,” says the Lord.
31:38:“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the city [of Jerusalem] will be rebuilt for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
31:39:The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah.
31:40:And the whole valley (Hinnom) of the dead bodies and [the hill] of the ashes [long dumped there from the temple sacrifices], and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord. It (the city) will not be uprooted or overthrown anymore to the end of the age.”
32:1:Jeremiah Imprisoned
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
32:2:Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah.
32:3:For Zedekiah [the last] king of Judah had locked him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy [disaster] and say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;
32:4:and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye;
32:5:and he will lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him [for evaluation and judgment],” says the Lord. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed”’?”
32:6:And Jeremiah [answered King Zedekiah and] said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
32:7:‘Behold (listen carefully), Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it [in accordance with the law].”’
32:8:Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard in accordance with the word of the Lord, and he said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin, for you have the right of inheritance and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
32:9:“I bought the field that was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and weighed out the money for him, seventeen shekels of silver.
32:10:I signed the deed and sealed it, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the money on the scales.
32:11:So I took the deeds of the purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, and the unsealed copy;
32:12:and I gave the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in sight of the witnesses who signed the purchase deed, in the presence of all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard.
32:13:And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying,
32:14:‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this unsealed deed, and put them in an earthen jar, that they may last a long time.”
32:15:For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be purchased in this land.”’
32:16:Jeremiah Prays and God Explains
“Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying,
32:17:‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too difficult or too wonderful for You—
32:18:You who show lovingkindness to thousands, but repay the wickedness (sin, guilt) of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], O great and mighty God; the Lord of hosts is His name;
32:19:great [are You] in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to reward or repay each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;
32:20:who set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day [continues to do so] both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name for Yourself, as at this day.
32:21:You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror;
32:22:and gave them this land, which You swore to their forefathers to give them, a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey.
32:23:They entered and took possession of it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do. Therefore You have caused all this disaster and suffering to come upon them.
32:24:See the siege ramps [of mounded earth that the enemy has built against the walls]; they have come up to the city to capture it. And the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans [of Babylon] who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine and the virulent disease [that have overcome the people]. What You have spoken has come to pass, and behold, You see it.
32:25:Yet, O Lord God, You said to me, “Buy the field with money and get witnesses,” even though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’”
32:26:Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying,
32:27:“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there anything too difficult for Me?”
32:28:Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it.
32:29:“The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in and set this city on fire and burn it, along with the houses on whose roofs incense has been offered to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to provoke Me to anger.
32:30:For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only evil in My sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have been provoking Me to anger by the [idols that are the] work of their hands,” says the Lord.
32:31:“From the day that they built it [during the reign of Solomon], even to this day, this city has been such a provocation of My anger and My wrath, that I must remove it from My sight,
32:32:because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
32:33:They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them repeatedly, yet they would not listen and receive instruction.
32:34:But they put their detestable things (idols) in the house which is called by My Name, to defile it.
32:35:They built the high places [for worship] of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom) to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to [worship and honor] Molech—which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this repulsive thing, to cause Judah to sin.
32:36:“Now therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword and by famine and by virulent disease.’
32:37:Behold, I will gather them out of all countries to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them live in safety.
32:38:They will be My people, and I will be their God;
32:39:and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may [reverently] fear Me forever, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
32:40:I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will do them good and not turn away from them; and I will put in their heart a fear and reverential awe of Me, so that they will not turn away from Me.
32:41:I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.
32:42:For thus says the Lord, ‘Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.
32:43:Fields will be bought in this land of which you say, “It is desolate, without man or animal; it is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.”
32:44:People will buy fields for money, sign deeds, seal them, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South (the Negev); for I will restore their fortunes and release them from exile,’ says the Lord.”
33:1:Restoration Promised
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying,
33:2:“Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is His name,
33:3:‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.’
33:4:For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah which are torn down to make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword,
33:5:‘While they (the besieged Jews) are coming to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill the houses with the dead bodies of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, for I have hidden My face [in disgust] from this city because of all their wickedness.
33:6:Behold, [in the restored Jerusalem] I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace (prosperity, security, stability) and truth.
33:7:I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first.
33:8:I will cleanse them from all their wickedness (guilt) by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon (forgive) all their sins by which they rebelled against Me.
33:9:Jerusalem will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for it, and they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace (prosperity, security, stability) that I provide for it.’
33:10:“Thus says the Lord, ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place of which you say, “It is a [desolate] waste, without man and without animal”—even in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal—
33:11:the [sound of the] voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the [song-filled] voice of those who say,
“Give praise and thanks to the Lord of hosts,
For the Lord is good;
For His [steadfast] lovingkindness (mercy) endures forever”;
and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the Lord. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says the Lord.
33:12:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘There will again be in this desolate place—[a place] without man or animal—and in all its cities, pastures for shepherds who rest their flocks.
33:13:In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South (the Negev), in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,’ says the Lord.
33:14:The Davidic Kingdom
‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good word and promise which I have made regarding the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
33:15:In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He (the Messiah) shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.
33:16:In those days Judah will be saved and [the people of] Jerusalem will live in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the Lord Our Righteousness (Justice).’
33:17:For thus says the Lord, ‘David shall never lack a man (descendant) to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;
33:18:and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man (descendant) to offer burnt offerings before Me and to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices all day long.’”
33:19:The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
33:20:“Thus says the Lord, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night do not take place at their appointed times,
33:21:then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and [My covenant may also be broken] with the Levitical priests, My ministers.
33:22:As the host of [the stars of] heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’”
33:23:And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
33:24:“Have you not noticed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families [Israel the northern kingdom, and Judah the southern kingdom] which the Lord chose, He has rejected’? Thus they despise My [chosen] people, no longer are they [considered] as a nation in their sight.
33:25:Thus says the Lord, ‘If My covenant with day and night does not stand, and if I have not established the fixed patterns of heaven and earth, [the whole order of nature,]
33:26:then I would [also] reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes, and will have mercy on them.’”
34:1:A Prophecy against Zedekiah
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his sovereignty and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all of its cities:
34:2:“Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him: “Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will set it on fire and burn it down.
34:3:You will not escape from his hand, for you will definitely be captured and handed over to him; you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you face to face; and you will go to Babylon.’”’
34:4:“Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you, ‘You will not die by the sword.
34:5:You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for [the memory and honor of] your fathers, the former kings who reigned before you, so shall a [ceremonial] burning be made for you; and people will lament (grieve) for you, saying, “Alas, lord (master)!”’ For I have spoken the word,” says the Lord.
34:6:Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem
34:7:when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the remaining cities of Judah, against Lachish and Azekah, for these were the [only] fortified cities among the cities of Judah.
34:8:The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant (solemn pledge) with all the [Hebrew] people who were [slaves] in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them:
34:9:that every man should let his Hebrew slaves, male and female, go free, so that no one should make a slave of a Jew, his brother.
34:10:So all the princes and all the people who had entered into the covenant agreed that everyone would let his male servant and his female servant go free, and that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free.
34:11:But afterward they backed out [of the covenant] and made the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free return [to them], and brought the male servants and the female servants again into servitude.
34:12:Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
34:13:“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I made a covenant (solemn pledge) with your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,
34:14:“At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself [into servitude] or who has been sold to you and has served you six years, you shall release him from [serving] you; but your forefathers did not listen [submissively] to Me or obey Me.
34:15:So then you recently turned and repented, doing what was right in My sight, each man proclaiming release [from servitude] to his countryman [who was his bond servant]; and you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My Name.
34:16:Yet you backed out [of the covenant] and profaned My Name, and each man took back his servants, male and female, whom had been set free in accordance with their desire, and you brought them into servitude [again] to be your male servants and your female servants.”’
34:17:“Therefore says the Lord, ‘You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed liberty to your brother and your countryman. Behold (listen very carefully), I am proclaiming liberty to you—[liberty to be put] to the sword, [liberty] to [be ravaged by] the virulent disease, and [liberty] to [be decimated by] famine,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will make you a horror and a warning to all the kingdoms of the earth.
34:18:The men who have violated My covenant, who have not kept the terms of the solemn pledge which they made before Me when they split the [sacrificial] calf in half, and then afterwards walked between its separated pieces [sealing their pledge to Me by placing a curse on themselves should they violate the covenant—those men I will make like the calf]!
34:19:The princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the high officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf,
34:20:I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. And [like the body of the calf] their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.
34:21:Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will place into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you.
34:22:Behold, I am going to command [the Chaldeans who rule Babylon],’ says the Lord, ‘and I will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and take it and set it on fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’”
35:1:The Rechabites’ Obedience
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
35:2:“Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the [side] chambers; then give them [who are pledged not to drink wine] some wine to drink.”
35:3:So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites,
35:4:and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum the doorkeeper.
35:5:Then I set before the men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.”
35:6:But they said, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us: ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons, forever.
35:7:Nor shall you build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard or own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners (temporary residents).’
35:8:We have obeyed the words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, in all our days we have never drunk wine, nor have our wives, our sons, or our daughters,
35:9:nor have we built ourselves houses to live in; nor do we have vineyards or fields or seed.
35:10:We have lived only in tents, and have obeyed and done [everything] according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
35:11:But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans [who rule Babylon] and for fear of the army of the Arameans.’ So we have lived in Jerusalem.”
35:12:Judah Rebuked
Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying,
35:13:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction by listening to My words and honoring them?” says the Lord.
35:14:The command which Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons not to drink wine has been observed [as a custom for more than two hundred years]. To this day they do not drink wine, for they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have repeatedly spoken to you, yet you have not listened to Me.
35:15:I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them repeatedly, saying, ‘Let every one of you turn now from his evil way and alter your behavior, and do not follow other gods to worship and serve them; and then you will live in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers. But you have not submitted or listened to Me.
35:16:Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have observed the command of their father which he gave them, but this people has not listened to Me.’”’
35:17:“Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold (hear this), I am bringing on Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them, but they have not listened, and I have called to them, but they have not answered.’”
35:18:Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and have kept all his commands and have done according to all that he commanded you,
35:19:therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never fail to have a man (descendant) to stand before Me always.”’”
36:1:Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Temple
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
36:2:“Take a scroll [of parchment] and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and Judah, and all the nations, from the day I [first] spoke to you in the days of [King] Josiah until this day.
36:3:It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster which I plan to bring on them, so that each one will turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their wickedness and their sin.”
36:4:Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on the scroll of the book all the words which Jeremiah dictated, [words] which the Lord had spoken to him.
36:5:Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am [in hiding, virtually] restrained; I cannot go into the house of the Lord.
36:6:So you go to the Lord’s house on a day of fasting and read from the scroll the words of the Lord to the people which you have written as I dictated. And also you shall read them to all the people of Judah who come from their cities.
36:7:It may be that their supplication [for mercy] will come before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.”
36:8:Baruch the son of Neriah did everything that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from [Jeremiah’s scroll] the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.
36:9:Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, a fast was proclaimed before the Lord for all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came to Jerusalem from the cities of Judah.
36:10:Then Baruch read to all the people the words of Jeremiah from the scroll of the book in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.
36:11:When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll,
36:12:he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and behold, all the princes were sitting there: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the [other] princes.
36:13:Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll to all the people.
36:14:Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come [to us].” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them.
36:15:And they said to him, “Sit down now and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.
36:16:Now when they had heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear and said to Baruch, “We must surely report all these words to the king.”
36:17:And they asked Baruch, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words? At his (Jeremiah’s) dictation?”
36:18:Then Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the scroll.”
36:19:Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.”
36:20:The Scroll Is Burned
Then they went into the court to the king, but they [first] put the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; then they reported all the words to the king.
36:21:So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the princes who stood beside the king.
36:22:Now it was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, with a fire burning there in the brazier before him.
36:23:And after Jehudi had read three or four columns [of the scroll], King Jehoiakim would cut off that portion with a scribe’s knife and throw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until the [entire] scroll was consumed by the fire.
36:24:Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they tear their clothes.
36:25:Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.
36:26:And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.
36:27:The Scroll Is Replaced
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll containing the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah:
36:28:“Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned.
36:29:And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off man and beast from it?’”
36:30:‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, “He shall have no heir to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be thrown out to the heat of the day and to the frost of the night.
36:31:I will also punish him and his descendants and his servants for their wickedness, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the destruction that I have declared against them—but they would not listen.”’”
36:32:Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.
37:1:Jeremiah Warns against Trust in Pharaoh
Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah the son of Josiah king in the land of Judah so he reigned as king instead of Coniah (also called Jeconiah and Jehoiachin) the son of Jehoiakim.
37:2:But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord which He spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.
37:3:Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah [along] with Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Please pray [now] to the Lord our God for us.”
37:4:Now Jeremiah was coming and going among the people, for they had not [yet] put him in prison.
37:5:Meanwhile, Pharaoh’s army had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the news about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
37:6:Then the word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah:
37:7:“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘This is what you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, will return to Egypt, to their own land.
37:8:And the Chaldeans [of Babylon] will come again and fight against this city, and they will capture it and set it on fire.”’
37:9:Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will certainly stay away from us,” for they will not stay away.
37:10:For even if you had defeated the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only the wounded men among them, yet they would rise up, every man confined in his tent, and burn down this city with fire.’”
37:11:Jeremiah Imprisoned
Now it happened when the army of the Chaldeans departed from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s [approaching] army,
37:12:that Jeremiah left Jerusalem [during the withdrawal of the Chaldean invaders] to go to [Anathoth, his hometown, in] the land of Benjamin to take possession of [the title to] the land [which he had purchased] there among the people.
37:13:When he was at the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he seized and arrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to join the Chaldeans [of Babylon]!”
37:14:But Jeremiah said, “That is a lie! I am not deserting to join the Chaldeans.” But the guard would not listen to him. So Irijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the princes (court officials).
37:15:The princes were enraged with Jeremiah and beat him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe—for they had made that the prison.
37:16:When Jeremiah had come into the vaulted cell in the dungeon and had remained there many days,
37:17:Zedekiah the king sent and brought him out; and in his palace the king secretly asked him, “Is there any word from the Lord?” And Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
37:18:Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “In what way have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?
37:19:Where then are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land?’
37:20:Therefore now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my petition come before you and be acceptable and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I may not die there.”
37:21:Then King Zedekiah commanded, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guardhouse, and a [round] loaf of bread from the bakers’ street was given to him daily, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained [imprisoned] in the court of the guardhouse.
38:1:Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern
Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal (also called Jehucal) the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying,
38:2:“So says the Lord, ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by virulent disease (pestilence), but he who goes out to the Chaldeans [of Babylon] will live and have his [own] life as a reward and stay alive.’
38:3:Thus says the Lord, ‘This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will take it.’”
38:4:Therefore the princes (court officials) said to the king, “Please [we implore you] let this man [Jeremiah] be put to death; for [speaking] in this way he discourages and weakens [the will of] the soldiers who remain in this city and he discourages and weakens [the will of] all the people by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but rather their harm.”
38:5:Then King Zedekiah [fearing the princes] said, “Listen, he is in your hand; for the king is in no position to do anything against you.”
38:6:So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down [into the cistern] with ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
38:7:Now Ebed-melech the Ethiopian (Cushite), one of the eunuchs who was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern, and while the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin,
38:8:Ebed-melech went out of the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying,
38:9:“My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have thrown into the cistern; and he will die [of hunger] where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.”
38:10:Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”
38:11:So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the palace of the king to a place under the storeroom and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah.
38:12:Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your armpits, then place the ropes under the padding”; and Jeremiah did so.
38:13:So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and took him up out of the cistern; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guardhouse.
38:14:Then King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; hide nothing from me.”
38:15:Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Even if I do give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
38:16:But King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As the Lord lives, who made our lives, be assured that I will not put you to death or put you into the hand of these men who are seeking your life.”
38:17:Interview with Zedekiah
Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If you will go out and surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live and this city will not be burned with fire; and you and your household will live.
38:18:But if you will not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans [of Babylon] and they will set it on fire; and you yourself will not escape from their hand.’”
38:19:Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews [my former subjects] who have deserted to join the Chaldeans, for the enemy may put me into their hand and they will mock me and abuse me.”
38:20:But Jeremiah said, “They will not hand you over [to them]. Please obey [the voice of] the Lord [who speaks to you through me] in what I am saying to you. Then it will go well with you and you will live.
38:21:But if you keep refusing to go out and surrender to them, this is the word [and the vision] which the Lord has shown me:
38:22:‘Then behold, all the women who are left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon and those women will say [to you, King Zedekiah],
“Your close friends
Have prevailed against your better judgment and have overpowered and deceived you;
While your feet were sunk in the mire [of trouble],
They turned back.”
38:23:Also, all your wives and your children will be brought out to the Chaldeans; and you yourself will not escape from their hand, but you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city [Jerusalem] will be burned down with fire.’”
38:24:Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know about this conversation and you will not die.
38:25:But if the princes (court officials) hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king and what he said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not execute you,’
38:26:then you are to say to them, ‘I was presenting my [humble] petition and plea to the king so that he would not send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there.’”
38:27:Then all the princes (court officials) came to Jeremiah and asked him [just what King Zedekiah had anticipated they would ask], and he reported to them in accordance with all that the king had commanded. So they stopped questioning him, since the conversation [with the king] had not been overheard.
38:28:So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guardhouse until the day that Jerusalem was captured [by the Chaldeans of Babylon].
39:1:Jerusalem Captured
Now regarding the capture of Jerusalem: In the ninth year of [the reign of] Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it;
39:2:and in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, they breached the wall and broke into the city.
39:3:Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle Gate [establishing both military control of the city and their authority to judge the captives]: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris (chief of the eunuchs), and Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag (chief of the magicians), with all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.
39:4:When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled and escaped from the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls; and the king went out toward the Arabah (Jordan Valley).
39:5:But the Chaldean (Babylonian) army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. When they had seized him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the [Aramean] land of Hamath, where he passed sentence on him.
39:6:Then at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; the king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah.
39:7:Moreover, he blinded Zedekiah and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.
39:8:The Chaldeans also burned down the king’s palace and the houses of the people, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
39:9:Then Nebuzaradan the [chief executioner and] captain of the bodyguard took the rest of the people who remained in the city, along with those who had deserted and surrendered to him, and the rest of the [so-called better class of] people who were left and carried them into exile in Babylon.
39:10:But Nebuzaradan the [Babylonian] captain of the bodyguard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at that time.
39:11:Jeremiah Spared
Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying,
39:12:“Take him and look after him; do nothing to harm him, but rather deal with him just as he asks of you.”
39:13:So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the Rab-saris (chief of the high officials), and Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag (chief of the magicians), and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon;
39:14:they even sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guardhouse and entrusted him to Gedaliah [a prominent citizen], the son of Ahikam [who had once saved Jeremiah’s life], the son of Shaphan, to take him home [with him to Mizpah]. So Jeremiah [was released and] lived among the people.
39:15:Now the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah while he was [still] confined in the court of the guardhouse, saying,
39:16:“Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring My words [of judgment] against this city through disaster and not for good; and they will take place before you on that day.
39:17:But I will protect you [Ebed-melech] on that day,” says the Lord, “and you will not be handed over to the men of whom you are afraid.
39:18:For I will certainly rescue you; and you will not fall by the sword, but you will have your [own] life as a reward of battle, because you have placed your trust in Me,” says the Lord.’”
40:1:Jeremiah Remains in Judah
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being taken as exiles to Babylon.
40:2:And the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “The Lord your God promised this disaster on this place.
40:3:Now the Lord has brought it about and has done just as He promised. Because you [people of Judah] have sinned against the Lord and did not listen to and honor His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you.
40:4:But now, listen carefully, [because of your innocence] I am freeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you [carefully]; but if you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, then do not do so. Look, all the land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right (convenient) for you to go.”
40:5:While Jeremiah was still hesitating, the captain of the bodyguard said, “Go on back then to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed [governor] over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go wherever it seems right for you to go.” So the captain of the bodyguard gave him an allowance of food and a gift and let him go.
40:6:Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.
40:7:Now when all the commanders of the forces that were [scattered] in the open country [of Judah] and their men heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land [of Judah] and had put him in charge of the men, women, and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon,
40:8:they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.
40:9:Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans; stay in this land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you.
40:10:As for me, I am going to stay at Mizpah to stand [for you] before the Chaldeans who come to us [ministering to them and looking after the king’s interests]; but as for you, gather in wine, summer fruit and oil and store them in your utensils [designed for such purposes], and live in your cities that you have taken over.”
40:11:Likewise, when all the Jews who were in Moab and among the people of Ammon and in Edom and who were in all the [other] countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant [of the people] in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them [as governor],
40:12:then all the Jews returned from all the places to which they had been driven and came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered a great abundance of wine and summer fruits.
40:13:Moreover, Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were [scattered] in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah
40:14:and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them.
40:15:Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know [who is responsible]. Why should he kill you and cause all the Jews who are gathered near you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?”
40:16:But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “Do not do this thing, for you are lying about Ishmael.”
41:1:Gedaliah Is Murdered
Now in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family [of David] and one of the princes of the king, came [at the instigation of the Ammonites] with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam in Mizpah. As they were eating a meal together there in Mizpah,
41:2:Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and killed the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed [governor] over the land.
41:3:Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were [at the banquet] with Gedaliah at Mizpah, in addition to the Chaldean soldiers who were there.
41:4:Now it happened on the second day after the killing of Gedaliah, before anyone knew about it,
41:5:that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and their bodies cut, carrying in their hands grain offerings and incense to present at the [site of the] house of the Lord [in Jerusalem].
41:6:Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping [false tears] as he went. As he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!”
41:7:Yet when they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern (underground water reservoir).
41:8:But ten men who were among them said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us! We have stores of wheat and barley and oil and honey hidden in the field.” So he stopped and did not kill them along with their companions.
41:9:Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the corpses of the men whom he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one which King Asa [of Judah] had made [about three hundred years earlier] on account of King Baasha of Israel [believing that Baasha would lay siege to Mizpah]. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with [the bodies of] those who were killed.
41:10:Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—even the king’s daughters (ladies of the court) and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and crossed over [the Jordan] to [meet his allies] the Ammonites.
41:11:Johanan Rescues the People
But when Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him heard of the murderous behavior of Ishmael the son of Nethaniah,
41:12:they took all their men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and found him by the great pool in Gibeon.
41:13:Now when all the [captive] people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were glad.
41:14:So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and joined Johanan the son of Kareah.
41:15:But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to join the Ammonites.
41:16:Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah all the people whom he had rescued from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: the soldiers, the women, the children, and the high officials whom Johanan had brought back from Gibeon.
41:17:And they went and stayed in Geruth [the lodging place of] Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt
41:18:because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed [governor] over the land [and whose death the king might avenge].
42:1:Warning against Going to Egypt
Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah (Azariah) the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached
42:2:and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our petition be presented before you, and pray to the Lord your God for us, that is, for all this remnant [of the people of Judah]; for we were once many, but now [only] a few of us are left, as you see with your own eyes, [so please pray]
42:3:that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.”
42:4:Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Now hear me, I will pray to the Lord your God in accordance with your words; and I will declare to you whatever message the Lord answers; I will keep nothing back from you.”
42:5:Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to act in accordance with all the things that the Lord your God sends you to tell us.
42:6:Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to and honor the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”
42:7:Now after ten days [of prayer] had passed the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
42:8:Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest,
42:9:and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him:
42:10:‘If you will indeed remain in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent and be satisfied concerning the disaster that I have inflicted on you [as discipline, and I will replace judgment with compassion].
42:11:Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear [as if he were deity]; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ‘for [he is a mere man, but I am the living, omniscient God and] I am with you [always] to protect you and to deliver you from his hand.
42:12:And I will show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own land.
42:13:But if you are going to say, “We will not stay in this land,” and [in so doing] do not listen to the voice of the Lord your God,
42:14:saying, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the [warrior’s] trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there,”
42:15:then in that case listen to the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “If you are really determined to go to Egypt and to reside there [temporarily],
42:16:then the sword, of which you are afraid, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine of which you are afraid will follow closely after you in Egypt, and you will die there.
42:17:So all the men who set their mind to go to Egypt to reside there [temporarily] will die by the sword, by famine and by virulent disease; none of them will remain or survive the disaster that I am going to bring on them.”’”
42:18:For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “As My anger and My wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will become detested, an object of horror, a curse and a people scorned; and you will no longer see this place.”
42:19:The Lord has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, “Do not go into Egypt!” Know with certainty that I [Jeremiah] have warned you and testified to you this day
42:20:that you have deceived yourselves; for you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, “Pray for us to the Lord our God; and whatever the Lord our God says, declare it to us and we will do it.”
42:21:And so I have told you today, but you have not listened to the voice of the Lord your God, in anything that He has sent me to tell you.
42:22:Now therefore know for certain that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by virulent disease in the land [of Egypt] where you wish to reside [temporarily].
43:1:In Egypt Jeremiah Warns of Judgment
Now it happened when Jeremiah, whom the Lord their God had sent, had finished telling all the people all the words of the Lord their God—that is, all these words—
43:2:Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the proud and insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are not telling the truth! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go into Egypt to live there.’
43:3:But Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Chaldeans, so they may [either] put us to death or exile us to Babylon.”
43:4:So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces and all the people disobeyed the voice of the Lord [which told them] to stay in the land of Judah.
43:5:But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven—
43:6:the men, women, and children, the king’s daughters (ladies of the court), and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; he also took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah.
43:7:So they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not obey the voice of the Lord) and they went in as far as Tahpanhes.
43:8:Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
43:9:“Take some large stones in your hands and hide them in the mortar in the brickwork [of the terrace] which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of some of the men of Judah;
43:10:and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am going to send and get Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and I am going to set his throne over these stones that I have hidden; and his [majestic, royal] canopy will be spread over them.
43:11:He will also come and strike the land of Egypt, giving those who are [destined] for death, to death, and those who are [destined] for captivity, to captivity, and those who are [destined] for the sword, to the sword.
43:12:And [through him] I will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them (Egyptian idols) captive. He will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will go away from there safely.
43:13:Nebuchadnezzar will also break the images and shatter the obelisks of Heliopolis in the land of Egypt; and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.”’”
44:1:Conquest of Egypt Predicted
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who were living in the land of Egypt—at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, saying,
44:2:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah; and see, this day they are desolated and no one lives in them
44:3:because of the wickedness which they committed, provoking Me to anger by continuing to burn sacrifices and incense to serve other gods that they had not known, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers.
44:4:Yet I sent to you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this shamefully vile thing which I hate.”
44:5:But they did not listen or turn [obediently] from their wickedness, and stop burning sacrifices and incense to other gods.
44:6:Therefore My wrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; so they have become a ruin and a desolation, as it is this day.
44:7:Therefore now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Why did you commit this great evil against yourselves [bringing disaster] that will cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, leaving yourselves without a remnant?
44:8:Why do you [deliberately] provoke Me to anger with the works (idols) of your hands, burning sacrifices and incense to [make-believe] gods in the land of Egypt, where you [of your own accord] have come to live [as temporary residents], that you might be cut off and become a curse and a disgrace [an object of taunts] among all the nations of the earth?
44:9:Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives [who served their foreign gods], your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives [who imitated the sin of the queens], which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
44:10:They have not become apologetic [for their guilt and sin] even to this day; they have not feared [Me with reverence] nor walked in My law or My statutes, which I have set before you and before your fathers.”’
44:11:“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to set My face against you for woe—even to cut off (destroy) all Judah [from the land].
44:12:And I will take the remnant of Judah who have decided to go into the land of Egypt to live there [instead of surrendering to the Chaldeans as directed], and they will all fall and die in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword or perish by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by the sword or by famine; and they will become detestable, an object of horror, a curse, and a disgrace.
44:13:For I will punish all the inhabitants of the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with virulent disease;
44:14:so none of the survivors from the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to live there will survive, even though they lift up their souls in longing to return to the land of Judah, [the place] to which they long to return to live; none will return except a few refugees.’”
44:15:Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, and all the women who were standing by, a large group, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah, saying,
44:16:“As for the word (message) that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we are not going to listen to you.
44:17:But rather we will certainly perform every word of the vows we have made: to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven (Ishtar) and to pour out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves and our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for [then] we had plenty of food and were prosperous and saw no misfortune.
44:18:But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.”
44:19:And said the wives, “When we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without [the knowledge and approval of] our husbands that we made cakes [in the shape of a star] to represent her and pour out drink offerings to her?”
44:20:Tragedy for the Jews
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women and to all the people who had given him that answer,
44:21:“The smoking sacrifices (incense) that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you and your forefathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land—did not the Lord remember [in detail your idolatry] and did it not all come into His mind?
44:22:The Lord could no longer endure it, because of the evil of your acts and the repulsive acts which you have committed; because of them your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.
44:23:Because you have burned sacrifices [to idols] and because you have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord or walked in His law and in His statutes and in His testimonies, therefore this tragedy has fallen on you, as it has this day.”
44:24:Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, all [you of] Judah who are in the land of Egypt,
44:25:thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, as follows: ‘You and your wives have both declared with your mouth and fulfilled it with your hand, saying, “We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven (Ishtar) and to pour out drink offerings to her.” Surely then confirm your vows and go ahead and perform your vows! [If you intend to defy all My warnings, proceed!]’
44:26:Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all [you people of] Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have sworn [an oath] by My great Name,’ says the Lord, ‘that My Name shall never again be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord God lives.”
44:27:Behold, I am watching over them for harm and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine until they are all destroyed.
44:28:Yet a small number [of My choosing] who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah; and all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know whose words will stand, Mine or theirs.
44:29:And this will be the sign to you,’ says the Lord, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will surely stand against you for harm.’
44:30:Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’”
45:1:Message to Baruch
The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
45:2:“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch:
45:3:‘You said, “Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and sighing and I find no rest.”’
45:4:Say this to him, ‘The Lord speaks in this way, “Behold, what I have built I will break down, and that which I have planted I will uproot, that is, the whole land.”
45:5:And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring disaster on all flesh,’ says the Lord, ‘but I will give your life to you [as your only reward and] as a prize of war wherever you go.’”
46:1:Defeat of Pharaoh Foretold
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the [Gentile] nations.
46:2:Concerning Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated [decisively] in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
46:3:“Line up the buckler (small shield) and [large] shield,
And advance for battle!
46:4:“Harness the horses,
And mount, you riders!
Take your stand with your helmets!
Polish the spears,
Put on the coats of mail!
46:5:“Why have I seen it?
They are terrified
And have turned back,
And their warriors are beaten down.
They take flight in haste
Without looking back;
Terror is on every side!”
Says the Lord.
46:6:Do not let the swift man run,
Nor the mighty man escape;
In the north by the river Euphrates
They have stumbled and fallen.
46:7:Who is this that rises up like the Nile [River],
Like the rivers [in the delta of Egypt] whose waters surge about?
46:8:Egypt rises like the Nile,
Even like the rivers whose waters surge about.
And He has said, “I will rise, I will cover that land;
I will certainly destroy the city and its inhabitants.”
46:9:Charge, you horses,
And drive like madmen, you chariots!
Let the warriors go forward:
Ethiopia and Put (Libya) who handle the shield,
And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.
46:10:For that day belongs to the Lord God of hosts,
A day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries.
And the sword will devour and be satiated
And drink its fill of their blood;
For the Lord God of hosts has a sacrifice [like that of a great sin offering]
In the north country by the river Euphrates.
46:11:Go up to Gilead and obtain [healing] balm,
O Virgin Daughter of Egypt!
In vain you use many medicines;
For you there is no healing or remedy.
46:12:The nations have heard of your disgrace and shame,
And your cry [of distress] has filled the earth.
For warrior has stumbled against warrior,
And both of them have fallen together.
46:13:The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:
46:14:“Declare in Egypt and proclaim in Migdol,
And proclaim in Memphis and in Tahpanhes;
Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready,
For the sword has devoured those around you.’
46:15:“Why have your strong ones been cut down?
They do not stand because the Lord drove them away.
46:16:“He will make many stumble and fall;
Yes, they have fallen one on another.
Then they said, ‘Arise, and let us go back
To our own people and to the land of our birth,
Away from the sword of the oppressor.’
46:17:“They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is destroyed and is merely a loud noise;
He has let the appointed time [of opportunity] pass by!’
46:18:“As I live,” says the King,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts,
“Surely like Tabor among the mountains
Or like Carmel by the sea,
So shall he [the great king of Babylon] come.
46:19:“O you daughter who dwells in Egypt and you who dwell with her,
Prepare yourselves [with all you will need] to go into exile,
For Memphis will become desolate;
It will even be burned down and without inhabitant.
46:20:“Egypt is a very pretty heifer,
But a horsefly (Babylonia) is coming [against her] out of the north!
46:21:“Also her mercenaries in her army
Are like fattened calves,
For they too have turned back and have fled together;
They did not stand [their ground],
Because the day of their disaster has come upon them,
The time of their punishment.
46:22:“The sound [of Egypt fleeing from the enemy] is like [the rustling of] an escaping serpent,
For her foes advance with a mighty army
And come against her like woodcutters with axes.
46:23:“They have cut down her forest,” says the Lord;
“Certainly it will no longer be found,
Because they (the invaders) are more numerous than locusts
And cannot be counted.
46:24:“The Daughter of Egypt has been shamed,
Given over to the power of the people of the north [the Chaldeans of Babylonia].”
46:25:The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says, “Behold, I am going to punish Amon [chief god of the sacred city] of Thebes [the capital of Upper Egypt], and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings—even Pharaoh and those who put their trust in him [as a shield against Babylon].
46:26:I will put them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants. Afterward Egypt will be inhabited as in the days of old,” says the Lord.
46:27:“But as for you, do not fear, O My servant Jacob,
Nor be dismayed, O Israel!
For behold, I will save you from [your captivity in] a distant land,
And your descendants from the land of their exile;
And Jacob will return and be quiet and secure,
And no one will make him afraid.
46:28:“Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the Lord,
“For I am with you.
For I will make a full and complete end of all the nations
To which I have driven you;
Yet I will not make a full end of you.
But I will discipline and correct you appropriately
And by no means will I declare you guiltless or leave you unpunished.”
47:1:Prophecy against Philistia
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked and conquered [the Philistine city of] Gaza.
47:2:Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, waters are going to rise out of the north (Babylonia)
And become an overflowing stream
And overflow the land and all that is in it,
The city and those who live in it.
Then the people will cry out,
And all the inhabitants of the land [of Philistia] will wail.
47:3:“Because of the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of the war-horses [of the Babylonian king],
The rattling of his chariots, and the rumbling of his wheels,
The fathers have not looked and turned back for their children,
So weak are their hands [with terror]
47:4:Because of the day that is coming
To destroy all the Philistines
And to cut off from Tyre and Sidon
Every ally who remains.
For the Lord is going to destroy the Philistines,
The remnant [still surviving] of the coastland of Caphtor.
47:5:“Baldness [as a sign of mourning] will come on Gaza;
Ashkelon will be cut off and ruined.
O remnant of their valley,
How long will you gash yourselves [as a sign of mourning]?
47:6:“O you sword of the Lord,
How long will it be before you are quiet?
Put yourself into your sheath;
Rest and be still.
47:7:“How can His sword be quiet
When the Lord has given it an order?
Against Ashkelon and against the [whole Philistine] seashore
There He has assigned it.”
48:1:Prophecy against Moab
Concerning Moab.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Woe (judgment is coming) to [the city of] Nebo, for it has been destroyed!
Kiriathaim has been shamed, it has been captured;
Misgab [the high fortress] has been shamed, broken down and crushed.
48:2:“The glory of Moab is no more;
In Heshbon they planned evil against her,
Saying, ‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’
You also, O [city of] Madmen, shall be silenced;
The sword will pursue you.
48:3:“The sound of an outcry from Horonaim,
‘Desolation and great destruction!’
48:4:“Moab is destroyed;
Her little ones have called out a cry of distress [to be heard as far as Zoar].
48:5:“For the Ascent of Luhith
Will be climbed by [successive groups of] fugitives with continual weeping;
For on the descent of Horonaim
They have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.
48:6:“Run! Save your lives,
That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.
48:7:“For because you have trusted in your works [your hand-made idols] and in your treasures [instead of in God],
Even you yourself will be captured;
And Chemosh [your disgusting god cannot rescue you, but] will go away into exile [along with the fugitives]
Together with his priests and his princes.
48:8:“And the destroyer will come upon every city;
No city will escape.
The [Jordan] valley also will be ruined
And the plain will be devastated,
As the Lord has said.
48:9:“Give a gravestone to Moab,
For she will fall into ruins;
Her cities (pastures, farms) will be desolate,
Without anyone to live in them.
48:10:“Cursed is the one who does the work of the Lord negligently,
And cursed is the one who restrains his sword from blood [in executing the judgment of the Lord].
48:11:“Moab has been at ease from his youth;
He has also been undisturbed, and settled like wine on his dregs,
And he has not been emptied from one vessel to another,
Nor has he gone into exile.
Therefore his flavor remains in him,
And his scent has not changed.
48:12:Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will send to Moab those who will tip him over and who will empty his vessels and break his [earthenware] jars in pieces.
48:13:And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh [his worthless, disgusting god], as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their [misplaced] confidence.
48:14:“How can you say, ‘We are great warriors
And valiant men in war?’
48:15:“Moab has been made desolate and his cities have gone up [in smoke and flame];
And his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,”
Says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
48:16:“The destruction of Moab will come soon,
And his disaster hurries quickly.
48:17:“Show sympathy for him, all you [nations] who are around him,
And all you [distant nations] who know his name;
Say, ‘How has the mighty scepter [of national power] been broken,
And the splendid staff [of glory]!’
48:18:“Come down from your glory,
O Daughter living in Dibon,
And sit on the parched ground [among the thirsty]!
For the destroyer of Moab has advanced against you;
He has destroyed your strongholds.
48:19:“O inhabitant of Aroer,
Stand by the road and keep watch!
Ask [of] him who flees and [ask of] her who escapes,
Saying, ‘What has happened?’
48:20:“Moab is shamed, for she has been broken down and shattered.
Wail and cry out!
Tell by [the banks of] the Arnon
That Moab has been destroyed.
48:21:“Judgment has come on [the land of] the plain—upon Holon, Jahzah, and against Mephaath,
48:22:against Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
48:23:against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
48:24:against Kerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.
48:25:The horn (strength) of Moab has been cut off and his arm [of authority] is shattered,” says the Lord.
48:26:Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant and magnified himself against the Lord [by denying Reuben’s occupation of the land the Lord had assigned him]. Moab also will wallow in his vomit, and he too shall become a laughingstock.
48:27:For was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Was he caught among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head in scorn.
48:28:“You inhabitants of Moab,
Leave the cities and live among the rocks,
And be like the dove that makes her nest
In the walls of the yawning ravine.
48:29:“We have heard of the [giddy] pride of Moab, the extremely proud one—
His haughtiness, his arrogance, his conceit, and his self-exaltation.
48:30:“I know his [insolent] wrath,” says the Lord,
“But it is futile;
His idle boasts [in his deeds] have accomplished nothing.
48:31:“Therefore I will wail over Moab,
And I will cry out for all Moab.
I will sigh and mourn over the men of Kir-heres (Kir-hareseth).
48:32:“O vines of Sibmah, I will weep for you
More than the weeping of Jazer [over its ruins and wasted vineyards].
Your tendrils [of influence] stretched across the sea,
Reaching [even] to the sea of Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen
On your summer fruits and your [season’s] crop of grapes.
48:33:“So joy and gladness are taken away
From the fruitful field and from the land of Moab.
And I have made the wine cease from the wine presses;
No one treads the grapes with shouting.
Their shouting is not joyful shouting [but is instead, a battle cry].
48:34:From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolations.
48:35:Moreover, I will cause to cease in Moab,” says the Lord, “the one who ascends and offers sacrifice in the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.
48:36:“Therefore My heart moans and sighs for Moab like flutes, and My heart moans and sighs like flutes for the men of Kir-heres (Kir-hareseth); therefore [the remnant of] the abundant riches they gained has perished.
48:37:For every head is [shaven] bald and every beard cut off; there are cuts (slashes) on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins [all expressions of mourning].
48:38:On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation (expressions of grief for the dead) everywhere, for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which there is no pleasure,” says the Lord.
48:39:How it is broken down! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab will become a laughingstock and a [horrifying] terror to all who are around him.”
48:40:For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, one (Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon) will fly swiftly like an eagle
And spread out his wings against Moab.
48:41:“Kerioth [and the cities] has been taken
And the strongholds seized;
And the hearts of the warriors of Moab in that day
Shall be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.
48:42:“Moab will be destroyed from being a nation (people)
Because he has become arrogant and magnified himself against the Lord.
48:43:“Terror and pit and snare are before you,
O inhabitant of Moab,” says the Lord.
48:44:“The one who flees from the terror
Will fall into the pit,
And the one who gets up out of the pit
Will be taken and caught in the trap;
For I shall bring upon it, even upon Moab,
The year of their punishment,” says the Lord.
48:45:“In the shadow of Heshbon
The fugitives stand powerless [helpless and without strength],
For a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
A flame from the midst of Sihon;
It has destroyed the forehead of Moab
And the crowns of the heads of [the arrogant Moabites] the ones in tumult.
48:46:“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Moab!
The people of [the pagan god called] Chemosh have perished;
For your sons have been taken away captive
And your daughters into captivity.
48:47:“Yet I will return the captives and restore the fortunes of Moab
In the latter days,” says the Lord.
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.
49:1:Prophecy against Ammon
Concerning the sons (descendants) of Ammon.
Thus says the Lord:
“Does Israel have no sons [to reclaim Gad from the Ammonites]?
Has he no heir?
Why then has Malcam taken possession of Gad
And [why do] his people live in the cities [of Gad]?
49:2:“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When I will cause an alarm of war to be heard
Against Rabbah of the Ammonites;
And it [along with the high ground on which it stands] will become a desolate heap,
And its villages will be set on fire.
Then will Israel take possession of his possessors,”
Says the Lord.
49:3:“Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai [in Ammon] has been destroyed!
Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!
Wrap yourselves with sackcloth and lament (cry out in grief),
And rush back and forth inside the enclosures;
For Malcam [your powerless god] will go into exile
Together with his priests and his princes.
49:4:“Why do you boast of your valleys?
Your valley is flowing away,
[O Ammon] rebellious and faithless daughter
Who trusts in her treasures, saying,
‘Who will come against me?’
49:5:“Behold, I am going to bring terror on you,”
Says the Lord God of hosts,
“From all who are around you;
And each of you will be driven out headlong,
And there will be no one to gather the fugitives together.
49:6:“But afterward I will reverse
The captivity of the children of Ammon and restore their fortunes,”
Says the Lord.
49:7:Prophecy against Edom
Concerning Edom.
Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman?
Has good counsel vanished from the intelligent and prudent?
Has their wisdom decayed?
49:8:“Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths [of the desert to escape the judgment of Edom],
O inhabitants of Dedan,
For I will bring the destruction of Esau (Edom) upon him
When I inspect and punish him.
49:9:“If grape gatherers came to you,
Would they not leave some ungleaned grapes [on the vines]?
If thieves came by night,
Would they not destroy [only] what is enough [for them]?
49:10:“But I have stripped Esau (Edom) bare;
I have uncovered his hiding places
And he cannot hide himself.
His descendants have been destroyed along with his brothers (relatives) and his neighbors;
And he is no more.
49:11:“Leave your orphans behind; I will [do what is needed to] keep them alive.
And let [those who are] your widows trust and confide in Me.”
49:12:For thus says the Lord, “Behold, those (Israel) who were not sentenced to drink the cup [of wrath] shall certainly drink it, and are you to remain unpunished? You will not be acquitted and go unpunished, but you will certainly drink [from the cup of wrath and judgment].
49:13:For I have sworn [an oath] by Myself,” says the Lord, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin, and a curse; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.”
49:14:I have heard a report from the Lord,
And a messenger has been sent to the nations, saying,
“Gather together and come against her,
And rise up for the battle.”
49:15:“For behold, [Edom] I have made you small among the nations
And despised among men.
49:16:“As for Your terror,
The pride and arrogance of your heart have deceived you,
O you who live in the clefts of the rock (Sela also called Petra),
Who hold and occupy the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,
I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.
49:17:“Edom will become an object of horror; everyone who goes by it will be astonished and shall hiss [scornfully] at all its plagues and disasters.
49:18:As [it was] in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with their neighboring cities,” says the Lord, “no man will live there, nor will a son of man dwell in it.
49:19:See, one will come like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the enduring habitation [of Edom] and its watered pastures; for in an instant I will make him (Edom) run from his land. I will appoint over him the one whom I choose. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me [into court] and prosecute Me [for this]? Who is the [earthly] shepherd who can stand [defiantly] before Me?”
49:20:Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has devised against Edom, and [hear] what He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will be dragged away, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their dwelling place desolate because of them.
49:21:The earth has quaked at the noise of their downfall. There is an outcry! The sound of its noise has been heard at the Red Sea.
49:22:Behold, He will mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread His wings against [the city of] Bozrah; and in that day the heart of the mighty warriors of Edom will be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.
49:23:Prophecy against Damascus
Concerning Damascus [in Syria].
“Hamath and Arpad are perplexed and shamed,
For they have heard bad news;
They are disheartened;
Troubled and anxious like a [storm-tossed] sea
Which cannot be calmed.
49:24:“Damascus has become helpless;
She has turned away to flee,
Terror (panic) has seized her;
Anguish and distress have gripped her
Like a woman in childbirth.
49:25:“Why has the renowned city not been deserted,
The city of My joy!
49:26:“Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets,
And all her men of war will be destroyed in that day,” says the Lord of hosts.
49:27:“I will set fire to the wall of Damascus,
And it will consume the palaces of Ben-hadad.”
49:28:Prophecy against Kedar and Hazor
Concerning Kedar and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. Thus says the Lord,
“Arise, go up against Kedar
And destroy the men of the east.
49:29:“They (the Babylonians) will take away their tents and their flocks;
They will carry off for themselves
Their tent curtains, all their goods and their camels,
And they will call out to one another, ‘Terror on every side!’
49:30:“Flee, run far away! Dwell in the depths [of the desert],
O inhabitants of Hazor,” says the Lord,
“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has planned a course of action against you
And devised a scheme against you.
49:31:“Arise [Nebuchadnezzar], go up against a nation which is at ease,
Which lives securely,” says the Lord,
“A nation which has neither gates nor bars;
They dwell apart and alone.
49:32:“Their camels will become plunder,
And their herds of cattle a spoil;
And I will scatter to all the [four] winds those who cut the corners of their hair [as evidence of their idolatry],
And I will bring their disaster from every side,” says the Lord.
49:33:“Hazor will become a haunt and dwelling place of jackals,
A desolation forever;
No one will live there,
Nor will a son of man reside in it.”
49:34:Prophecy against Elam
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
49:35:“Thus says the Lord of hosts,
‘Behold (listen carefully), I am going to break the bow of Elam,
The finest [weapon] of their strength.
49:36:‘And I will bring upon Elam the four winds
From the four corners of heaven;
And I will scatter them toward all those winds,
And there will be no nation
To which the outcasts of Elam will not go.
49:37:‘So I will cause Elam to be shattered (dismayed) before their enemies
And before those who seek their lives;
And I will bring disaster on them,
Even My fierce anger,’ says the Lord.
‘And I will send the sword after them
Until I have consumed them.
49:38:‘Then I will set My throne [of judgment] in Elam
And I will destroy from there the king and princes,’
Says the Lord.
49:39:‘But it will be in the last days (the end of days)
That I will reverse the captivity and restore the fortunes of Elam,’”
Says the Lord.
50:1:Prophecy against Babylon
The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon and concerning the land of the Chaldeans through Jeremiah the prophet:
50:2:“Declare among the nations.
Lift up a signal [to spread the news]—publish and proclaim it,
Do not conceal it; say,
‘Babylon has been taken,
Bel [the patron god] has been shamed, Marduk (Bel) has been shattered.
Babylon’s images have been shamed, her [worthless] idols have been thrown down.’
50:3:For out of the north a nation (Media) has come against her which will make her land desolate, and no one will live there. They have fled, they have gone away—both man and animal.
50:4:“In those days and at that time,” says the Lord, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will come up weeping [in repentance] as they come and seek the Lord their God [inquiring for and of Him].
50:5:They will ask the way to Zion, with their faces in that direction, saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.’
50:6:“My people have become lost sheep;
Their shepherds have led them astray.
They have made them turn aside [to the seductive places of idolatry] on the mountains.
They have gone along [from one sin to another] from mountain to hill;
They have forgotten their [own] resting place.
50:7:“All who found them have devoured them;
And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty,
Because they have sinned against the Lord [and are no longer holy to Him], their [true] habitation of righteousness and justice,
Even the Lord, the [confident] hope of their fathers.’
50:8:“Wander away from the midst of Babylon
And go out of the land of the Chaldeans;
Be like the male goats [who serve as leaders] at the head of the flocks.
50:9:“For behold, I will stir up and bring up against Babylon
An assembly of great nations from the north country.
They will equip themselves and set up the battle lines against her;
From there she will be taken captive.
Their arrows will be like an expert warrior
Who will not return empty-handed.
50:10:“Chaldea will become plunder;
All who plunder her will be satisfied,” says the Lord.
50:11:“Though you are glad, though you rejoice,
O you who plunder My heritage,
Though you are wanton and skip about like a heifer in the grass
And neigh like stallions,
50:12:Your mother [Babylon] shall be greatly shamed;
She who gave you birth will be ashamed.
Behold, she will be the least of the nations,
A wilderness, a parched land and a desert.
50:13:“Because of the wrath of the Lord she will not be inhabited
But she will be completely desolate;
Everyone who goes by Babylon will be appalled
And will hiss (mock) at all her wounds and plagues.
50:14:“Set yourselves in battle formation against Babylon on every side,
All you archers.
Shoot at her! Do not spare the arrows,
For she has sinned against the Lord.
50:15:“Raise the battle cry against her on every side!
She has given her hand [in agreement] and has surrendered; her pillars have fallen,
Her walls have been torn down.
For this is the vengeance of the Lord:
Take vengeance on her;
As she has done [to others], do to her.
50:16:“Cut off the sower from Babylon
And the one who handles the sickle at the time of harvest.
For fear of the sword of the oppressor
Everyone will return to his own people
And everyone will flee to his own land.
50:17:Israel is a hunted and scattered flock [driven here and there as prey]; the lions have chased them away. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken (gnawed) his bones.
50:18:Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will visit (inspect, examine) and punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I visited and punished the king of Assyria.
50:19:And I will bring Israel [home] again to his pasture and he will graze on [the most fertile lands of] Carmel [in the west] and Bashan [in the east], and his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
50:20:In those days and at that time,’ says the Lord, ‘a search will be made for the wickedness of Israel, but there will be none and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’
50:21:“Go against [Babylon] the land of Merathaim (Double Rebellion),
Go up against it and against the people of Pekod (Punishment).
Kill and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,
“And do everything that I have commanded you.”
50:22:“The noise of battle is in the land,
And [the noise of] great destruction.
50:23:“How the hammer of the whole earth
Is crushed and broken!
How Babylon has become
A horror [of desolation] among the nations!
50:24:“I set a trap for you and you also were caught, O Babylon,
And you did not know it;
You have been found and also seized
Because you have struggled against the Lord.”
50:25:The Lord has opened His armory
And has brought out [the nations who unknowingly are] the weapons of His indignation (wrath),
For it is a work of the Lord God of hosts
In the land of the Chaldeans.
50:26:Come against her from the farthest border.
Open her storehouses;
Pile it up like heaps of rubbish.
Burn and destroy her completely;
Let nothing be left of her.
50:27:Kill all her young bulls [her strength—her young men];
Let them go down to the slaughter!
Woe (judgment is coming) to the Chaldeans, for their day has come,
The time of their punishment.
50:28:Listen to the voice of the refugees who flee and escape from the land of Babylon,
Proclaiming in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God,
The vengeance [of the Lord against the Chaldeans] for [plundering and destroying] His temple.
50:29:“Call together many [archers] against Babylon,
All those who bend the bow.
Encamp against her on every side;
Let no one from there escape.
Repay her according to her actions;
Just as she has done, do to her.
For she has been proudly defiant and presumptuous against the Lord,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
50:30:“Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,
And all her soldiers will be destroyed on that day,” says the Lord.
50:31:“Behold, I am against you, [O Babylon, you] arrogant one, [you who are pride and presumption personified],”
Says the Lord God of hosts,
“For your day has come,
The time when I will punish you.
50:32:“The arrogant (proud) one will stumble and fall
With no one to raise him up;
And I will set fire to his cities
And it will devour all who are around him.”
50:33:Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“The children of Israel are oppressed,
And the children of Judah as well;
And all who took them captive have held them tightly,
They have refused to let them go.
50:34:“Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is His name.
He will most certainly plead their case and defend their cause
So that He may bring rest to their land,
But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.
50:35:“A sword against the Chaldeans,” says the Lord,
“And against the inhabitants of Babylon
And against her princes (officials, civic rulers) and against her wise men (astrologers, religious rulers)!
50:36:“A sword against the oracle priests (the babbling liars), and they will become fools!
A sword against her mighty warriors, and they will be shattered and destroyed!
50:37:“A sword against their horses and against their chariots
And against all the foreign troops that are in her midst,
And they will become [as weak and defenseless as] women!
A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!
50:38:“A drought on her waters, and they will dry up!
For it is a land of [worthless] idols,
And they are mad over fearsome idols [those objects of terror in which they foolishly trust].
50:39:“Therefore wild beasts of the desert will live there [in Babylon] with the jackals;
The ostriches also will live there,
And it will never again be inhabited [with people]
Or lived in from generation to generation.
50:40:“As when God overthrew Sodom
And Gomorrah and their neighboring cities,” says the Lord,
“So no man will live there;
Nor shall any son of man live there.”
50:41:“Behold, a people is coming from the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Will be stirring from the remote parts of the earth.
50:42:“They seize their bow and spear;
They are cruel and have no compassion.
They sound like the roaring of the sea;
They ride on horses,
Every man equipped like a man [ready] for the battle
Against you, O Daughter of Babylon.
50:43:“The king of Babylon has heard the report about them,
And his hands fall limp and helpless;
Anguish has seized him,
And agony like that of a woman in childbirth.
50:44:“See, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the enduring habitation [of Babylon] and its watered pastures; for in an instant I will make Babylon run from his land. I will appoint over Babylon the one whom I choose. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me [into court] and prosecute Me [for this]? Who is the [earthly] shepherd who can stand [defiantly] before Me?”
50:45:Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has devised against Babylon, and hear what He has purposed against [the inhabitants of the land of] the Chaldeans: surely they will be dragged away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their habitation desolate because of them.
50:46:At the shout, “Babylon has been seized!” the earth quakes, and an outcry is heard among the nations.
51:1:Babylon Judged for Sins against Israel
Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I am going to stir up and put into action [a fury] against Babylon
And against the [rebellious] people of Leb-kamai (Chaldea)
A destroying wind and hostile spirit;
51:2:“And I will send foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her
And may devastate and empty her land;
For in the day of destruction
They will be against her on every side.
51:3:“Do not let him (the Chaldean defender) who bends his bow bend it,
Nor let him rise up in his coat of armor.
So do not spare her young men;
Devote her entire army to destruction.
51:4:“They shall fall down dead in the land of the Chaldeans,
And wounded in her streets.”
51:5:For neither Israel nor Judah has been abandoned
By his God, the Lord of hosts,
Though their land is full of sin and guilt
Before the Holy One of Israel.
51:6:Flee out of Babylon,
Let every one of you save his life!
Do not be destroyed in her punishment,
For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;
He is going to pay her what she has earned.
51:7:Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
Intoxicating all the earth.
The nations drank her wine;
Therefore the nations have gone mad.
51:8:Babylon has suddenly fallen and is shattered!
Wail for her [if you care to]!
Get balm for her [incurable] pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.
51:9:We would have healed Babylon, but she was not to be healed.
Abandon her and let each [captive] return to his own country,
For her guilt and judgment have reached to heaven
And are lifted up to the very skies.
51:10:The Lord has brought about our vindication and has revealed the righteousness of our cause;
Come and let us proclaim in Zion
The work of the Lord our God!
51:11:Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields [and cover yourselves]!
The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
Because His purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it;
For that is the vengeance of the Lord, vengeance [on Babylon] for [plundering and destroying] His temple.
51:12:Set up a signal on the walls of Babylon [to spread the news];
Post a strong blockade,
Station the guards,
Prepare the men for ambush!
For the Lord has both purposed and done
That which He spoke against the people of Babylon.
51:13:[O Babylon] you who live by many waters,
Rich in treasures,
Your end has come,
And the line measuring your life is cut.
51:14:The Lord of hosts has sworn [an oath] by Himself, saying,
“Surely I will fill you with men, as with [a swarm of] locusts [who strip the land clean],
And they will lift up a song and shout of victory over you.”
51:15:He made the earth by His power;
He established the world by His wisdom
And stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
51:16:When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
And He causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightnings for the rain
And brings out the wind from His storehouses.
51:17:Every man has become stupid and brutelike, without knowledge [of God];
Every goldsmith is shamed by the cast images he has made;
For his molten idols are a lie,
And there is no breath [of life] or spirit in them.
51:18:They are worthless (empty, false, futile), a work of delusion and worthy of derision;
In the time of their inspection and punishment they will perish.
51:19:The Portion of Jacob [the true God of Israel] is not like these [handmade gods];
For He is the Maker of all and the One who formed and fashioned all things,
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—
The Lord of hosts is His name.
51:20:“You [Cyrus of Persia, soon to conquer Babylon] are My battle-axe and weapon of war—
For with you I shatter nations,
With you I destroy kingdoms.
51:21:“With you I shatter the horse and his rider,
With you I shatter the chariot and its driver,
51:22:With you I shatter man and woman,
With you I shatter old man and youth,
With you I shatter young man and virgin,
51:23:With you I shatter the shepherd and his flock,
With you I shatter the farmer and his yoke of oxen,
And with you I shatter governors and commanders.
51:24:“And I will [completely] repay Babylon and all the people of Chaldea for all the evil that they have done in Zion—before your very eyes [I will do it],” says the Lord.
51:25:“Behold, I am against you,
O destroying mountain [conqueror of nations],
Who destroys the whole earth,” declares the Lord,
“I will stretch out My hand against you,
And roll you down from the [rugged] cliffs,
And will make you a burnt mountain (extinct volcano).
51:26:“They will not take from you [even] a stone for a cornerstone
Nor any rock for a foundation,
But you will be desolate forever,” says the Lord.
51:27:Lift up a signal in the land [to spread the news]!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Dedicate the nations [for war] against her;
Call against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a marshal against her;
Cause the horses to come up like bristly locusts [with their wings not yet released from their cases].
51:28:Prepare and dedicate the nations for war against her—
The kings of Media,
With their governors and commanders,
And every land of their dominion.
51:29:The land trembles and writhes [in pain and sorrow],
For the purposes of the Lord against Babylon stand,
To make the land of Babylon
A desolation without inhabitants.
51:30:The mighty warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight;
They remain in their strongholds.
Their strength and power have failed;
They are becoming [weak and helpless] like women.
Their dwelling places are set on fire;
The bars on her gates are broken.
51:31:One courier runs to meet another,
And one messenger to meet another,
To tell the king of Babylon
That his city has been captured from end to end;
51:32:And that the fords [across the Euphrates] have been blocked and [the ferries] seized,
And they have set the [great] marshes on fire,
And the men of war are terrified.
51:33:For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor
At the time it is being trampled and prepared;
Yet in a little while the time of harvest will come for her.”
51:34:“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me,
He has set me down like an empty vessel.
Like a monster he has swallowed me up,
He has filled his belly with my delicacies;
He has spit me out and washed me away.
51:35:“May the violence done to me and to my flesh and blood be upon Babylon,”
The inhabitant of Zion will say;
And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
Jerusalem will say.
51:36:Therefore thus says the Lord,
“Behold, I will plead your case
And take full vengeance for you;
I will dry up her sea and great reservoir
And make her fountain dry.
51:37:“Babylon will become a heap [of ruins], a haunt and dwelling place of jackals,
An object of horror (an astonishing desolation) and a hissing [of scorn and amazement], without inhabitants.
51:38:“They (the Chaldean lords) will be roaring together [before their sudden capture] like young lions [roaring over their prey],
They (the princes) will be growling like lions’ cubs.
51:39:“When they are inflamed [with wine and lust during their drinking bouts], I will prepare them a feast [of My wrath]
And make them drunk, that they may rejoice
And may sleep a perpetual sleep
And not wake up,” declares the Lord.
51:40:“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
Like rams together with male goats.
51:41:“How Sheshak (Babylon) has been captured,
And the praise of the whole earth been seized!
How Babylon has become an astonishing desolation and an object of horror among the nations!
51:42:“The sea has come up over Babylon;
She has been engulfed with its tumultuous waves.
51:43:“Her cities have become an astonishing desolation and an object of horror,
A parched land and a desert,
A land in which no one lives,
And through which no son of man passes.
51:44:“I will punish and judge Bel [the handmade god] in Babylon
And take out of his mouth what he has swallowed up [the stolen sacred articles and the captives of Judah and elsewhere].
The nations will no longer flow to him.
Yes, the wall of Babylon has fallen down!
51:45:“Come out of her midst, My people,
And each of you [escape and] save yourself
From the fierce anger of the Lord.
51:46:“Now beware so that you do not lose heart,
And so that you are not afraid at the rumor that will be heard in the land—
For the rumor shall come one year,
And after that another rumor in another year,
And violence shall be in the land,
Ruler against ruler—
51:47:“Therefore behold (listen carefully), the days are coming
When I will judge and punish the idols of Babylon;
Her whole land will be perplexed and shamed,
And all her slain will fall in her midst.
51:48:“Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
Will shout and sing for joy over Babylon,
For the destroyers will come against her from the north,”
Says the Lord.
51:49:Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,
As also for Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen.
51:50:You who have escaped the sword,
Go away! Do not stay!
Remember the Lord from far away,
And let [desolate] Jerusalem come into your mind.
51:51:We are perplexed and ashamed, for we have heard reproach;
Disgrace has covered our faces,
For foreigners [from Babylon] have come
Into the [most] sacred parts of the sanctuary of the Lord [even those places forbidden to all but the appointed priest].
51:52:“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When I will judge and punish the idols [of Babylon],
And throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.”
51:53:“Though Babylon should ascend to the heavens,
And though she should fortify her lofty stronghold,
Yet destroyers will come on her from Me,” says the Lord.
51:54:The sound of an outcry [comes] from Babylon,
And [the sound] of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
51:55:For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon and make her a ruin,
And He will still her great voice [that hums with city life].
And the waves [of her conquerors] roar like great waters,
The noise of their voices is raised up [like the marching of an army].
51:56:For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon;
And her mighty warriors will be captured,
Their bows are shattered;
For the Lord is a God of [just] restitution;
He will fully repay.
51:57:“I will make her princes and her wise men drunk,
Her governors and her commanders and her mighty warriors;
They will sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,”
Says the King—the Lord of hosts is His name.
51:58:Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“The broad wall of Babylon will be completely overthrown and the foundations razed
And her high gates will be set on fire;
The peoples will labor in vain,
And the nations become exhausted [only] for fire [that will destroy their work].”
51:59:The message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now this Seraiah was chief chamberlain or quartermaster [and brother of Baruch].
51:60:So Jeremiah wrote in a single scroll all the disaster which would come on Babylon, [that is] all these words which have been written concerning Babylon.
51:61:Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, see to it that you read all these words aloud,
51:62:and say, ‘You, O Lord, have promised concerning this place to cut it off and destroy it, so that there shall be nothing living in it, neither man nor animal, but it will be perpetually desolate.’
51:63:And as soon as you finish reading this scroll, you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates.
51:64:Then say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink down and not rise because of the disaster that I will bring on her; and the Babylonians will become [hopelessly] exhausted.’” Thus the words of Jeremiah are completed.
52:1:The Fall of Jerusalem
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
52:2:He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord like all that Jehoiakim had done.
52:3:For all this came about in Jerusalem and Judah because of the anger of the Lord, and [in the end] He cast them from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
52:4:Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem; and they camped against it and built moveable towers and siege mounds all around it.
52:5:So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
52:6:In the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.
52:7:Then the city was broken into, and all the soldiers fled. They left the city at night [as Ezekiel prophesied] passing through the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They fled by way of the Arabah (the Jordan Valley).
52:8:But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and his entire army was scattered from him.
52:9:Then they seized the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the [Syrian] land of Hamath [on the northern border of Israel], where he pronounced sentence on him.
52:10:The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the princes of Judah at Riblah.
52:11:Then the king of Babylon blinded Zedekiah, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon and there he put him in prison [in a mill] until the day of his death.
52:12:Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
52:13:He burned down the house of the Lord and the king’s palace and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house or important structure he set on fire.
52:14:So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem.
52:15:Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took away into exile some of the poorest of the people, those who were left in the city [at the time it was captured], along with those who deserted to join the king of Babylon [during the siege] and the rest of the artisans.
52:16:But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.
52:17:Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the pillars of bronze which belonged to the house of the Lord, and the bronze pedestals [which supported the ten basins] and the [enormous] bronze Sea, which were in the house of the Lord, and carried all the bronze to Babylon.
52:18:They also took away the pots [for carrying away ashes] and the shovels and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.
52:19:The captain of the guard also took away the [small] bowls and the firepans and the basins and the pots and the lampstands and the incense cups and the bowls for the drink offerings—whatever was made of fine gold and whatever was made of fine silver.
52:20:The two pillars, the one [enormous] Sea (basin), and the twelve bronze bulls under the Sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the bronze of all these things was beyond weighing.
52:21:Concerning the pillars, the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits (twenty-seven feet), and a line [an ornamental molding] of twelve cubits (eighteen feet) went around its circumference; it was four fingers thick, and [the pillar was] hollow.
52:22:A capital of bronze was on [top of] it. The height of each capital was five cubits (seven and one-half feet), with a lattice-work and pomegranates around it, all of bronze. The second pillar also, with its pomegranates, was similar to these.
52:23:There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; and a hundred pomegranates were on the lattice-work all around.
52:24:Then the captain of the guard took [as prisoners] Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three doorkeepers.
52:25:He also took out of the city one official who was overseer of the soldiers, and seven of the king’s advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men who were still in the city.
52:26:Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
52:27:Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led away into exile from its own land.
52:28:This is the number of people whom Nebuchadnezzar took captive and exiled: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
52:29:in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, [he took captive] 832 persons from Jerusalem;
52:30:in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the [Babylonian] guard took captive 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 persons in all.
52:31:Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin [also called Coniah and Jeconiah] king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, showed favor to Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.
52:32:He spoke kindly to him and gave him a throne above the thrones of the kings who were [captives] with him in Babylon.
52:33:Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table all the days of his life.
52:34:And his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon, a daily portion [according to his needs] until the day of his death, all the days of his life.
lamentations:1:1:The Sorrows of Zion
How solitary and lonely sits the city [Jerusalem]
That was [once] full of people!
How like a widow she has become.
She who was great among the nations!
The princess among the provinces,
Has become a forced laborer!
1:2:She weeps bitterly in the night
And her tears are [constantly] on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers (political allies)
She has no one to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
1:3:Judah has gone into exile under affliction
And under harsh servitude;
She dwells among the [pagan] nations,
But she has found no rest;
All her pursuers have overtaken her
In the midst of [her] distress.
1:4:The roads to Zion are in mourning
Because no one comes to the appointed feasts.
All her gates are desolate;
Her priests are groaning,
Her virgins are grieved and suffering,
And she suffers bitterly.
1:5:Her adversaries have become her masters,
Her enemies prosper;
For the Lord has caused her grief
Because of the multitude of her transgressions;
Her young children have gone
Into captivity before the enemy.
1:6:All her beauty and majesty
Have departed from the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).
Her princes have become like deer
That have found no pasture;
They have fled without strength
Before the pursuer.
1:7:In the days of her affliction and homelessness
Jerusalem remembers all her precious things
That she had from the days of old,
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary,
And no one helped her,
The enemy saw her,
They mocked at her downfall.
1:8:Jerusalem sinned greatly;
Therefore she has become an unclean thing [and has been removed].
All who honored her [now] despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Even she herself groans and turns [her face] away.
1:9:Her (ceremonial) uncleanness was on her skirts;
She did not [seriously] consider her future.
Therefore she has come down [from throne to slavery] in an astonishing manner;
She has no comforter.
“O Lord” [cries Jerusalem], “look at my affliction,
For the enemy has magnified himself [in triumph]!”
1:10:The adversary has spread out his hand
Over all her precious and desirable things;
For she has seen the [Gentile] nations enter her sanctuary (the Jerusalem temple)—
The ones whom You commanded
That they should not enter into Your congregation [not even in the outer courts].
1:11:All her people groan, seeking bread;
They have exchanged their desirable and precious things for food
To restore their lives.
“See, O Lord, and consider
How despised and repulsive I have become!”
1:12:“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass this way?
Look and see if there is any pain like my pain
Which was severely dealt out to me,
Which the Lord has inflicted [on me] on the day of His fierce anger.
1:13:“From on high He sent fire into my bones,
And it prevailed over them.
He has spread a net for my feet;
He has turned me back.
He has made me desolate and hopelessly miserable,
Faint all the day long.
1:14:“The yoke of my transgressions is bound;
By His hand they are knit and woven together.
They have come upon my neck.
He has made my strength fail;
The Lord has put me into the hand
Of those against whom I cannot stand.
1:15:“The Lord has rejected all the strong men
In my midst;
He has proclaimed an established time against me
To crush my young men.
The Lord has trampled down as in a wine press
The Virgin Daughter of Judah.
1:16:“I weep for these things;
My eyes overflow with tears,
Because a comforter,
One who could restore my soul, is far away from me.
My children are desolate and perishing,
For the enemy has prevailed.”
1:17:Zion stretches out her hands,
But there is no comforter for her.
The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob
That his neighbors should be his enemies;
Jerusalem has become a filthy thing [an object of contempt] among them.
1:18:“The Lord is righteous and just;
For I have rebelled against His commandment (His word).
Hear now, all you peoples,
And look at my pain;
My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
1:19:“I [Jerusalem] called to my lovers (political allies), but they deceived me.
My priests and my elders perished in the city
While they looked for food to restore their strength.
1:20:“See, O Lord, how distressed I am!
My spirit is deeply disturbed;
My heart is overturned within me and cannot rest,
For I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword kills and bereaves;
In the house there is [famine, disease and] death!
1:21:“People have heard that I groan,
That I have no comforter [in You].
All my enemies have heard of my desperation;
They are delighted [O Lord] that You have done it.
Oh, that You would bring the day [of judgment] which You have proclaimed
So that they will become like me.
1:22:“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 my heart is faint.”
2:1:God’s Anger over Israel
How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)
With a cloud in His anger!
He has cast down from heaven to the earth
The glory and splendor of Israel
And has not remembered His footstool
In the day of His anger.
2:2:The Lord has swallowed up; He has not spared
All the country places of Jacob.
In His wrath He has thrown down
The strongholds of the Daughter of Judah (Jerusalem).
He has brought them down to the ground [in disgrace];
He has debased the kingdom and its princes.
2:3:In fierce anger He has cut off and destroyed
Every horn of Israel.
He has withdrawn His right hand
From the presence of the enemy.
And He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
Consuming all around.
2:4:He has bent His bow like an enemy;
He has set His right hand like an adversary
And slain all that were delightful and pleasing to the eye;
In the tent of the Daughter of Zion
He has poured out His wrath like fire.
2:5:The Lord has become like an enemy;
He has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all its palaces;
He has destroyed its strongholds
And multiplied in the Daughter of Judah
Mourning and lamentation (expressions of grief).
2:6:And He has violently broken down His temple like a [fragile] garden hedge;
He has destroyed His appointed meeting place.
The Lord has caused the appointed feast and Sabbath
To be forgotten in Zion
And has despised and rejected the king and the priest
In the indignation of His anger.
2:7:The Lord has rejected His altar;
He has abandoned His sanctuary.
He has given into the hand of the enemy
The walls of her palaces;
They have made a noise in the house of the Lord
As on a day of an appointed feast.
2:8:The Lord determined to lay in ruins
The [city] wall of the Daughter of Zion.
He has stretched out a line,
He has not stopped His hand from destroying.
He has caused the rampart and the wall to lament (mourn in grief);
They have languished together.
2:9:Her gates have sunk into the ground;
He has destroyed and broken her bars.
Her king and her princes are [exiled] among the nations;
The law is no more.
Also, her prophets no longer find
Vision from the Lord.
2:10:The elders of the Daughter of Zion
Sit on the ground keeping silent;
They have thrown dust on their heads,
They have covered themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Have bowed their heads to the ground.
2:11:My eyes fail because of tears [mourns Jeremiah],
My spirit is deeply disturbed;
My heart is poured out on the earth [in grief]
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people [Jerusalem],
When little ones and infants faint
In the streets of the city.
2:12:They cry to their mothers,
“Where is grain and wine?”
As they faint like a wounded man
In the streets of the city,
As their life [slips away and] is poured out
In their mothers’ arms.
2:13:How shall I console you?
To what shall I compare you,
O Daughter of Jerusalem?
With what shall I compare you, so that I may comfort you,
O Virgin Daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is as vast as the sea;
Who can heal you?
2:14:Your prophets have seen (imagined) for you
False and foolish visions;
And they have not exposed your wickedness
To restore you from captivity [by teaching you to repent],
But they have seen (imagined) and declared to you false and misleading oracles.
2:15:All who pass along the way
Clap their hands in derision at you;
They scoff and shake their heads
At the Daughter of Jerusalem, saying,
“Is this the city that was called
‘The perfection of beauty,
The joy of all the earth’?”
2:16:All your enemies
Have opened their mouths wide against you;
They [scornfully] hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, “We have swallowed her up!
Certainly this is the day for which we waited;
We have reached it, we have seen it!”
2:17:The Lord has done what He planned;
He has accomplished His word
Which He commanded from days of old.
He has demolished without sparing,
And He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you;
He has exalted the power of your enemies.
2:18:Their hearts cried out to the Lord.
“O wall of the Daughter of Zion,
Let your tears run down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief,
Let your eyes have no rest.
2:19:“Arise, cry aloud in the night,
At the beginning of the night watches;
Pour out your heart like water
Before the presence of the Lord;
Lift up your hands to Him
For the life of your little ones
Who are faint from hunger
At the head of every street.”
2:20:See, O Lord, and look!
With whom have You dealt this way?
Should women eat their offspring,
The little ones who were born healthy and beautiful?
Should priest and prophet be killed
In the sanctuary of the Lord?
2:21:The young and the old
Lie on the ground in the streets;
My virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the sword.
You have killed them in the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered, not sparing.
2:22:You [Lord] called as in the day of an appointed feast
My terrors (dangers) on every side;
And there was no one who escaped or survived
In the day of the Lord’s anger.
Those I have cared for and brought up with tenderness,
My enemy annihilated them.
3:1:Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Affliction
I am [Jeremiah] the man who has seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
3:2:He has led me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
3:3:Surely He has turned His hand against me
Repeatedly all the day.
3:4:He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away;
He has shattered my bones.
3:5:He has besieged and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
3:6:He has made me live in dark places
Like those who have long been dead.
3:7:He walled me in so that I cannot get out;
He has weighted down my chain.
3:8:Even when I cry out and shout for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
3:9:He has blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
3:10:He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
And like a lion [hiding] in secret places.
3:11:He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
3:12:He has bent His bow
And set me as a target for the arrow.
3:13:He has caused the arrows of His quiver
To enter my inner parts.
3:14:I have become the [object of] ridicule to all my people,
And [the subject of] their mocking song all the day.
3:15:He has filled me with bitterness;
He has made me drunk with wormwood (bitterness).
3:16:He has broken my teeth with gravel;
He has [covered me with ashes and] made me cower in the dust.
3:17:My soul has been cast far away from peace;
I have forgotten happiness.
3:18:So I say, “My strength has perished
And so has my hope and expectation from the Lord.”
3:19:Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy
Remember [O Lord] my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the gall (bitterness).
3:20:My soul continually remembers them
And is bowed down within me.
3:21:But this I call to mind,
Therefore I have hope.
3:22:It is because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed,
Because His [tender] compassions never fail.
3:23:They are new every morning;
Great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness.
3:24:“The Lord is my portion and my inheritance,” says my soul;
“Therefore I have hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.”
3:25:The Lord is good to those who wait [confidently] for Him,
To those who seek Him [on the authority of God’s word].
3:26:It is good that one waits quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
3:27:It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke [of godly discipline] in his youth.
3:28:Let him sit alone [in hope] and keep quiet,
Because God has laid it on him [for his benefit].
3:29:Let him put his mouth in the dust [in recognition of his unworthiness];
There may yet be hope.
3:30:Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him;
Let him be filled with reproach.
3:31:For the Lord will not reject forever,
3:32:For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness and tender mercy.
3:33:For He does not afflict willingly and from His heart
Or grieve the children of men.
3:34:To trample and crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the land,
3:35:To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,
3:36:To defraud a man in his lawsuit—
The Lord does not approve of these things.
3:37:Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has authorized and commanded it?
3:38:Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both adversity (misfortune) and good (prosperity, happiness) proceed?
3:39:Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Complain [of punishment] in view of his sins?
3:40:Let us test and examine our ways,
And let us return to the Lord.
3:41:Let us lift up our hearts and our hands [in prayer]
Toward God in heaven;
3:42:We have transgressed and rebelled,
You have not pardoned.
3:43:You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain [without pity] and have not spared.
3:44:You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through.
3:45:You have made us scum and refuse
Among the peoples (Gentile nations).
3:46:All our enemies have gaped at us.
3:47:Panic and pitfall (traps, danger) have come on us,
Devastation and destruction.
3:48:My eyes overflow with streams of tears
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people (Jerusalem).
3:49:My eyes overflow unceasingly,
Without stopping,
3:50:Until the Lord looks down
And sees from heaven.
3:51:My eyes [see things that] bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
3:52:Without cause my enemies
Hunted me down like a bird;
3:53:They silenced me in the pit
And placed a stone over me.
3:54:The waters ran down on my head;
I said, “I am cut off (destroyed)!”
3:55:I called on Your name, O Lord,
Out of the lowest pit.
3:56:You have heard my voice,
“Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.”
3:57:You drew near on the day I called to You;
You said, “Do not fear.”
3:58:O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause [You have guided my way and protected me];
You have rescued and redeemed my life.
3:59:O Lord, You have seen the wrong [done to me];
Judge my case.
3:60:You have seen all their vengeance,
All their schemes against me.
3:61:You have heard their reproach, O Lord,
And all their schemes against me.
3:62:The lips and whispering of my assailants
Are against me all day long.
3:63:Look at their sitting and their rising [their actions and secret counsels];
I am their mocking song [the subject of their ridicule].
3:64:You will repay them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
3:65:You will harden their hearts;
Your curse will be upon them.
3:66:You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the heavens of the Lord.
4:1:Distress of the Siege Described
How dark and dim the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones [of the temple] are poured out and scattered
At the head of every street.
4:2:The [noble and] precious sons of Zion,
[Once] worth their weight in fine gold,
How they are regarded [merely] as earthen jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
4:3:Even the jackals offer the breast,
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has become cruel
Like ostriches in the wilderness [that desert their young].
4:4:The tongue of the infant clings
To the roof of its mouth because of thirst;
The little ones ask for food,
But no one gives it to them.
4:5:Those who feasted on delicacies
Are perishing in the streets;
Those reared in purple [as nobles]
Embrace ash heaps.
4:6:For the [punishment of the] wickedness of the daughter of my people [Jerusalem]
Is greater than the [punishment for the] sin of Sodom,
Which was overthrown in a moment,
And no hands were turned toward her [to offer help].
4:7:Her princes were purer than snow,
They were whiter than milk [in appearance];
They were more ruddy in body than rubies,
Their polishing was like lapis lazuli (sapphire).
4:8:Their appearance is [now] blacker than soot [because of the prolonged famine];
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their skin clings to their bones;
It is withered, and it has become [dry] like wood.
4:9:Those killed with the sword
Are more fortunate than those killed with hunger;
For the hungry pine and ebb away,
For the lack of the fruits of the field.
4:10:The hands of compassionate women
Boiled their own children;
They became food for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people [Judah].
4:11:The Lord has fulfilled His wrath;
He has poured out His fierce anger
And has kindled a fire in Zion
That has consumed her foundations.
4:12:The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of the inhabitants of the earth,
That the adversary (oppressor) and enemy
Could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
4:13:Because of the sins of her [counterfeit] prophets
And the wickedness of her [unfaithful] priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The blood of the just and righteous;
4:14:They wandered, blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with blood
So that no one could touch their garments.
4:15:People cried to them, “Go away! Unclean!
Depart! Depart! Do not touch!”
So they fled, then they wandered [as fugitives];
People among the nations said,
“They shall not stay here any longer with us.”
4:16:The presence of the Lord scattered them [among the nations];
He will not continue to look after them.
They did not honor the priests;
They did not favor the elders.
4:17:[And as for us,] yet our eyes failed,
Looking in vain for help.
Watching [from the towers] we watched
For a nation that could not save.
4:18:The enemy hunted our steps,
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our end drew near,
Our days were finished
For our end had come.
4:19:Our pursuers were swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They pursued us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
4:20:The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord [our king],
Was captured in their snares,
He of whom we had said, “Under his shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
4:21:Rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom,
Who lives in the land of Uz.
But the cup [of the wine of God’s wrath] will pass to you as well;
You will become drunk and make yourself naked.
4:22:The punishment of your sin has been completed, O Daughter of Zion;
The Lord will no longer send you into exile.
But He will punish your sin, O Daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins.
5:1:A Prayer for Mercy
O Lord, remember what has come upon us;
Look, and see our reproach (national disgrace)!
5:2:Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
Our houses to foreigners.
5:3:We have become orphans without a father;
Our mothers are like widows.
5:4:We have to pay for our drinking water;
Our wood comes to us at a price.
5:5:Our pursuers are at our necks;
We are worn out, there is no rest for us.
5:6:We have given the hand [as a pledge of fidelity and submission] to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
5:7:Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
It is we who have carried their sin.
5:8:Servants rule over us;
There is no one to rescue us out of their hand.
5:9:We get our bread at the risk of our lives
Because of the sword [of the Arabs] in the wilderness [who may attack if we go out to harvest the crop].
5:10:Our skin is as hot as [the heat of] an oven
Because of the burning heat of [the fever of] famine.
5:11:They ravished the women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
5:12:Princes were hung by their hands;
Elders were not respected.
5:13:Young men worked at the grinding mill,
And boys fell [staggering] under loads of wood.
5:14:Elders are gone from the gate;
Young men from their music.
5:15:The joy of our hearts has ended;
Our dancing has been turned into mourning.
5:16:The crown has fallen from our head [our honor is covered with dust]!
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
5:17:Because of this our heart is faint,
Because of these things our eyes are dim.
5:18:As for Mount Zion, which lies desolate,
Foxes and the jackals prowl over it.
5:19:But You, O Lord, reign forever;
Your throne endures from generation to [all] generations.
5:20:Why do You forget us forever?
Why do You forsake us so long?
5:21:Return us to You, O Lord, so that we may be restored;
Renew our days as of old,
5:22:Unless You have utterly rejected us
And are exceedingly angry with us.
ezekiel:1:1:The Vision of Four Figures
Now it came about [when I was] in my thirtieth year [of life], on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles beside the River Chebar [in Babylonia], the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
1:2:(On the fifth of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,
1:3:the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the Lord came upon him there.)
1:4:As I looked, I saw a stormy wind coming out of the north, a great cloud with fire flashing continually from it; and a brightness was around it, and in its core [there was] something like glowing [amber-colored] metal in the midst of the fire.
1:5:Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form.
1:6:Each one had four faces and four wings.
1:7:Their legs were straight and the soles of their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they sparkled and gleamed like shiny bronze.
1:8:Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,
1:9:their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward.
1:10:Regarding the form and appearance of their faces: they [each] had the face of a man [in front], and each had the face of a lion on the right side, and the face of an ox on the left side; all four also had the face of an eagle [at the back of their heads].
1:11:Such were their faces. Their wings were stretched out upward; two [wings] of each one were touching another [the wings of the beings on either side of it], and [the remaining] two [wings of each being] were covering their bodies.
1:12:And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went.
1:13:Among the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was flashing from the fire.
1:14:And the living beings moved rapidly back and forth like flashes of lightning.
1:15:Now as I looked at the living beings, I saw one wheel on the ground beside the living beings, for each of the four of them.
1:16:Regarding the appearance of the wheels and their construction: they gleamed like chrysolite (beryl, olivine); and the four were made alike. Their appearance and construction were a wheel [set at a right angle] within a wheel.
1:17:Whenever they moved, they went in any [one] of their four directions without turning as they moved.
1:18:Regarding their rims: they were so high that they were awesome and dreadful, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes all around.
1:19:Whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them; and when the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also.
1:20:Wherever the spirit went, the beings went in that direction. And the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit or life of the living beings was in the wheels.
1:21:Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those came to a stop, these came to a stop; and whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.
1:22:Vision of Divine Glory
Now stretched over the heads of the living beings there was something like an expanse, looking like the terrible and awesome shimmer of icy crystal.
1:23:Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. Every living being had two wings which covered its body on one side and on the other side.
1:24:As they moved, I also heard the sound of their wings like the sound of great [rushing] waters, like the voice of the Almighty, the sound of tumult like the noise of an army camp. Whenever they came to a stop, they lowered their wings.
1:25:And there was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stopped, they lowered their wings.
1:26:Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, it appeared like [it was made of] sapphire or lapis lazuli; and [seated] on that which looked like a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man.
1:27:Now upward, from that which appeared to be His waist, I saw something like glowing metal that looked like it was filled with fire all around it; and downward, from that which appeared to be His waist, I saw something like fire; and there was a brightness and a remarkable radiance [like a halo] around Him.
1:28:As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory and brilliance of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell face downward and I heard a voice of One speaking.
2:1:The Prophet’s Call
Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet and I will speak to you.”
2:2:Then as He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me.
2:3:And He said to me, “I am sending you, son of man, to the children of Israel, to a rebellious people [in both the north and the south] that have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have sinned and revolted against Me to this very day.
2:4:I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’
2:5:As for them, whether they listen or refuse [to listen]—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know and be fully aware of the fact that there has been a prophet among them.
2:6:And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words; though briars and thorns are all around you and you sit among scorpions, neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house.
2:7:But you shall speak My words to them whether they will listen or refuse [to listen], for they are [most] rebellious.
2:8:“As for you, son of man, listen to what I say to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”
2:9:Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out toward me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it.
2:10:And He spread it before me, and it was written on the front and on the back, and written on it were [words of] lamentation (funeral songs) and mourning and woe.
3:1:Ezekiel’s Commission
He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find [in this book]; eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel.”
3:2:So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll.
3:3:He said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll that I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
3:4:Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.
3:5:For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel,
3:6:not to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you and pay attention to My message;
3:7:yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you and obey you, since they are not willing to listen to Me and obey Me, for the entire house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate.
3:8:Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.
3:9:I have made your forehead like emery (diamond), harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.”
3:10:Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and hear with your ears (listen closely).
3:11:Go to the [Jewish] exiles [in Babylon], to the children of your people, and speak to them, whether they listen or not, and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’”
3:12:Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rushing sound behind me, “Blessed be the glory of the Lord in His place [above the expanse].”
3:13:And then I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings as they touched one another and [I heard] the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rushing sound.
3:14:So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went embittered [by the sins of Israel] in the rage of my spirit; and the hand of the Lord was strong on me.
3:15:Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the River Chebar at Tel Abib. I sat there for seven days [in the place] where they were living, overwhelmed with astonishment [by my vision and the work before me].
3:16:At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
3:17:“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.
3:18:When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to tell him to turn from his wicked way to save his life, that same evil man will die in his sin, but you will be responsible for his blood.
3:19:However, if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he will die in his sin; but you have freed yourself [from responsibility].
3:20:Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness (right standing with God) and sins, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered; but you will be responsible for his blood.
3:21:However, if you have warned the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning; also you have freed yourself [from responsibility].”
3:22:The hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out to the plain, and I will speak to you.”
3:23:So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory and brilliance of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the River Chebar, and I fell face downward.
3:24:Then the Spirit entered me and made me stand on my feet; He spoke and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house.
3:25:As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them.
3:26:And I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you cannot talk and you cannot be a man who rebukes the people, for they are a rebellious house.
3:27:But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses [to hear], let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.
4:1:Siege of Jerusalem Predicted
“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you and inscribe on it [a diagram of] the city of Jerusalem.
4:2:Then lay siege against it, build a siege wall, raise a ramp against it; set up [enemy] camps and place battering rams all around it.
4:3:Further, take an iron plate and place it as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This is a sign to the house of Israel.
4:4:“Then lie down on your left side (toward the north) to bear [symbolically] the wickedness and punishment of the house of Israel. You shall bear their wickedness and punishment for the number of days that you lie on your side.
4:5:For I have assigned you the years of their wickedness and punishment, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days [representing three hundred and ninety years]; in this way you shall bear [symbolically] the wickedness and punishment of the house of Israel.
4:6:When you have completed these [days for Israel], lie down again, but on your right side (toward the south), and you shall bear the wickedness and punishment of the house of Judah forty days. I have assigned you one day for each year.
4:7:Then you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it.
4:8:Now behold, I will put ropes on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.
4:9:Defiled Bread
“But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them into one vessel and make them into bread for yourself. You shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days.
4:10:The food you eat each day shall be [measured] by weight, twenty shekels, to be eaten daily at a set time.
4:11:You shall drink water by measure also, the sixth part of a hin; you shall drink daily at a set time.
4:12:You shall eat your food as barley cakes, having baked it in their sight over human dung.”
4:13:Then the Lord said, “Thus the children of Israel will eat their bread unclean and defiled among the nations where I will banish them.”
4:14:But I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold (hear me), I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died on its own or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth.”
4:15:Then He said to me, “See, I will let you use cow’s dung instead of human dung over which you shall prepare your food.”
4:16:Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold (listen carefully), I am going to break the staff of bread [that supports life] in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread [rationed] by weight and [eat it] with anxiety and fear, and drink water by measure and [drink it] in horror [of the impending starvation],
4:17:because bread and water will be scarce; and they will look at one another in dismay and waste away [in punishment] for their wickedness.
5:1:Jerusalem’s Desolation Foretold
“And you [Ezekiel], son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor and shave your head and your beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair [into three parts].
5:2:You shall burn one third with fire in the center of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. Then you shall take one third and strike it with the sword all around the city, and one third you shall scatter to the wind; and I will unsheathe a sword behind them.
5:3:Also take some of them and bind them in the edges of your robes.
5:4:Again take some hair and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.
5:5:“Thus says the Lord God, ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the center of the nations, and countries are around her.
5:6:And she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the [pagan] nations and against My statutes more than the countries that are around her; for Israel has rejected My ordinances and has not walked in My statutes.’
5:7:Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor kept My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,’
5:8:therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I, I Myself, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.
5:9:And because of all your abominations, I will do among you that which I have not done, and the like of which I will not do again.
5:10:Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you and I will scatter to all the winds the remnant of you.
5:11:So, as I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you and withdraw, and My eye will have no pity and I will not spare [you].
5:12:One third of you will die of virulent disease or be consumed by famine among you; one third will fall by the sword around you; and one third I will scatter to all the winds, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them.
5:13:‘Thus My anger will come to an end and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be appeased; then they will know [without any doubt] that I the Lord have spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath on them.
5:14:Moreover, I will make you a desolation and a disgrace among the nations which surround you and in the sight of all who pass by.
5:15:So it will be a disgrace, a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the [pagan] nations who surround you when I execute judgments against you in anger and in wrath and in raging reprimands—I, the Lord, have spoken.
5:16:When I send against them the deadly arrows of hunger which were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will increase the famine upon you and break your staff of bread.
5:17:Further, I will send against you hunger and wild beasts, and they will bereave you of children; virulent disease and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”
6:1:Idolatrous Worship Denounced
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
6:2:“Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them,
6:3:and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places [of idolatrous worship],
6:4:and your altars will become deserted and your pillars for sun-worship will be smashed in pieces; and I will throw down your slain in front of your idols [that cannot bring them back to life].
6:5:I will also lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel in front of their [Canaanite] idols; and I will scatter your bones all around your altars.
6:6:Everywhere you live, the cities will become waste and the high places will become deserted, so that your altars may bear their guilt and become deserted, your idols may be broken and destroyed, your incense altars [for sun-worship] may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out.
6:7:The slain will fall among you, then you shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
6:8:“Yet I will leave some of you alive [a remnant], for you will have some who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered throughout the countries.
6:9:Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be exiled, how I have been broken by their lewdness and their adulterous hearts which have turned away from Me, and by their eyes which lust after their idols; and they will loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed, for all their repulsive acts.
6:10:Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would bring this disaster [as punishment] on them.”’
6:11:“Thus says the Lord God, ‘Strike with your fist, stamp with your foot and say, “Alas, because of all the evil atrocities of the house of Israel, which will fall by sword, by famine, and by virulent disease!
6:12:He who is far away will die of the virulent disease, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus I will spend My wrath on them.
6:13:Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every leafy tree and under every oak with thick branches, the places where they offered sweet incense and a soothing aroma to all their idols.
6:14:And I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land a more desolate waste than the wilderness toward Diblah [the Moabite city], throughout all the places where they live; and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’”
7:1:Punishment for Wickedness Foretold
Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
7:2:“Also, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel, ‘An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land.
7:3:Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you and will judge you in accordance with your ways and I will bring [retribution for] all your abominations upon you.
7:4:For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will repay you for your evil ways, while your abominations are among you; and you will know (recognize, understand) [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’
7:5:“Thus says the Lord God, ‘A disaster is coming, [one so destructive and injurious, so sudden and violent, that it stands alone,] a unique disaster, look it is coming!
7:6:An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened against you. Look, it has come!
7:7:Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land; the time has come, the day is near—tumult rather than joyful shouting on the mountains.
7:8:Now I will soon pour out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you, and I will judge you in accordance with your ways and will repay you [with punishment] for all your outrageous acts.
7:9:My eye will show no pity nor will I spare [you]. I will repay you in accordance with your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know and understand that it is I, the Lord, who strikes you.
7:10:‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth, the rod has blossomed, arrogance has sprouted.
7:11:Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness; none of them (Israel) will remain, none of their people, none of their wealth, nor anything eminent among them.
7:12:The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn, for wrath is against all their multitude [of people].
7:13:For the seller will not regain and return to what he sold, even were they yet alive; for the vision [of punishment] regarding all the multitude [of people] will not be turned back, nor will any one of them sustain his life because of his sin.
7:14:‘They have blown the trumpet and have made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude [of people].
7:15:The sword is outside and virulent disease and famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword, and famine and disease will devour those in the city.
7:16:Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each over his [punishment for] sin.
7:17:All hands will hang limp and all knees will be as weak as water.
7:18:They will also cover themselves with sackcloth; horror will overwhelm them, and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads [as evidence of grief].
7:19:They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will be [discarded] like something unclean; their silver and their gold shall not be able to save them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. These [things] cannot satisfy their soul nor fill their stomachs, for they have become their stumbling block and source of sin.
7:20:The Temple Profaned
As for the beauty of [gold for] ornaments, they turned it to pride and from it made the images of their repulsive things (idols) and of their vile things. Therefore I will make it an unclean thing to them.
7:21:I will give it into the hands of strangers (Babylonians) as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they shall profane it.
7:22:I will also turn My face away from them, and they will desecrate My secret treasure (the Jerusalem temple); and robbers will enter [irreverently] into it (the Holy of Holies) and violate it.
7:23:‘Prepare the chain [for imprisonment], for the land is full of bloody crimes [murders committed under the pretense of civil justice] and the city is full of violence.
7:24:Therefore, I will bring the worst of the [Gentile] nations, and they will take possession of their houses [those of the people of Judah]; I will also silence their pride, and their holy places will be profaned.
7:25:When anguish comes, they [of Judah] shall seek peace, but there will be none.
7:26:Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be heaped on rumor; they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law and guidance will be lost from the priest and [wise] counsel [will cease] from the elders.
7:27:The king [of Judah] will mourn and the prince (Zedekiah) will be clothed with [garments of] despair and anguish, and the hands of the people of the land shall tremble [in terror]. I will deal with them in accordance with their conduct, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”
8:1:Vision of Repulsive Acts in Jerusalem
It came about in the sixth year [of the captivity of King Jehoiachin], on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I sat in my house [near Babylon] with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell on me there.
8:2:Then I looked, and behold, a likeness [of a man] with the appearance of fire; from His loins downward He was like fire, and from His loins upward He had the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal (bronze).
8:3:He stretched out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of hair on my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner courtyard, where the seat of the idol (image) of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located.
8:4:And behold, the glory and brilliance of the God of Israel [who had loved and chosen them] was there, like the vision which I saw in the plain.
8:5:Then He said to me, “Son of man, now raise your eyes toward the north.” So I looked toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol (image) of jealousy at the entrance.
8:6:Furthermore, He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great repulsive acts which the house of Israel is committing here, to drive Me far away from My sanctuary? But you will again see greater repulsive acts.”
8:7:Then He brought me to the entrance of the courtyard; and when I looked, behold, [there was] a hole in the wall.
8:8:He said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” And when I had dug into the wall, behold, there was an entrance.
8:9:And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked, repulsive acts that they are committing here.”
8:10:So I entered and looked, and saw every kind of creeping things and beasts and loathsome things, and all the idols of the house of Israel, carved all around on the wall.
8:11:Standing before these [images] were seventy elders of the house of Israel, and among them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan [the scribe], each man with his censer in his hand and a thick and fragrant cloud of incense was rising [as they prayed to these gods].
8:12:Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, each man in his [secret] room of carved images? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has abandoned the land.’”
8:13:He also said to me, “Yet again you will see even greater repulsive acts which they are committing.”
8:14:Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.
8:15:He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater repulsive acts than these [that they are committing].”
8:16:So He brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch (vestibule, portico) and the [bronze] altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing down toward the east and worshiping the sun.
8:17:He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too slight a thing for the house of Judah to commit the repulsive acts which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and repeatedly provoked Me to anger? And behold, they are putting the branch to their nose.
8:18:Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare [them]; and though they cry loudly in My ears, yet I will not listen to them.”
9:1:The Vision of Slaughter
Then [in my vision] I heard Him cry out with a thunderous voice, saying, “Approach now, executioners of the city, each with his weapon of destruction in his hand.”
9:2:Behold, six men [angelic beings] came from the direction of the Upper Gate, which faces north, each with his battle-axe in his hand; and among them was a certain man clothed in linen, with a scribe’s writing case at his side. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar.
9:3:Then the [Shekinah] glory and brilliance of the God of Israel (the cloud) went up from the cherubim on which it had rested, to [stand above] the threshold of the [Lord’s] temple. And the Lord called to the man clothed with linen, who had the scribe’s writing case at his side.
9:4:The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, throughout all of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh [in distress] and grieve over all the repulsive acts which are being committed in it.”
9:5:But to the others I heard Him say, “Follow him [the man with the scribe’s writing case] throughout the city and strike; do not let your eyes have pity and do not spare [anyone].
9:6:Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women; but do not touch or go near anyone on whom is the mark. Begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple [who did not have the Lord’s mark on their foreheads].
9:7:And He said to the executioners, “Defile the temple and fill its courtyards with the dead. Go out!” So they went out and struck down the people in the city.
9:8:As they were executing them and I alone was left, I fell face downward and cried out, “Alas, Lord God! Will You destroy all that is left of Israel [the whole remnant] by pouring out Your wrath and indignation on Jerusalem?”
9:9:Then He said to me, “The wickedness (guilt) of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of blood and the city is full of perversion and injustice; for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land; the Lord does not see [what we are doing].’
9:10:But as for Me, My eye will have no pity, nor will I spare, but I will bring their [wicked] conduct upon their [own] heads.”
9:11:Then behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the scribe’s writing case at his side, reported, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”
10:1:Vision of God’s Glory Departing from the Temple
Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse (firmament) that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared something [glorious and brilliant] above them looking like a [huge] sapphire stone, formed to resemble a throne.
10:2:And the Lord spoke to the man (seventh angel) clothed in linen and said, “Go between the whirling wheels under the cherubim; fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And he entered as I watched.
10:3:Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered; and a cloud [the Shekinah glory of God] filled the inner courtyard.
10:4:Then the glory and brilliance of the Lord moved upward from the cherubim to [rest over] the threshold of the temple; and the temple was filled with the cloud and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory.
10:5:And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard [even] as far as the outer courtyard, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.
10:6:It came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” the man entered and stood beside a wheel.
10:7:Then a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between [the four of] them, and took some [of it] and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and departed.
10:8:Beneath their wings the cherubim seemed to have [something in] the form of a man’s hand.
10:9:Then I looked and behold, [there were] four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub and another wheel beside each other cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a sparkling Tarshish stone (beryl).
10:10:As for their appearance, all four looked alike, as if one wheel were within another wheel.
10:11:When they moved, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which they faced, without turning as they went.
10:12:Their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around, even the wheels belonging to all four of them.
10:13:Regarding the wheels [attached to them], I heard them called, “the whirling (rolling, revolving) wheels.”
10:14:And each one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
10:15:Then the cherubim rose upward. They are the [same four] living beings [regarded as one] that I saw by the River Chebar [in Babylonia].
10:16:Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the earth, the wheels would remain beside them.
10:17:When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose upward, the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in these [wheels].
10:18:Then the [Shekinah] glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and rested over the cherubim.
10:19:As I looked at them, the cherubim lifted up their wings and rose up from the earth, they departed with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory and brilliance of the God of Israel hovered over them.
10:20:These are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the River Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.
10:21:Each one had four faces and each one had four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands.
10:22:As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the River Chebar. Each one went straight forward.
11:1:Evil Rulers to Be Judged
Moreover, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the Lord’s house, which faced eastward. And behold, at the entrance of the gate there were twenty-five men; and I saw among them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
11:2:Then the Spirit said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise evil and give wicked advice in this city,
11:3:who say, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? This city is [secure just like] the pot and we are the meat [in it].’
11:4:Therefore, prophesy against them; prophesy, son of man!”
11:5:Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “This is what you think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts.
11:6:You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the corpses [of righteous men].”
11:7:Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Your dead whom you have laid in the midst of your city are the meat and this city is the pot; but I shall force you out of [the security of] it.
11:8:You have feared the sword; so I will bring a sword upon you,” says the Lord God.
11:9:And I will bring you out of the midst of the city and hand you over to strangers and execute judgment against you.
11:10:You will fall by the sword; I will judge and punish you [in front of your neighbors] at the border of [the land of] Israel; and you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
11:11:This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be meat [safe] in it, but I will judge you at the border of Israel.
11:12:And you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you executed My ordinances, but you have acted in accordance with the ordinances of the nations around you.”’”
11:13:Now it came about while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell face downward and cried out loudly, “Alas, Lord God! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”
11:14:Promise of Restoration
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
11:15:“Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, your fellow exiles and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the [present] inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far away from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’
11:16:Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Though I had removed Israel far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary for them for a little while in the countries to which they had gone.”’
11:17:Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give [back] to you the land of Israel.”’
11:18:When they return there, they will remove from it all [traces of] its detestable things and all its repulsive things (remnants of paganism).
11:19:And I will give them one heart [a new heart], and put a new spirit within them. I will take from them the heart of stone, and will give them a heart of flesh [that is responsive to My touch],
11:20:that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
11:21:But as for those whose heart longs for and follows after their detestable things and their repulsive things [associated with idolatry], on their own head I will repay [them in full for] their [vile] conduct,” says the Lord God.
11:22:Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the [Shekinah] glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.
11:23:Then the glory and brilliance of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and paused over the mountain, [the Mount of Olives] which is east of the city.
11:24:And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea (Babylonia). Then the vision that I had seen left me.
11:25:Then I told the exiles everything that the Lord had shown me.
12:1:Ezekiel Prepares for Exile
The word of the Lord also came to me, saying,
12:2:“Son of man, you live among a rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, who have ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious people.
12:3:Therefore, son of man, prepare your belongings for exile, and move into exile during the day when they will see you; even go into exile from your place to another place as they watch. Perhaps they will understand even though they are a rebellious people.
12:4:Bring your provisions and supplies out during the day as they watch, as provisions and supplies for [going into] exile. Then you shall go out at evening as they watch, as those going into exile.
12:5:Dig through the wall as they watch and go out through the hole.
12:6:As they look on, load the provisions and supplies on your shoulder and carry it out in the dark. You shall cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have set you as a sign to the house of Israel.”
12:7:I did as I had been commanded. I brought out my provisions and supplies during the day, like the provisions and supplies of an exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands. I brought out my provisions and supplies in the dark, carrying it on my shoulder as they watched.
12:8:In the morning the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
12:9:“Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, asked you, ‘What you are doing?’
12:10:Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “This oracle (a burden to be carried) concerns the prince (Zedekiah) in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are there.”’
12:11:Say, ‘I am a sign to you. As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile, into captivity.’
12:12:The prince who is among them will load his provisions and supplies on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig a hole through the wall to go out. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes.
12:13:I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, though he will die there.
12:14:I will scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will draw out a sword after them.
12:15:So they will know and understand fully that I am the Lord when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the [pagan] countries.
12:16:But I will leave a few [survivors] who will escape the sword, the famine, and the virulent disease, that they may confess all their repulsive (idolatrous) acts among the nations where they go, and may know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”
12:17:Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
12:18:“Son of man, eat your bread with anxiety, and drink your water with trembling and with fear.
12:19:Then say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, “They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because their land will be stripped and looted of its fullness because of the violence of all those who live in it.
12:20:The cities that are inhabited will be in ruins and the land will be deserted; and you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’”
12:21:Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
12:22:“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days are long and every vision fails’?
12:23:Therefore tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I will put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel.” But say to them, “The days draw near as well as the fulfillment of every vision.
12:24:For there will no longer be any false and empty vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.
12:25:For I the Lord will speak, and whatever word I speak will be accomplished. It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and I will fulfill it,” says the Lord God.’”
12:26:Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
12:27:“Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that Ezekiel sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies of the times that are far off.’
12:28:Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “None of My words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be fulfilled completely,”’” says the Lord God.
13:1:False Prophets Condemned
And the word of the Lord came to me saying,
13:2:“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, ‘Hear the word of the Lord!
13:3:Thus says the Lord God, “Woe (judgment is coming) to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit [claiming to have seen things] but have [in fact] seen nothing.
13:4:O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among the ruins.
13:5:You have not gone up into the gaps or breaches, nor built the wall around the house of Israel that it might stand in the battle on the day of the Lord.
13:6:They have seen falsehood and lying divination, saying, ‘The Lord says,’ but the Lord has not sent them. Yet they hope and make men to hope for the confirmation of their word.
13:7:Did you not see (make up) a false vision and speak a lying divination when you said, ‘The Lord declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?”’”
13:8:Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Because you have spoken empty and delusive words and have seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you,” says the Lord God.
13:9:“So My hand will be against the [counterfeit] prophets who see (make up) empty and delusive visions and who give lying prophecies. They will have no place in the [secret] council of My people, nor will they be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter into the land of Israel, that you may know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.
13:10:It is definitely because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because when one builds a [flimsy] wall, behold, these [lying] prophets plaster it over with whitewash;
13:11:so tell those who plaster it with whitewash, that it will fall! A flooding rain [of judgment] will come, and you, O [great] hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will tear the wall apart.
13:12:Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the coating with which you [prophets] plastered it?’”
13:13:Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath, and there will be in My anger an overwhelming rain and great hailstones to destroy [that wall] in wrath.
13:14:So I will tear down the wall which you have plastered with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundations will be exposed; when it falls, you will perish in its midst. And you shall know and understand fully that I am the Lord.
13:15:Thus I will expend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it with whitewash and I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and its plasterers are gone,
13:16:along with the [false] prophets of Israel who prophesy [deceitfully] to Jerusalem, and who see [false] visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’ says the Lord God.
13:17:“Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are prophesying out of [the wishful thinking of] their own mind (inspiration). Prophesy against them
13:18:and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the women who fasten magic (protective) charms on all wrists and make veils for the heads of those of every stature to capture [human] lives! Will you capture the lives of My people but keep your own?
13:19:You have profaned Me among My people [in payment] for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, killing people who should not die and giving [a guarantee of] life to those who should not live, because of your lies to My people who pay attention to lies.”’”
13:20:Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against your magic bands [and veils] by which you hunt [human] lives as birds and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the lives you hunt go free, even those lives whom you hunt as birds.
13:21:I will also tear off your [pagan] veils and rescue My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your grip to be hunted and trapped. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
13:22:Because you disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have encouraged the wicked not to turn from his wicked way and preserve his life,
13:23:therefore, you women will no longer see false visions or practice divinations, and I will rescue My people from your hand. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”
14:1:Idolatrous Elders Condemned
Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me [seeking an oracle from God] and sat down before me.
14:2:And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
14:3:“Son of man, these men have set up [and honored] their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the [vile] stumbling block of their wickedness and guilt; should I [permit Myself to] be consulted by them at all?
14:4:Therefore speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Any man of the house of Israel who takes his idols [of rebellion] into his heart, and puts the [vile] stumbling block of his wickedness and guilt [images of silver and gold] before his face, and yet comes to the prophet [to ask of him], I the Lord will answer him, [but I will answer him] in accordance with the number of his idols,
14:5:in order that I may take hold of the heart (mind) of the house of Israel who are all estranged from Me because of their idols.”’
14:6:“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your disgusting and vile acts.
14:7:For anyone of the house of Israel or among the strangers who immigrate to Israel who separates himself from Me, taking his idols into his heart, and puts right before his face the [vile] stumbling block of his wickedness and guilt, and [then] comes to the prophet to ask of Me for himself, I the Lord will answer him Myself.
14:8:I will set My face against that man [that hypocrite] and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people; and you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
14:9:“But if the prophet [who speaks without My authority] is enticed to speak a word [of his own], it is I the Lord who have caused that prophet [to speak falsely to please the inquirer, thus allowing himself to be a party to the inquirer’s sin], and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.
14:10:They [both] will bear the punishment of their wickedness; the sin of the [counterfeit] prophet will be the same as the sin of the [hypocritical] inquirer,
14:11:so that the house of Israel may no longer drift away from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions, but they will be My people, and I will be their God,”’ says the Lord God.”
14:12:The City Will Not Be Spared
The word of the Lord came [again] to me, saying,
14:13:“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it and destroy its source of bread and send famine on it and cut off from it both man and animal,
14:14:even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in that land, by their own righteousness (right standing with God) they could only save (deliver) themselves,” says the Lord God.
14:15:“If I were to cause predatory beasts to pass through the land and they ravaged it and depopulated it of children, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through because of the predators,
14:16:though these three men were in the land, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate (ruined, deserted).
14:17:Or if I were to bring a sword on that land and say, ‘Let a sword go through the land and cut off man and animal from it,’
14:18:even though these three men were in the land, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved.
14:19:Or if I should send a virulent disease into that land and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and animal from it,
14:20:even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they could not save either their son or their daughter; they would save only themselves by their righteousness [that is, their right-standing with God—their moral and spiritual integrity].”
14:21:For thus says the Lord God, “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem—sword, famine, predatory beasts, and virulent disease—to cut off man and animal from it!
14:22:Yet, behold, survivors will be left in it [escaping the judgments], both sons and daughters. Listen carefully, they are going to come out to you [in Babylon] and you will see their [wicked] conduct and [despicable] actions; then you will be at peace in regard to the disaster which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought on it [has been deserved].
14:23:Then they will reassure you [in regard to the appropriateness of the judgments] when you see their [heinous] conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done without cause whatever I did to it,” declares the Lord God.
15:1:Jerusalem like a Useless Vine
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
15:2:“Son of man, how is the wood of the grapevine (Israel) better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
15:3:Can wood be taken from it to make any object? Or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel?
15:4:If it has been thrown into the fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and the middle section has been charred, is it suitable or useful for anything?
15:5:Notice this, even when it was complete, it was not useful and was not made into anything. How much less, after the fire has burned [part of] it and [the remainder of] it is charred, can it still be made into anything?
15:6:Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Like the wood of the grapevine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the people of Jerusalem;
15:7:and I set My face against them. Though they have come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them.
15:8:‘I will make the land desolate (ruined, deserted), because they have acted unfaithfully [through their idolatry],’ says the Lord God.”
16:1:God’s Grace to Unfaithful Jerusalem
Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
16:2:“Son of man, make Jerusalem understand [the heinous and vile nature of] her repulsive (idolatrous) acts
16:3:and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem (all of Israel), “Your [spiritual] origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite; your [spiritual] father was an Amorite and your [spiritual] mother a Hittite.
16:4:And as for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing, nor were you rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths.
16:5:No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out in the open field, for you were loathed on the day that you were born.
16:6:“When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your [newborn] blood, I said to you while you were there in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you while you were there in your blood, ‘Live!’
16:7:I made you (Israel) multiply like plants [which grow] in the field, and you grew up and became tall and you reached the age for [wearing] fine jewelry; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare.
16:8:“Then I passed by you [again] and looked on you; behold, you were maturing and at the time for love, and I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore [an oath] to you and entered into a covenant with you,” says the Lord God, “and you became Mine.”
16:9:“Then I washed you with water; yes, I [thoroughly] washed away from you the [clinging] blood and anointed you with oil.
16:10:I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk.
16:11:I adorned you with ornaments and I put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck.
16:12:I also put a ring in your nostril and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.
16:13:Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was [made] of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil; so you were extremely beautiful and you advanced and prospered into royalty.
16:14:Then your fame went out among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My majesty and splendor which I bestowed on you,” says the Lord God.
16:15:“But you trusted in and relied on your beauty and prostituted yourself [in idolatry and its debauched rituals] because of your fame, and you poured out your immoralities on every [willing] passer-by and your beauty was his [as you worshiped the idols of the Gentile nations].
16:16:You took some of your clothes and made for yourself [decorated] high places and shrines of various colors and prostituted yourself on them—things which should never have come about and taken place.
16:17:You also took your beautiful jewels and beautiful vessels made of My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men so that you could prostitute yourself with them;
16:18:and you took your embroidered clothing and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them.
16:19:Also My bread which I gave you, [made from the] fine flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, you even offered it before idols [no better than cow dung] as a sweet and soothing aroma; so it happened,” says the Lord God.
16:20:“Moreover, you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne to Me, and you destroyed them as sacrifices [to your man-made gods]. Were your gross immoralities so small a matter?
16:21:“You slaughtered My children and offered them up to [worthless] idols, forcing them to pass through the [hideousness of the] fire.
16:22:And in all your repulsive acts and prostitutions (idolatrous immoralities) you did not [pause to] remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, squirming in your [newborn] blood.
16:23:“Then it came about after all your wickedness (‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord God),
16:24:that you built yourself an altar for prostitution and made yourself a high place [for ritual prostitution] in every square [of Jerusalem].
16:25:At the beginning of every street you built your high place and made your beauty repulsive; and you offered your body to every passer-by and multiplied your obscene immorality.
16:26:You also prostituted yourself with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors [by embracing their pagan rituals], and you multiplied your obscene immorality to provoke Me to anger.
16:27:Behold now [listen very carefully], I have stretched out My hand against you, reduced your portion, and handed you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your infamous behavior.
16:28:You prostituted yourself with the Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you prostituted yourself with them and still were not satisfied.
16:29:Moreover, you increased your obscene immorality with the land of tradesmen, Chaldea (Babylonia), and yet even with this you were not satisfied.”’”
16:30:“How weakened by longing and lust is your heart (mind),” says the Lord God, “while you do all these things, the actions of a bold and brazen prostitute.
16:31:“When you built your shrine altar for prostitution at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every public square, you were not like a prostitute because you refused payment.
16:32:You adulterous wife, who welcomes and receives strangers instead of her husband!
16:33:Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you give your gifts to all your lovers, bribing the pagan nations to come to you [as allies] from every direction for your obscene immoralities.
16:34:And you are different from other [unfaithful] women in your promiscuity, in that no one follows you to lure you into prostitution, and because you give money and no money is given you; in this way you are different.”
16:35:Therefore, O prostitute [Israel], hear the word of the Lord.
16:36:Thus says the Lord God, “Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your obscene immoralities with your lovers (pagan allies), and with all your [repulsive] idols, and because of the blood of your sons that you gave to them,
16:37:therefore, listen, I will gather all your lovers (pagan allies) with whom you took pleasure, and all those whom you loved with all those whom you hated; I will even gather them against you from every direction and will expose your nakedness to them that they may see all your nakedness [making you, Israel, an object of loathing and of mockery, a spectacle among the nations].
16:38:And I [the Lord God] will judge you like women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
16:39:I will also hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and they will leave you naked and bare.
16:40:They will also incite a crowd against you and they will stone you and slaughter you with their swords.
16:41:They will burn down your houses with fire and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women (Gentile nations). Then I will make you cease your prostitution, and you will no longer hire your lovers.
16:42:So I will calm My wrath toward you and My jealousy [resulting from being denied what is rightfully and uniquely mine] will turn away from you; I will be pacified and no longer angry.
16:43:Because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have enraged Me with all these things, therefore, I in turn will bring your conduct down on your own head,” says the Lord God, “so that you will not commit this lewdness on top of all your other repulsive acts.
16:44:“Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb against you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’
16:45:You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children. You are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your [spiritual] mother was a Hittite and your [spiritual] father an Amorite.
16:46:Now your older sister is Samaria, she with her daughters (outlying cities) who live north of you; and your younger sister is Sodom, she with her daughters who live south of you.
16:47:Yet you have not merely walked in their ways or behaved in accordance with their pagan practices; but, as if that were too little, you [soon] acted more corruptly in all your ways than they.
16:48:As I live,” says the Lord God, “Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.
16:49:Behold, this was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters (outlying cities) had arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.
16:50:They were haughty and committed repulsive acts before Me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.
16:51:Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half of your sins, but you have greatly increased your repulsive acts more than they. So you have made your [wicked] sisters [Samaria and Sodom] appear righteous and justified by [comparison to] all the disgusting things which you have done.
16:52:Also bear your disgrace [as punishment], having made judgment favorable for your sisters, for [you virtually absolved them] because of your sins in which you behaved more repulsively than they; they are more in the right than you. Yes, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you made your [pagan] sisters seem righteous.
16:53:“Nevertheless, I will restore them [again] from their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters (outlying cities), the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and along with them [I will restore you from] your own captivity [in the day of the Lord God],
16:54:so that you [Judah] will bear your humiliation and disgrace, and be [thoroughly] ashamed for all [the wickedness] that you have done to console and comfort them.
16:55:Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters and Samaria and her daughters will return to their former state; and you and your daughters will return to your former state.
16:56:For [the name of] your sister Sodom was not mentioned by you [except as a byword] in the day of your pride [when David ruled],
16:57:before your [own] wickedness was uncovered. Now you have become an object of reproach and a byword for the daughters of Aram and of Edom and all who are around her, and for the daughters of the Philistines—those surrounding you who despise you.
16:58:You have borne [the penalty of] your lewdness and your repulsive acts,” says the Lord.
16:59:Yes, thus says the Lord God, “I will also deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.
16:60:The Covenant Remembered
“Nevertheless, I will remember [with compassion] My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
16:61:Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both your older and your younger; I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant [with Me].
16:62:And I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord,
16:63:so that you may remember [in detail] and be ashamed and never open your mouth again because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done,” says the Lord God.
17:1:Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine
Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
17:2:“Son of man, ask a riddle and tell a parable to the house of Israel,
17:3:saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “A great eagle (Nebuchadnezzar) with great wings, long pinions and a rich plumage of many colors came to Lebanon (Jerusalem) and took away the top of the cedar (Judah).
17:4:He broke off the topmost of its young twigs (young King Jehoiachin) and carried it to a land of traders (Babylonia); he set it in a city of merchants (Babylon).
17:5:He also took some of the seed of the land (Zedekiah, of the royal family) and planted it in fertile soil and a fruitful field; he placed it beside abundant waters and set it like a willow tree.
17:6:Then it sprouted and grew and became a low, spreading vine whose branches turned [in submission] toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and yielded shoots and sent out branches.
17:7:“There was [also] another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, this vine (Zedekiah) bent its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him, away from the beds where it was planted, for him to water.
17:8:It was planted in good soil where water was plentiful for it to produce leaves and branches and to bear fruit, so that it might become a splendid vine.”’
17:9:Thus says the Lord God, ‘Ask, “Will it thrive? Will he (Nebuchadnezzar) not uproot it and strip off its fruit so that all its sprouting leaves will wither? It will not take a strong arm or many people to uproot it [ending Israel’s national existence].
17:10:Though it is planted, will it thrive and grow? Will it not completely wither when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the beds where it grew.”’”
17:11:Zedekiah’s Rebellion
Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
17:12:“Say now to the rebellious house, ‘Do you not know (realize) what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Hear this, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took its king [Jehoiachin] and its princes and brought them with him to Babylon.
17:13:And he took a member of the royal family [the king’s uncle, Zedekiah] and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. He also took the important leaders of the land,
17:14:so that the kingdom would be in subjection, unable to restore itself and rise again, but that by keeping his covenant it might continue.
17:15:But Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar by sending his ambassadors to Egypt so that they might give him horses and many troops. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Can he indeed break the covenant [with Babylon] and [still] escape?
17:16:As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely in the country of the king (Nebuchadnezzar) who made Zedekiah [the vassal] king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon Zedekiah shall die.
17:17:Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in the war, when they (the Babylonians) put up ramps and build siege walls to destroy many lives.
17:18:Now Zedekiah dishonored the oath by breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand and pledged his allegiance, yet did all these things; he shall not escape.’”
17:19:Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “As I live, I will bring down on his own head My oath [made on My behalf by Nebuchadnezzar] which Zedekiah dishonored and My covenant which he broke.
17:20:I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare; and I will bring him to Babylon and will enter into judgment with him there for his treason which he has committed against Me.
17:21:All the choice men [from Judah] in all his troops will fall by the sword, and those that survive will be scattered to every wind; and you will know [without any doubt] that I the Lord have spoken.”
17:22:Thus says the Lord God, “I Myself will take a twig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
17:23:I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel, that it may grow boughs and bear fruit and be a noble and stately cedar. And birds of every kind will live under it; they will nest [securely] in the shade of its branches.
17:24:All the trees of the field will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will fulfill it.”
18:1:God Deals Justly with Individuals
The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
18:2:“What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel,
‘The fathers eat sour grapes [they sin],
But the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
18:3:As I live,” says the Lord God, “you are certainly not going to use this proverb [as an excuse] in Israel anymore.
18:4:Behold (pay close attention), all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.
18:5:“But if a man is righteous (keeps the law) and practices justice and righteousness,
18:6:and does not eat [at the pagan shrines] on the mountains or raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her [monthly] time of impurity—
18:7:if a man does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,
18:8:if he does not charge interest or take a percentage of increase [on what he lends in compassion], if he keeps his hand from sin and executes true justice between man and man,
18:9:if he walks in My statutes and [keeps] My ordinances so as to act with integrity; [then] he is [truly] righteous and shall certainly live,” says the Lord God.
18:10:“If he is the father of a violent son who sheds blood, and who does any of these things to a brother
18:11:(though the father did not do any of these things), that is, the son even eats [the food set before idols] at the mountain shrines, and defiles his neighbor’s wife,
18:12:oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore [to the debtor] his pledge, but raises his eyes to the idols, and commits repulsive acts,
18:13:and charges interest and takes [a percentage of] increase on what he has loaned; will he then live? He will not live! He has done all these disgusting things, he shall surely be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.
18:14:“Now behold, if this [wicked] man has a son who has observed all the sins which his father committed, and considers [thoughtfully what he has observed] and does not do like his father:
18:15:“He does not eat [food set before idols] at the mountain shrines or raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife,
18:16:or oppress anyone, or take anything in pledge, or commit robbery, but he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,
18:17:he keeps his hand from [oppressing] the poor, does not receive interest or increase [from the needy], but executes My ordinances and walks in My statutes; he shall not die for the sin (guilt) of his father; he shall certainly live.
18:18:As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his sin.
18:19:“Yet do you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father’s sin?’ When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and has done them, he shall certainly live.
18:20:The person who sins [is the one that] will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the sin of the father, nor will the father bear the punishment for the sin of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be on himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on himself.
18:21:“But if the wicked man turns [away] from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall certainly live; he shall not die.
18:22:All of his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced [for his moral and spiritual integrity in every area and relationship], he will live.
18:23:Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” says the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn [away] from his [malevolent] acts and live?
18:24:“But when the righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits sin and acts in accordance with all the repulsive things that the wicked man does, will he live? All of his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered because of the treachery that he has committed and for his sin which he has committed; for them he shall die.
18:25:Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right?
18:26:When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits sin and dies because of it, it is for his sin which he has committed that he dies.
18:27:Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life.
18:28:Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions which he had committed, he shall certainly live; he shall not die.
18:29:Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not right!’ O house of Israel, are My ways not right? Is it not your ways that are not right?
18:30:“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each one in accordance with his conduct,” says the Lord God. “Repent (change your way of thinking) and turn away from all your transgressions, so that sin may not become a stumbling block to you.
18:31:Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed [against Me], and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why should you die, O house of Israel?
18:32:For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live!”
19:1:Dirge for the Princes of Israel
“As for you, take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for the princes of Israel
19:2:and say,
‘What was your mother [Jerusalem and Judah]?
A lioness among lions!
She lay down among young lions,
She reared her cubs.
19:3:‘When she [the royal mother-city] brought up [Jehoahaz] one of her cubs,
He became a [young] lion,
And he learned to catch and tear the prey;
He devoured men.
19:4:‘The nations heard about him;
He was captured in their pit,
And they brought him with hooks
To the land of Egypt.
19:5:‘When she saw, as she waited,
That her hope was lost,
She took another of her cubs
And made him a young lion.
19:6:‘And he moved among the lions;
He became a young lion,
He learned to tear the prey;
He devoured men.
19:7:‘He destroyed their palaces
And he flattened their cities;
And the land and all who were in it were appalled
By the sound of his roaring.
19:8:‘Then the nations set against him (the king)
On every side from the provinces,
And they spread their net over him;
He was captured in their pit.
19:9:‘They put him in a cage with hooks and chains
And brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in hunting nets
So that his voice would be heard no more
On the mountains of Israel.
19:10:‘Your mother [Jerusalem] was like a vine in your vineyard,
Planted by the waters;
It was fruitful and full of branches
Because of abundant water.
19:11:‘And it had strong branches for the scepters of rulers,
And its height was raised above the thick branches and into the clouds
So that it was seen [easily] in its height with the mass of its branches.
19:12:‘But the vine was uprooted in [godly] wrath [by His representative]
And it was thrown down to the ground;
The east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branch was broken off
So that it withered;
The fire [of God’s judgment] consumed it.
19:13:‘And now it is transplanted in the wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land [of Babylon].
19:14:‘And the fire [of Zedekiah’s rebellion] has gone out from its branch;
It has consumed the vine’s shoots and fruit,
So that it has in it no [longer a] strong branch
As a scepter to rule.’”
This is a dirge (funeral poem to be sung), and has become a dirge.
20:1:God’s Dealings with Israel Rehearsed
In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month [after the beginning of the exile in Babylon], certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord and sat down before me.
20:2:Then came the word of the Lord to me, saying,
20:3:“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will not be inquired of by you.”’
20:4:Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then make them know [accurately] and understand fully the repulsive acts of their fathers;
20:5:and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day when I chose Israel and lifted up My hand and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God,
20:6:on that day I swore to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had selected for them, [plentiful and] flowing with milk and honey, [a land] which is an ornament and a glory to all lands.
20:7:Then I said to them, ‘Let every man throw away the detestable things on which he feasts his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.’
20:8:But they rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; they did not throw away the detestable things on which they feasted their eyes, nor did they give up the idols of Egypt.
“Then I decided to pour out My wrath on them and finish My anger against them in the land of Egypt.
20:9:But I acted for My Name’s sake, that it would not be profaned in the sight of the [pagan] nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.
20:10:So I made them leave the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
20:11:I gave them My statutes and explained My ordinances to them, which, if a man keeps, he will live.
20:12:Also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord who sanctifies them (separates and sets them apart).
20:13:But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they despised and rejected My ordinances, which, if a man keeps, he will live; and they greatly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I decided to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them.
20:14:But I acted for My Name’s sake, that it would not be profaned in the sight of the [pagan] nations in whose sight I had brought them out [of slavery].
20:15:I also swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, [a land of plenty] flowing with milk and honey, which is the ornament and glory of all lands,
20:16:because they rejected My ordinances, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they even profaned My Sabbaths, for their heart continually went after their [worthless] idols.
20:17:Yet My eye [looked on them with compassion and] spared them instead of destroying them, and I did not annihilate them in the wilderness.
20:18:“But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers nor observe their ordinances nor defile yourselves with their idols.
20:19:I am the Lord your God; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and observe them.
20:20:Sanctify My Sabbaths and keep them holy; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord your God.’
20:21:Yet the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, which, if a man keeps, he will live; they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I decided to pour out My wrath on them and finish My anger against them in the wilderness.
20:22:Yet I withdrew My hand and acted for My Name’s sake, that it would not be profaned in the sight of the [pagan] nations in whose sight I had brought them out [of slavery].
20:23:Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the [Gentile] nations and disperse them among the countries,
20:24:because they had not observed My ordinances, but had [dishonored and] rejected My statutes and had profaned My Sabbaths, and set their eyes on the [man-made] idols of their fathers.
20:25:[Therefore] I also gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live;
20:26:and I pronounced them unclean because of their offerings [to their idols], in that they made all their firstborn pass through the fire [as pagan sacrifices], so that I might make them desolate, in order that they might know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’
20:27:“Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Again in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, in that they acted faithlessly and treacherously against Me.
20:28:For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, they saw every high hill and every dark and leafy tree [as a place for idol worship], and there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented their offering that provoked My anger; there also they made their sweet-smelling aroma and there poured out their drink offerings.
20:29:Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So the name of it is called Bamah (High Place) to this day.”’
20:30:Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Will you [exiles] defile yourselves in the same manner as your fathers? And will you prostitute yourselves before their loathsome and heinous things?
20:31:When you offer your gifts, when you make your sons pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be asked by you [for an oracle], O house of Israel? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will not be inquired of by you.
20:32:What comes into your mind will never happen, when you say, ‘We will be like the [pagan] nations, like the tribes of the [Gentile] countries, serving [idols made of] wood and stone.’
20:33:God Will Restore Israel to Her Land
“As I live,” says the Lord God, “most certainly with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be King over you.
20:34:I will bring you out from the peoples and will gather you from the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;
20:35:and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you and contend with you face to face.
20:36:As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment and contend with you,” says the Lord God.
20:37:“I will make you pass under the rod [as the shepherd does with his sheep when he counts them, and I will count you as Mine and constrain you] and bring you into the bond of the covenant [to which you are permanently bound].
20:38:And I will separate from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they temporarily live, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
20:39:“As for you, O house of Israel,” thus says the Lord God, “Go, let everyone serve his idols; but later you shall most certainly listen to Me, and you shall no longer profane My holy name with your gifts and with your idols.
20:40:For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel (Zion),” says the Lord God, “there the whole house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me. There I will [graciously] accept them, and there I will seek (require) your offerings and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy and sacred things.
20:41:I will accept you [graciously] as a pleasant and soothing aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands in which you have been scattered; and I will prove Myself holy and manifest My holiness among you in the sight of the nations.
20:42:And you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the land which I swore to give to your fathers.
20:43:There you will remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all your evil deeds which you have done.
20:44:And you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord when I have dealt with you for My Name’s sake, not in accordance with your evil ways nor with your corrupt conduct, O house of Israel,” says the Lord God.’”
20:45:Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
20:46:“Son of man, set your face toward Teman, and speak out against the south and prophesy against the forest land of the Negev (the South),
20:47:and say to the forest of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am about to kindle a fire in you, and it will devour every one of your green trees, as well as every one of your dry trees. The blazing flame will not be quenched and the whole surface from the south to the north will be burned by it.
20:48:All flesh will see that I the Lord have kindled it; it will not be quenched.”’”
20:49:Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not [just] speaking in parables and making allegories?’”
21:1:Parable of the Sword of the Lord
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
21:2:“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and direct your [prophetic] word against the sanctuaries; prophesy against the land of Israel
21:3:and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am against you and will draw My sword out of its sheath and I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
21:4:Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go from its sheath against all flesh from south to north,
21:5:and all living will know [without any doubt] that I the Lord have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it will not be sheathed again.”’
21:6:As for you, son of man, groan with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight.
21:7:And when they say to you, ‘Why do you sigh and groan?’ you shall answer, ‘Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt and all hands will be frail, and every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will happen,’ says the Lord God.”
21:8:Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
21:9:“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord.’ Say,
‘A sword, a sword [from Babylon] is sharpened
And also polished!
21:10:‘It is sharpened to make a slaughter,
Polished to flash and glimmer like lightning!’
Shall we then rejoice [when such a disaster approaches]? But it rejects and views with contempt the scepter of My son [Judah].
21:11:The sword [of Babylon] is ready to be polished so that it may be handled and put to use; the sword is sharpened and polished to be put in the hand of the slayer (Nebuchadnezzar).
21:12:Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against My people; it is against all the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword along with My [terrified] people. Therefore strike your thigh and strike your chest [in grief].
21:13:For this sword has been tested [on others]; and what if it views with contempt the scepter [of Judah]? The scepter shall be no more [but shall be swept away],” says the Lord God.
21:14:“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time [in intensity], the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter which surrounds them [so that no one can escape, even by hiding in their inner rooms],
21:15:so that hearts may melt, and many will fall at their gates. I have given the glittering sword. Ah! It is made [to flash] like lightning; it is pointed and sharpened for slaughter.
21:16:Turn O sword and cut right or cut left, whichever way your thirst for blood and your edge direct you.
21:17:I will also strike My hands together, and I will cause My wrath to rest. I the Lord have spoken.”
21:18:The Instrument of God’s Judgment
The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
21:19:“As for you, son of man, mark out two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost; place it at the head of the way to the city.
21:20:You shall point out a way for the [Babylonian] sword to come to Rabbah [the capital] of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem.
21:21:For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the fork of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows, he consults the teraphim (household idols), he looks at the liver [of an animal for an omen].
21:22:In his right hand is the lot marked for Jerusalem: to set battering rams, to open the mouth calling for destruction, to lift up the voice with a war cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to put up assault ramps, and to build siege walls.
21:23:It will seem like a false divination in their eyes, those who have sworn solemn oaths [of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar]. But he will remind them of their guilt [by rebelling and violating their oath], that they may be caught.
21:24:“Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have caused your guilt to be remembered, in that your rebellion is uncovered, so that your sins appear in everything that you do—because you have come to mind, you will be seized with the hand [of the enemy].
21:25:And you, O dishonored and wicked one [Zedekiah], the prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of final punishment is here,’
21:26:thus says the Lord God, ‘Remove the turban and take off the crown; things shall not remain as they have been. Exalt that which is low and abase the high.
21:27:A ruin, a ruin, I will make it a ruin! It shall no longer exist until He comes whose right it is [to reign], and I will give it to Him.’
21:28:“And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach (disgrace),’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter; it is sharpened and polished to put an end [to everything], and to flash like lightning,
21:29:while they (Ammonite prophets) see false visions [of peace] for you, while they divine lies [of escape] for you—to place you [of Ammon] on the headless bodies of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, whose time of the final punishment is here.
21:30:Return the sword to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin (birth), I will judge you.
21:31:I will pour out My indignation on you [sons of Ammon]; I will blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and I will place you in the hand of brutal men, skilled in destruction.
21:32:You will be fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I the Lord have spoken.’”
22:1:The Sins of Israel
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
22:2:“And you, son of man [Ezekiel], will you judge, will you judge the city of bloodshed? Then make her recognize all her repulsive acts.
22:3:You shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time [of doom] will come, and makes idols to defile her, contrary to her interest!
22:4:You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols which you have made. Thus you have caused your day [of judgment and punishment] to approach and have arrived at [the completion of] your years; therefore, I have made you an object of scorn to the [pagan] nations and a thing to be mocked by all countries.
22:5:Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you [infamous one] of ill repute, full of turmoil.
22:6:“Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been intending to shed blood in you.
22:7:In you they have treated father and mother lightly. They have oppressed the stranger among you; and in your presence they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.
22:8:You have despised and scorned My sacred things and have profaned My Sabbaths.
22:9:In you are men who slander for the purpose of shedding blood, and in your presence they have eaten [food offered to idols] at the mountain shrines; in your midst they have committed acts of lewdness.
22:10:In you men have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness [the nakedness of mother or stepmother]; in you they have violated women who are [set apart as ceremonially] unclean during their menstrual impurity [or after childbirth].
22:11:In you one has committed a shameful act with his neighbor’s wife, another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law, and another has violated his sister, his father’s daughter.
22:12:In you they have accepted bribes to shed blood; you have taken [forbidden] interest and [a percentage of] profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression and extortion, and you have forgotten Me,” says the Lord God.
22:13:“Behold, therefore, I strike My hands [together] at your dishonest gain which you have acquired and at the bloodshed which is among you.
22:14:Can your heart (courage) endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and will act.
22:15:I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will destroy your filthiness.
22:16:You will defile yourself in the sight of the [Gentile] nations, and you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’”
22:17:And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
22:18:“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross (metallic waste) to Me. All of them are (useless) bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver.
22:19:Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you [O Israel] into the midst of Jerusalem.
22:20:As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will put you there and melt you.
22:21:I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it.
22:22:As silver is melted in the furnace, so will you be melted in the midst of it; and you will know [without any doubt] that I the Lord have poured out My wrath on you [O Israel].’”
22:23:And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
22:24:“Son of man, say to her, ‘You [Israel] are a land that is not pronounced clean or rained on in the day of indignation.’
22:25:There is a conspiracy of her [false] prophets in her midst, like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured [human] life; they have taken [in their greed] treasure and precious things; they have made many widows among her.
22:26:Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy (sacred) and the profane (secular), they have not taught [people] the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
22:27:Her princes within her are like wolves tearing and devouring the prey, shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain.
22:28:Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God’—when the Lord has not spoken.
22:29:The people of the land have practiced oppression and extortion and have committed robbery; they have wronged the poor and needy and they have oppressed the stranger without justice.
22:30:I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for [the sake of] the land, that I would not destroy it, but I found no one [not even one].
22:31:Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; I have repaid their way [by bringing it] upon their own heads,” says the Lord God.
23:1:Oholah and Oholibah’s Sin and Its Consequences
The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
23:2:“Son of man, there were two women (Israel and Judah), the daughters of one mother (the united kingdom);
23:3:and they prostituted themselves in Egypt. From their youth they were grossly immoral; in that place their breasts were embraced and their virgin bosom was grasped.
23:4:Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister, and they became Mine and they gave birth to sons and daughters. And as for [the identity of] their names, Oholah is Samaria (capital city of Israel) and Oholibah is Jerusalem (capital city of Judah).
23:5:“Oholah played the prostitute while she was Mine; and she adored and lusted after her lovers (allies), the Assyrians, her neighbors,
23:6:who were clothed in purple, governors and officials, all of them attractive young men, horsemen riding on horses.
23:7:She bestowed [freely] her immoralities on them, the choicest men of Assyria, all of them; and with all whom she adored and lusted after, she defiled herself with their idols.
23:8:She did not give up the acts of prostitution that originated during her time in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her, and they handled her virgin bosom and poured out their depravity on her.
23:9:Therefore, I placed her in the hand of her lovers (allies), into the hand of the Assyrians whom she adored.
23:10:They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters and they killed her with the sword. So she became notorious among women, and they executed judgments on her.
23:11:“Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and her acts of prostitution were more [wanton] than the immoralities of her sister.
23:12:She lusted after the Assyrians—governors and officials, her neighbors, magnificently clothed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.
23:13:I saw that she had defiled herself; they both behaved the same way.
23:14:But Oholibah carried her depravity further, for she saw men pictured on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) sketched and portrayed in vermilion (bright red pigment),
23:15:girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, like the Babylonian men whose native land was Chaldea.
23:16:When she saw [the sketches of] them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
23:17:The Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and they defiled her with their evil desire; and when she had been defiled by them, she (Jerusalem) broke the relationship and pushed them away from her in disgust.
23:18:So she flaunted her acts of prostitution and exposed her nakedness; then I became disgusted with her [and turned away], as I had become disgusted with her sister [and turned away].
23:19:Yet she multiplied her depravities, remembering the days of her youth, when she was actively immoral in the land of Egypt.
23:20:For she lusted after her lovers [there], whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
23:21:Thus you longed for the lewdness and vulgarity of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom on account of the breasts of your youth.
23:22:“Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers (allies) against you, from whom you turned away in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side:
23:23:the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and officials all of them, princes, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.
23:24:They will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of people (infantry) who will array themselves against you on every side with large shield and small, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment and the punishment to them, and they will judge and punish you in accordance with their [pagan] customs.
23:25:I will set My jealous indignation against you [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], and they will deal with you in fury. They will remove your nose and your ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and the survivors will be devoured by the fire.
23:26:They will also strip you (Judah) of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels.
23:27:Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your prostitution brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt [with longing] anymore.’
23:28:For thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will place you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned away in disgust.
23:29:They will deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your depravity will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your obscene practices.
23:30:These things will be done to you because you have prostituted yourself with the [Gentile] nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols.
23:31:You have walked in the way of your sister (Samaria); therefore I will give her cup [of judgment] into your hand.’
23:32:Thus says the Lord God,
‘You will drink your sister’s cup,
Which is deep and wide [and filled to the brim].
You shall be laughed at and derided;
It contains much [too much to endure].
23:33:‘You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
With the cup of horror and desolation,
With the cup of your sister Samaria.
23:34:‘You will drink it and drain it,
Then you will gnaw its fragments
And tear your breasts;
for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God.
23:35:Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, therefore bear now [the consequences of] your lewdness and prostitution.’”
23:36:Moreover, the Lord said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah (Samaria, capital of Israel) and Oholibah (Jerusalem, capital of Judah)? Then inform them of their atrocities [the detestable and vile things they do].
23:37:For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery [against Me] with their idols and have even forced their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire as [an offering of] food to them (idols).
23:38:Moreover, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day [of their idolatries] and have profaned My Sabbaths.
23:39:For when they had killed their children [as offerings] to their idols, then they came the same day to My sanctuary to profane it [by daring to offer a sacrifice there also]. And behold, this they did within My house.
23:40:“Furthermore, you have even sent a messenger for men to come from far away; and behold, they came—those for whom you bathed, painted your eyes, and decorated yourself with ornaments;
23:41:and you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged before it on which you had set My incense and My oil.
23:42:The sound of a carefree crowd was with her; and drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of a common sort, who put bracelets on the hands of the women (both sisters) and beautiful crowns on their heads.
23:43:“Then I said concerning the one (Oholah) worn out by adulteries, ‘Will they now commit adultery with her when she is like this?’
23:44:But they committed adultery with her as they would with a prostitute. So they went in to Oholah (Israel) and to Oholibah (Judah), the lewd women.
23:45:And they, righteous men, will judge and condemn them with the judgment (punishment) of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.
23:46:“For thus says the Lord God, ‘Bring up a horde (mob) against them and hand them over to terror and plunder.
23:47:And the horde will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and their daughters and burn down their houses with fire.
23:48:Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land, that all women may be admonished and taught not to commit immoral acts as you have done.
23:49:Thus your lewdness will be repaid to you, and you will suffer the penalty for your [sinful] idolatry; and you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.’”
24:1:Parable of the Boiling Pot
Again in the ninth year [of King Jehoiachin’s captivity by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon], in the tenth month, on the tenth [day] of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
24:2:“Son of man, record the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.
24:3:Speak a parable against the rebellious house [of Judah] and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Put on a pot; put it on and also pour water into it;
24:4:“Put in it the pieces [of meat],
Every good piece (the people of Jerusalem), the thigh and the shoulder;
Fill it with choice bones.
24:5:“Take the choicest of the flock,
And also pile wood under the pot.
Make it boil vigorously
And boil its bones in the pot.”
24:6:‘Therefore, thus says the Lord God,
“Woe (judgment is coming) to the bloody city,
To the pot in which there is rust
And whose rust has not gone out of it!
Take out of it piece by piece,
Without making any choice.
24:7:“For her blood [that she has shed] remains in her midst;
She put it on the bare rock;
She did not pour it on the ground
To cover it with dust.
24:8:“That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance,
I have put her blood [guilt for her children sacrificed to Molech] on the bare rock,
That it may not be covered.”
24:9:‘Therefore, thus says the Lord God,
“Woe to the bloody city!
I will also make the pile [of wood] high.
24:10:“Heap on wood, kindle the fire,
Boil the meat well [done]
And mix in the spices,
And let the bones be burned.
24:11:“Then set the empty pot (Jerusalem) back on the coals
So that it may be hot
And its bronze may glow
And its filthiness may be melted
And its rust (scum) may be consumed.
24:12:“She has wearied Me with toil,
Yet her great rust has not left her;
Her thick rust and filth will not be burned away by fire [no matter how hot the flame].
24:13:“In your filthiness are lewdness and outrage.
Therefore I would have cleansed you,
Yet you were not [willing to be] cleansed,
You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again
Until I have satisfied My wrath against you.
24:14:I the Lord have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, and I will not have compassion and I will not be sorry; in accordance with your ways and in accordance with your deeds I will judge and punish you,” says the Lord God.’”
24:15:Death of Ezekiel’s Wife Is a Sign
Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
24:16:“Son of man, listen carefully, I am about to take away from you the desire of your eyes [your wife] with a single stroke. Yet you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not flow.
24:17:Sigh and groan in silence; do not mourn for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on your feet, and do not cover your mustache or eat the bread of [mourners furnished by other] men.”
24:18:So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And the next morning I did as I was commanded.
24:19:The people said to me, “These things that you are doing—tell us, what do they mean for us?”
24:20:Then I answered them, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
24:21:‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind [in Jerusalem] will fall by the sword.
24:22:You will do as I [Ezekiel] have done; you shall not cover your mustache nor eat the bread of [mourning brought to you by other] men.
24:23:‘Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will rot away in your sins and you will groan to one another.
24:24:So Ezekiel will be a sign to you; in accordance with all that he has done you will do. And when this [destruction of the temple] comes, then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.’”
24:25:‘As for you, son of man, on the day when I take their strength and their stronghold from them, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes and their heart’s [chief] delight (the temple), and I also take their sons and their daughters,
24:26:that on that day a survivor will come to you to let you hear [of the destruction of Jerusalem] with your [own] ears.
24:27:On that day your mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and no longer be mute. In this way you shall be a sign to them, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”
25:1:Judgment on Gentile Nations—Ammon
The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
25:2:“Son of man, set your face toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them.
25:3:And say to the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the Lord God, for thus says the Lord God, “Because you said, ‘Aha!’ against My sanctuary when it was profaned and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate and against the house of Judah when they went into exile,
25:4:therefore, behold, I am going to give you to the people of the East as a possession, and they will set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk.
25:5:I will make Rabbah [your chief city] a pasture for camels and [the cities of] the Ammonites a resting place for flocks [of sheep]. And you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”
25:6:For thus says the Lord God, “Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the contempt, and malice, and spite of your soul against the land of Israel,
25:7:therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and will hand you over as prey and spoil to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will cause you to perish from the countries; I will destroy you. Then you shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”
25:8:Moab
‘Thus says the Lord God, “Because Moab and Seir (Edom) say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the [pagan] nations,’
25:9:therefore, behold, I will deprive the flank of Moab of its cities which are on its frontiers, the glory of the land, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon and Kiriathaim.
25:10:I will give it, along with the children of Ammon, to the people of the East as a possession, so that the children of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations [any longer].
25:11:Thus I will execute judgment and punishment on Moab, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”
25:12:Edom
‘Thus says the Lord God, “Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended and has incurred grievous guilt by taking revenge on them,”
25:13:therefore thus says the Lord God, “I will also stretch out My hand against Edom and I will cut off and destroy man and beast. I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they will fall by the sword.
25:14:I will take My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom in accordance with My anger and My wrath, and they will know and experience My vengeance,” says the Lord God.
25:15:Philistia
‘Thus says the Lord God, “Because the Philistines have acted revengefully and have taken vengeance [contemptuously] with malice in their hearts to destroy with everlasting hostility and hatred,”
25:16:therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant of the seacoast.
25:17:I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes and chastisements and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance on them.”’”
26:1:Judgment on Tyre
Now in the eleventh year, on the first [day] of the month [after the capture of King Jehoiachin], the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
26:2:“Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gateway of the people is broken; she is open to me. I will be filled, now that she is a desolate waste,’
26:3:therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea makes its waves crest.
26:4:They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; and I will scrape her dust and debris from her and make her as bare as [the top of] a rock.
26:5:Her island in the midst of the sea will become a dry place to spread nets, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God, ‘and she will become a prey and a spoil for the nations.
26:6:Also Tyre’s daughters (towns, villages) on the mainland will be killed by the sword, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”
26:7:For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots and with horsemen and a great army.
26:8:He will kill your daughters on the mainland with the sword, and he shall make siege walls against you and build a siege ramp against you and raise [a roof of] large shields [as a defense] against you.
26:9:He will direct the [shocking] blow of his battering rams against your walls, and he will tear down your towers with his crowbars.
26:10:Because of the great number of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls [O Tyre] will shake from the noise of the horsemen and the wagons and the chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached.
26:11:With the hoofs of his horses Nebuchadnezzar will trample all your streets; with the sword he will kill your people, and your strong pillars (obelisks) will fall to the ground.
26:12:Also they will take your riches as spoil and plunder your merchandise, and tear down your walls and your pleasant houses, and throw your stones and your timber and the debris [from your city] out in the water.
26:13:So I will silence your songs, and the sound of your lyres will no longer be heard.
26:14:I will make you [Tyre] a bare rock; you will be a dry place on which to spread nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken,” says the Lord God.
26:15:Thus says the Lord God to Tyre, “Shall not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall when the wounded groan, when the slaughter occurs in your midst?
26:16:Then all the princes of the sea will go down from their thrones and remove their robes and take off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble again and again, and be appalled at you.
26:17:They will take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for you and say to you,
‘How you have perished and vanished, O renowned city,
From the seas, O renowned city,
Which was mighty on the sea,
She and her inhabitants,
Who imposed her terror
On all who lived there!
26:18:‘Now the coastlands will tremble
On the day of your fall;
Yes, the coastlands which are by the sea
Will be terrified at your departure.’”
26:19:For thus says the Lord God, “When I make you a desolate city, like the cities which are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you and great waters cover you,
26:20:then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit (the place of the dead), to the people of old, and I will make you [Tyre] live in the depths of the earth, like the ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set glory and splendor in the land of the living.
26:21:I will bring terrors on you and you will be no more. Though you will be sought, yet you will never be found again,” says the Lord God.
27:1:Dirge for Tyre
The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
27:2:“Now you, son of man, take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for Tyre,
27:3:and say to Tyre, who lives at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’
27:4:“Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
Your builders have perfected your beauty.
27:5:“They have made all your planks of fir trees from Senir;
They have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
27:6:“Of the oaks of Bashan they have made your oars;
They have made your deck of boxwood from the coastlands of Cyprus, inlaid with ivory.
27:7:“Your sail was of fine embroidered linen from Egypt
So that it became your distinguishing mark (insignia);
Your [ship’s] awning [which covered you] was blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah [of Asia Minor].
27:8:“The inhabitants of Sidon and [the island] of Arvad were your oarsmen;
Your skilled and wise men, O Tyre, were with you; they were your pilots.
27:9:“The elders of Gebal and its skilled and wise men were with you, repairing your leaks;
All the ships of the sea with their mariners were with you to deal in your merchandise.
27:10:“Persia and Lud and Put (Libya) were in your army as your men of war. They hung the shield and the helmet on you; they gave you splendor.
27:11:The men of Arvad with your army were upon your walls, all around, and the Gammadim (men of valor) were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls, all around; they perfected your beauty.
27:12:“Tarshish [in Spain] was your customer and traded with you because of the abundance of your riches of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for your wares.
27:13:Javan (Greece), Tubal and Meshech (Asia Minor) traded with you; with the lives of men [taken as slaves] and vessels of bronze they paid for your merchandise.
27:14:Those from Beth-togarmah (Armenia) traded for your wares with [chariot] horses, war horses, and mules.
27:15:The men of Dedan were your traders. Many coastlands were your markets; ivory tusks and ebony they brought to you in payment or as gifts.
27:16:Aram traded with you because of the abundance of the goods you made. They paid for your merchandise with emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies.
27:17:Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders; with the wheat of Minnith [in Ammon], cakes, honey, oil, and balm they paid for your goods.
27:18:Damascus traded with you because of the abundance of your handiworks and the immense wealth of every kind, with the wine of Helbon [Aleppo] and the white wool [of Sachar in Syria].
27:19:Vedan and Javan traded with yarn from Uzal [in Arabia] for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane were among your merchandise.
27:20:Dedan traded with you in saddle blankets for riding.
27:21:Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were your customers for lambs, rams, and goats [favored by you]; for these they were your customers.
27:22:The merchants of Sheba and Raamah [in Arabia], they traded with you; they paid for your wares with the choicest of all kinds of spices and all kinds of precious stones and gold.
27:23:Haran and Canneh and Eden [in Mesopotamia], the merchants of Sheba [on the Euphrates], Asshur and Chilmad traded with you.
27:24:They traded with you in choice fabrics and garments, in clothes of blue or violet and embroidered work, and in [treasures of] multi-colored damask and knotted carpets bound with tightly wound cords, which were among your merchandise.
27:25:The ships of Tarshish were the caravans for your merchandise,
And you [Tyre] were replenished and very glorious [heavily laden with an imposing fleet]
In the heart of the seas.
27:26:“Your rowers have brought you
Into great and deep waters;
The east wind has broken and shipwrecked you
In the heart of the seas.
27:27:“Your riches, your wares, your merchandise
Your oarsmen and your pilots,
Your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,
And all your men of war who are with you,
With all your company that is in your midst,
Will sink in the heart of the seas
On the day of your ruin.
27:28:“The pasture lands and the countryside will shake
At the [piercing] sound of the [hopeless, wailing] cry of your pilots.
27:29:“All who handle the oar,
The mariners and all the pilots of the sea
Will come down from their ships;
They will stand on the shore,
27:30:And they will make their voice heard [as they wail loudly] over you
And they will cry bitterly.
They will throw dust on their heads;
They will wallow in ashes.
27:31:“And they will make themselves [completely] bald for you
And wrap themselves in sackcloth;
And in bitterness of soul they will weep for you
With bitter mourning and wailing.
27:32:“In their wailing they will take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for you
And sing a dirge for you:
‘Who is like Tyre,
Like her who is silent [destroyed] in the midst of the sea?
27:33:‘When your wares went out to the sea,
You met the desire, and the demand, and the necessities of many people;
You enriched the kings of the earth
With your abundant wealth and merchandise.
27:34:‘Now you are shattered by the seas
In the depths of the waters;
Your merchandise and all your crew
Have gone down with you.
27:35:‘All the inhabitants of the coastlands
Are aghast and appalled at you,
And their kings are horribly frightened and shudder;
Their faces twitch and pale.
27:36:‘The merchants among the people hiss at you [with malicious joy];
You have become a horror and a source of terrors.
You will cease to be forever.’”’”
28:1:Tyre’s King Overthrown
The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,
28:2:“Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Because your heart is lifted up
And you have said and thought, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of the gods
In the heart of the seas’;
Yet you are [only] a man [weak, feeble, made of earth] and not God,
Though you [imagine yourself to be more than mortal and] think your mind is as [wise as] the mind of God—
28:3:Behold, you are [imagining yourself] wiser than Daniel;
There is no secret [you think] that is hidden from you;
28:4:With your [own] wisdom and with your [own] understanding
You have acquired your riches and power
And have brought gold and silver into your treasuries;
28:5:By your great wisdom and by your trade
You have increased your riches and power,
And your heart is proud and arrogant because of your wealth;
28:6:Therefore thus says the Lord God,
‘Because you have imagined your mind [to be]
Like the mind of God [having thoughts and plans like God Himself],
28:7:Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers (Babylonians) upon you,
The most ruthless and violent of the nations.
And they will draw their swords
Against the beauty of your wisdom [O Tyre]
And defile your splendor.
28:8:‘They will bring you down to the pit [of destruction],
And you will die the death of all those who die
In the heart of the seas.
28:9:‘Will you still say, “I am a god,”
In the presence of him who kills you?
But you are [only] a man [made of earth] and not God,
In the hands of those who wound and profane you.
28:10:‘You will die the death of the uncircumcised [barbarian]
By the hand of strangers,
For I have spoken!’ says the Lord God.”’”
28:11:Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
28:12:“Son of man, take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“You had the full measure of perfection and the finishing touch [of completeness],
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
28:13:“You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx, and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and your sockets,
Was in you.
They were prepared
On the day that you were created.
28:14:“You were the anointed cherub who covers and protects,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire [sparkling jewels].
28:15:“You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness and evil were found in you.
28:16:“Through the abundance of your commerce
You were internally filled with lawlessness and violence,
And you sinned;
Therefore I have cast you out as a profane and unholy thing
From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire.
28:17:“Your heart was proud and arrogant because of your beauty;
You destroyed your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I lay you before kings,
That they might look at you.
28:18:“You profaned your sanctuaries
By the great quantity of your sins and the enormity of your guilt,
By the unrighteousness of your trade.
Therefore I have brought forth a fire from your midst;
It has consumed you,
And I have reduced you to ashes on the earth
In the sight of all who look at you.
28:19:“All the peoples (nations) who knew you
Are appalled at you;
You have come to a horrible and terrifying end
And will forever cease to be.”’”
28:20:Judgment of Sidon
Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
28:21:“Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her
28:22:and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am against you, O Sidon,
And I will show My glory and be glorified in your midst.
Then they will know [by personal experience] that I am the Lord when I bring judgment and punishment on her,
And I will manifest My holiness in her.
28:23:“For I will send virulent disease to her
And blood into her streets,
And the wounded will fall in her midst
By the sword upon her from every side,
And they shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
28:24:And there will no longer be a briar or a painful thorn to prick the house of Israel from all those around them who treated them with contempt; then they will know [with clarity] that I am the Lord God.”
28:25:Israel Regathered
‘Thus says the Lord God, “When I gather the house of Israel from the nations among whom they are scattered, and I manifest my Holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.
28:26:They shall live in it securely; and they will build houses, plant vineyards and live securely when I execute judgment on all those around them who despise them. Then they will know [with clarity and confidence] that I am the Lord their God.”’”
29:1:Judgment of Egypt
In the tenth year [of the captivity of King Jehoiachin by the king of Babylon], in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
29:2:“Son of man, set your face toward Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.
29:3:Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
The great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers,
[Boastfully] declaring, ‘My Nile is my own, and I have made it for myself.’
29:4:“I will put hooks in your jaws
And [I will] make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales.
And I will pull you up from the midst of your rivers,
And all the fish of your rivers will stick to your scales.
29:5:“I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers;
You will fall on the open field; and you will not be gathered up or buried.
I have given you as food to the [wild] animals of the earth and the birds of the sky.
29:6:“And all the inhabitants of Egypt will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord,
Because they have been [only] a staff made of [fragile] reeds to the house of Israel.
29:7:“When they (Israel) grasped you (Egypt) by the hand,
You broke and tore apart their hands;
When they leaned on you,
You broke and strained their backs.”
29:8:‘Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am going to bring a sword on you and cut off (destroy) both man and animal,
29:9:and the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a wasteland. And they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
“Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine and I have made it,’
29:10:behold (hear this), therefore, I am against you and against your rivers (the Nile, its tributaries), and I will make the land of Egypt a complete waste and a desolation, from [northern] Migdol to [southern] Syene, even as far as the border of Ethiopia (Cush).
29:11:No man’s foot will pass through it, no animal’s foot will pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years.
29:12:So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation [plundered and ruined] among desolated lands; and her cities, among cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and [I will] disperse them through the lands.”
29:13:‘For thus says the Lord God, “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations among whom they were scattered.
29:14:I will reverse the fortunes of Egypt [as I will that of Israel] and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom.
29:15:It will be the lowliest of the kingdoms, and it will never again exalt itself above the nations; I will diminish the Egyptians so they will never again rule over the nations.
29:16:And Egypt will never again have the confidence of the house of Israel; their wickedness will be remembered whenever Israel looks toward them [for help]. Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.”’”
29:17:In the twenty-seventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon], in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
29:18:“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army work hard [at My command] against Tyre; every [soldier’s] head became bald and every shoulder was worn and peeled [from carrying loads of dirt and stones for siege works]. Yet he had no wages from Tyre [in proportion to the time and labor expended during the siege], either for himself or his army, for the work that he had done against it [for Me].”
29:19:Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it shall be the wages for his army.
29:20:I have given him the land of Egypt for the hard work which he did [against Tyre], because they did it for Me,” says the Lord God.
29:21:“In that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord [when I renew their strength].”
30:1:Dirge for Egypt
The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,
30:2:“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
30:3:“For the day is near,
Even the day of the Lord is near,
It will be a cloudy day;
A time of doom for the nations.
30:4:“A sword will come upon Egypt,
And anguish and trembling will be in Ethiopia (Cush),
When the slain fall in Egypt
And they [of Babylon] carry away her great mass of people and her riches
And her foundations are torn down.
30:5:Ethiopia (Cush), Put, Lud, all Arabia, Libya (Cub) and the people of the land of the covenant [the Jews who had taken refuge in Egypt] will fall with the Egyptians by the sword.”
30:6:‘Thus says the Lord,
“Those who uphold and support Egypt will fall
And the pride of her power will come down;
From Migdol [in the north] to Syene [in the south]
They will fall within her by the sword,”
Says the Lord God.
30:7:“And they will be desolate
In the midst of countries that are desolated;
And her cities will be
Among cities that are devastated [by plunder and slavery].
30:8:“And they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord,
When I have set a fire in Egypt
And all her helpers are shattered and destroyed.
30:9:On that day [swift] messengers will go from Me in ships to frighten the careless and unsuspecting Ethiopians, and there will be anguish and trembling in them as in the day of [judgment for] Egypt; for behold, it is coming!”
30:10:‘Thus says the Lord God,
“I will also make the great people of Egypt cease
By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
30:11:“He and his people with him,
The most violent and ruthless of the nations,
Will be brought in to destroy the land,
And they will draw their swords against Egypt
And fill the land with the slain.
30:12:“And I will make the rivers [of the Nile delta] dry
And sell the land into the hands of evil men;
I will make the land desolate
And all that is in it,
By the hand of strangers. I the Lord have spoken.”
30:13:‘Thus says the Lord God,
“I will also destroy the idols
And I will put an end to the images in Memphis;
There will no longer be a prince of the land of Egypt.
And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
30:14:“I will make Pathros desolate,
Set fire to Zoan
And execute judgments and punishments on Thebes.
30:15:“I will pour out My wrath on Pelusium,
The stronghold of Egypt,
And I will cut off (destroy) the population of Thebes.
30:16:“I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium will writhe in [great] anguish,
Thebes shall be torn open
And Memphis shall be in daily distress.
30:17:“The young men of On (Aven) and of Pi-beseth
Will fall by the sword,
And the women [and children] will go into captivity.
30:18:“In Tehaphnehes the day will be dark
When I break the yoke bars and dominion of Egypt there.
Then the pride of her power will come to an end;
A cloud [of disasters] will cover her,
And her daughters will go into captivity.
30:19:“In this way I will bring judgment and punishment on Egypt.
Then they shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’”
30:20:Victory for Babylon
In the eleventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon], in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
30:21:“Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and behold, it has not been bound up to heal or wrapped with a bandage, so that it may be strong to hold and wield the sword.
30:22:Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong one and the broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand.
30:23:I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and will disperse them throughout the lands.
30:24:I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; but I will break Pharaoh’s arms and he will groan before him (Nebuchadnezzar) with the groanings of a [mortally] wounded man.
30:25:But I will strengthen and hold up the arms of the king of Babylon and the arms of Pharaoh will fall down. Then the people [of Egypt] will know that I am the Lord, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt.
30:26:When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the lands, then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”
31:1:Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate
In the eleventh year [after King Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon], in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
31:2:“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes,
‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
31:3:‘Behold (listen carefully), Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and with forest shade,
And of high stature,
With its top among the clouds.
31:4:‘The waters nourished it, the deep [underground waters] made it grow tall.
Its rivers ran all around the place where it was planted,
Sending out its streams to all the trees (other nations) of the field.
31:5:‘Therefore it towered higher than all the trees of the forest
And its boughs multiplied and its branches grew long;
Because there was so much water they spread outward.
31:6:‘All the birds of the sky made their nests in its twigs,
And under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth [to their young],
And all of the great nations lived under its shadow.
31:7:‘So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its roots extended [downward] to great waters.
31:8:‘The cedars in the garden of God could not hide or rival it;
The cypress trees did not have boughs like it,
And the plane trees did not have branches like it.
No tree in the garden of God was like it in its beauty.
31:9:‘I made it beautiful with the great mass of its branches,
So that all the trees of Eden which were in the garden of God were jealous of it (Assyria).
31:10:‘Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Because it is high in stature and has set its top among the thick boughs and the clouds, and its heart is proud of its height,
31:11:I will hand it over to a mighty one and a mighty one of the nations; he will most certainly deal with it. I have driven it away in accordance with its wickedness.
31:12:Alien tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; its foliage has fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys and its branches have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the nations of the earth have come from under its shade and have left it.
31:13:All the birds of the sky will nest in its ruins, and all the animals of the field will rest on its fallen branches
31:14:so that none of the trees by the waters may exalt themselves because of their height, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones stand [arrogantly] in their height. For they have all been handed over to death, to the earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit (the grave).”
31:15:‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day when Assyria went down to Sheol (the place of the dead) I caused mourning; I closed the deep [subterranean waters] over it and restrained its rivers. And the many waters [that contributed to its prosperity] were held back; and I made [the heart of] Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away because of it.
31:16:I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit; and all the well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, will be comforted in the earth beneath [at Assyria’s downfall].
31:17:They also went down to Sheol with it to those who were slain by the sword; those who were its strength lived under its shade among the nations.
31:18:“Which among the trees of Eden do you equal in glory and in greatness [O Egypt]? Yet you [also] will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath (nether world). You will lie among the uncircumcised (the barbaric, the boorish, the crude) with those who were slain by the sword. This is how it shall be with Pharaoh and all his hordes!”’ says the Lord God.”
32:1:Dirge for Pharaoh and Egypt
In the twelfth year [after King Jehoiachin of Judah was taken into exile by the king of Babylon], in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
32:2:“Son of man, take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him,
‘You have compared yourself to a young lion among the nations,
But you are like a monster in the seas;
You burst into your rivers
And disturbed and muddied the waters with your feet
And fouled their rivers [the source of their prosperity].’”
32:3:Thus says the Lord God,
“I will spread out My net over you
With a company of many nations,
And they will bring you up in My net.
32:4:“Then I will leave you (Egypt) on the land;
I will hurl you on the open field.
And I will make all the birds of the sky dwell on you,
And I will satisfy the animals of all the earth with you.
32:5:“And I will scatter your flesh on the mountains
And fill the valleys with your debris [your corpses and their worms].
32:6:“I will also water the land with your flowing blood
As far as the mountains,
And the ravines will be full of you.
32:7:“And when I extinguish you,
I will cover the heavens [of Egypt] and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud
And the moon will not give its light.
32:8:“All the bright lights in the heavens
I will darken over you
And I will place darkness on your land,”
Says the Lord God.
32:9:I will also put fear into the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction [and captivity] among the nations, into countries which you have not known.
32:10:I will make many peoples appalled at you [at your judgment and your defeat], and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword [of judgment] before them; they will tremble and shudder every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your downfall.”
32:11:For thus says the Lord God, “The sword of the king of Babylon will come on you.
32:12:I will make your horde [of people] fall by the swords of the mighty—all of them are tyrants among the nations,
And they will devastate the pride and presumption of Egypt,
And all its hordes will be destroyed.
32:13:“I will also destroy all its cattle from beside its great waters;
And the foot of man will not muddy them anymore
Nor will the hoofs of the animals muddy them.
32:14:“Then I will make their waters quiet and clear;
I will make their rivers run [slowly and smoothly] like oil,”
Says the Lord God.
32:15:“When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
And the country is stripped and deprived of all that which filled it,
When I strike all those who live in it,
Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
32:16:This is the dirge (funeral poem to be sung) and they shall sing it [for her]. The daughters of the nations shall sing it; for Egypt and for all her hordes they shall sing it,” says the Lord God.
32:17:In the twelfth year [after King Jehoiachin of Judah was taken into exile], on the fifteenth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
32:18:“Son of man, wail over the hordes of Egypt and cast them down, both her and the daughters of the powerful and majestic nations, to the nether world (the place of the dead), with those who go down to the pit;
32:19:‘Whom [among them] do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and make your bed with the uncircumcised (the barbaric, the boorish, the crude).’
32:20:They will fall among those who are slain by the sword. She (Egypt) is handed over to the sword; they have drawn her and all her hordes away [to judgment].
32:21:The strong among the mighty rulers will say of him (Pharaoh) and his allies from the midst of Sheol, ‘They have gone down [defeated]; they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’
32:22:“Assyria is there with all her warriors; their graves are all around her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword,
32:23:whose graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit and her army is all around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.
32:24:“Elam [a conquest of Assyria] is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, who made their terror spread in the land of the living and bore their shame and defeat with those who went down to the pit.
32:25:They have made a bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it; they are all uncircumcised (barbaric, boorish, crude), slain by the sword (for their terror had been spread in the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; they were laid among the slain.
32:26:“Meshech, Tubal, and all their hordes are there; their graves surround them. All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, for they spread their terror in the land of the living.
32:27:Nor do they lie beside the fallen heroes of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid [with honors] under their heads. The punishment for their sins rested on their bones, for the terror of these heroes was once in the land of the living.
32:28:But you will be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised and you will lie [without honors] with those who are slain by the sword.
32:29:“Edom is there also, her kings and all her princes, who for all their power and strength are laid with those who were slain by the sword; they will lie [in shame and defeat] with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.
32:30:“The princes of the north are there also, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their power, have gone down in shame with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.
32:31:“Pharaoh will see them, and he will be comforted for all his hordes slain by the sword—Pharaoh and all his army,” says the Lord God.
32:32:“Though I instilled a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his hordes,” says the Lord God.
33:1:The Watchman’s Duty
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
33:2:“Son of man, speak to the sons of your people [who are exiled in Babylon] and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword on a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman,
33:3:and he sees the sword coming on the land, and he blows the trumpet and warns the people,
33:4:then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his [own] head.
33:5:He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood shall be on himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life.
33:6:But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, he is taken away because of his corruption and sin; but I will require his blood from the watchman’s hand.’
33:7:“Now as for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you shall hear a message from My mouth and give them a warning from Me.
33:8:When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will certainly die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man will die because of his sin; but I will require his blood from your hand.
33:9:But if you on your part warn the wicked man to turn from his [evil] way and he does not turn from his [evil] way, he will die in his sin; but you have saved your life.
33:10:“Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have said, “Truly our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we are rotting away because of them; how then can we live?”’
33:11:Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back (change your way of thinking), turn back [in repentance] from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
33:12:And you, son of man, say to the sons of your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stagger because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness, whereas a righteous man will not be able to live because of his [previous acts of] righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’
33:13:When I say to the righteous that he will most certainly live, and he trusts in his [previous acts of] righteousness [to save him] and commits injustice, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but he will die for his injustice that he committed.
33:14:But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and he turns from his sin and practices that which is just (fair) and right—
33:15:if a wicked man returns [what he took as] a pledge, pays back what he had taken by robbery, walks in the statutes which ensure life, without committing injustice, he will certainly live; he will not die.
33:16:None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced that which is just (fair) and right; he will most certainly live.
33:17:“Yet your people [who are in exile in Babylon] say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right;’ but as for them, it is their own way that is not right.
33:18:When the righteous turns back from his righteousness and commits injustice, he will also die because of it.
33:19:But when a wicked man turns back from his wickedness and practices what is just (fair) and right, he will live because of it.
33:20:Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge you, every one [of you] in accordance with his own ways!”
33:21:Word of Jerusalem’s Capture
In the twelfth year of our exile [in Babylon], on the fifth of the tenth month, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been captured.”
33:22:Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the survivor came. And He opened my mouth at the time he came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened [in readiness] and I was no longer mute.
33:23:Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
33:24:“Son of man, those [back in Palestine] who inhabit these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was [only] one man and he took possession of the land, but we are many; the land has [most certainly] been given to us [to possess] as property.’
33:25:Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “You eat meat with the blood in it and raise your eyes to your idols and shed blood. Should you take possession of the land?
33:26:You rely on your sword [as your security]; you commit outrageous and disgraceful acts and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then take possession of the land?”’
33:27:You shall say this to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “As I live, those who are in the ruins certainly will fall by the sword, and I will give whoever is in the open field to the [predatory] animals to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves will die of virulent diseases.
33:28:And I will make the land [of Israel] a desolation and a ruin, and her pride in her power will be brought to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be so deserted that no one will pass through.
33:29:Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord, when I make the land a desolation and a ruin because of all the atrocities which they have committed.”’
33:30:“But as for you, son of man, your people who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses say one to another, every one to his brother, ‘Come now and hear what the message is that comes from the Lord.’
33:31:They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not practice them; for with their mouth they express loving devotion, but their heart goes after their (unlawful) gain.
33:32:Behold, you are to them like a love song by one who has a pleasant voice and plays well on a stringed instrument [merely to entertain them]; for they hear your words but do not practice them.
33:33:So when it comes to pass—as it most certainly will—then they will know [without any doubt] that a prophet has been among them.”
34:1:Prophecy against the Shepherds of Israel
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
34:2:“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, the [spiritual] shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe (judgment is coming) to the [spiritual] shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?
34:3:You eat the fat [the choicest of meat], and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the best of the livestock, but you do not feed the flock.
34:4:You have not strengthened those who are weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bandaged the crippled, you have not brought back those gone astray, you have not looked for the lost; but you have ruled them with force and violence.
34:5:They were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the predators of the field.
34:6:My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the face of the earth and no one searched or sought them.”’”
34:7:Therefore, you [spiritual] shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
34:8:“As I live,” says the Lord God, “certainly because My flock has become prey, My flock has even become food for every predator of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;
34:9:therefore, you [spiritual] shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
34:10:‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My flock from them and make them stop tending the flock, so that the shepherds cannot feed themselves anymore. I will rescue My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’”
34:11:The Restoration of Israel
For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.
34:12:As a shepherd cares for his sheep on the day that he is among his scattered flock, so I will care for My sheep; and I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.
34:13:I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land.
34:14:I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
34:15:I will feed My flock and I will let them lie down [to rest],” says the Lord God.
34:16:“I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bandage the crippled, and strengthen the weak and the sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong [who have become hard-hearted and perverse]. I will feed them with judgment and punishment.
34:17:“And as for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats [between the righteous and the unrighteous].
34:18:Is it too little a thing for you that you [unrighteous ones who are well-fed] feed in the best pasture, yet you must trample down with your feet [of wickedness] the rest of your pastures? Or that you drink clear [still] water, yet you must muddy with your feet [of wickedness] the rest [of the water]?
34:19:As for My flock (the righteous), they must feed on what you trample with your feet and drink what you muddy with your feet!’”
34:20:Therefore thus says the Lord God to them, “Behold, I Myself will judge between the [well-fed] fat sheep and the lean sheep.
34:21:Because you push with side and shoulder, and gore with your horns all those that have become weak and sick until you have scattered them away,
34:22:therefore, I will rescue My flock, and they shall no longer be prey; and I will judge between one sheep [ungodly] and another [godly].
34:23:“Then I will appoint over them one shepherd and he will feed them, [a ruler like] My servant David; he will feed them and be their shepherd.
34:24:And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.
34:25:“I will make a covenant of peace with them and will eliminate the predatory animals from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep [safely] in the woods.
34:26:I will make them and the places around My hill (Jerusalem, Zion) a blessing. And I will make showers come down in their season; there will be [abundant] showers of blessing (divine favor).
34:27:Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its produce; and My people will be secure on their land. Then they will know [with confidence] that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have rescued them from the hand of those who made them slaves.
34:28:They will no longer be prey to the nations, and the predators of the earth will not devour them; but they will live safely, and no one will make them afraid [in the day of the Messiah’s reign].
34:29:I will prepare for them a place renowned for planting [crops], and they will not again be victims of famine in the land, and they will not endure the insults of the nations any longer.
34:30:Then they will know [with assurance] that I the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” says the Lord God.
34:31:“As for you, My flock, the flock of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.
35:1:Prophecy against Mount Seir
Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
35:2:“Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir (Edom), and prophesy against it
35:3:and say to it, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, Mount Seir, I am against you,
And I will stretch out My hand against you
And make you completely desolate.
35:4:“I will destroy your cities
And you will become a wasteland.
Then you shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
35:5:Because you [descendants of Esau] have had an everlasting hatred [for Jacob (Israel)] and you handed over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their tragedy, at the time of their final punishment [the Babylonian conquest],
35:6:therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will hand you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you since you have not hated bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you.
35:7:I will make Mount Seir (Edom) a ruin and a desolate wasteland and I will cut off from it the one who passes through it and the one who returns.
35:8:I will fill its mountains with its slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills, and in your valleys, and in all your ravines.
35:9:I will make you an everlasting desolation and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
35:10:“Because you [descendants of Esau] have said, ‘These two nations [Israel and Judah] and these two lands shall be mine, and we will take possession of them,’ although the Lord was there,
35:11:therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will deal with you in accordance with the anger and envy you showed because of your hatred for them; and I will make Myself known among them [as Judge] when I judge and punish you.
35:12:Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all your scornful speeches which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They have been made a wasteland; they have been given to us as food.’
35:13:So you have boasted and spoken arrogantly against Me, and have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard it.”
35:14:‘Thus says the Lord God, “While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you a wasteland.
35:15:As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you; you will be a desolate waste, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’
36:1:The Mountains of Israel to Be Blessed
“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.
36:2:Thus says the Lord God, “Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient heights have become our property,’
36:3:therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “For good reason they have made you a desolation, and they crushed you from every side so that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations and you have become the talk and the whispering of the people.”’”
36:4:Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate ruins and to the deserted cities which have become prey and a mockery to the rest of the nations which surround you,
36:5:therefore thus says the Lord God, “Most certainly in the fire of My jealousy (love for that which is Mine) I have spoken against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with uttermost contempt, so that they might empty it out [and possess it] as prey.”
36:6:Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy (love for that which is Mine) and in My wrath because you have endured the [shameful] insults of the nations.’
36:7:“Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘I have lifted up My hand and sworn [an oath] that the nations that are around you will themselves endure their [shameful] insults.
36:8:But you, O mountains of Israel, will put out your branches and bear your fruit to My people Israel; for they will soon come [home].
36:9:For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you [in favor], and you shall be cultivated and sown.
36:10:I will multiply people on you, all the house of Israel, [indeed] all of it; the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins will be rebuilt.
36:11:I will multiply on you man and animal; and they will increase and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly, and I will do better [things] for you than at your beginning. Then you will know [with great confidence] that I am the Lord.
36:12:Yes, [O mountains of Israel] I will cause men—My people Israel—to walk on you and take possession of you, so that you will become their inheritance and never again bereave them of children.’
36:13:“Thus says the Lord God, ‘Because they say to you, “You [O land] are a devourer of people and have bereaved your nation of children,”
36:14:therefore you will no longer devour people, and no longer bereave your nation of children,’ says the Lord God.
36:15:I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to stumble [through idolatry] any longer,” says the Lord God.’”
36:16:Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
36:17:“Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their [own] behavior and by their [idolatrous] actions. Their conduct before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman during her [physical] impurity.
36:18:So I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land and because they had defiled it with their idols.
36:19:Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the countries. I judged and punished them in accordance with their conduct and their [idolatrous] behavior.
36:20:When they came to the nations wherever they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord; yet they have come out of His land.’
36:21:But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.
36:22:Israel to Be Renewed for His Name’s Sake
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.
36:23:I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.
36:24:For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.
36:25:Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your idols.
36:26:Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
36:27:I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My ordinances and do them.
36:28:You will live in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you will be My people, and I will be your God.
36:29:I will also save you from all your uncleanness, and I will call for the grain and make it abundant, and I will not bring famine on you.
36:30:I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not suffer again the disgrace of famine among the nations.
36:31:Then you will remember [clearly] your [own] evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your sins and for your outrageous atrocities.
36:32:I am not doing this for your sake,” says the Lord God. “Let that be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated for your [wicked] ways, O house of Israel!”
36:33:‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your sins I will also cause the cities [of Israel] to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt.
36:34:The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by.
36:35:Then they will say, ‘This land that was deserted and desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’
36:36:Then the nations that are left around you will know that I the Lord have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and will do it.”
36:37:‘Thus says the Lord God, “This too I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their people like a flock.
36:38:Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the desolate cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know [with confident assurance] that I am the Lord.”’”
37:1:Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.
37:2:He caused me to pass all around them, and behold, there were very many [human bones] in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry.
37:3:And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”
37:4:Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’
37:5:Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will make breath enter you so that you may come to life.
37:6:I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and I will put breath in you so that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”
37:7:So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [thundering] noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
37:8:And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on the bones, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.
37:9:Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’”
37:10:So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
37:11:The Vision Explained
Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost. We are completely cut off.’
37:12:Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and make you come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you [back home] to the land of Israel.
37:13:Then you will know [with confidence] that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and made you come up out of your graves, My people.
37:14:I will put My Spirit in you and you will come to life, and I will place you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and fulfilled it,” says the Lord.’”
37:15:Reunion of Judah and Israel
The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,
37:16:“And you, son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’
37:17:Then join them together into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand.
37:18:When your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’
37:19:say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join the stick of Judah with it and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’
37:20:The sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.
37:21:“Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am going to take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
37:22:and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king over all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and will no longer be divided into two kingdoms.
37:23:They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all their transgressions in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them. So they will be My people, and I will be their God.
37:24:The Davidic Kingdom
“My servant David will be king over them, and they all will have one shepherd. They will also walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.
37:25:They will live in the land where your fathers lived, [the land] that I gave to My servant Jacob, and they will live there, they and their children and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David will be their leader forever.
37:26:I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will put My sanctuary in their midst forever.
37:27:My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.
37:28:Then the nations will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord who sets apart and sanctifies Israel [for holy use], when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’”
38:1:Prophecy about Gog and Future Invasion of Israel
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
38:2:“Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
38:3:and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal.
38:4:I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them magnificently clothed in full armor, a great horde with buckler (small shield) and [large] shield, all of them wielding swords;
38:5:Persia (Iran), Cush (Ethiopia), and Put (Libya, N. Africa) with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
38:6:Gomer and all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north and all its troops—many peoples with you.
38:7:You [Gog] be prepared; prepare yourself, you and all your hordes that are assembled around you, and be a guard and a lookout for them.
38:8:After many days you will be summoned [for service]; in the latter years you shall come into the land that is restored from [the ravages of] the sword, where people have been gathered out of many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual wasteland; but its people were brought out of the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.
38:9:You will go up [against them], you will come like a storm; you shall be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.”
38:10:‘Thus says the Lord God, “It will come about on that day that thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan,
38:11:and you will say, ‘I will go up against an open country; I will come against those who are at rest and peaceful, who live securely, all of them living without walls and having neither bars nor gates,
38:12:to take spoil and seize plunder, to turn your hand against the ruins which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world [Israel].’
38:13:Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish (southern Spain), with all its young lions (villages) will say to you, ‘Have you come to take spoil? Have you assembled your hordes [of fighting men] to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?’”’
38:14:“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On that day when My people Israel live securely, will you not become aware of it [and become active]?
38:15:You will come from your place in the remote parts of the north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding horses, a great horde, and a mighty army;
38:16:and you will go up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. In the last days it will come about that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy through you before their eyes, O Gog.”
38:17:‘Thus says the Lord God, “Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you (Gog) against them?
38:18:It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My wrath will rise and show on My face.
38:19:In My zeal and in My blazing rage I declare that on that day there will most certainly be a great earthquake in the land of Israel,
38:20:so that the fishes of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, all the creatures that crawl on the earth, and all the men that are on the face of the earth will tremble and shake at My presence; the mountains will crumble, the steep places will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground.
38:21:I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God. “Every man’s (invading soldier’s) sword will be against his brother (ally) [in panic and confusion].
38:22:With pestilence and with bloodshed I will enter into judgment with Gog; and I will rain on him torrents of rain with [great] hailstones, fire and brimstone on his hordes and on the many nations that are with him.
38:23:Thus I shall magnify Myself and demonstrate My greatness and sanctify Myself, and I will be recognized and will make Myself known in the sight of many nations; they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’
39:1:Prophecy against Gog—Invaders Destroyed
“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince (ruler) of Meshech and Tubal;
39:2:and I will turn you around and lead you along, and bring you up from the remotest parts of the north, and I will bring you against the mountains of Israel.
39:3:I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows to fall out of your right hand.
39:4:You will fall [dead] on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the nations who are with you. I will give you to every kind of predatory bird and animal of the field as food.
39:5:You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken,” says the Lord God.
39:6:I will also send fire on Magog and on those who live securely in the coastlands; and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
39:7:“I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore; and the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
39:8:Behold, it is coming and it will be done,” says the Lord God. “That is the day of which I have spoken.
39:9:And [when you, Gog, no longer exist] those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both the [large] shields and the bucklers (small shields), the bows and the arrows, the war clubs and the spears; and for seven years they will burn them.
39:10:They will not take any wood from the field or cut down and gather [any] firewood from the forests, because they will make their fires using the weapons. And they will take the spoil from those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,” says the Lord God.
39:11:“And on that day I will give Gog a place for burial there in Israel, the valley of those who pass through east of the sea, and it will block the way of those who would pass through. So they will bury Gog there with all his hordes, and they will call it the Valley of Hamon-gog (the multitude of Gog).
39:12:For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land.
39:13:Yes, all the people of the land will bury them; and it will be to their renown on the day that I appear in My glory and brilliance,” says the Lord God.
39:14:They will elect men who will constantly go through the land, [men commissioned] to bury those who were passing through, those bodies that lie unburied on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will do a search.
39:15:As those who pass through the land pass through and anyone sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it, until the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog.
39:16:And even the name of the city will be Hamonah. In this manner they shall cleanse the land.”’
39:17:“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘Say to every kind of bird and to every animal of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice that I am slaughtering for you, as a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you will eat flesh and drink blood.
39:18:You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan [east of the Jordan].
39:19:So you will eat fat until you are filled and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast which I have prepared for you.
39:20:You will eat your fill at My table with horses and riders, with mighty men, and with all the men of war,” says the Lord God.
39:21:“And I will bring [and manifest] My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment and justice [in the punishment] which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.
39:22:So the house of Israel will know [with absolute confidence] that I am the Lord their God from that day forward.
39:23:And the nations will know [without any doubt] that the house of Israel went into exile for their great sin, because they acted treacherously against Me; and I hid My face (favor, blessing) from them. So I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell [into captivity or were killed] by [the power of] the sword.
39:24:I dealt with them in accordance with their uncleanness and their transgressions, and I hid My face from them.”’”
39:25:Israel Restored
Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob (Israel) and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine].
39:26:They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery (unfaithfulness) which they perpetuated against Me, when they live securely in their own land and there is no one who makes them afraid.
39:27:When I bring them back from the nations and gather them out of their enemies’ lands, then I shall show Myself holy [and My justice and holiness will be vindicated] through them in the sight of many nations.
39:28:Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them to their own land. I will leave none of them there [among the nations] any longer.
39:29:I will not hide My face from them any longer, because I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,” says the Lord God.
40:1:Vision of the Man with a Measuring Rod
In the twenty-fifth year of our exile [in Babylon], in the beginning of the year, on the tenth [day] of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city [of Jerusalem] was taken, on that [very] same day the hand of the Lord was upon me and He brought me there.
40:2:In the visions of God He brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain, on the south side of which there was what seemed to be a structure of a city.
40:3:So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man [an angel] whose appearance was like bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.
40:4:The man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and set your heart on all that I am going to show you; for you have been brought here that I may show it to you. Declare to the house of Israel all that you see.”
40:5:Measurements Relating to the Temple
And behold, there was a wall all around the outside [area] of the temple (house) [of the Lord], and in the man’s hand a measuring rod six cubits long (10.2 ft.), each cubit being longer than the standard one by a hand width. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one rod; and the height, one rod.
40:6:Then he went to the gate which faced the east and went up its [seven] steps and measured the threshold of the gate, one rod in width; and the other threshold [of the gate inside the thick wall] was one rod in width.
40:7:The guardroom was one rod long and one rod wide, and [the space] between the guardrooms was five cubits. And the threshold of the gate by the porch (portico) of the gate facing inward was one rod.
40:8:He also measured the porch of the gate facing inward [toward the temple of the Lord], one rod.
40:9:Then he measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits, and its side pillars, two cubits. The porch of the gate faced inward [toward the temple of the Lord].
40:10:There were three guardrooms on each side of the gate toward the east; the three were the same size, and the side pillars on each side measured the same.
40:11:And he measured the width of the gateway, ten cubits, and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.
40:12:On each side a border (barrier wall) one cubit wide stood in front of the guardrooms on each side; and the guardrooms were six cubits square on each side.
40:13:He measured the gate from the roof of one guardroom to the roof of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits from one door to the opposite door.
40:14:He made [the measurement of] the side pillars sixty cubits high; the gate extended all around to the side pillar of the courtyard.
40:15:From the front of the entrance gate [on the outside] to the front of the inner porch (portico) of the gate [the distance] was fifty cubits.
40:16:There were shuttered windows looking toward the guardrooms, and toward their side pillars within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. And windows were all around inside; and palm tree decorations were on each side pillar.
40:17:Then he brought me into the outer courtyard, and behold, there were chambers and a pavement made for the courtyard all around; thirty chambers faced the pavement.
40:18:The pavement (that is, the lower pavement) was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates.
40:19:Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gate to the front of the exterior of the inner court, a hundred cubits [both] on the east and on the north.
40:20:And as for the gate of the outer courtyard which faced the north he measured [both] its length and its width.
40:21:Its guardrooms, three on each side, and its side pillars and its porches had the same measurement as the first gate. Its length was fifty cubits and the width was twenty-five cubits.
40:22:Its windows and its porches and its palm tree decorations had the same measurements as the gate that faced toward the east. It was reached by going up seven steps, and its porch was in front of them.
40:23:The inner courtyard had a gate opposite the gate on the north as well as the gate on the east; and he measured a hundred cubits from gate to gate.
40:24:Then he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate toward the south; and he measured its side pillars and its porches, and they measured the same as the others.
40:25:The gate and its porches had windows all around like those windows [in the other gateways]; the length was fifty cubits and the width was twenty-five cubits.
40:26:There were seven steps going up to the gate, and its porches were in front of them; and it had palm tree decorations [carved] on its side pillars, one on each side.
40:27:The inner courtyard had a gate toward the south; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.
40:28:Then the man (angel) brought me to the inner courtyard by the south gate; and he measured the south gate according to those same measurements.
40:29:Its guardrooms also, its side pillars and its porches measured the same as the others. And the gate and its porches had windows all around; the length was fifty cubits and the width was twenty-five cubits.
40:30:There were porches all around, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide.
40:31:Its porches faced the outer courtyard; and palm tree decorations were [carved] on its side pillars, and its stairway had eight steps.
40:32:He brought me into the inner courtyard toward the east, and he measured the gate; it measured the same as the others.
40:33:Its guardrooms also, its side pillars and its porches measured the same as the others. The gate and its porches had windows all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.
40:34:Its porches faced the outer courtyard; and palm tree decorations were [carved] on either side of its side pillars, and its stairway had eight steps.
40:35:Then he brought me to the north gate and he measured it; the measurements were the same as those of the other gates,
40:36:with its guardrooms, its side pillars, its porches; and the gate had windows all around. The length was fifty cubits and the width was twenty-five cubits.
40:37:Its side pillars faced the outer courtyard, and palm tree decorations were [carved] on them on either side. And its stairway had eight steps.
40:38:A chamber with its doorway was by the side pillars of the gates; there the burnt offering was to be washed.
40:39:In the porch (portico) of the gate were two tables on each side, on which to slaughter the burnt offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering.
40:40:On the outer side, as one went up to the gateway toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side of the porch of the gate were two tables.
40:41:Four tables were on each side next to the gate; [a total of] eight tables on which they slaughter sacrifices.
40:42:Moreover, there were four tables of hewn stone (ashlar) for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high, on which they lay the instruments with which they slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice.
40:43:The double hooks, one hand width in length were installed in the house all around. The meat of the offering was [to be placed] on the tables.
40:44:From the outside to the inner gate were chambers for the singers in the inner courtyard, one of which was beside the north gate, with its front toward the south, and one beside the south gate facing toward the north.
40:45:He [who was guiding me] said to me, “This is the chamber which faces toward the south; it is for the priests who have the responsibility and take care of the temple;
40:46:but the chamber which faces toward the north is for the priests who have the responsibility and take care of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who [alone] from the sons of Levi come near to the Lord to minister to Him.”
40:47:He measured the courtyard, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide, a perfect square; and the altar was in front of the temple.
40:48:Then he brought me to the porch of the temple, and he measured each side pillar of the porch, five cubits on each side; and the width of the gate was three cubits on each side.
40:49:The length of the porch was twenty cubits and the width eleven cubits; and at the stairway by which it was ascended, there were [two] columns beside the side pillars, one on each side [of the entrance].
41:1:The Inner Temple
Then he (the angel) brought me to the nave (outer sanctuary) and measured the side pillars; six cubits wide on each side was the width of the side pillar.
41:2:The width of the entrance was ten cubits and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on each side; and he measured its length, forty cubits, and its width, twenty cubits.
41:3:Then he went inside [the inner sanctuary] and measured each side pillar of the doorway, two cubits, and the doorway, six cubits [high], and the width of the doorway, seven cubits.
41:4:He measured the length [of the interior of the inner sanctuary], twenty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits, opposite the nave (outer sanctuary); and he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”
41:5:Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits [thick, to accommodate side chambers]; and the width of every side chamber, four cubits, all around the temple on every side.
41:6:The side chambers were three stories [high], one above another, and thirty chambers in each story; and the side chambers extended to the wall which stood on their inward side all around, so that they would be attached, but not attached to the wall of the temple itself.
41:7:The side chambers became wider at each successive level as they encompassed the temple. Because the structure surrounding the temple went higher by stages on all sides of the temple, for that reason the width of the temple increased as it went higher; and thus one went up from the lowest story to the highest one by way of the second story.
41:8:I also saw that the temple (house) had a raised platform all around it; the foundations of the side chambers measured a full rod of six long cubits in height.
41:9:The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. But the free space between the side chambers belonging to the temple
41:10:and the outer chambers was a width of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side.
41:11:The doorways of the side chambers toward the free space were one doorway toward the north and another doorway toward the south; and the width of the free space was five cubits all around.
41:12:The building that was in front of the separate area on the side toward the west was seventy cubits wide; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.
41:13:Then he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; the separate area and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long.
41:14:Also the width of the front of the temple and the separate areas along the east side totaled a hundred cubits.
41:15:He (the angel) measured the length of the building along the front of the separate area behind it, with a gallery on each side, a hundred cubits; he also measured the inner sanctuary and the porches (porticoes) of the courtyard.
41:16:The thresholds, the latticed windows, and the galleries all around their three stories, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all around, and from the ground to the windows (but the windows were covered),
41:17:over the entrance, and to the inner room, and on the outside, and on all the wall all around inside and outside, by measurement.
41:18:It was carved with [figures of] cherubim and palm trees; so that a palm decoration was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces,
41:19:so that the face of a man was toward the palm decoration on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm decoration on the other side. It was carved [this way] on the entire house (temple) all around.
41:20:From the floor to [the space] above the entrance cherubim and palm decorations were carved, and also on the wall of the nave [the Holy Place].
41:21:The doorposts of the nave were square; as for the front of the sanctuary, the appearance of one doorpost was like that of the other.
41:22:The altar was of wood, three cubits high and two cubits long; and its corners, its base, and its sides were wood. And he said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.”
41:23:The nave (Holy Place) and the sanctuary (Holy of Holies) each had a double door.
41:24:Each of the doors had two leaves, two swinging (folding) leaves; two leaves for the one door and two leaves for the other.
41:25:And there were carved on them, on the doors of the nave, cherubim and palm decorations like those carved on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the front of the porch outside.
41:26:There were latticed windows and palm decorations on one side and on the other, on the sides of the porch. Thus were the side chambers and the thresholds of the house.
42:1:Chambers of the Temple
Then he (the angel) brought me out into the outer courtyard, toward the north; and he led me to the [attached] chamber which was opposite the separate area and opposite the building to the north.
42:2:Along the length, one hundred cubits, was the north door; and the width was fifty cubits.
42:3:Opposite the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner courtyard, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer courtyard, was gallery (balcony) corresponding to gallery in three stories.
42:4:In front of the [attached] chambers was an inner walkway ten cubits wide and one hundred cubits long; and their entrances were on the north.
42:5:Now the upper chambers were smaller because the galleries took away more space from them than from the chambers on the lower and middle stories of the building;
42:6:for they were in three stories and did not have pillars like the pillars of the [outer] courtyards; therefore the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones.
42:7:And the outer wall, by the side of the chambers, toward the outer courtyard facing the chambers, was fifty cubits long.
42:8:For the length of the chambers which were in the outer courtyard was fifty cubits, while the length of those facing the temple was a hundred cubits.
42:9:Below these chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer courtyard.
42:10:In the width of the wall of the courtyard toward the east, facing the separate area and facing the building, were chambers;
42:11:and a passage in front of them was like the appearance of the [attached] chambers on the north, and they had the same length and width, and all their exits were like both their arrangements and their entrances.
42:12:And like the entrances of the chambers that were toward the south there was an entrance at the head of the walkway, the walkway in front of the dividing wall toward the east, as one enters them.
42:13:Then he (the angel) said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separate area, are the holy chambers where the priests who are close to the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall place the most holy things—the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering—for the place is holy.
42:14:When the priests enter [the Holy Place], they shall not go out from the sanctuary into the outer court unless they lay there their garments in which they minister, for these are holy (set apart). They shall put on other garments before they approach that which is for the people.”
42:15:Now when he had finished measuring the inner temple, he brought me out toward the gate which faced east and measured the outer area all around.
42:16:He measured the east side with the measuring rod, five hundred rods by the measuring rod.
42:17:He measured the north side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod.
42:18:He measured the south side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod.
42:19:He turned about to the west side and measured five hundred rods by the measuring rod.
42:20:He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, the length five hundred and the width five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy [the temple proper] and that which was common [the outer area].
43:1:Vision of the Glory of God Filling the Temple
Then he (the angel) led me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east.
43:2:And behold, the glory and brilliance of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east; and His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.
43:3:And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision I saw when He came to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision I saw beside the River Chebar [near Babylon]; and I fell face downward.
43:4:And the glory and brilliance of the Lord entered the temple by way of the gate facing toward the east.
43:5:Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner courtyard; and behold, the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the temple.
43:6:And I heard One speaking to me from the temple, while a man was standing beside me.
43:7:And He [the Lord] said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the sons (descendants) of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their [idolatrous] prostitution and by the corpses and monuments of their kings in their graves,
43:8:by setting their threshold by My threshold and their doorpost beside My doorpost, with [only] the wall between Me and them. They have defiled and desecrated My holy name by the vile atrocities which they have committed. So I have consumed them in My anger.
43:9:Now let them put far away from Me their [idolatrous] prostitution and the corpses and monuments of their kings, and I will dwell in their midst forever.
43:10:“As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins; and let them measure its plan [in detail].
43:11:If they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple (house), its layout, its exits, its entrances, all its designs, all its statutes, and all its laws. And write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its statutes and do them.
43:12:This is the law of the temple: Its entire area all around on the top of the mountain (Mount Moriah) shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.
43:13:The Altar of Sacrifice
“And these are the measurements of the altar [of burnt offering] in cubits (the cubit being a [long] cubit [the length of a forearm] and a hand width): the base shall be a cubit [long] and a cubit wide, with its border on its edge all around it of a span [in width]. And this shall be the height of the base of the altar.
43:14:From the base on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits and the width one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits and the width one cubit.
43:15:The altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and from the altar hearth shall extend upwards four horns [one from each corner, each one cubit high].
43:16:Now the altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve wide, square in its four sides.
43:17:The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide on its four sides, and the border around it shall be half a cubit; and its base shall be a cubit all around, and its steps shall face the east.”
43:18:The Offerings
And He [the Lord] said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘These are the statutes and regulations for [the use of] the altar on the day that it is built, to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it.
43:19:You shall give to the priests, the Levites who are from the descendants of Zadok, who are close to Me to minister to Me,’ says the Lord God, ‘a young bull for a sin offering [as a memorial to Christ’s sacrifice].
43:20:And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns [of the altar of burnt offering] and on the four corners of the ledge and on the border all around; thus you shall cleanse it (from sin) and make atonement for it.
43:21:You shall also take the bull for the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the temple, outside the sanctuary.
43:22:‘On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering, and they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull.
43:23:When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish.
43:24:You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.
43:25:For seven days you shall prepare daily a goat for a sin offering; also a young bull and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be prepared.
43:26:For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so the priests shall consecrate it [to receive offerings].
43:27:When they have completed these days, on the eighth day and from then onward, the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,’ says the Lord God.”
44:1:Gate for the Prince
Then He brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut.
44:2:Then the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.
44:3:As for the prince, he shall sit in it as prince to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the porch (portico) of the gate and shall go out the same way.”
44:4:Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house; I looked, and behold, the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell face downward.
44:5:The Lord said to me, “Son of man, pay careful attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the statutes of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and pay careful attention to the entering of the house [by people], with all the departures from the sanctuary [of people, those who are allowed to enter the temple and all those who are excluded from the sanctuary].
44:6:You shall say to the rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Enough of all your repulsive acts, O house of Israel!
44:7:In that you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to pollute and profane it—My house—when you offered My bread, the fat, and the blood; and they made My covenant void —this in addition to all your other repulsive acts.
44:8:And you have not kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have chosen foreigners [to please yourselves] and have set them in charge of My sanctuary.”
44:9:‘Thus says the Lord God, “No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.
44:10:But the Levites who went far away from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me after their idols, they shall bear the punishment for their sin and guilt.
44:11:Yet they shall minister in My sanctuary, having oversight [as guards] at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.
44:12:Because the priests ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of sin to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up My hand and have sworn [an oath] against them,” says the Lord God, “that they shall bear the punishment for their sin and guilt.
44:13:And they shall not come near to Me to serve as priests to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame and their disgrace and [the consequences of] their repulsive acts which they have committed.
44:14:Yet I will appoint them as caretakers of the temple, for all its service and for all that shall be done in it.
44:15:Ordinances for the Levites
“But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who performed the duty of My sanctuary when the children (descendants) of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God.
44:16:They shall enter into My sanctuary; and they shall come near to My table to minister to Me and they shall perform [the priestly] duty to me.
44:17:It shall be that when they enter the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed in linen garments; no wool shall be on them while they minister at the gates of the inner courtyard and within the temple (house).
44:18:They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments on their loins; they shall not dress themselves with anything which makes them sweat.
44:19:When they go out into the outer court, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall take off the garments in which they have been ministering and leave them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other clothing so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their [ceremonial] garments.
44:20:Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not allow their hair to grow long; they shall only cut short or trim their hair.
44:21:Nor shall any priest drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard.
44:22:And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman; but they shall marry virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who was previously married to a priest.
44:23:The priests shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and teach them to distinguish between the (ceremonially) unclean and the clean.
44:24:In a controversy they shall take their stand to act as judges; they shall judge it in accordance with My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts and sanctify My Sabbaths.
44:25:They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; except for father or for mother, for son or for daughter, for brother or for sister who has had no husband; they may defile themselves.
44:26:After he is cleansed [from the defilement of a corpse], seven days more shall elapse for him [before returning to the temple].
44:27:On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,” says the Lord God.
44:28:“It [their ministry to Me] shall be as an inheritance to them, for I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property (land) in Israel, for I am their possession.
44:29:They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; and every devoted thing (offering) in Israel [dedicated by a solemn vow to God] shall be theirs.
44:30:The first of all the first fruits of every kind, and every contribution and offering of every kind, from all your contributions and offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priest the first of your coarse meal and bread dough, so that a blessing may rest on your house.
44:31:The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or has been torn to pieces.
45:1:The Lord’s Portion of the Land
“Moreover, when you divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall [set apart and] offer an allotment (contribution) to the Lord, a holy portion of the land [to be used for sacred purposes]. The length shall be 25,000 cubits, and the width shall be 20,000 cubits. It shall be holy (set apart for sacred use) within its every area.
45:2:Of this there shall be a square plot five hundred by five hundred cubits in perimeter for the holy place, and fifty cubits for the open space around it.
45:3:And in this area you shall measure off a portion 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 cubits in width. And in it shall be the sanctuary which is most holy.
45:4:It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to the Lord, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.
45:5:And another portion of land 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the temple (house), and they shall possess it as a place in which to live.
45:6:“You shall give the city possession of an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, alongside the portion set aside as a holy section. It shall belong to the whole house of Israel.
45:7:Portion for the Prince
“The prince shall have land on either side of the portion set aside as a holy section and the property of the city, adjacent to the holy section and the property of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.
45:8:This shall be his land for a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”
45:9:‘Thus says the Lord God, “Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your forceful seizure of property from My people,” says the Lord God.
45:10:“You shall have just balances and weights [on your scales and just measures], a just ephah [dry volume measure] and a just bath [liquid measure].
45:11:The ephah and the bath [measures] shall be the same quantity, the bath containing one tenth of a homer and the ephah one tenth of a homer; their standard [measure] shall be according to the homer.
45:12:The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels [added together, a total of sixty] shall be your maneh (mina).
45:13:“This is the offering that you shall offer: a sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley;
45:14:and the prescribed portion of oil, (namely, the bath of oil), a tenth part of a bath [of oil] from each kor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths make a homer);
45:15:and [you shall offer] one sheep out of every flock of two hundred from the watering places of Israel—for a grain offering, for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings to make atonement for [those who brought] them,” says the Lord God.
45:16:“All the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in Israel.
45:17:It shall be the prince’s responsibility to provide the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings at the feasts, on the New Moons and on the Sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He shall prepare and provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”
45:18:‘Thus says the Lord God, “In the first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary (from sin).
45:19:The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner courtyard.
45:20:You shall do this on the seventh [day] of the month for everyone who goes astray [and sins through error or ignorance] and for him who is naive; so shall you make atonement for the temple (house).
45:21:“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.
45:22:On that day the prince shall provide for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.
45:23:And for the seven days of the feast he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams without blemish on every day for the seven days, and a male goat daily for a sin offering.
45:24:He shall provide as a grain offering [to be offered] with each bull an ephah [of grain], an ephah with each ram, and a hin of oil with each ephah [of grain].
45:25:In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month at the feast, he shall provide [offerings] like these for the seven days, as the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil.”
46:1:The Prince’s Offerings
‘Thus says the Lord God, “The gate of the inner courtyard that faces east shall be shut during the six working days, but it shall be opened on the Sabbath day and opened on the day of the New Moon.
46:2:The prince shall enter by the porch (portico) of the gate from outside and stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall prepare and provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be shut until evening.
46:3:The people of the land shall also worship at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons.
46:4:The burnt offering which the prince shall offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish.
46:5:The grain offering shall be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs as much as he is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah.
46:6:On the day of the New Moon he shall offer a young bull without blemish, also six lambs and a ram, without blemish.
46:7:And he shall provide a grain offering, an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able, and a hin of oil with an ephah.
46:8:When the prince enters, he shall enter by way of the porch of the gate and go out by the same way.
46:9:But when the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, he who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And he who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. No one shall return by way of the gate through which he entered, but shall go out straight ahead [through the opposite gate].
46:10:When they go in, the prince shall go in among them; and when they go out, he shall go out.
46:11:“At the feasts and the appointed festivals the grain offering shall be an ephah with a bull and an ephah with a ram, and with the lambs as much as one is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah.
46:12:When the prince provides a freewill offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings voluntarily to the Lord, the gate that faces east shall be opened for him, and he shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he goes out the gate shall be shut.
46:13:“And you [priests] shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord each day; morning by morning you shall provide it.
46:14:Also you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, one-sixth of an ephah with one-third of a hin of oil to sprinkle on the finely-milled flour. This is a perpetual ordinance for a continual grain offering to the Lord.
46:15:Thus they shall provide the lamb, the grain offering and the oil every morning as a continual burnt offering.”
46:16:‘Thus says the Lord God, “If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons from his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons [permanently]; it is their possession by inheritance.
46:17:But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his until the year of liberty [the Year of Jubilee]; after that it shall be returned to the prince. His inheritance shall be only his sons’ [permanently]; it shall belong to them.
46:18:Moreover, the prince shall not take from the people’s inheritance by oppression and by evicting them from their property; he shall give his sons an inheritance from his own possession, so that My people will not be scattered, anyone from his possession.”’”
46:19:The Boiling Places
Then he [my guide] brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced the north; and behold, a place was there at their extreme westward end.
46:20:He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil (cook) the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out into the outer courtyard to transmit holiness to the people.”
46:21:Then he brought me out into the outer courtyard and led me across to the four corners of the courtyard; and behold, in every corner of the courtyard there was a small courtyard.
46:22:In the four corners of the courtyard there were enclosed courtyards, forty cubits long and thirty wide; these four in the corners were the same size.
46:23:There was a row of masonry all around inside them, around [each of] the four courtyards, and it was made with cooking hearths under the rows all around.
46:24:Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens of the cooks, where the ministers (Levites) of the temple shall boil (cook) the sacrifices of the people.”
47:1:Water from the Temple
Then he [my guide] brought me back to the door of the house [the temple of the Lord]; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house (temple) toward the east, for the front of the temple was facing east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.
47:2:Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by the way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was spurting out from the south side [of the gate].
47:3:When the man went out toward the east with a measuring line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water that was ankle-deep.
47:4:Again he measured a thousand [cubits] and led me through the water, water that was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand [cubits] and led me through the water, water reaching the hips.
47:5:Again he measured a thousand [cubits]; and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be crossed [by wading].
47:6:And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me back to the bank of the river.
47:7:Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
47:8:Then he said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah (the Jordan Valley); then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the waters of the Dead Sea shall be healed and become fresh.
47:9:It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be a very great number of fish, because these waters go there so that the waters of the sea are healed and become fresh; so everything will live wherever the river goes.
47:10:And it will come about that fishermen will stand beside it [at the banks of the Dead Sea]; from Engedi to Eneglaim there will be dry places to spread nets. Their fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great [Mediterranean] Sea.
47:11:But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh [and wholesome for animal life]; they will [as the river subsides] be left encrusted with salt.
47:12:By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They shall bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”
47:13:Boundaries and Division of the Land
Thus says the Lord God, “This shall be the boundary by which you shall divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall have two portions.
47:14:You shall divide it as an inheritance, each one equally with the other. I lifted up My hand and swore to give it to your fathers, and this land shall fall to you as an inheritance.
47:15:“And this shall be the boundary of the land on the north side: from the Great [Mediterranean] Sea by way of Hethlon to the entrance of Zedad,
47:16:Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; [as far as] Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran.
47:17:So the boundary will extend from the [Mediterranean] Sea to Hazar-enan at the border of Damascus, and on the north, northward, is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.
47:18:“The east side, from between Hauran, Damascus, Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the north border to the eastern sea you shall measure. This is the east side.
47:19:“The south side, southward, from Tamar [near the Dead Sea] shall extend as far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the Brook of Egypt and to the Great [Mediterranean] Sea. This is the south side toward the south.
47:20:“The west side shall be the Great [Mediterranean] Sea, from the south border to a point opposite Lebo-hamath [north of Mount Hermon]. This is the west side.
47:21:“So you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel.
47:22:You shall divide it by lot as an inheritance among yourselves and among the foreigners who stay among you, who give birth to sons among you. They shall be to you as the native-born [in the country] among the children (descendants) of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
47:23:In whatever tribe the foreigner resides, there shall you give him his inheritance,” says the Lord God.
48:1:Division of the Land
“Now these are the names of the tribes: from the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan, which is on the northern border of Damascus, beside Hamath, and running from the east to the west, Dan, one portion.
48:2:Beside the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, one portion.
48:3:Beside the border of Asher, from the east side to the west side, Naphtali, one portion.
48:4:Beside the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, one portion.
48:5:Beside the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, one portion.
48:6:Beside the border of Ephraim, from the east side to the west side, Reuben, one portion.
48:7:Beside the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, one portion.
48:8:“And beside the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the allotment and contribution of land which you shall set apart and offer, 25,000 cubits in width, and in length like one of the [tribal] portions, from the east side to the west side; and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.
48:9:The allotment [of land] that you shall set apart and offer to the Lord shall be 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width.
48:10:Portion for the Priests
The holy allotment shall be for these, namely for the priests, toward the north 25,000 cubits in length, and toward the west 10,000 in width, and toward the east 10,000 in width, and toward the south 25,000 in length; and the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the midst of it.
48:11:It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, and who did not go astray when the children (descendants) of Israel went astray as the [other] Levites did.
48:12:And this [land offering] shall be an allotment to them from the allotment of the land, a most holy portion beside the border of the [other] Levites.
48:13:Alongside the border of the priests, the [other] Levites shall have 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the width 10,000.
48:14:And they shall not sell any of it or exchange it, or allow this choice portion of land to pass to others; for it is holy to the Lord.
48:15:“The remaining [strip of] 5,000 cubits in width and 25,000 in length shall be for the city’s common (secular) use, for a place in which to live and for open country. The city shall be in the midst of it.
48:16:These shall be the measurements of it: the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500, the east side 4,500, and the west side 4,500.
48:17:The city shall have open country: toward the north 250 cubits, and toward the south 250, toward the east 250, and toward the west 250.
48:18:The remainder of the length alongside the holy allotment shall be 10,000 cubits to the east and 10,000 to the west; and it shall be beside the holy allotment. The produce from it shall be food for the workers of the city.
48:19:The workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel shall cultivate it.
48:20:The whole allotment shall be 25,000 by 25,000 cubits; you shall set apart the holy allotment, a square, with the property of the city.
48:21:Portion for the Prince
“The remainder, on both sides of the holy allotment and of the property possessed by the city, shall belong to the prince. In front of the 25,000 cubits of the allotment toward the east border and westward in front of the 25,000 toward the west border, alongside the [tribal] portions, it shall be for the prince. The holy allotment with the sanctuary of the temple shall be in the midst of it.
48:22:Exclusive of the property of the Levites and of the property of the city, which are in the middle of that which belongs to the prince, everything between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall be for the prince.
48:23:Portion for Other Tribes
“As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one portion.
48:24:Beside the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one portion.
48:25:Beside the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one portion.
48:26:Beside the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one portion.
48:27:Beside the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one portion.
48:28:And beside the border of Gad, at the south side, southward, the border shall extend from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the Brook [of Egypt], to the Great [Mediterranean] Sea.
48:29:This is the land which you shall divide by lot among the tribes of Israel as their inheritance, and these are their several portions,” says the Lord God.
48:30:The City Gates
“These are the exits of the city: on the north side, [which is to extend] 4,500 cubits by measurement,
48:31:there shall also be gates of the city, named after the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates toward the north: one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
48:32:On the east side, 4,500 cubits, also three gates: one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
48:33:On the south side, 4,500 cubits, by measurement, also three gates: one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.
48:34:On the west side, 4,500 cubits, three gates: one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
48:35:The distance around the city shall be 18,000 (4 x 4,500) cubits; and the name of the city from that day [and ever after] shall be, ‘The Lord is There.’”
daniel:1:1:The Choice Young Men
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
1:2:The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles of the house of God; and he brought them into the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and brought the articles into the treasury of his god.
1:3:And the [Babylonian] king told Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some from the royal family and from the nobles,
1:4:young men without blemish and handsome in appearance, skillful in all wisdom, endowed with intelligence and discernment, and quick to understand, competent to stand [in the presence of the king] and able to serve in the king’s palace. He also ordered Ashpenaz to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
1:5:The king assigned a daily ration for them from his finest food and from the wine which he drank. They were to be educated and nourished this way for three years so that at the end of that time they were [prepared] to enter the king’s service.
1:6:Among them from the sons of Judah were: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
1:7:The commander of the officials gave them [Babylonian] names: Daniel he named Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abed-nego.
1:8:Daniel’s Resolve
But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile (taint, dishonor) himself with the king’s finest food or with the wine which the king drank; so he asked the commander of the officials that he might [be excused so that he would] not defile himself.
1:9:Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials,
1:10:and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has prearranged your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the young men who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the king.”
1:11:But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
1:12:“Please, test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink.
1:13:Then let our appearance and the appearance of the young men who eat the king’s finest food be observed and compared by you, and deal with your servants in accordance with what you see.”
1:14:So the man listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days.
1:15:At the end of ten days it seemed that they were looking better and healthier than all the young men who ate the king’s finest food.
1:16:So the overseer continued to withhold their fine food and the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables.
1:17:As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all kinds of literature and wisdom; Daniel also understood all kinds of visions and dreams.
1:18:At the end of the time set by the king to bring all the young men in [before him], the commander of the officials presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.
1:19:The king spoke with them, and among them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; so they were [selected and] assigned to stand before the king and enter his personal service.
1:20:In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the [learned] magicians and enchanters (Magi) in his whole realm.
1:21:And Daniel remained there until the first year of [the reign of] King Cyrus [over Babylon; now this was at the end of the seventy-year exile of Judah (the Southern Kingdom) in Babylonia, as foretold by Jeremiah].
2:1:The King’s Forgotten Dream
In the second year (604 b.c.) of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams which troubled and disturbed his spirit and [interfered with] his ability to sleep.
2:2:Then the king gave a command to call the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
2:3:The king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled and anxious to know the [content and meaning of the] dream.”
2:4:Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.”
2:5:The king replied to the Chaldeans, “My command is firm and unchangeable: if you do not reveal to me the [content of the] dream along with its interpretation, you shall be cut into pieces and your houses shall be made a heap of rubbish.
2:6:“But if you tell [me] the [content of the] dream along with its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and its interpretation.”
2:7:They answered again, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will explain its interpretation [to you].”
2:8:The king replied, “I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, because you have seen that my command [to you] is firm and irrevocable.
2:9:If you will not reveal to me the [content of the] dream, there is but one sentence for you; for you have [already] prepared lying and corrupt words [and you have agreed together] to speak [them] before me [hoping to delay your execution] until the situation is changed. Therefore, tell me the dream [first], and then I will know [with confidence] that you can give me its interpretation.”
2:10:The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king this matter, for no king, lord or ruler has ever asked such a thing as this of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.
2:11:Furthermore, what the king demands is an unusual and difficult thing indeed! No one except the gods can reveal it to the king, and their dwelling is not with [mortal] flesh.”
2:12:Because of this the king was indignant and extremely furious and gave a command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
2:13:So the decree went out that the wise men were to be killed; and they looked for Daniel and his companions to put them to death.
2:14:Then Daniel replied with discretion and wisdom to Arioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard, who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon;
2:15:he said to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree from the king so harsh and urgent?” Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel.
2:16:So Daniel went in and asked the king to appoint a date and give him time, so that he might reveal to the king the interpretation of the dream.
2:17:Then Daniel returned to his house and discussed the matter with Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,
2:18:in order that they might seek compassion from the God of heaven regarding this secret, so that Daniel and his companions would not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
2:19:The Secret Is Revealed to Daniel
Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
2:20:Daniel answered,
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
For wisdom and power belong to Him.
2:21:“It is He who changes the times and the seasons;
He removes kings and establishes kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise
And [greater] knowledge to those who have understanding!
2:22:“It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And the light dwells with Him.
2:23:“I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers,
For You have given me wisdom and power;
Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You,
For You have made known to us [the solution to] the king’s matter.”
2:24:So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said this to him: “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will reveal to the king the interpretation [of his dream].”
2:25:Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel before the king and said this to him: “I have found a man among the exiles of Judah who can explain to the king the interpretation [of the dream].”
2:26:The king said to Daniel, whose [Babylonian] name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to reveal to me the [content of the] dream which I have seen and its interpretation?”
2:27:Daniel answered the king and said, “Regarding the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither the wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor astrologers are able to answer the king,
2:28:but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days (end of days). This was your dream and the vision [that appeared] in your mind while on your bed.
2:29:“As for you, O king, as you were lying on your bed thoughts came into your mind about what will take place in the future; and He who reveals secrets has shown you what will occur.
2:30:But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because my wisdom is greater than that of any other living man, but in order to make the interpretation known to the king, and so that you may understand [fully] the thoughts of your mind.
2:31:The King’s Dream
“You, O king, were looking, and behold, [there was] a single great statue; this image, which was large and of unsurpassed splendor, stood before you, and its appearance was awesome and terrifying.
2:32:As for this statue, its head was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze,
2:33:its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay [pottery].
2:34:As you were looking, a stone was cut out without [human] hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.
2:35:Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together and became like the chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them could be found. And the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
2:36:The Interpretation—Babylon the First Kingdom
“This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation.
2:37:You, O king, are the king of [earthly] kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory;
2:38:and wherever the sons of men dwell, and the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You [king of Babylon] are the head of gold.
2:39:Medo-Persia and Greece
After you will arise another kingdom (Medo-Persia) inferior to you, and then a third kingdom of bronze (Greece under Alexander the Great), which will rule over all the earth.
2:40:Rome
Then a fourth kingdom (Rome) will be strong as iron, for iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things; and like iron which crushes things in pieces, it will break and crush all these [others].
2:41:And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but there will be in it some of the durability and strength of iron, just as you saw the iron mixed with common clay.
2:42:As the [ten] toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so some of the kingdom will be strong, and another part of it will be brittle.
2:43:And as you saw the iron mixed with common clay, so they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not merge [for such diverse things or ideologies cannot unite], even as iron does not mix with clay.
2:44:The Divine Kingdom
In the days of those [final ten] kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will its sovereignty be left for another people; but it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever.
2:45:Just as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has revealed to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
2:46:Daniel Promoted
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell face downward and paid respect to Daniel [as a great prophet of the highest God], and gave orders for an offering and fragrant incense to be presented to him [in honor of his God].
2:47:The king answered Daniel and said, “Most certainly your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery!”
2:48:Then the king promoted Daniel [to an exalted position] and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.
2:49:And Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the court of the king.
3:1:The King’s Golden Image
Nebuchadnezzar the king made a gold [-plated] image, whose height [including the pedestal] was sixty cubits (ninety feet) and its width six cubits (nine feet). He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
3:2:Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and lawyers and all the chief officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
3:3:Then the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and lawyers, and all the chief officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up; and they stood before it.
3:4:Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and speakers of every language,
3:5:that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon (four-stringed harp), dulcimer, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
3:6:Whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.”
3:7:So when the people heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, dulcimer, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and speakers of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
3:8:Worship of the Image Refused
At that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought [malicious] accusations against the Jews.
3:9:They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever!
3:10:You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, dulcimer, bagpipe, and all kinds of music is to fall down and worship the golden image.
3:11:Whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.
3:12:There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”
3:13:Then Nebuchadnezzar in a furious rage gave a command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; and these men were brought before the king.
3:14:Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image which I have set up?
3:15:Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image which I have made, very good. But if you do not worship, you shall be thrown at once into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can rescue you out of my hands?”
3:16:Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to answer you on this point.
3:17:If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king.
3:18:But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up!”
3:19:Daniel’s Friends Protected
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and his facial expression changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then he gave a command that the furnace was to be heated seven times hotter than usual.
3:20:He commanded certain strong men in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire.
3:21:Then these [three] men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their turbans, and their other clothes, and were thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.
3:22:Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was extremely hot, the flame of the fire killed the men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.
3:23:But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.
3:24:Then Nebuchadnezzar the king [looked and] was astounded, and he jumped up and said to his counselors, “Did we not throw three men who were tied up into the midst of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Certainly, O king.”
3:25:He answered, “Look! I see four men untied, walking around in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt! And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!”
3:26:Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing furnace and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, servants of the Most High God, come out [of there]! Come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire.
3:27:The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s counselors gathered around them and saw that in regard to these men the fire had no effect on their bodies—their hair was not singed, their clothes were not scorched or damaged, even the smell of smoke was not on them.
3:28:Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and rescued His servants who believed in, trusted in, and relied on Him! They violated the king’s command and surrendered their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
3:29:Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be cut into pieces and their houses be made a heap of rubbish, for there is no other god who is able to save in this way!”
3:30:Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.
4:1:The King Acknowledges God
Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and speakers of every language that live in all the earth: “May your peace abound!
4:2:It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me.
4:3:“How great are His signs
And how mighty are His wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom
And His dominion is from generation to generation.
4:4:The Vision of a Great Tree
“I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house and prospering in my palace.
4:5:I saw a dream and it made me afraid; and the fantasies and thoughts and the visions [that appeared] in my mind as I lay on my bed kept alarming me.
4:6:So I gave orders to bring in before me all the wise men of Babylon, so that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.
4:7:Then the magicians, the enchanters (Magi), the Chaldeans [who were the master astrologers] and the diviners came in, and I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it and make known its meaning to me.
4:8:But at last Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I told the dream to him, saying,
4:9:‘O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles or troubles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.
4:10:‘The visions that passed through my mind as I lay on my bed were these: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the middle of the earth, and its height was great.
4:11:‘The tree grew large and became strong
And its height reached to heaven,
And it was visible to the end of the earth.
4:12:‘Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant,
And in it was food for all.
The beasts of the field found shade under it,
And the birds of the sky nested in its branches,
And all living creatures fed themselves from it.
4:13:‘And behold, I saw in the visions of my mind as I lay on my bed, an angelic watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven.
4:14:‘He shouted aloud and said this:
“Cut down the tree and cut off its branches;
Shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit;
Let the living creatures run from under it
And the birds fly from its branches.
4:15:“Nevertheless leave the stump with its roots in the ground,
Bound with a band of iron and bronze
In the new grass of the field;
And let him be wet with the dew of heaven,
And let him feed with the animals in the grass of the earth.
4:16:“Let his mind and nature be changed from a man’s
And let an animal’s mind and nature be given to him,
And let seven periods of time pass over him.
4:17:“This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers
And the decision is a command of the holy ones,
So that the living may know [without any doubt]
That the Most High [God] rules over the kingdom of mankind
And He bestows it on whomever He desires
And sets over it the humblest and lowliest of men.”
4:18:This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, explain its meaning, since none of the wise men of my kingdom are able to reveal its interpretation to me; but you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.’
4:19:Daniel Interprets the Vision
“Then Daniel, whose [Babylonian] name was Belteshazzar, was appalled and speechless for a while [because he was deeply concerned about the destiny of the king], and his thoughts alarmed him. The king said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation frighten you.’ Belteshazzar answered, ‘My lord, may the dream be [meant] for those who hate you and its message for your enemies!
4:20:The tree that you saw, which became great and grew strong, whose height reached to heaven and which was visible to all the earth,
4:21:whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and on which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the sky nested—
4:22:it is you, O king, who have become great and grown strong; your greatness has increased and it reaches to heaven, and your dominion [reaches] to the ends of the earth.
4:23:In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “Cut the tree down and destroy it; but leave the stump with its roots in the earth, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him feed with the beasts of the field until seven periods of time pass over him,”
4:24:this is the interpretation, O king: It is the decree of the Most High [God], which has come upon my lord the king:
4:25:that you shall be driven from mankind and your dwelling place shall be with the beasts of the field; and that you be given grass to eat like the cattle and be wet with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know [without any doubt] that the Most High [God] rules over the kingdom of mankind and He bestows it to whomever He desires.
4:26:And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree [in the earth], your kingdom shall be restored to you after you recognize (understand fully) that Heaven rules.
4:27:Therefore, O king, let my advice to you be [considered and found] acceptable; break away now from your sins and exhibit your repentance by doing what is right, and from your wickedness by showing mercy to the poor, so that [if you repent] there may possibly be a continuance of your prosperity and tranquility and a healing of your error.’
4:28:The Vision Fulfilled
“All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king.
4:29:Twelve months later he was walking on the upper level of the royal palace of Babylon.
4:30:The king said thoughtfully, ‘Is not this the great Babylon which I myself have built as the royal residence and seat of government by the might of my power and for the honor and glory of my majesty?’
4:31:While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came [as if falling] from heaven, saying, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: “The kingdom has been removed from you,
4:32:and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the animals of the field. You will be given grass to eat like the cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you know [without any doubt] that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind and He bestows it on whomever He desires.”’
4:33:Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.
4:34:“But at the end of the days [that is, at the seven periods of time], I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my understanding and reason returned to me; and I blessed the Most High [God] and I praised and honored and glorified Him who lives forever,
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion;
And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
4:35:“All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing.
But He does according to His will in the host of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth;
And no one can hold back His hand
Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’
4:36:Now at the same time my reason returned to me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor were returned to me, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was re-established in my kingdom, and still more greatness [than before] was added to me.
4:37:Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and faithful and His ways are just, and He is able to humiliate and humble those who walk in [self-centered, self-righteous] pride.”
5:1:Belshazzar’s Feast
Belshazzar the king [who was a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar] gave a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking his wine in the presence of the thousand [guests].
5:2:Belshazzar, as he tasted the wine, gave a command to bring in the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.
5:3:Then they brought in the gold and silver vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.
5:4:They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
5:5:Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing opposite the lampstand on [a well-lit area of] the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that did the writing.
5:6:Then the king’s face grew pale, and his thoughts alarmed him; the joints and muscles of his hips and back weakened and his knees began knocking together.
5:7:The king called aloud to bring in the enchanters (Magi), the Chaldeans [who were master astrologers] and the diviners. The king said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and explain its interpretation to me shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold put around his neck, and have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom.”
5:8:Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or reveal to the king its interpretation.
5:9:Then King Belshazzar was greatly perplexed, his face became even paler, and his nobles were bewildered and alarmed.
5:10:Now the queen [mother], overhearing the [excited] words of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet area. The queen [mother] spoke and said, “O king, live forever! Do not be alarmed at your thoughts or let your face be changed.
5:11:There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father, illumination, understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans and diviners.
5:12:It was because an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, the ability to interpret dreams, clarify riddles, and solve complex problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called and he will give the interpretation.”
5:13:Daniel Interprets Handwriting on the Wall
Then Daniel was brought in before the king. And the king said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the sons of the exiles of Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah?
5:14:I have heard of you, that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight, and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.
5:15:Now the wise men and the enchanters, were brought in before me so that they might read this writing and reveal its meaning to me, but they could not give the interpretation of the message.
5:16:But I personally have heard about you, that you are able to make interpretations and solve complex problems. Now if you are able to read the writing and reveal its interpretation to me, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold put around your neck, and you shall have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom.”
5:17:Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the writing to the king and reveal the interpretation to him.
5:18:O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and greatness and glory and majesty;
5:19:and because of the greatness that He gave him, all the peoples, nations, and speakers of every language trembled and feared him. Whomever he wished he killed, and whomever he wished he kept alive; whomever he wished he promoted and whomever he wished he humbled.
5:20:But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him.
5:21:He was also driven from mankind, and his mind was made like that of an animal, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven until he came to know [without any doubt] that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind and He appoints it to whomever He wills.
5:22:And you, his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart (mind), even though you knew all this.
5:23:And you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of His house have been brought before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But the God who holds in His hand your breath of life and your ways you have not honored and glorified [but have dishonored and defied].
5:24:Then the hand was sent from the presence [of the Most High God], and this inscription was written:
5:25:“This is the inscription that was written, ‘mene, mene, tekel, upharsin [numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided].’
5:26:This is the interpretation of the message: ‘mene’—God has numbered the days of your kingdom and put an end to it;
5:27:‘tekel’—you have been weighed on the scales [of righteousness] and found deficient;
5:28:‘peres’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”
5:29:Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple and a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation concerning him was issued [declaring] that he now had authority as the third ruler in the kingdom.
5:30:During that same night Belshazzar the [last] Chaldean king was slain [by troops of the invading army].
5:31:So Darius the Mede received the kingdom; he was about the age of sixty-two.
6:1:Daniel Serves Darius
It seemed good to Darius [who became king after Belshazzar] to appoint over the kingdom 120 satraps who would be in charge throughout the kingdom,
6:2:and over them three chief commissioners (of whom Daniel was one), that these satraps might be accountable to them, so that the king would have no loss [from disloyalty or mismanagement].
6:3:Then this Daniel, because of the extraordinary spirit within him, began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and the satraps, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire realm.
6:4:Then the [other two] commissioners and the satraps began trying to find a reason to bring a complaint against Daniel concerning the [administration of the] kingdom; but they could find no reason for an accusation or evidence of corruption, because he was faithful [a man of high moral character and personal integrity], and no negligence or corruption [of any kind] was found in him.
6:5:Then these men said, “We will not find any basis for an accusation against this Daniel unless we find something against him in connection with the law of his God.”
6:6:Then these commissioners and satraps agreed to approach the king and said to him, “King Darius, live forever!
6:7:All the commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors have consulted and agreed together that the king should establish a royal statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who petitions (prays to) any god or man besides you, O king, during the next thirty days, shall be thrown into the den of lions.
6:8:Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document so that it may not be changed, in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which [insures that it] may not be altered or revoked.”
6:9:So King Darius signed the document, that is, the injunction.
6:10:Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he went into his house (now in his roof chamber his windows were open toward Jerusalem); he continued to get down on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.
6:11:Then, by agreement, these men came [together] and found Daniel praying and making requests before his God.
6:12:Then they approached and spoke before the king regarding his injunction, “Have you not signed an injunction that anyone who petitions (prays to) any god or man except you, O king, within the designated thirty days, is to be thrown into the den of lions?” The king answered, “The statement is true, in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be altered or revoked.”
6:13:Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, does not pay any attention to you, O king, or to the injunction which you have signed, but keeps praying [to his God] three times a day.”
6:14:Then, as soon as the king heard these words, he was deeply distressed [over what he had done] and set his mind on rescuing Daniel; and he struggled until the sun went down [trying to work out a way] to save him.
6:15:Then, by agreement, these same men came to the king and said, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or statute which the king establishes may be altered or revoked.”
6:16:Daniel in the Den of Lions
Then the king gave a command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you constantly serve, rescue you Himself!”
6:17:A stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing would be changed concerning Daniel.
6:18:Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no music or entertainment was brought before him, and he remained unable to sleep.
6:19:Then the king arose at dawn, at the break of day, and hurried to the den of lions.
6:20:When he had come near the den, he called out to Daniel with a troubled voice. The king said to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
6:21:Then Daniel spoke to the king, “O king, live forever!
6:22:My God has sent His angel and has shut the mouths of the lions so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also before you, O king, I have committed no crime.”
6:23:Then the king was greatly pleased and ordered that Daniel be taken out of the den. So Daniel was taken out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in and relied on and trusted in his God.
6:24:The king then gave a command, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions, they, their children and their wives; and before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
6:25:Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and speakers of every language who were living in all the land: “May peace abound to you!
6:26:I issue a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to [reverently] fear and tremble before the God of Daniel,
For He is the living God, enduring and steadfast forever,
And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed,
And His dominion will be forever.
6:27:“He rescues and saves and performs signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth—
He who has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”
6:28:So this [man] Daniel prospered and enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
7:1:Vision of the Four Beasts
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions appeared in his mind as he lay on his bed; then he wrote the dream down and related a summary of it.
7:2:Daniel said, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea (the nations).
7:3:And four great beasts, each different from the other, were coming up out of the sea [in succession].
7:4:The first (the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar) was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind was given to it.
7:5:And behold, another beast, a second one (the Medo-Persian Empire), was like a bear, and it was raised up on one side (domain), and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much meat.’
7:6:After this I kept looking, and behold, another one (the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great), like a leopard, which had on its back four wings like those of a bird; the beast also had four heads (Alexander’s generals, his successors), and power to rule was given to it.
7:7:After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, [I saw] a fourth beast (the Roman Empire), terrible and extremely strong; and it had huge iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that came before it, and it had ten horns (ten kings).
7:8:While I was considering the horns, behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, and three of the first horns were pulled up by the roots before it; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth boasting of great things.
7:9:The Ancient of Days Reigns
“I kept looking
Until thrones were set up,
And the Ancient of Days (God) took His seat;
His garment was white as snow
And the hair of His head like pure wool.
His throne was flames of fire;
Its wheels were a burning fire.
7:10:“A river of fire was flowing
And coming out from before Him;
A thousand thousands were attending Him,
And ten thousand times ten thousand were standing before Him;
The court was seated,
And the books were opened.
7:11:Then I kept looking because of the sound of the great and boastful words which the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to be burned with fire.
7:12:As for the rest of the beasts, their power was taken away; yet their lives were prolonged [for the length of their lives was fixed] for a predetermined time.
7:13:The Son of Man Presented
“I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, on the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
7:14:“And to Him (the Messiah) was given dominion (supreme authority),
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations, and speakers of every language
Should serve and worship Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.
7:15:The Vision Interpreted
“As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed and anxious within me, and the visions [that appeared] in my mind kept alarming (agitating) me.
7:16:I approached one of those who stood by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. So he told me and explained to me the interpretation of the things:
7:17:‘These four great beasts are four kings who will arise from the earth.
7:18:But the saints (believers) of the Most High [God] will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.’
7:19:“Then I wished to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, extremely dreadful, with teeth of iron and claws of bronze, which devoured, crushed and trampled down what was left with its feet,
7:20:and the meaning of the ten horns (kings) that were on its head and the other horn which came up later, and before which three of the horns fell, specifically, that horn which had eyes and a mouth that boasted great things and which looked larger than the others.
7:21:As I kept looking, that horn was making war with the saints (believers) and overpowering them
7:22:until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Most High [God], and the time arrived when the saints (believers) took possession of the kingdom.
7:23:“Thus the angel said, ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which will be different from all other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down, and crush it.
7:24:As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the former ones, and he will subdue three kings.
7:25:He will speak words against the Most High [God] and wear down the saints of the Most High, and he will intend to change the times and the law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, [two] times, and half a time [three and one-half years].
7:26:But the court [of the Most High] will sit in judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, [first to be] consumed [gradually] and [then] to be destroyed forever.
7:27:Then the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints (believers) of the Most High; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’
7:28:“This is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my [waking] thoughts were extremely troubling and alarming and my face grew pale; but I kept the matter [of the vision and the angel’s explanation] to myself.”
8:1:Vision of the Ram and Goat
In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a [second] vision appeared to me, Daniel, [this was two years] after the one that first appeared to me.
8:2:I looked in the vision and it seemed that I was at the citadel of Susa, [the capital of Persia], which is in the province of Elam; and I looked in the vision and I saw myself by the Ulai Canal.
8:3:Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there in front of the canal stood a [lone] ram (the Medo-Persian Empire) which had two horns. The two horns were high, but one (Persia) was higher than the other (Media), and the higher one came up last.
8:4:I saw the ram (Medo-Persia) charging westward and northward and southward; no beast could stand before him, nor was there anyone who could rescue [anything] from his power, but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.
8:5:As I was observing [this], behold, a male goat (Greece) was coming from the west [rushing] across the face of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous and remarkable horn (Alexander the Great) between his eyes.
8:6:He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and charged at him in [the fury of] his power and wrath.
8:7:[In my vision] I saw him come close to the ram (Medo-Persia), and he was filled with rage toward him; and the goat (Greece) struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to stand before him. So the goat threw him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power.
8:8:Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly, and when he was [young and] strong, the great horn (Alexander) was [suddenly] broken; and in its place there came up four prominent horns [among whom the kingdom was divided, one] toward [each of] the four winds of heaven.
8:9:The Little Horn
Out of one of them (Antiochus IV Epiphanes) came forth a rather small horn [but one of irreverent presumption and profane pride] which grew exceedingly powerful toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land (Israel).
8:10:And [in my vision] this horn grew up to the host of heaven, and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled on them.
8:11:Indeed, it magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host [of heaven]; and it took away from Him the daily sacrifice (burnt offering), and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down (profaned).
8:12:Because of the transgression [of God’s people—their irreverence and ungodliness] the host will be given over to the wicked horn, along with the regular sacrifice; and righteousness and truth will be flung to the ground, and the horn will do as it pleases [by divine permission] and prosper.
8:13:Then I heard a holy one (angel) speaking, and another holy one said to the one who was speaking, “How much time will be required to complete the vision regarding the regular sacrifice, the transgression that brings horror, and the trampling underfoot of both the sanctuary and the host [of the people]?”
8:14:He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be cleansed and properly restored.”
8:15:Interpretation of the Vision
When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; then behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man.
8:16:And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of the Ulai, which called out and said, “Gabriel, give this man (Daniel) an understanding of the vision.”
8:17:So he came near where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell face downward; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the [fulfillment of the] vision pertains to [events that will occur in] the time of the end.”
8:18:Now as he (Gabriel) was speaking with me, I drifted into a deep sleep (unconsciousness) with my face to the ground; but he touched me and made me stand [where I had stood before].
8:19:He said, “Behold, I am going to let you know what will happen during the final time of the indignation and wrath [of God upon the ungodly], for it concerns the appointed time of the end.
8:20:The Ram’s Identity
The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.
8:21:The Goat
The shaggy (rough-coated) male goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the great horn between his eyes is the first king.
8:22:Regarding the shattered horn and the four others that arose in its place, four kingdoms will rise from his (Alexander’s) nation, although not with his power and heritage.
8:23:“At the latter period of their reign,
When the transgressors have finished,
A king will arise
Insolent and skilled in intrigue and cunning.
8:24:“His power will be mighty, but not by his own power;
And he will corrupt and destroy in an astonishing manner
And [he will] prosper and do exactly as he wills;
He shall corrupt and destroy mighty men and the holy people.
8:25:“And through his shrewdness
He will cause deceit to succeed by his hand (influence);
He will magnify himself in his mind,
He will corrupt and destroy many who enjoy a false sense of security.
He will also stand up and oppose the Prince of princes,
But he will be broken, and that by no human hand [but by the hand of God].
8:26:“The vision of the evenings and the mornings
Which has been told [to you] is true.
But keep the vision a secret,
For it has to do with many days in the now distant future.”
8:27:And I, Daniel, was exhausted and was sick for [several] days. Afterward I got up and continued with the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was no one who could explain it.
9:1:Daniel’s Prayer for His People
In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—
9:2:in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books the number of years which, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the desolations [which had been] pronounced on Jerusalem would end; and it was seventy years.
9:3:So I directed my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.
9:4:I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and extends lovingkindness toward those who love Him and keep His commandments,
9:5:we have sinned and committed wrong, and have behaved wickedly and have rebelled, turning away from Your commandments and ordinances.
9:6:Further, we have not listened to and heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
9:7:“Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us confusion and open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away, in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the [treacherous] acts of unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
9:8:O Lord, to us belong confusion and open shame—to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers—because we have sinned against You.
9:9:To the Lord our God belong mercy and lovingkindness and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;
9:10:and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in His laws which He set before us through His servants the prophets.
9:11:Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, even turning aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us and the oath which is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him.
9:12:And He has carried out completely His [threatening] words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers [the kings, princes, and judges] who ruled us, to bring on us a great tragedy; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything [so dreadful] like that which [He commanded and] was done to Jerusalem.
9:13:Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this tragedy has come on us. Yet we have not wholeheartedly begged for forgiveness and sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our wickedness and paying attention to and placing value in Your truth.
9:14:Therefore the Lord has kept the tragedy ready and has brought it on us, for the Lord our God is [uncompromisingly] righteous and openly just in all His works which He does—He keeps His word; and we have not obeyed His voice.
9:15:“And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for Yourself a name, as it is today—we have sinned, we have been wicked.
9:16:O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous and just acts, please let Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain. Because of our sins and the wickedness of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an object of scorn and a contemptuous byword to all who are around us.
9:17:Now therefore, our God, listen to (heed) the prayer of Your servant (Daniel) and his supplications, and for Your own sake let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.
9:18:O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and look at our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You because of our own merits and righteousness, but because of Your great mercy and compassion.
9:19:O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! Do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
9:20:Gabriel Brings an Answer
While I was still speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God,
9:21:while I was still speaking in prayer and extremely exhausted, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me about the time of the evening sacrifice.
9:22:He instructed me and he talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and wisdom and understanding.
9:23:At the beginning of your supplications, the command [to give you an answer] was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly regarded and greatly beloved. Therefore consider the message and begin to understand the [meaning of the] vision.
9:24:Seventy Weeks and the Messiah
“Seventy weeks [of years, or 490 years] have been decreed for your people and for your holy city (Jerusalem), to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make atonement (reconciliation) for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness (right-standing with God), to seal up vision and prophecy and prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
9:25:So you are to know and understand that from the issuance of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until [the coming of] the Messiah (the Anointed One), the Prince, there will be seven weeks [of years] and sixty-two weeks [of years]; it will be built again, with [a city] plaza and moat, even in times of trouble.
9:26:Then after the sixty-two weeks [of years] the Anointed One will be cut off [and denied His Messianic kingdom] and have nothing [and no one to defend Him], and the people of the [other] prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
9:27:And he will enter into a binding and irrevocable covenant with the many for one week (seven years), but in the middle of the week he will stop the sacrifice and grain offering [for the remaining three and one-half years]; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until the complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who causes the horror.”
10:1:Daniel Is Terrified by a Vision
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar; and the message was true and it referred to great conflict (warfare, misery). And he understood the message and had an understanding of the vision.
10:2:In those days I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks.
10:3:I ate no tasty food, nor did any meat or wine enter my mouth; and I did not anoint (refresh, groom) myself at all for the full three weeks.
10:4:On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was on the bank of the great river Hiddekel [which is the Tigris],
10:5:I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose loins were girded with [a belt of] pure gold of Uphaz.
10:6:His body also was like beryl [with a golden luster], his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and his feet like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words was like the noise of a multitude [of people or the roaring of the sea].
10:7:And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision [of this heavenly being], for the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great panic overwhelmed them, so they ran away to hide themselves.
10:8:So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my normal appearance turned to a deathly pale, and I grew weak and faint [with fright].
10:9:Then I heard the sound of his words; and when I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in a deep sleep, with my face toward the ground.
10:10:Daniel Comforted
Then behold, a hand touched me and set me unsteadily on my hands and knees.
10:11:So he said to me, “O Daniel, you highly regarded and greatly beloved man, understand the words that I am about to say to you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” And while he was saying this word to me, I stood up trembling.
10:12:Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.
10:13:But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing in opposition to me for twenty-one days. Then, behold, Michael, one of the chief [of the celestial] princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.
10:14:Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision is in regard to the days yet to come.”
10:15:When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was speechless.
10:16:And behold, one who resembled the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke and said to him who was standing before me, “O my lord, because of the vision anguish has come upon me, and I have retained no strength.
10:17:For how can such a [weakened] servant of my lord talk with such [a being] as my lord? For now there remains no strength in me, nor has any breath been left in me.”
10:18:Then the one (Gabriel) whose appearance was like that of a man touched me again, and he strengthened me.
10:19:He said, “O man, highly regarded and greatly beloved, do not be afraid. Peace be to you; take courage and be strong.” Now when he had spoken to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”
10:20:Then he said, “Do you understand [fully] why I came to you? Now I shall return to fight against the [hostile] prince of Persia; and when I have gone, behold, the prince of Greece is about to come.
10:21:But I (Gabriel) will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. There is no one who stands firmly with me and strengthens himself against these [hostile spirit forces] except Michael, your prince [the guardian of your nation].
11:1:Conflicts to Come
“Also I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I (Gabriel) arose to be an encouragement and a protection for him.
11:2:And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will become far richer than all of them. When he becomes strong through his riches he will stir up the whole empire against the realm of Greece.
11:3:Then a mighty [warlike, threatening] king will arise who will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.
11:4:But as soon as he (Alexander) has risen, his kingdom will be broken [by his death] and divided toward the four winds of heaven [the north, south, east, and west], but not to his descendants, nor according to the [Grecian] authority with which he ruled, for his kingdom will be torn out and uprooted and given to others (his four generals) to the exclusion of these.
11:5:“Then the king of the South (Egypt) will be strong, along with one of his princes who will be stronger than he and have dominance over him; his domain will be a great dominion.
11:6:After some years the Syrian king of the North and the Egyptian king of the South will make an alliance; the daughter (Berenice) of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to make an equitable and peaceful agreement (marriage); but she will not retain the power of her position, nor will he retain his power. She will be handed over with her attendants and her father as well as he who supported her in those times.
11:7:But out of a branch of her [familial] roots will one (her brother, Ptolemy III Euergetes I) arise in his place, and he will come against the [Syrian] army and enter the fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and will prevail.
11:8:Also he will carry off to Egypt their [Syrian] gods with their cast images and their precious and costly treasure of silver and of gold, and he will refrain from waging war against the king of the North for some years.
11:9:And the king of the North will come into the realm of the king of the South, but he will retreat to his own country [badly defeated].
11:10:“His sons will prepare for battle and assemble a multitude of great forces; which will keep on coming and overflow [the land], and pass through, so that they may again wage war as far as his fortress.
11:11:The king of the South (Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt) will be enraged and go out and fight with the king of the North (Antiochus III the Great); and the Syrian king will raise a great multitude (army), but the multitude shall be given into the hand of the Egyptian king.
11:12:When the multitude (army) is captured and carried away, the heart of the Egyptian king will be proud (arrogant), and he will cause tens of thousands to fall, but he will not prevail.
11:13:For the king of the North will again raise a multitude (army) greater than the one before, and after several years he will advance with a great army and substantial equipment.
11:14:“In those times many will rise up against the king of the South (Egypt); also the violent men among your own people will arise in order to fulfill the [earlier] visions, but they will fail.
11:15:Then the king of the North (Syria) will come and build up siege ramps and capture a well-fortified city. The forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even the finest troops, for there will be no strength to stand [against the Syrian king].
11:16:But he (Syria) who comes against him (Egypt) will do exactly as he pleases, and no one will be able to stand against him; he (Antiochus III the Great) will also stay for a time in the Beautiful and Glorious Land [of Israel], with destruction in his hand.
11:17:He will be determined to come with the power of his entire kingdom, and propose equitable conditions and terms of peace, which he will put into effect [by making an agreement with the king of the South]. He will also give him his daughter (Cleopatra I), in an attempt to overthrow the kingdom, but it will not succeed or be to his advantage.
11:18:After this, he (Antiochus III the Great, King of Syria) will turn his attention to the islands and coastlands and capture many [of them]. But a commander (Lucius Scipio Asiaticus of Rome) will put an end to his aggression [toward Rome’s territorial interests]; in fact, he will repay his insolence and turn his audacity back upon him.
11:19:Then he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own land [of Syria], but he will stumble and fall and not be found.
11:20:“Then in his place one (his eldest son, Seleucus IV Philopator) will arise who will send an oppressor through the Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be shattered, though not in anger nor in battle.
11:21:And in his place [in Syria] will arise a despicable and despised person, to whom royal majesty and the honor of kingship have not been conferred, but he will come [without warning] in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
11:22:The overwhelming forces [of the invading armies of Egypt] will be flooded away before him and smashed; and also the prince of the covenant [will be smashed].
11:23:After an alliance is made with him he will work deceitfully, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people.
11:24:In a time of tranquility, [without warning] he will enter the most productive and richest parts of the kingdom [of Egypt], and he will accomplish that which his fathers never did, nor his fathers’ fathers; he will distribute plunder, spoil and goods among them. He will devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time [decreed by God].
11:25:He will stir up his strength and courage against [his former Egyptian ally] the king of the South (Ptolemy VI) with a great army; so the king of the South will prepare an extremely great and powerful army to wage war, but he will not stand, for schemes will be devised against him.
11:26:Yes, those who eat his fine food will betray and destroy him (Ptolemy VI), and his army will be swept away, and many will fall down slain.
11:27:And as for both of these kings, their hearts will be set on doing evil; they will speak lies over the same table, but it will not succeed, for the end is yet to come at the appointed time.
11:28:Then he (Antiochus IV Epiphanes) will return to his land with great treasure (plunder); and his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and return to his own land (Syria).
11:29:“At the time appointed [by God] he will return and come into the South, but this last time will not be successful as were the previous invasions [of Egypt].
11:30:For ships of Cyprus [in Roman hands] will come against him; therefore he will be discouraged and turn back [to Israel] and carry out his rage against the holy covenant and take action; so he will return and show favoritism toward those [Jews] who abandon (break) the holy covenant [with God].
11:31:Armed forces of his will arise [in Jerusalem] and defile and desecrate the sanctuary, the [spiritual] stronghold, and will do away with the regular sacrifice [that is, the daily burnt offering]; and they will set up [a pagan altar in the sanctuary which is] the abomination of desolation.
11:32:With smooth words [of flattery and praise] he will turn to godlessness those who [are willing to] disregard the [Mosaic] covenant, but the people who [are spiritually mature and] know their God will display strength and take action [to resist].
11:33:They who are wise and have spiritual insight among the people will instruct many and help them understand; yet for many days some [of them and their followers] will fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder.
11:34:Now when they fall they will receive a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy.
11:35:Some of those who are [spiritually] wise and have insight will fall [as martyrs] in order to refine, to purge and to make those among God’s people pure, until the end time; because it is yet to come at the time appointed [by God].
11:36:“Then the king (the Antichrist) will do exactly as he pleases; he will exalt himself and magnify himself above every god and will speak astounding and disgusting things against the God of gods and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is determined [by God] will be done.
11:37:He will have no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he have regard for any other god, for he shall magnify himself above them all.
11:38:Instead, he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold and silver, with precious stones and with expensive things.
11:39:He will act against the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and he will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.
11:40:“At the end time the king of the South will push and attack him (the Antichrist), and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots and horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overwhelm them and pass through.
11:41:He shall also enter the Beautiful and Glorious Land (Israel), and many countries will fall, but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab, and the foremost [core] of the people of Ammon.
11:42:Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, but Egypt will not be among the ones which escape.
11:43:He will have power over the treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Ethiopians will follow in his footsteps.
11:44:But rumors from the east and from the north will alarm and disturb him, and he will set out with great fury to destroy and to annihilate many.
11:45:He will pitch his palatial tents between the seas and the glorious Holy Mountain (Zion); yet he will come to his end with no one to help him [in his final battle with God].
12:1:The Time of the End
“Now at that [end] time Michael, the great [angelic] prince who stands guard over the children of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; but at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the Book [of Life], will be rescued.
12:2:Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake (resurrect), these to everlasting life, but some to disgrace and everlasting contempt (abhorrence).
12:3:Those who are [spiritually] wise will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead many to righteousness, [will shine] like the stars forever and ever.
12:4:But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the scroll until the end of time. Many will go back and forth and search anxiously [through the scroll], and knowledge [of the purpose of God as revealed by His prophets] will [greatly] increase.”
12:5:Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, there stood two others, the one [angel] on this bank of the river and the other [angel] on that bank of the river.
12:6:And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be until the end of these wonders?”
12:7:And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he held up his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and a half a time (three and a half years); and as soon as they finish shattering and crushing the power of the holy people, all these things will be finished.
12:8:As for me, I heard, but I did not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”
12:9:And the angel said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are concealed and sealed up until the end of time.
12:10:Many will be purged, purified (made white) and refined, but the wicked will behave wickedly. None of the wicked shall understand, but those who are [spiritually] wise will understand.
12:11:From the time that the regular sacrifice [that is, the daily burnt offering] is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up [ruining the temple for worship of the true God], there will be 1,290 days.
12:12:How blessed [happy, fortunate, spiritually prosperous] and beloved is he who waits expectantly [enduring without wavering for the period of tribulation] and comes to the 1,335 days!
12:13:But as for you (Daniel), go your way until the end [of your life]; for you will rest and rise again for your allotted inheritance at the end of the age.”
hosea:1:1:Hosea’s Wife and Children
The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel.
1:2:When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and have children of [her] prostitution; for the land commits great acts of prostitution by not following the Lord.”
1:3:So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
1:4:And the Lord said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet in a little while I will avenge the blood [that was shed in the Valley] of Jezreel and inflict the punishment for it on the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
1:5:On that day I will break the bow [of the military power] of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
1:6:Then Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-Ruhamah (not shown mercy), for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them.
1:7:But I will have mercy on the house of Judah and will rescue them by the Lord their God, and will not rescue them by bow, sword, war, horses, or horsemen.”
1:8:Now when Gomer had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son.
1:9:And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-Ammi (not my people), for you are not My people and I am not your God.”
1:10:Yet the number of the sons of Israel
Shall be like the sand of the sea,
Which cannot be measured or numbered;
And in the place
Where it is said to them,
“You are not My people,”
It will be said to them,
“You are the sons of the living God.”
1:11:Then the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel shall be gathered together,
And they will appoint for themselves one leader,
And they will go up from the land,
For great and glorious will be the day of Jezreel.
2:1:Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned
“[Hosea,] say to your brothers, ‘Ammi (you are my people),’ and to your sisters, ‘Ruhamah (you have been pitied and have obtained mercy).’
2:2:“Contend with your mother (nation); contend,
For she is not my wife and I am not her husband;
And have her remove her [marks of] prostitution from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts
2:3:Or I will strip her naked
And expose her as on the day she was born,
And make her like a wilderness
And make her like a parched land
And slay her with thirst.
2:4:“Also, I will have no mercy on her children,
Because they are the children of prostitution.
2:5:“For their mother has played the prostitute;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully,
For she said, ‘I will pursue my lovers
Who give me my food and my water,
My wool and my flax, my oil and my [refreshing] drinks.’
2:6:“Therefore, behold, I [the Lord God] will hedge up her way with thorns;
And I will build a wall against her [shutting off her way] so that she cannot find her paths.
2:7:“She will [passionately] pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, ‘Let me go and return to my first husband,
For it was better for me then than now!’
2:8:“For she (Israel) has not noticed nor understood nor realized that it was I [the Lord God] who gave her the grain and the new wine and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they used for Baal and made into his image.
2:9:“Therefore, I will return and take back My grain at harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
Given to cover her nakedness.
2:10:“And now I will uncover her lewdness and shame
In the sight of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her from My hand.
2:11:“I will also put an end to all her rejoicing,
Her feasts, her New Moons, her Sabbaths,
And all her festivals.
2:12:“I will destroy her vines and her fig trees
Of which she has said, ‘These are my wages
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will make them a forest,
And the animals of the open country will devour them.
2:13:“And I will punish her for the [feast] days of the Baals,
When she used to offer sacrifices and burn incense to them
And adorn herself with her earrings and nose rings and her jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,” says the Lord.
2:14:Restoration of Israel
“Therefore, behold, I will allure Israel
And bring her into the wilderness,
And I will speak tenderly to her [to reconcile her to Me].
2:15:“Then I will give her her vineyards from there,
And make the Valley of Achor a door of hope and expectation [anticipating the time when I will restore My favor on her].
And she will sing there and respond as in the days of her youth
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
2:16:“It shall come about in that day,” says the Lord,
“That you will call Me Ishi (my husband)
And will no longer call Me Baali (my Baal).
2:17:“For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will no longer be mentioned or remembered by their names.
2:18:“And in that day I will make a covenant for Israel
With the animals of the open country
And with the birds of the heavens
And with the creeping things of the ground.
And I will abolish the bow and the sword and [banish] war from the land
And will make them lie down in safety.
2:19:“And I will betroth you (Israel) to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice,
In lovingkindness and loyalty, and in compassion.
2:20:“I will betroth you to Me in stability and in faithfulness.
Then you will know (recognize, appreciate) the Lord [and respond with loving faithfulness].
2:21:“It will come about in that day that I will respond,” says the Lord.
“I will respond to the heavens [which ask for rain to pour on the earth], and they will respond to the earth [which begs for the rain],
2:22:And the earth shall respond to the grain and the new wine and the oil [which beg it to bring them forth],
And they will respond to Jezreel [My Israel, who will now be restored].
2:23:“I will sow her for Myself in the land.
I will also have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy;
And I will say to those who were not My people,
‘You are My people,’
And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”
3:1:Hosea’s Second Symbolic Marriage
Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman (Gomer) who is beloved by her husband and yet is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love the raisin cakes [used in the feasts in pagan worship].”
3:2:So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley [the price of a common slave].
3:3:And I said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the prostitute nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you [until you have proved your faithfulness].”
3:4:For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or [idolatrous] pillar, and without ephod or teraphim (household idols).
3:5:Afterward the sons of Israel will return [in deep repentance] and seek the Lord their God and [seek from the line of] David their king [the King of kings—the Messiah]; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness and blessing in the last days.
4:1:God’s Controversy with Israel
Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel,
For the Lord has a [legal] case with the inhabitants of the land,
Because there is no faithfulness [no steadfast love, no dependability] or loyalty or kindness
Or knowledge of God [from personal experience with Him] in the land.
4:2:There is [false] swearing of oaths, deception (broken faith), murder, stealing, and adultery;
They employ violence, so that one [act of] bloodshed follows closely on another.
4:3:Therefore the land [continually] mourns,
And everyone who lives in it languishes [in tragic suffering]
Together with the animals of the open country and the birds of the heavens;
Even the fish of the sea disappear.
4:4:Yet let no one find fault, nor let any rebuke [others];
For your people are like those who contend with the priest.
4:5:So you will stumble in the daytime,
And the [false] prophet will also stumble with you in the night;
And I will destroy your mother (Israel).
4:6:My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [of My law, where I reveal My will].
Because you [the priestly nation] have rejected knowledge,
I will also reject you from being My priest.
Since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I will also forget your children.
4:7:The more they multiplied [in numbers and increased in power], the more they sinned against Me;
I will change their glory into shame.
4:8:They (the priests) feed on the sin offering of My people
And set their heart on their wickedness.
4:9:And it shall be: like people, like priest [both are wicked and both will be judged];
So I will punish them for their ways
And repay them for their deeds.
4:10:They will eat, but not have enough;
They will play the prostitute, but not increase [their descendants],
Because they have stopped giving heed to the Lord.
4:11:Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away the mind and the [spiritual] understanding.
4:12:My people consult their [lifeless] wooden idol, and their [diviner’s] wand gives them oracles.
For a spirit of prostitution has led them astray [morally and spiritually],
And they have played the prostitute, withdrawing themselves from their God.
4:13:They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
And burn incense on the hills,
Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
Because the shade is pleasant there.
Therefore your daughters play the prostitute
And your brides commit adultery.
4:14:I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute
Or your brides when they commit adultery,
For the men themselves slip away with prostitutes,
And they offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes [who give their bodies in honor of the idol].
So the people without understanding [stumble and fall and] come to ruin.
4:15:Though you, Israel, play the prostitute [by worshiping idols],
Do not let Judah become guilty [of the same thing];
And do not go to Gilgal [where idols are worshiped],
Or go up to Beth-aven (House of Wickedness),
Nor swear [oaths in idolatrous worship, saying],
“As the Lord lives!”
4:16:For Israel is stubborn,
Like a stubborn heifer.
Can the Lord now pasture them
Like a lamb in a large field?
4:17:Ephraim is joined to idols,
So let him alone [to suffer the consequences].
4:18:When their liquor is gone [and their drinking parties are over],
They habitually go to play the prostitute;
Ephraim’s rulers continue to dearly love shame [more than her glory which is the Lord, Israel’s God].
4:19:The wind [of God’s relentless wrath] has wrapped up Israel in its wings,
And [in captivity] they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices [to calves, to sun, to moon, to stars, and to pagan gods].
5:1:The People’s Apostasy Rebuked
Hear this and pay close attention, O priests!
Give heed, O house of Israel!
Listen, O house of the king!
For the [pronounced] judgment pertains to you and is meant for you to hear,
Because you have been a snare at Mizpah
And a net spread out over Tabor (military strongholds on either side of the Jordan River).
5:2:The revolters have gone deep into depravity,
But I [the Lord God] will chastise them all.
5:3:I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
For now, O Ephraim, you have played the prostitute and have worshiped idols;
Israel has defiled itself.
5:4:Their [immoral] practices will not permit them
To return to their God,
For the spirit of prostitution is within them
And they do not know the Lord [they do not recognize, appreciate, heed or cherish Him].
5:5:But the pride and self-reliance of Israel testifies against him.
Therefore Israel, and [especially] Ephraim, stumble and fall in their wickedness and guilt;
Judah also has stumbled with them.
5:6:They will go with their flocks and with their herds
To seek the Lord [diligently searching for Him], but they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them [refusing to hear the prayers of the unrepentant].
5:7:They have dealt treacherously against the Lord,
For they have borne illegitimate (pagan) children.
Now the New Moon will devour them along with their land [bringing judgment and captivity].
5:8:Blow the horn in Gibeah,
The trumpet in Ramah [the lofty hills on Benjamin’s northern border].
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven:
“Behind you and coming after you [is the enemy], O Benjamin [be on guard]!”
5:9:Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I declare what is certain.
5:10:The princes of Judah are like those who move a boundary marker;
I will pour out My wrath on them like [an unrestrained flood of] water.
5:11:Ephraim is oppressed; he is broken and crushed by [divine] judgment,
Because he was determined to follow man’s command (vanities, filth, secular precepts).
5:12:Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim
And like dry rot to the house of Judah [in My judgment against them].
5:13:When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah his wound,
Then Ephraim went to Assyria [instead of the Lord]
And sent to [Assyria’s] great King Jareb [for help].
But he cannot heal you
Nor will he cure you of your wound [received in judgment].
5:14:For I will be like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear to pieces and go on [tearing];
I will carry off [the prey] and there will be no one to rescue them.
5:15:I will go away and return to My place [on high]
Until they acknowledge their offense and bear their guilt and seek My face;
In their distress they will earnestly seek Me, saying,
6:1:The Response to God’s Rebuke
“Come and let us return [in repentance] to the Lord,
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
6:2:“After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up
That we may live before Him.
6:3:“So let us know and become personally acquainted with Him; let us press on to know and understand fully the [greatness of the] Lord [to honor, heed, and deeply cherish Him].
His appearing is prepared and is as certain as the dawn,
And He will come to us [in salvation] like the [heavy] rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.”
6:4:The Reply of the Lord
O Ephraim, what shall I do with you?
O Judah, what shall I do with you?
For your [wavering] loyalty and kindness are [transient] like the morning cloud
And like the dew that goes away early.
6:5:Therefore, I have hewn them in pieces by [the words of] the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
My judgments [pronounced upon them by the prophets] are like the light that shines forth [obvious to all].
6:6:For I desire and delight in [steadfast] loyalty [faithfulness in the covenant relationship], rather than sacrifice,
And in the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
6:7:But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant;
There they have dealt treacherously against Me.
6:8:Gilead is a city of wrongdoers;
It is tracked with bloody footprints.
6:9:And as bands of robbers [lie in] wait for a man,
So a band of priests murder on the road toward Shechem [covering their crimes in that city of refuge];
Certainly they have committed crimes and outrages.
6:10:I have seen a horrible thing [sins of every kind] in the house of Israel!
Ephraim’s prostitution (idolatry) is there; Israel has defiled itself.
6:11:Also, O Judah, there is a harvest [of divine judgment] appointed for you,
When I restore the fortunes of My people [who have been slaves to the misery of sin].
7:1:Ephraim’s Sin
When I would heal Israel,
The sin (guilt) of Ephraim is uncovered,
And the wickedness of Samaria,
Because they practice false dealing;
The thief enters,
Bandits ravage and raid outside.
7:2:But they do not consider in their hearts (minds)
That I remember [always] all their wickedness.
Now their deeds surround and entangle them;
They are before My face.
7:3:They make the king glad with their wickedness,
And the princes with their lies.
7:4:They are all adulterers;
Like the heat of an oven
When the baker ceases to stir the fire, [their passion smolders]
From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
7:5:On the [special] day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;
The king stretched out his hand [in association] with scoffers (lawless people).
7:6:As they approach their plotting,
Their mind burns [with intrigue] like an oven [while they lie in wait].
Their anger smolders all night;
In the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7:7:They are all hot like an oven
And they consume their judges (rulers);
All their kings have fallen.
There is no one among them who calls to Me.
7:8:Ephraim mixes himself with the [Gentile] nations [seeking favor with one country, then another];
Ephraim is a cake not turned [worthless; ready to be thrown away].
7:9:Strangers have devoured his strength,
Yet he does not know it;
Gray hairs are sprinkled on him,
Yet he does not know.
7:10:Though the pride of Israel testifies against him,
Yet they do not return [in repentance] to the Lord their God,
Nor seek nor search for nor desire Him [as essential] in spite of all this.
7:11:Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without heart or good sense;
They call to Egypt [for help], they go to Assyria.
7:12:When they go, I will spread My net over them;
I will bring them down like birds of the heavens [into Assyrian captivity].
I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation (prophecy) to their congregation.
7:13:Woe (judgment is coming) to them, for they have wandered away from Me!
Devastation is theirs, because they have rebelled and trespassed against Me!
I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.
7:14:They do not cry out to Me from their heart
When they wail on their beds [in unbelieving despair];
For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves [as if worshiping Baal];
They rebel against Me.
7:15:Although I trained and strengthened their arms [for victory over their enemies],
Yet they devise evil against Me.
7:16:They turn, but they do not turn upward to the Most High.
They are like a poorly crafted bow [that misses the mark];
Their princes shall fall by the sword
Because of the insolence of their tongue.
This will be cause for their mockery and disdain in the land of Egypt.
8:1:Israel Reaps the Whirlwind
Set the trumpet to your lips [announcing impending judgment]!
Like a [great] vulture the enemy comes against the house of the Lord,
Because they have broken My covenant
And transgressed and rebelled against My law.
8:2:Then they will cry out to Me,
“My God, we of Israel know You!”
8:3:Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy shall pursue him.
8:4:They set up kings, but not from Me [therefore without My blessing];
They have appointed princes, but I did not know it.
With their silver and their gold they made idols for themselves,
That they might be cut off.
8:5:He has rejected your [pagan] calf, O Samaria, saying,
“My wrath burns against them.”
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
8:6:For even this [loathsome calf] is from Israel.
A craftsman made it, so it is not God;
Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces and go up in flames.
8:7:For they sow the wind [in evil]
And they reap the whirlwind [in disaster].
The standing grain has no growth;
It yields no grain.
If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it up.
8:8:Israel is [as if] swallowed up [by enemies];
They are now among the nations
Like a vessel [of cheap, coarse pottery] that is useless.
8:9:For they have gone up to Assyria,
Like a wild donkey wandering alone and taking her own way;
Ephraim has hired lovers (pagan allies).
8:10:Yes, even though [with presents] they hire allies among the nations,
Now I will gather them up;
And [in a little while] they will begin to grow weak and diminish
Because of the burden imposed by the king of princes [the king of Assyria].
8:11:For Ephraim has constructed many altars for sin;
They are altars intended for sinning [which multiply his guilt].
8:12:I wrote for him the ten thousand precepts of My law,
But they are regarded as a strange thing [which does not concern him].
8:13:As for My sacrificial offerings,
They sacrifice the meat [as a mere formality] and eat it,
But the Lord is not pleased with them and does not accept them.
Now He will remember and take into account their wickedness and guilt,
And punish them for their sins.
They will return [in captivity] to [another] Egypt [that is, Assyria].
8:14:For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces [and pagan temples],
And Judah has built many fortified cities;
But I will send a fire upon their cities so that it may consume their palaces and fortresses.
9:1:Ephraim Punished
Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation as do the [pagan] peoples,
For you have played the prostitute, turning away from your God.
You have loved prostitutes’ earnings on every threshing floor [attributing the harvest to the Baals instead of to God].
9:2:The threshing floor and the wine press will no longer feed them,
And the new wine will fail them [because they failed to honor the God who provides].
9:3:They will not remain in the land of the Lord,
But Ephraim will return to [another] Egypt [in bondage]
And they will eat [ceremonially] unclean food in Assyria.
9:4:They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the Lord;
Their sacrifices will not please Him.
Their bread will be like mourners’ bread [eaten at funerals];
All who eat it will be [ceremonially] unclean,
For their bread will be for themselves;
It will not enter the house of the Lord [to be consecrated].
9:5:What will you do on the day of the appointed festival
And on the day of the feast of the Lord [when you are in exile]?
9:6:For behold, they will go away because of devastation and destruction;
Egypt will gather them up, Memphis will bury them.
Weeds will take over their treasures of silver;
Thorns will grow in their tents.
9:7:The days of punishment have come;
The days of retribution are at hand;
Let Israel know this!
The prophet is [considered] a fool;
The man [of God] who is inspired is [treated as if] demented,
Because of the abundance of your wickedness and guilt,
And because your deep antagonism [toward God and the prophets] is so great.
9:8:Ephraim was a watchman with my God, a [true] prophet [to warn the nation];
But the snare of a bird catcher was laid in all his paths.
And there is only deep hostility in the house of his God (the land of Israel).
9:9:They have deeply corrupted (perverted) themselves
As in the days of Gibeah.
The Lord will remember their wickedness and guilt;
He will punish their sins.
9:10:I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness [an unexpected and refreshing delight];
I saw your fathers (ancestors) as the first ripe fruit on the fig tree in its first season,
But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to shamefulness [the worship of Baal],
And [because of their spiritual and physical adultery] they became as detestable and loathsome as the thing they loved.
9:11:As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird;
No birth, no pregnancy, and [because of their impurity] no conception.
9:12:Even though they bring up their children,
Yet I will bereave them until not one is left.
Indeed, woe (judgment is coming) to them when I look away and withdraw [My blessing] from them!
9:13:Ephraim, as I have seen,
Is planted in a pleasant [and prosperous] meadow like Tyre;
But Ephraim will bring out his children to the executioner [for slaughter].
9:14:Give them [the punishment they deserve], O Lord! What will You give?
Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
9:15:All their wickedness [says the Lord] is focused in Gilgal;
Indeed, I came to hate them there!
Because of the wickedness of their [idolatrous] practices
I will drive them out of My house (the land of Israel)!
I will love them no longer;
All their princes are rebels.
9:16:Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up,
They will bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
I will slay the precious children of their womb.
9:17:My God will reject them and cast them away
Because they did not listen to Him;
And they will be wanderers (fugitives) among the nations.
10:1:Retribution for Israel’s Sin
Israel is a luxuriant and prolific vine;
He produces fruit for himself.
The more his fruit,
The more altars he made [to Baal];
The richer his land,
The better he made the [idolatrous] pillars.
10:2:Their heart is divided (faithless);
Now they must bear their guilt and punishment.
The Lord will break down [the horns of] their altars;
He will destroy their idolatrous pillars.
10:3:Surely now they will say [in despair], “We have no [true] king,
For we do not revere the Lord;
And as for the king, what can he do for us [to rescue us]?”
10:4:They have spoken empty (disingenuous) words,
Swearing falsely to make covenants [they intend to break];
Therefore, judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.
10:5:The people of Samaria will fear and tremble
For the [idolatrous] calf of Beth-aven (House of Wickedness).
Indeed, its people will mourn over it
And its idolatrous priests will cry out and wail over it,
Over its glory, because the glory [of their calf god] has departed from it.
10:6:The golden calf itself will be carried to Assyria
As tribute to King Jareb;
Ephraim will be seized with shame
And Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel [to worship the calf and separate Israel from Judah].
10:7:As for Samaria, her king will be cut off and float away
Like a twig on the surface of the water.
10:8:Also the high places of Aven (Beth-aven), the sin of Israel, will be destroyed;
The thorn and the thistle will grow on their [pagan] altars,
And [in despair] they will say to the mountains,
“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”
10:9:O Israel, you have [willfully] sinned since the days of Gibeah;
There they (Israel) stand!
Will not the battle against the sons of wickedness overtake them at Gibeah?
10:10:When it is my desire [to defend My righteousness], I will chastise them;
And [hostile] peoples will be gathered against them
When they are bound and punished for their double guilt [their revolt against the Lord and their worship of idols].
10:11:Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to tread out the grain,
But I will come over her fair neck with a heavy yoke [for hard field work].
I will harness Ephraim;
Judah will plow and Jacob will harrow and rake for himself.
10:12:Sow with a view to righteousness [that righteousness, like seed, may germinate];
Reap in accordance with mercy and lovingkindness.
Break up your uncultivated ground,
For it is time to seek and search diligently for the Lord [and to long for His blessing]
Until He comes to rain righteousness and His gift of salvation on you.
10:13:You have plowed and planted wickedness, you have reaped the [willful] injustice [of oppressors],
You have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way and your chariots, and in your many warriors,
10:14:Therefore an uproar will arise among your people,
And all your fortresses will be destroyed,
As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,
When mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
10:15:In this way it will be done to you at [idolatrous] Bethel because of your great wickedness;
At daybreak the king of Israel will be completely cut off.
11:1:God is the Loving Father of His People
When Israel was a child [a young nation], I loved him,
And I called My son out of Egypt.
11:2:The more they [the prophets] called them [to repentance and obedience],
The more they went away from them;
They kept sacrificing to the Baals
And burning incense to the carved images.
11:3:Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk,
Taking them in My arms [nurturing the young nation];
But they did not know that I healed them.
11:4:I led them gently with cords of a man, with bonds of love [guiding them],
And I was to them as one who lifts up and eases the yoke [of the law] over their jaws;
And I bent down to them and fed them.
11:5:They will not return to the land of Egypt,
But Assyria will be their king [bringing them into captivity]
Because they refused to return to Me.
11:6:The sword will whirl against and fall on their cities,
And will demolish the bars of their gates and fortifications
And will consume them because of their counsels.
11:7:My people are bent on turning from Me;
Though the prophets call them to the One on high,
None at all exalts Him.
11:8:How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within Me;
All My compassions are kindled together [for My nation of Israel].
11:9:I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not return to Ephraim to destroy him again.
For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst [who will not revoke My covenant],
And I will not come in wrath or enter the city [in judgment].
11:10:They will walk after the Lord [in obedience and worship],
Who will roar like a lion;
He will roar [summoning them]
And His sons will come trembling from the west.
11:11:They will come trembling and hurriedly like birds from Egypt
And like doves from the land of Assyria;
And I will settle them in their houses [in the land of their inheritance], declares the Lord.
11:12:Ephraim surrounds Me with lies
And the house of Israel with deceit;
Judah is also unruly against God,
Even against the faithful Holy One.
12:1:Ephraim Reminded
Ephraim feeds on the [emptiness of the] wind
And [continually] pursues the [parching] east wind [which brings destruction];
Every day he multiplies lies and violence.
Further, he makes a covenant with Assyria
And (olive) oil is carried to Egypt [to seek alliances].
12:2:The Lord also has a dispute [a legal complaint and an indictment] with Judah,
And He will punish Jacob in accordance with his ways;
He will repay him in accordance with his deeds.
12:3:In their mother’s womb he took his brother by the heel,
And in his maturity he contended with God.
12:4:He wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
He wept [in repentance] and sought His favor.
He met Him at Bethel
And there God spoke with [him and through him with] us—
12:5:Even the Lord, the God of hosts,
The name of Him [who spoke with Jacob] is the Lord.
12:6:Therefore, return [in repentance] to your God,
Observe and highly regard kindness and justice,
And wait [expectantly] for your God continually.
12:7:A merchant, in whose hand are false and fraudulent balances;
He loves to oppress and exploit.
12:8:Ephraim said, “I have indeed become rich [and powerful as a nation];
I have found wealth for myself.
In all my labors they will not find in me
Any wickedness that would be sin.”
12:9:But I have been the Lord your God since [you became a nation in] the land of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
As in the days of the appointed and solemn festival.
12:10:I have also spoken to [you through] the prophets,
And I gave [them] many visions [to make My will known],
And through the prophets I gave parables [to appeal to your sense of right and wrong].
12:11:Is there wickedness (idolatry) in Gilead?
Surely the people there are worthless.
In Gilgal [they defy Me when] they sacrifice bulls,
Yes, [after My judgment] their [pagan] altars are like the stone heaps
In the furrows of the fields.
12:12:Now Jacob (Israel) fled into the open country of Aram (Paddan-aram),
And [there] Israel (Jacob) worked and served for a wife,
And for a wife he kept sheep.
12:13:And by a prophet (Moses) the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
And by a prophet Israel was preserved.
12:14:Ephraim has provoked most bitter anger;
So his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him [invoking punishment]
And bring back to him his shame and dishonor.
13:1:Ephraim’s Idolatry
When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling and terror.
He exalted himself [above the other tribes] in Israel;
But through [the worship of] Baal he became guilty and died [spiritually, and then came ruin, sealing Israel’s doom as a nation].
13:2:And now they sin more and more,
And make for themselves molten images,
Idols skillfully made from their silver [as it pleased them],
All of them the work of the craftsmen.
They say of these [very works of their hands], “Let those who sacrifice kiss and show respect to the calves [as if they were living gods]!”
13:3:Therefore they will be [swiftly dissipated] like the morning cloud
Or like dew which soon disappears,
Like chaff which swirls with the whirlwind from the threshing floor,
And like smoke from the chimney or through the window [worthless and without substance —they will vanish].
13:4:Yet I have been the Lord your God
Since [the time you became a nation in] the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know any god except Me,
For there is no savior besides Me.
13:5:I knew and regarded you and cared for you in the wilderness,
In the land of drought.
13:6:When they had their pasture, they became satisfied,
And being satisfied, their heart became proud (self-centered);
Therefore they forgot Me.
13:7:So I will be like a lion to them;
Like a leopard I will watch and lie in wait [ready to attack] by the road [to Assyria].
13:8:I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
And I will tear open their chests;
There I will also devour them like a lioness,
As a wild beast would tear them.
13:9:It is your destruction, O Israel,
Because you are against Me, [and have rebelled] against your help.
13:10:Where now is your king
That he may save you [when you are attacked] in all your cities?
And your judges of whom you asked,
“Give me a king and princes”?
13:11:I gave you a king in My anger,
And I took him away in My wrath [as punishment].
13:12:The wickedness of Ephraim [which is not yet completely punished] is bound up [as in a bag];
His sin is stored up [for judgment and destruction].
13:13:The pains of childbirth come on him;
But he is not a wise son,
For it is not the time to delay [his chance at a new birth] as the womb opens [but he ignores the opportunity to change].
13:14:Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead)?
Shall I redeem them from death?
O death, where are your thorns?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from My eyes [because of their failure to repent].
13:15:For though he flourishes among the reeds (his fellow tribes),
An east wind (Assyria) will come,
The breath of the Lord rising from the desert;
And Ephraim’s spring will become dry
And his fountain will be dried up.
Assyria will plunder his treasury of every precious object.
13:16:Samaria will be found guilty [and become desolate],
Because she rebelled against her God;
They will fall by the sword,
Their infants will be dashed in pieces,
And their pregnant women will be ripped open.
14:1:Israel’s Future Blessing
O Israel, return [in repentance] to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled and fallen [visited by tragedy], because of your sin.
14:2:Take the words [confessing your guilt] with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, “Take away all our wickedness;
Accept what is good and receive us graciously,
So that we may present the fruit of our lips (gratitude).
14:3:“Assyria will not save us;
We will not ride on horses [relying on military might],
Nor will we say again to [the idols who are] the work of our hands,
‘You are our gods.’
For in You [O Lord] the orphan finds love and compassion and mercy.”
14:4:I will heal their apostasy and faithlessness;
I will love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from Israel.
14:5:I shall be like the dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the lily,
And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
14:6:His shoots will sprout,
And his beauty will be like the olive tree
And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
14:7:Those who live in his shadow
Will again raise grain,
And they will blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
14:8:O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
It is I who have answered and will care for you and watch over you.
I am like a luxuriant cypress tree;
With Me your fruit is found [which is to nourish you].
14:9:Whoever is [spiritually] wise, let him understand these things;
Whoever is [spiritually] discerning and understanding, let him know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
And the righteous will walk in them,
But transgressors will stumble and fall in them.
joel:1:1:The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
1:2:The Devastation of Locusts
Hear this, O elders,
Listen closely, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing as this occurred in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers?
1:3:Tell your children about it,
And let your children tell their children,
And their children the next generation.
1:4:What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;
And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten [in judgment of Judah].
1:5:Awake [from your intoxication], you drunkards, and weep;
Wail, all you drinkers of wine,
Because of the [fresh] sweet wine
That is cut off from your mouth.
1:6:For a [pagan and hostile] nation has invaded My land [like locusts],
Mighty and without number;
Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the fangs of a lioness.
1:7:It has made My vine (My people) a waste and object of horror,
And splintered and broken My fig tree.
It has stripped them completely bare and thrown them away;
Their branches have become white.
1:8:Wail like a virgin [bride] clothed with sackcloth
For the bridegroom of her youth [who has died].
1:9:The [daily] grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
From the house of the Lord;
The priests mourn
Who minister to the Lord.
1:10:The field is ruined,
The ground mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine is dried up,
The fresh oil fails.
1:11:Be ashamed, O farmers;
Wail, O vinedressers,
For the wheat and for the barley,
Because the harvest of the field has perished.
1:12:The vine dries up
And the fig tree fails;
The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree,
All the trees of the field dry up,
Indeed, joy dries up and withdraws
From the sons of men.
1:13:Clothe yourselves with sackcloth
And lament (cry out in grief), O priests;
Wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth [and pray without ceasing],
O ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.
1:14:Starvation and Drought
Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a solemn assembly,
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the Lord your God,
And cry out to the Lord [in penitent pleadings].
1:15:Alas for the day!
For the [judgment] day of the Lord is at hand,
And it will come [upon the nation] as a destruction from the Almighty.
1:16:Has not the food been cut off before our eyes,
Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
1:17:The seeds [of grain] shrivel under the clods,
The storehouses are desolate and empty,
The barns are in ruins
Because the grain is dried up.
1:18:How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are bewildered and wander aimlessly
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep suffer.
1:19:O Lord, I cry out to You,
For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
1:20:Even the wild animals pant [in longing] for You;
For the water brooks are dried up
And fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.
2:1:The Terrible Visitation
Blow the trumpet in Zion [warning of impending judgment],
Sound an alarm on My holy mountain [Zion]!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble and shudder in fear,
For the [judgment] day of the Lord is coming;
It is close at hand,
2:2:A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and of thick [dark] mist,
Like the dawn spread over the mountains;
There is a [pagan, hostile] people numerous and mighty,
The like of which has never been before
Nor will be again afterward
Even for years of many generations.
2:3:Before them a fire devours,
And behind them a flame burns;
Before them the land is like the Garden of Eden,
But behind them a desolate wilderness;
And nothing at all escapes them.
2:4:Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
And they run like war horses.
2:5:Like the noise of chariots
They leap on the tops of the mountains,
Like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble,
Like a mighty people set in battle formation.
2:6:Before them the people are in anguish;
All faces become pale [with terror].
2:7:They run like warriors;
They climb the wall like soldiers.
They each march [straight ahead] in line,
And they do not deviate from their paths.
2:8:They do not crowd each other;
Each one marches in his path.
When they burst through the defenses (weapons),
They do not break ranks.
2:9:They rush over the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb up into the houses,
They enter at the windows like a thief.
2:10:The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.
2:11:The Lord utters His voice before His army,
For His camp is very great,
Because strong and powerful is he who [obediently] carries out His word.
For the day of the Lord is indeed great and very terrible [causing dread];
Who can endure it?
2:12:“Even now,” says the Lord,
“Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance],
With fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored];
2:13:Rip your heart to pieces [in sorrow and contrition] and not your garments.”
Now return [in repentance] to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness [faithful to His covenant with His people];
And He relents [His sentence of] evil [when His people genuinely repent].
2:14:Who knows whether He will relent [and revoke your sentence],
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Even a grain offering and a drink offering [from the bounty He provides you]
For the Lord your God?
2:15:Blow a trumpet in Zion [warning of impending judgment],
Dedicate a fast [as a day of restraint and humility], call a solemn assembly.
2:16:Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom come out of his room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber. [No one is excused from the assembly.]
2:17:Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord,
Weep between the porch and the altar,
And let them say, “Have compassion and spare Your people, O Lord,
And do not make Your inheritance (Israel) an object of ridicule,
Or a [humiliating] byword among the [Gentile] nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
2:18:Deliverance Promised
Then the Lord will be jealous for His land [ready to defend it since it is rightfully and uniquely His]
And will have compassion on His people [and will spare them].
2:19:The Lord will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I am going to send you grain and new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with them;
And I will never again make you an object of ridicule among the [Gentile] nations.
2:20:“But I will remove the northern army far away from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
With its forward guard into the eastern sea (Dead Sea)
And with its rear guard into the western sea (Mediterranean Sea).
And its stench will arise and its foul odor of decay will come up [this is the fate of the northern army in the final day of the Lord],
For He has done great things.”
2:21:Do not fear, O land; be glad and rejoice,
For the Lord has done great things!
2:22:Do not be afraid, you animals of the field,
For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green;
The tree has produced its fruit,
And the fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.
2:23:So rejoice, O children of Zion,
And delight in the Lord, your God;
For He has given you the early [autumn] rain in vindication
And He has poured down the rain for you,
The early [autumn] rain and the late [spring] rain, as before.
2:24:And the threshing floors shall be full of grain,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
2:25:“And I will compensate you for the years
That the swarming locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust—
My great army which I sent among you.
2:26:“You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied
And praise the name of the Lord your God
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
And My people shall never be put to shame.
2:27:“And you shall know [without any doubt] that I am in the midst of Israel [to protect and bless you],
And that I am the Lord your God,
And there is no other;
My people will never be put to shame.
2:28:The Promise of the Spirit
“It shall come about after this
That I shall pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
2:29:“Even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
2:30:The Day of the Lord
“I will show signs and wonders [displaying My power] in the heavens and on the earth,
Blood and fire and columns of smoke.
2:31:“The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood
Before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
2:32:“And it shall come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Will be saved [from the coming judgment]
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who escape,
As the Lord has said,
Even among the remnant [of survivors] whom the Lord calls.
3:1:The Nations Will Be Judged
“For behold, in those [climactic] days and at that time,
When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
3:2:I will gather together all the [Gentile] nations [that were hostile to My people]
And bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the Lord has judged).
And there I will deal with them and enter into judgment with them there
For [their treatment of] My people, My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations,
And [because] they have encroached on My land and divided it up.
3:3:“They have also cast lots for My people,
And have traded a boy for a prostitute
And have sold a girl for wine that they may drink.
3:4:Moreover, what are you to Me, O Tyre and Sidon and all the [five small] regions of Philistia? Will you pay Me back for something [I have supposedly done to you]? Even if you do pay Me back, I will swiftly and speedily return your deed [of retaliation] on your own head.
3:5:“Because you have taken My silver and My gold and have carried My precious treasures to your temples and palaces,
3:6:and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the Greeks, so that you may send them far away from their territory,
3:7:behold, I am going to stir them up from the place where you have sold them [and return them to their land], and I shall return your action [of retaliation] on your own head.
3:8:Also I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the Lord has spoken.
3:9:Proclaim this among the [pagan] nations:
Prepare a war! Stir up the mighty men!
Let all the men of war come near, let them come up!
3:10:Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, “I am strong!”
3:11:Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations,
And gather yourselves there;
Bring down, O Lord, Your mighty ones (Your warriors).
3:12:Let the nations be stirred [to action]
And come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
For there I will sit to judge and punish
All the surrounding nations.
3:13:Put in the sickle [of judgment], for the harvest is ripe;
Come, tread [the grapes], for the wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for the wickedness [of the people] is great.
3:14:Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision (judgment)!
For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision [when judgment is executed].
3:15:The sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.
3:16:The Lord thunders and roars from Zion
And utters His voice from Jerusalem [in judgment of His enemies],
And the heavens and the earth tremble and shudder;
But the Lord is a refuge for His people
And a stronghold [of protection] to the children of Israel.
3:17:Then you will know and understand fully that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem will be holy,
And strangers [who do not belong] will no longer pass through it.
3:18:Judah Will Be Blessed
And in that day
The mountains will drip with sweet wine
And the hills will flow with milk;
And all the brooks and riverbeds of Judah will flow with water,
And a fountain will go out from the house of the Lord
To water the [desert] Valley of Shittim.
3:19:Egypt will become a waste,
And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,
Because of their violence against the children of Judah,
In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
3:20:But Judah shall be inhabited forever
And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
3:21:And I shall avenge their blood which I have not avenged,
For the Lord dwells in Zion.
amos:1:1:Judgment on Neighboring Nations
The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders of Tekoa, which he saw [in a divine revelation] concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
1:2:And he said,
“The Lord thunders and roars from Zion [in judgment]
And utters His voice from Jerusalem;
Then the pastures of the shepherds mourn,
And the summit of [Mount] Carmel dries up [because of God’s judgment].”
1:3:Thus says the Lord,
“For three transgressions of Damascus and for four (multiplied delinquencies)
I shall not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,
Because they have threshed Gilead [east of the Jordan River] with sharp iron sledges [having spikes that crushed and shredded].
1:4:“So I will send a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction] upon the house of Hazael,
And it shall devour the palaces and strongholds of Ben-hadad (Hazael’s son).
1:5:“I also will break the bar [of the gate] of Damascus,
And cut off and destroy the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven (Wickedness),
And the ruler who holds the scepter, from Beth-eden (Damascus);
And the people of Aram [conquered by the Assyrians] will go into exile to Kir,”
Says the Lord.
1:6:Thus says the Lord,
“For three transgressions of Gaza [in Philistia] and for four (multiplied delinquencies)
I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,
Because [as slave traders] they took captive the entire [Jewish] population [of defenseless Judean border villages, of which none was spared]
And deported them to Edom [for the slave trade].
1:7:“So I will send a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction] on the wall of Gaza
And it shall consume her citadels.
1:8:“And I will cut off and destroy the inhabitants from Ashdod,
And the ruler who holds the scepter, from Ashkelon;
And I will unleash My power and turn My hand [in judgment] against Ekron,
And the rest of the Philistines [in Gath and the towns dependent on these four Philistine cities] shall die,”
Says the Lord God.
1:9:Thus says the Lord,
“For three transgressions of Tyre and for four (multiplied delinquencies)
I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,
Because they [as middlemen] deported an entire [Jewish] population to Edom
And did not [seriously] remember their covenant of brotherhood.
1:10:“So I will send a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction] on the wall of Tyre,
And it shall consume her citadels.”
1:11:Thus says the Lord,
“For three transgressions of Edom [the descendants of Esau] and for four (multiplied delinquencies)
I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,
Because he pursued his brother Jacob (Israel) with the sword,
Corrupting and stifling his compassions and casting off all mercy;
His destructive anger raged continually,
And he maintained [and nurtured] his wrath forever.
1:12:“So I will send a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction] upon Teman,
And it shall consume the citadels of Bozrah [in Edom].”
1:13:Thus says the Lord,
“For three transgressions of the children of Ammon and for four (multiplied delinquencies)
I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,
Because the Ammonites have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead,
That they might enlarge their border.
1:14:“So I will kindle a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction] on the wall of Rabbah [in Ammon]
And it shall devour its strongholds
Amid war cries and shouts of alarm on the day of battle,
And a tempest on the day of the whirlwind [when the enemy captures the city].
1:15:“Their king shall go into exile,
He and his princes together,” says the Lord.
2:1:Judgment on Moab
Thus says the Lord,
“For three transgressions of Moab and for four (multiplied delinquencies)
I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,
Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom [Esau’s descendant] into lime [and used it to plaster a Moabite house].
2:2:“So I will send a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction] upon Moab
And it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth;
And Moab shall die amid tumult and uproar,
With war cries and shouts of alarm and the sound of the trumpet.
2:3:“I will also cut off and destroy the ruler from its midst
And slay all the princes with him,” says the Lord.
2:4:Judgment on Judah
Thus says the Lord,
“For three transgressions of Judah and for four (multiplied delinquencies)
I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord [the sum of God’s instruction to His people]
And have not kept His commandments;
But their lies [and their idols], after which their fathers walked,
Caused them to go astray.
2:5:“So I will send a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction by the Babylonians] upon Judah
And it will devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”
2:6:Judgment on Israel
Thus says the Lord,
“For three transgressions of Israel and for four (multiplied delinquencies)
I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,
Because they sell the righteous and innocent for silver
And the needy for the price of a pair of sandals.
2:7:“These who pant after (long to see) the dust of the earth on the head of the helpless [as sign of their grief and distress]
Also turn aside the way of the humble;
And a man and his father will go to the same girl
So that My holy name is profaned.
2:8:“They stretch out beside every [pagan] altar on clothes taken in pledge [to secure a loan, disregarding God’s command],
And in the house of their God [in contempt of Him] they frivolously drink the wine [which has been] taken from those who have been fined.
2:9:“Yet it was I [not the false gods] who destroyed the Amorite before them,
Though his height was like the height of the cedars,
And he was as strong as the oaks;
I even destroyed his fruit above and his root below.
2:10:“Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
And I led you forty years through the wilderness
That you might possess the land of the Amorite.
2:11:“Then I raised up some of your sons to be prophets [who gave you My revelation],
And some of your young men to be Nazirites (dedicated ones).
Is this not true, O you children of Israel?” says the Lord.
2:12:“But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink [despite their vows]
And commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy!’
2:13:“Behold, I am weighted down beneath you
As a cart that is weighted down when it is full of sheaves.
2:14:“Flight will be lost to the swift [so they will be unable to escape],
And the strong shall not strengthen nor maintain his power,
Nor shall the mighty man save his own life.
2:15:“He who handles the bow will not stand his ground,
The one who is swift of foot will not escape,
Nor will he who rides the horse save his life [from the invading army].
2:16:“Even the bravest among the warriors shall flee naked on that day,” says the Lord.
3:1:All the Families Are Guilty
Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt:
3:2:“I have known [chosen, cared for, and loved] only you of all the families of the earth;
Therefore I shall punish you for all your wickedness.”
3:3:Do two men walk together unless they have made an appointment?
3:4:Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?
Does a young lion growl from his den if he has not captured something?
3:5:Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no bait in it?
Does a trap spring up from the ground when it has caught nothing at all? [Of course not! So it is that Israel has earned her impending judgment.]
3:6:If a trumpet is blown in a city [warning of danger] will not the people tremble?
If a disaster or misfortune occurs in a city has not the Lord caused it?
3:7:Surely the Lord God does nothing
Without revealing His secret plan [of the judgment to come]
To His servants the prophets.
3:8:The lion has roared! Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken [to the prophets]! Who can but prophesy?
3:9:Proclaim on the fortresses in Ashdod (Philistia) and on the citadels in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great confusion within her and the oppressions and abuse of authority in her midst.
3:10:For they do not know how to do right,” says the Lord, “these who store up violence and devastation [like treasures] in their strongholds.”
3:11:Therefore, thus says the Lord God,
“An adversary (Assyria), even one surrounding the land,
Shall pull down your strength from you
And your fortresses will be looted.”
3:12:Thus says the Lord,
“Just as the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion a couple of legs or a piece of the [sheep’s] ear [to prove to the owner that he has not stolen the animal],
So will the [remaining] children of Israel living in Samaria be snatched away
With the corner of a bed and [part of] the damask covering of a couch.
3:13:“Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,”
Says the Lord God, the God of hosts,
3:14:“On that day when I punish Israel’s transgressions,
I shall also punish the altars of Bethel [with their golden calves];
And the horns of the altar shall be cut off
And fall to the ground.
3:15:“And I shall tear down the winter house with the summer house;
And the houses of ivory shall also perish
And the great houses shall come to an end,”
Says the Lord.
4:1:“Yet You Have Not Returned to Me”
Hear this word, you [well-fed, pampered] cows (women) of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria,
Who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
Who say to their husbands, “Bring [the wine] now, and let us drink!”
4:2:The Lord God has sworn [an oath] by His holiness
That, “Behold, the days are coming upon you
When they shall take you away with meat hooks,
And the last of you with fish hooks.
4:3:“And you shall go out through the breaches [made in the city wall],
Every woman straight before her [unable to turn aside],
And you shall be cast to Harmon,”
Says the Lord.
4:4:“Come to Bethel [where the golden calf is] and transgress;
In Gilgal [where idols are worshiped] multiply transgression;
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
Your tithes every three days!
4:5:“Offer [by burning] a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
And [boastfully] proclaim freewill offerings, announce them.
For this you so love to do, O children of Israel!”
Says the Lord God.
4:6:“I also gave you cleanness of teeth [because of the famine] in all your cities
And lack of bread in all your places,
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.
4:7:“Furthermore, I withheld the rain from you
When there were still three months until the harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city,
And on another city I would not send rain;
One piece of ground was rained on,
While the part not rained on would dry up.
4:8:“So [the people of] two or three cities would stagger into one city to drink water,
But would not be satisfied;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.
4:9:“I wounded you with blight [from the hot, blasting east wind] and with mildew;
And the caterpillar devoured
Your many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.
4:10:“I sent a plague among you like [those of] Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword and I captured your horses,
I made the stench of your camp rise up into your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.
4:11:“I overthrew and destroyed [some among] you, as [I, your] God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were [rescued] like a log pulled out of the flame;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.
4:12:“Therefore this is what I shall do to you, O Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to meet your God [in judgment], O Israel!”
4:13:For behold, He who forms the mountains and creates the wind
And declares to man what are His thoughts,
He who makes the dawn into darkness
And treads on the heights of the earth—
The Lord God of hosts is His name.
5:1:“Seek Me that You May Live”
Hear this word which I take up for you as a funeral song, O house of Israel:
5:2:She has fallen, she will not rise again—
The virgin Israel.
She lies neglected on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.
5:3:For thus says the Lord God,
“The city which goes forth a thousand strong
Will have a hundred left,
And the one which goes forth a hundred strong
Will have ten left to the house of Israel.”
5:4:For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel,
“Seek Me [search diligently for Me and regard Me as more essential than food] so that you may live.
5:5:“But do not resort to Bethel [to worship the golden calf]
Nor enter [idolatrous] Gilgal,
Nor cross over to Beersheba [and its idols];
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity and exile,
And Bethel will come to nothing.
5:6:“Seek the Lord [search diligently for Him and long for Him as your most essential need] so that you may live,
Or He will rush down like a [devouring] fire, O house of Joseph,
And there will be no one to quench the flame for [idolatrous] Bethel,
5:7:“For those [shall be consumed] who turn justice into wormwood (bitterness)
And cast righteousness down to the earth.”
5:8:He who made the [cluster of stars called] Pleiades and [the constellation] Orion,
Who turns deep darkness into the morning
And darkens the day into night,
Who calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The Lord is His name.
5:9:It is He who causes [sudden] destruction to flash forth on the strong
So that destruction comes on the fortress.
5:10:They hate the one who reprimands [the unrighteous] in the [court held at the city] gate [regarding him as unreasonable and rejecting his reprimand],
And they detest him who speaks [the truth] with integrity and honesty.
5:11:Therefore, because you impose heavy rent on the poor
And demand a tribute (food-tax) of grain from them,
Though you have built [luxurious] houses of square stone,
You will not live in them;
You have planted beautiful vineyards, but you will not drink their wine.
5:12:For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great (shocking, innumerable),
You who distress the righteous and take bribes,
And turn away from the poor in the [court of the city] gate [depriving them of justice].
5:13:Therefore, he who is prudent and has insight will keep silent at such a [corrupt and evil] time, for it is an evil time [when people will not listen to truth and will disregard those of good character].
5:14:Seek (long for, require) good and not evil, that you may live;
And so may the Lord God of hosts be with you,
Just as you have said!
5:15:Hate evil and love good,
And establish justice in the [court of the city] gate.
Perhaps the Lord God of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph [that is, those who remain after God’s judgment].
5:16:Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Lord,
“There is wailing in all the public plazas,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
And they call the farmers to mourning [for those who have died]
And professional mourners to wailing.
5:17:“And in all vineyards there is wailing,
For I will pass through your midst [in judgment],” says the Lord.
5:18:Woe (judgment is coming) to you who desire the day of the Lord [expecting rescue from the Gentiles]!
Why would you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness (judgment) and not light [and rescue and prosperity];
5:19:It is as if a man runs from a lion [escaping one danger]
And a bear meets him [so he dies anyway],
Or goes home, and leans with his hand against the wall
And a snake bites him.
5:20:Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, instead of light,
Even very dark with no brightness in it?
5:21:“I hate, I despise and reject your [sacred] feasts,
And I do not take delight in your solemn assemblies.
5:22:“Even though you offer Me your burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fattened animals.
5:23:“Take the noise of your songs away from Me [they are an irritation]!
I shall not even listen to the melody of your harps.
5:24:“But let justice run down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream [flowing abundantly].
5:25:“Did you bring Me sacrifices and grain offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? [Certainly not!]
5:26:You carried along your king Sikkuth and Kayyun [your man-made gods of Saturn], your images of your star-god which you made for yourselves [but you brought Me none of the appointed sacrifices].
5:27:Therefore, I will send you to go into exile far beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
6:1:“Those at Ease in Zion”
Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are at ease and carefree in Zion (Judah)
And to those on the mountain of Samaria who feel secure,
The distinguished men of the foremost of nations,
To whom the house of Israel comes.
6:2:Go over to Calneh [in Babylonia] and look,
And from there go [north of Damascus] to the great city of Hamath;
Then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are they better than these kingdoms [of yours],
Or is their territory greater than yours?
6:3:Do you put off the day of punishment,
Yet cause the seat of violence to come near?
6:4:Those who lie on [luxurious] beds of ivory
And lounge around out on their couches,
And eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall,
6:5:Who improvise to the sound of the harp—
Like David they have composed songs for themselves—
6:6:Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls
And anoint themselves with the finest oils [reflecting their unrestrained celebration];
Yet they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph (Israel).
6:7:Therefore, they will now go into exile with the first of the captives,
And the cultic revelry and banqueting of those who lounge around [on their luxurious couches] will pass away.
6:8:The Lord God has sworn [an oath] by Himself—the Lord God of hosts, says:
“I loathe and reject the [self-centered] arrogance of Jacob (Israel),
And I hate his palaces and citadels;
Therefore, I shall hand over the [idolatrous] city [of Samaria] with all that it contains [to the Assyrian invaders].”
6:9:And it shall come to pass that if there remain ten men in one house, they shall die [by the pestilence that comes with war].
6:10:Then one’s uncle, or his undertaker, shall come to bring the [disease-infected] body out of the house, [to cremate it], and he will say to another in the farthest part of the house, “Is there anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “No one.” Then he will respond, “Hush! Keep quiet! For the name of the Lord is not to be mentioned [even casually, for fear that we might invoke even more punishment].”
6:11:For behold, the Lord is going to command that the great house be smashed to pieces and the small house to fragments.
6:12:Do horses run on rocks?
Do men plow rocks with oxen? [Of course not!]
Yet you have turned justice into poison
And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood (bitterness),
6:13:You who [self-confidently] rejoice in Lo-debar (Nothing),
Who say, “Have we not by our own strength taken Karnaim (Strength) for ourselves?”
6:14:“For behold, I am going to stir up a nation against you,
O house of Israel,” says the Lord, the God of hosts,
“And they will afflict and torment you [to the entire limits of Israel] from the entrance of Hamath [in the north]
To the brook of the Arabah [in the south].”
7:1:Warning Through Visions
Thus the Lord God showed me [a vision], and behold, He was forming a swarm of locusts when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king’s mowing.
7:2:And when the locusts had finished eating the plants of the land, then I said,
“O Lord God, please forgive!
How can Jacob stand,
For he is so small [that he cannot endure this]?”
7:3:The Lord revoked this sentence.
“It shall not take place,” said the Lord.
7:4:Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God called for punishment with fire, and it devoured the great deep [underground sources of water] and began to consume the land.
7:5:Then I said,
“O Lord God, please stop!
How can Jacob stand,
For he is so small [that he cannot endure this]?”
7:6:The Lord revoked this sentence.
“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.
7:7:Thus He showed me [a vision], and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand [to determine if the wall was straight or if it needed to be destroyed].
7:8:The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“Behold, I am setting a plumb line [as a standard]
Among My people Israel [showing the defectiveness of the nation, requiring judgment].
I shall not spare them any longer. [The door of mercy is shut.]
7:9:“And the [idolatrous] high places of Isaac (Israel) will be devastated and deserted,
And the sanctuaries of Israel will be in ruins.
Then I shall rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword [and destroy the monarchy].”
7:10:Amos Accused, Answers
Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel [site of the golden calf shrine], sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words.
7:11:For in this way Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’”
7:12:Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go, you seer, run for your life [from Israel] to the land of Judah [your own country] and eat bread and live as a prophet there!
7:13:But do not prophesy any longer at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal residence.”
7:14:Then Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet [by profession], nor am I a prophet’s son; I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs.
7:15:But the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’
7:16:Now therefore, listen to the word of the Lord: You say, ‘You shall not prophesy against Israel nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.’
7:17:Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city [when the Assyrians capture Samaria] and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean and defiled [pagan] land, and Israel shall certainly go from its land into exile.’”
8:1:Basket of Fruit and Israel’s Captivity
Thus the Lord God showed me [a vision], and behold, there was a basket of [overripe] summer fruit.
8:2:And He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer [for the nation is ripe for judgment].
8:3:In that day, the songs of the palace shall turn to wailing,” says the Lord God. “There will be many dead bodies; in [sacred] silence they will throw them everywhere.”
8:4:Hear this, you who trample down the needy, and do away with the poor of the land,
8:5:saying,
“When will the New Moon [festival] be over
So that we may sell grain,
And the Sabbath ended so that we may open the wheat market,
Making the ephah [measure] smaller and the shekel bigger [that is, selling less for a higher price]
And to cheat by falsifying the scales,
8:6:So that we may buy the poor [as slaves] for silver [since they are unable to support themselves]
And the needy for a pair of sandals,
And that we may sell the leftovers of the wheat [as if it were a good grade of grain]?”
8:7:The Lord has sworn [an oath] by the pride of Jacob,
“Surely I shall never forget [nor leave unpunished] any of their [rebellious] acts.
8:8:“Because of this [coming judgment] will the land not quake
And everyone mourn who dwells in it?
Indeed, all of it shall rise up like the Nile,
And it will be tossed around [from the impact of judgment]
And [afterward] subside again like the Nile of Egypt.
8:9:“It shall come about in that day,” says the Lord God,
“That I shall cause the sun to go down at noon,
And I shall darken the earth in broad daylight.
8:10:“And I shall turn your festivals and feasts into mourning
And all your songs into dirges (funeral poems to be sung);
And I shall cause sackcloth to be put on everyone’s loins
And baldness on every head [shaved for mourning].
And I shall make that time like a time of mourning for an only son [who has died],
And the end of it shall be like a bitter day.
8:11:“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“When I will send hunger over the land,
Not hunger for bread or a thirst for water,
But rather [a hunger] for hearing the words of the Lord.
8:12:“People shall stagger from sea to sea [to the very ends of the earth]
And from the north even to the east;
They will roam here and there to seek the word of the Lord [longing for it as essential for life],
But they will not find it.
8:13:“In that day the beautiful virgins
And [even the vigorous] young men shall faint from thirst.
8:14:“Those who swear [their oaths] by the sin (guilt) of Samaria or Ashimah (a pagan goddess),
Who say, ‘By the life of your god [the golden calf], O Dan!’
And [swear], ‘By the life of the way of [idolatrous] Beersheba,’
They shall fall and not rise again.”
9:1:God’s Judgment Unavoidable
I saw [in a vision] the Lord standing at the altar, and He said,
“Destroy the capitals (tops) of the pillars so that the thresholds will shake,
And break them on the heads of all of the people!
Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword;
They will not have a fugitive who will get away,
Or a survivor who will escape.
9:2:“Though they dig into Sheol [to hide in the deepest pit],
From there My hand will take them [for judgment];
And though they climb up to heaven [to hide in the realm of light],
From there will I bring them down [for judgment].
9:3:“Though they hide on the summit of [Mount] Carmel,
I will track them down and take them from there;
And though they hide from My sight on the floor of the sea,
From there I shall command the serpent and it will bite them.
9:4:“And though they go into captivity before their enemies,
From there I shall command the sword to kill them,
And I will set My eyes against them for evil (judgment, punishment) and not for good [that is, not for correction leading to restoration].”
9:5:The Lord God of hosts [the Omnipotent Ruler],
It is He who touches the earth [in judgment] and it melts,
And all who dwell on it mourn [in despair and fear],
And all of it rises up like the Nile
And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;
9:6:It is He who builds His upper chambers in the heavens
And has established His vaulted dome (the firmament of heaven) over the earth,
He who calls to the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth—
The Lord is His name.
9:7:“Are you [degenerate ones] not as the [despised] sons of Ethiopia to Me,
O sons of Israel?” says the Lord.
“Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans (Syrians) from Kir?
9:8:“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful [northern] kingdom [of Israel’s ten tribes]
And I shall destroy it from the face of the earth;
But I shall not totally destroy the house of Jacob [that is, the entire nation of Israel],”
Says the Lord.
9:9:“For behold, I am commanding,
And I shall shake and sift the house of Israel among all nations [and cause it to tremble]
Like grain is shaken in a sieve [removing the chaff],
But not a kernel [of the faithful remnant] shall fall to the ground and be lost [from My sight].
9:10:“All the sinners among My people will die by the sword,
Those who say [defiantly], ‘The disaster will not overtake or confront us.’
9:11:The Restoration of Israel
“In that day I shall raise up and restore the fallen tabernacle (booth) of David,
And wall up its breaches [in the city walls];
I will also raise up and restore its ruins
And rebuild it as it was in the days of old,
9:12:That they may possess the remnant of Edom (ancient enemies)
And all the nations that are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this.
9:13:“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the one who gathers the harvest,
And the one who treads the grapes [shall overtake] him who sows the seed [for the harvest continues until planting time];
When the mountains will drip sweet wine
And all the hills shall melt [that is, everything that was once barren will overflow with streams of blessing].
9:14:“Also I shall bring back the exiles of My people Israel,
And they will rebuild the deserted and ruined cities and inhabit them:
They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine,
And make gardens and eat their fruit.
9:15:“I will also plant them on their land,
And they shall never again be uprooted from their land
Which I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God.
obadiah:1:1:Edom Will Be Humbled
The vision of Obadiah.
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom—
We have heard a report from the Lord,
And an ambassador has been sent among the nations, saying,
“Arise, and let us rise up against Edom for battle [with the Lord as commander]!”
1:2:“Behold [Edom], I shall [humiliate you and] make you small among the nations;
You are greatly despised.
1:3:“The pride and arrogance of your heart have deceived you,
You who live in the clefts and lofty security of the rock (Sela),
Whose dwelling place is high,
Who say [boastfully] in your heart,
‘Who will bring me down to earth?’
1:4:“Though you build [your nest] on high like the eagle,
Though you set your nest among the stars,
I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.
1:5:“If thieves came to you,
If robbers by night—
How you will be ruined!—
Would they not steal only until they had enough?
If grape gatherers came to you,
Would they not leave some grapes for gleaning?
1:6:“How Esau (Edom) shall be ransacked [by men who come to ravage with divine approval]!
How his hidden treasures shall be searched out!
1:7:“All the men allied with you
Shall send you on your way to the border;
The men who were at peace with you
Shall deceive you and overpower you;
Those who eat your bread [those you trust]
Shall set a hostile ambush for you.
(There is no understanding of it.)
1:8:“Will I not on that day,” says the Lord,
“Destroy the wise men from Edom [removing all wisdom]
And understanding from the mountain of Esau?
1:9:“And your mighty men shall be dismayed and demoralized, O Teman,
So that everyone from the mountain of Esau may be cut off in the slaughter.
1:10:Edom Denounced
“Because of the violence you did against your brother Jacob,
Shame shall cover you [completely],
And you shall be cut off forever.
1:11:“On the day that [Jerusalem was destroyed] you stood aloof [from your brother Jacob]—
On the day that strangers took his forces captive and carried off his wealth,
And foreigners entered his gates
And cast lots for Jerusalem [dividing the city for plunder]—
You too were like one of them [collaborating with the enemy].
1:12:“Do not gaze and gloat [in triumph] over your brother’s day,
The day when his misfortune came.
Do not rejoice over the sons of Judah
In the day of their destruction;
Do not speak arrogantly [jeering and maliciously mocking]
In the day of their distress.
1:13:“Do not enter the gate of My people
In the day of their disaster;
Yes, you, do not look [with delight] on their misery
In the day of their ruin,
And do not loot treasures
In the day of their ruin.
1:14:“Do not stand at the crossroad
To cut down those [of Judah] who escaped;
And do not hand over [to the enemy] those [of Judah] who survive
In the day of their distress.
1:15:The Day of the Lord and the Future
“For the [judgment] day of the Lord draws near on all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you [in retribution];
Your [evil] dealings will return on your own head.
1:16:“Because just as you [Edom] drank on My holy mountain [desecrating it in the revelry of the destroyers],
So shall all the nations drink continually [one by one, of My wrath];
Yes, they shall drink and swallow [the full measure of punishment]
And become as though they had never existed.
1:17:“But on Mount Zion [in Jerusalem] there shall be [deliverance for] those who escape,
And it shall be holy [no pagan will defile it];
And the house of Jacob shall possess their [former] possessions.
1:18:“Then the house of Jacob shall be a fire
And the house of Joseph a flame [in executing God’s wrath];
But the house of Esau will be like stubble.
They (Jacob) shall set them on fire and consume them (the Edomites),
So that there shall be no survivor of the house of Esau,”
For the Lord has spoken.
1:19:Then those of the Negev shall possess the mountain of Esau,
And those of the Shephelah [shall possess] the Philistine plain;
Also, [they shall] possess the fields of Ephraim and the fields of Samaria,
And Benjamin will possess Gilead [across the Jordan River].
1:20:And the exiles of this host of the sons (descendants) of Israel
Who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,
And the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
Shall possess the cities of the Negev.
1:21:The deliverers shall go up on Mount Zion
To rule and judge the mountain of Esau,
And the kingdom and the kingship shall be the Lord’s.
jonah:1:1:Jonah’s Disobedience
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
1:2:“Go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim [judgment] against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
1:3:But Jonah ran away to Tarshish to escape from the presence of the Lord [and his duty as His prophet]. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish [the most remote of the Phoenician trading cities]. So he paid the fare and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord.
1:4:But the Lord hurled a great wind toward the sea, and there was a violent tempest on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.
1:5:Then the sailors were afraid, and each man cried out to his god; and to lighten the ship [and diminish the danger] they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship and had lain down and was sound asleep.
1:6:So the captain came up to him and said, “How can you stay asleep? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps your god will give a thought to us so that we will not perish.”
1:7:And they said to another, “Come, let us cast lots, so we may learn who is to blame for this disaster.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
1:8:Then they said to him, “Now tell us! Who is to blame for this disaster? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country?”
1:9:So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I [reverently] fear and worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
1:10:Then the men became extremely frightened and said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was running from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
1:11:Then they said to him, “What should we do to you, so that the sea will become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming more and more violent.
1:12:Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you.”
1:13:Nevertheless, the men rowed hard [breaking through the waves] to return to land, but they could not, because the sea became even more violent [surging higher] against them.
1:14:Then they called on the Lord and said, “Please, O Lord, do not let us perish because of taking this man’s life, and do not make us accountable for innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as You pleased.”
1:15:So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.
1:16:Then the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
1:17:Now the Lord had prepared (appointed, destined) a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
2:1:Jonah’s Prayer
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish,
2:2:and said,
“I called out of my trouble and distress to the Lord,
And He answered me;
Out of the belly of Sheol I cried for help,
And You heard my voice.
2:3:“For You cast me into the deep,
Into the [deep] heart of the seas,
And the currents surrounded and engulfed me;
All Your breakers and billowing waves passed over me.
2:4:“Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight.
Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
2:5:“The waters surrounded me, to the point of death.
The great deep engulfed me,
Seaweed was wrapped around my head.
2:6:“I descended to the [very] roots of the mountains.
The earth with its bars closed behind me [bolting me in] forever,
Yet You have brought up my life from the pit (death), O Lord my God.
2:7:“When my soul was fainting within me,
I remembered the Lord,
And my prayer came to You,
Into Your holy temple.
2:8:“Those who regard and follow worthless idols
Turn away from their [living source of] mercy and lovingkindness.
2:9:“But [as for me], I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving;
I shall pay that which I have vowed.
Salvation is from the Lord!”
2:10:So the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.
3:1:Nineveh Repents
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,
3:2:“Go to Nineveh the great city and declare to it the message which I am going to tell you.”
3:3:So Jonah went to Nineveh in accordance with the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk [about sixty miles in circumference].
3:4:Then on the first day’s walk, Jonah began to go through the city, and he called out and said, “Forty days more [remain] and [then] Nineveh will be overthrown!”
3:5:The people of Nineveh believed and trusted in God; and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth [in penitent mourning], from the greatest even to the least of them.
3:6:When word reached the king of Nineveh [of Jonah’s message from God], he rose from his throne, took off his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in the dust [in repentance].
3:7:He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No man, animal, herd, or flock is to taste anything. They are not to eat or drink water.
3:8:But both man and animal must be covered with sackcloth; and every one is to call on God earnestly and forcefully that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence that is in his hands.
3:9:Who knows, God may turn [in compassion] and relent and withdraw His burning anger (judgment) so that we will not perish.”
3:10:When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God [had compassion and] relented concerning the disaster which He had declared that He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.
4:1:Jonah’s Displeasure Rebuked
But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry.
4:2:He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still in my country? That is why I ran to Tarshish, because I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and great in lovingkindness, and [when sinners turn to You] You revoke the [sentence of] disaster [against them].
4:3:Therefore now, O Lord, just take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4:4:Then the Lord said, “Do you have a good reason to be angry?”
4:5:Then Jonah went out of the city and sat east of it. There he made himself a shelter and sat under its shade so that he could see what would happen in the city.
4:6:So the Lord God prepared a plant and it grew up over Jonah, to be a shade over his head to spare him from discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about [the protection of] the plant.
4:7:But God prepared a worm when morning dawned the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered.
4:8:When the sun came up God prepared a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he fainted and he wished to die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
4:9:Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have a good reason to be angry about [the loss of] the plant?” And he said, “I have a [very] good reason to be angry, angry enough to die!”
4:10:Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight.
4:11:Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 [innocent] persons, who do not know the difference between their right and left hand [and are not yet accountable for sin], as well as many [blameless] animals?”
micah:1:1:Destruction in Israel and Judah
The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw [through divine revelation] concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
1:2:Hear, O peoples, all of you;
Listen closely, O earth and all that is in it,
And let the Lord God be witness [giving a testimony of the judgment] against you,
The Lord from His holy temple [in the heavens].
1:3:For behold, the Lord is coming down from His place
He shall come down and tread [in judgment] on the high places of the earth.
1:4:The mountains shall melt under Him
And the valleys shall be split
Like wax before the fire,
Like waters poured down a steep place.
1:5:All this is because of the rebellion and apostasy of Jacob
And for the sins of the house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom).
What is the rebellion and apostasy of Jacob?
Is it not [the abandonment of God in order to worship the idols of] Samaria?
What are the high places [of idolatry] in Judah (the Southern Kingdom)?
Are they not Jerusalem [the capital and center of corruption]?
1:6:Therefore I [the Lord] shall make Samaria a heap of ruins [and of stones and arable land] in the open country,
A place for planting vineyards;
And I will pour her stones down into the ravine
And lay bare her foundations.
1:7:All her idols shall be broken in pieces,
All her earnings [from her idolatry] shall be burned with fire,
And all her images I shall make desolate;
For from the earnings of a prostitute she collected them,
And to the earnings of a prostitute they shall return.
1:8:Because of this I [Micah] must lament (mourn over with expressions of grief) and wail,
I must go barefoot and naked [without outer garments as if robbed];
I must wail like the jackals
And lament [with a loud, mournful cry] like the ostriches.
1:9:For Samaria’s wound is incurable,
For it has come to Judah;
The enemy has reached the gate of my people,
Even to Jerusalem.
1:10:Announce it not in Gath [in Philistia],
Weep not at all [and in this way betray your grief to Gentiles];
In Beth-le-aphrah (House of Dust) roll in the dust [among your own people].
1:11:Go on your way [into exile—stripped of beauty, disarmed], inhabitants of Shaphir (Beautiful), in shameful nakedness.
The inhabitant of Zaanan (Go Out) does not go out [of the house];
The wailing of Beth-ezel (House of Removal) will take away from you its support.
1:12:For the inhabitant of Maroth (Bitterness)
Writhes in pain [at its losses] and waits anxiously for good,
Because a catastrophe has come down from the Lord
To the gate of Jerusalem.
1:13:Harness the chariot to the team of horses [to escape the invasion],
O inhabitant of Lachish—
She was the beginning of sin
To the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)—
Because in you were found
The rebellious acts of Israel.
1:14:Therefore you will give parting gifts
On behalf of Moresheth-gath (Micah’s home);
The houses of Achzib (Place of Deceit) will become a deception
To the kings of Israel.
1:15:Moreover, I will bring on you
The one who takes possession,
O inhabitant of Mareshah (Prominent Place).
The glory (nobility) of Israel will enter Adullam [seeking refuge].
1:16:Make yourself bald [in mourning]—shave off your hair
For the children of your delight;
Remain as bald as the eagle,
For your children will be taken from you into exile.
2:1:Woe to Oppressors
Woe (judgment is coming) to those who devise wickedness
And plot evil on their beds!
When morning comes, they practice evil
Because it is in the power of their hands.
2:2:They covet fields and seize them,
And houses, and take them away.
They oppress and rob a man and his house,
A man and his inheritance.
2:3:Therefore, thus says the Lord,
“Behold, I am planning against this family a disaster (exile)
[Like a noose] from which you cannot remove your necks;
Nor will you be able to walk haughtily and erect,
For it will be an evil time [of subjugation to the invaders].
2:4:“On that day they shall take up a [taunting, deriding] parable against you
And wail with a doleful and bitter song of mourning and say,
‘We are completely destroyed!
God exchanges the inheritance of my people;
How He removes it from me!
He divides our fields to the rebellious [our captors].’
2:5:“Therefore, you will have no one stretching a measuring line [dividing the common land]
For you by lot in the assembly of the Lord.
2:6:‘Do not speak out,’ so they speak out.
But if they do not speak out concerning these things,
Reproaches will not be turned back.
2:7:“Is it being said, O house of Jacob:
‘Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient?
Or are these [prophesied judgments] His doings?’
Do not My words do good
To the one walking uprightly?
2:8:“But lately My people have stood up as an enemy [and have made Me their antagonist].
You strip the ornaments off the garment
Of those unsuspecting passers-by,
Like those returned from war.
2:9:“You evict the women (widows) of My people,
Each one from her pleasant house;
From her [young, fatherless] children you take away My splendor and blessing forever [by putting them among the pagans, away from Me].
2:10:“Arise and depart [because the captivity is inevitable],
For this [land] is not the place of rest
Because of the defilement that brings destruction,
A painful and terrible destruction.
2:11:“If a man walking in a false spirit [spouting deception]
Should lie and say,
‘I will prophesy to you [O Israel] of wine and liquor (greed, sensual pleasure),’
He would be the acceptable spokesman of this people.
2:12:“I shall most certainly assemble all of you, O Jacob;
I shall surely gather the remnant of Israel.
I shall bring them together like sheep in the fold [multiplying the nation];
Like a flock in the midst of its pasture.
The place will swarm with many people and hum loudly with noise.
2:13:“The breaker [the Messiah, who opens the way] shall go up before them [liberating them].
They will break out, pass through the gate and go out;
So their King goes on before them,
The Lord at their head.”
3:1:Rulers Denounced
And I said,
“Hear now, heads of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel.
Is it not for you to know and administer justice?
3:2:“You who hate good and love evil,
Who tear the skin off my people
And their flesh from their bones;
3:3:You who eat the flesh of my people,
Strip off their skin from them,
Break their bones
And chop them in pieces as for the pot,
Like meat in a kettle.”
3:4:Then they will cry to the Lord,
But He will not answer them;
Instead, He will even hide His face from them at that time [withholding His mercy]
Because they have practiced and tolerated and ignored evil acts.
3:5:Thus says the Lord concerning the [false] prophets who lead my people astray;
When they have something good to bite with their teeth,
They call out, “Peace,”
But against the one who gives them nothing to eat,
They declare a holy war.
3:6:Therefore it will be night (tragedy) for you—without vision,
And darkness (cataclysm) for you—without foresight.
The sun shall go down on the [false] prophets,
And the day shall become dark and black over them.
3:7:The seers shall be ashamed
And the diviners discredited and embarrassed;
Indeed, they shall all cover their mouths [in shame]
Because there is no answer from God.
3:8:But in fact, I am filled with power,
With the Spirit of the Lord,
And with justice and might,
To declare to Jacob his transgression
And to Israel his sin.
3:9:Now hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who hate and reject justice
And twist everything that is straight,
3:10:Who build Zion with blood [and extortion and murder]
And Jerusalem with violent injustice.
3:11:Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe,
Her priests teach for a fee,
And her prophets foretell for money;
Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No tragedy or distress will come on us.”
3:12:Therefore, on account of you
Zion shall be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
And the mountain of the house [of the Lord] shall become like a densely wooded hill.
4:1:Peaceful Latter Days
But it shall come about in the last days
That the mountain of the house of the Lord
Shall be established as the highest and chief of the mountains;
It shall be above the hills,
And peoples shall flow [like a river] to it.
4:2:And many nations shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob,
That He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law shall go forward from Zion,
And the word of the Lord [the revelation about Him and His truth] from Jerusalem.
4:3:And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for strong and distant nations.
Then they shall hammer their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks [so that the implements of war may become the tools of agriculture];
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Nor shall they ever again train for war.
4:4:Each of them shall sit [in security and peace] under his vine
And under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid,
For the mouth of the [omnipotent] Lord of hosts has spoken it.
4:5:For all the peoples [now] walk
Each in the name of his god [in a transient relationship],
As for us, we shall walk [securely]
In the name of the Lord our [true] God forever and ever.
4:6:“In that day,” says the Lord,
“I shall assemble the lame,
And gather the outcasts [from foreign captivity],
Even those whom I have caused pain.
4:7:“I shall make the lame a [godly] remnant
And the outcasts a strong nation;
And the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion
From this time on and forever.
4:8:“As for you [Jerusalem], tower of the flock [of Israel],
Hill and stronghold of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem’s inhabitants),
To you the former dominion shall come,
The kingdom of the Daughter of Jerusalem [when the Messiah reigns in Jerusalem, and the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled].
4:9:“Now, why do you cry out loudly?
Is there no king among you?
Has your counselor perished?
For agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth.
4:10:“Writhe in pain and labor to give birth,
O Daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in childbirth;
For now you shall go out of the city,
Live in the field,
And go to Babylon.
There you will be rescued;
There the Lord shall redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.
4:11:“Now many [conquering] nations are assembled against you,
Who say, ‘Let her be profaned [through Gentile presence and the temple’s destruction],
And let our eyes gaze on and gloat over Zion.’
4:12:“But they (Gentile nations) do not know the thoughts of the Lord,
Nor do they understand His purpose and plan;
For He has gathered them (Gentiles) like sheaves to the threshing floor [for destruction].
4:13:“Arise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion!
For I will make your horn iron
And I will make your hoofs bronze;
That you may beat many peoples in pieces [trampling down your enemies],
That you may devote to the Lord their unjust gain (pagan possessions)
And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
5:1:Birth of the King in Bethlehem
“Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops;
A state of siege has been placed against us.
They shall strike the ruler of Israel on the cheek with a rod (scepter).
5:2:“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah;
From you One shall come forth for Me [who is] to be Ruler in Israel,
His goings forth (appearances) are from long ago,
From ancient days.”
5:3:Therefore, He will give them up until the time
When she who is in labor has given birth to a child.
Then what is left of His kinsmen
Shall return to the children of Israel.
5:4:And He shall stand and shepherd and guide His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God;
And they shall dwell [secure in undisturbed peace],
Because at that time He shall be great [extending His authority]
[Even] to the ends of the earth.
5:5:This One [the Messiah] shall be our peace.
When the Assyrian invades our land
And tramples on our citadels and in our palaces,
Then shall we raise against him
Seven shepherds and eight princes [an overpowering force] among men.
5:6:They shall devastate the land of Assyria with the sword and
The land of Nimrod within her [own] gates.
And He (the Messiah) shall rescue us from the Assyrian (all enemy nations)
When he attacks our land
And when he tramples our territory.
5:7:Then the remnant of Jacob
Shall be among many peoples
Like dew from the Lord,
Like showers on the grass [a source of blessing]
Which [come suddenly and] do not wait for man
Nor delay for the sons of men.
5:8:The remnant of Jacob
Shall be among the nations,
In the midst of many peoples
Like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
Like a young lion [suddenly appearing] among the flocks of sheep
Which, if he passes through,
Tramples down and tears into pieces [the nations in judgment],
And there is no one to rescue.
5:9:Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries,
And all your enemies shall be cut off and destroyed.
5:10:“And in that day,” says the Lord,
“I will cut off your horses from among you
And destroy your chariots [on which you depend].
5:11:“I will cut off the cities of your land
And tear down all your fortifications.
5:12:“I will cut off witchcrafts and sorceries from your hand,
And you shall have no more fortune-tellers.
5:13:“I will also cut off your carved images
And your sacred pillars from among you,
So that you will no longer worship and bow down
To the work of your hands.
5:14:“I will root out your Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah) from among you
And destroy your cities [which are the centers of pagan worship].
5:15:“And in anger and wrath I shall execute vengeance
On the nations which have not obeyed [such vengeance as they have not known before].”
6:1:God’s Indictment of His People
Hear now what the Lord is saying,
“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills [as witnesses] hear your voice.
6:2:“Hear, O mountains, the indictment of the Lord,
And you enduring foundations of the earth,
For the Lord has a case (a legal complaint) against His people,
And He will dispute (challenge) Israel.
6:3:“O My people, what have I done to you [since you have turned away from Me]?
And how have I wearied you? Answer Me.
6:4:“For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
And ransomed you from the house of slavery,
And I sent before you Moses [to lead you], Aaron [the high priest], and Miriam [the prophetess].
6:5:“My people, remember now
What Balak king of Moab devised [with his evil plan against Israel]
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him [turning the curse into blessing for Israel],
[Remember what the Lord did for you] from Shittim to Gilgal,
So that you may know the righteous and saving acts [displaying the power] of the Lord.”
6:6:What God Requires of Man
With what shall I come before the Lord [to honor Him]
And bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
6:7:Will the Lord be delighted with thousands of rams,
Or with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my acts of rebellion,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
6:8:He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
Except to be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion),
And to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness]?
6:9:The voice of the Lord shall call to the city [of Jerusalem]—
And it is sound wisdom to heed [solemnly] and fear Your name [with awe-filled reverence];
“Hear, O tribe [the rod of punishment]. Who has appointed its time?
6:10:“Are there not still treasures gained by wickedness
In the house of the wicked,
And a short (inaccurate) measure [for grain] that is cursed?
6:11:“Can I [be guiltless and] justify deceptive scales
And a bag of dishonest weights?
6:12:“For the rich men of the city are full of violence [of every kind];
Her inhabitants speak lies
And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
6:13:“So also I will make you sick, striking you down,
Desolating and devastating you, because of your sins.
6:14:“You shall eat, but you will not be satisfied,
And your emptiness shall be among you;
You will [try to] remove [your goods and those you love] for safekeeping
But you will fail to save anything,
And what you do save I shall give to the sword.
6:15:“You shall sow but you shall not reap;
You shall tread olives, but shall not anoint yourself with oil,
And [you will extract juice from] the grapes, but you shall not drink the wine.
6:16:“For [you have kept] the statutes of Omri [the idolatrous king],
And all the works of the [wicked] house (dynasty) of Ahab;
And you walk in their counsels and policies.
Therefore, I shall hand you over for destruction and horror
And your [city’s] inhabitants for ridicule,
And you shall bear the rebuke and scorn of My people.”
7:1:The Prophet Acknowledges Injustice
Woe is me (judgment is coming)! For I am
Like one who gathers the summer fruits, like one who gleans the vintage grapes.
There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,
No first-ripe fig which my appetite craves.
7:2:The godly person [who is faithful and loyal to God] has perished from the earth,
And there is no upright person [one with good character and moral integrity] among men.
They all lie in wait to shed blood;
Each hunts the other with a net.
7:3:Concerning evil, both of their hands pursue it and do it diligently and thoroughly;
The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe,
And a great man speaks the [evil] desire of his soul.
So they twist the course of justice between them.
7:4:The best of them is [injurious] like a briar;
The most upright is [prickly] like a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen [that is, the time predicted by the prophets]
And your punishment comes;
Now shall be their confusion.
7:5:Do not trust in a neighbor [because of the moral corruption in the land];
Do not have confidence in a friend.
Guard the doors of your mouth
From her who lies in your bosom.
7:6:For the son dishonors the father and treats him contemptuously,
The daughter rises up [in hostility] against her mother,
The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
A man’s enemies are the men (members) of his own household.
7:7:God Is the Source of Salvation and Light
But as for me, I will look expectantly for the Lord and with confidence in Him I will keep watch;
I will wait [with confident expectation] for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
7:8:Do not rejoice over me [amid my tragedies], O my enemy!
Though I fall, I will rise;
Though I sit in the darkness [of distress], the Lord is a light for me.
7:9:I will bear the indignation and wrath of the Lord
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light,
And I will behold His [amazing] righteousness and His remarkable deliverance.
7:10:Then my enemy [all the pagan nations] shall see it,
And shame [for despising the Lord] will cover her who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look on her [with satisfaction at her judgment];
Now she (unbelievers) will be trampled down
Like mud of the streets.
7:11:It shall be a day for building your walls,
On that day the boundary [of Israel] shall be [greatly] extended.
7:12:It shall be a day when the Gentiles will come to you
From Assyria and from the cities of Egypt,
And from Egypt even to the river Euphrates,
From sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
7:13:Yet the earth [beyond the land of Israel] shall become desolate because of those who dwell in it,
Because of the fruit of their deeds.
7:14:Shepherd and rule Your people with Your scepter [of blessing],
The flock of Your inheritance and Your possession
Which dwells alone [separate and secure from attack] in the forest,
In the midst of a garden land.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
As in the days of old [the days of Moses and Elijah].
7:15:“As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt,
I shall show you marvelous and miraculous things.”
7:16:The [pagan] nations shall see [God’s omnipotence in delivering Israel] and be ashamed
Of all their might [which cannot be compared to His].
They shall put their hand on their mouth [in silent astonishment];
Their ears shall be deaf.
7:17:They shall lick the dust like a serpent;
Like crawling things of the earth
They shall come trembling out of their fortresses and hiding places.
They shall turn and come with fear and dread to the Lord our God
And they shall be afraid and stand in awe before You [O Lord].
7:18:Who is a God like You, who forgives wickedness
And passes over the rebellious acts of the remnant of His possession?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He [constantly] delights in mercy and lovingkindness.
7:19:He shall again have compassion on us;
He will subdue and tread underfoot our wickedness [destroying sin’s power].
Yes, You will cast all our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
7:20:You shall give truth to Jacob
And lovingkindness and mercy to Abraham,
As You have sworn to our forefathers
From the days of old.
nahum:1:1:God Is Awesome
The oracle (a burdensome message—a pronouncement from God) concerning Nineveh [the capital city of Assyria]. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh [which he saw in spirit and prophesied].
1:2:The Lord is a jealous and avenging God [protecting and demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His];
The Lord avenges and He is full of wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies.
1:3:The Lord is slow to anger and great in power
And He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.
The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
1:4:He rebukes the sea and dries it up;
He dries up all the rivers [illustrating His judgment].
Bashan [on the east] and [Mount] Carmel [on the west] wither,
And [in the north] the blossoms of Lebanon fade.
1:5:The mountains quake before Him
And the hills melt away;
Indeed the earth is shaken by His presence—
Yes, the world and all that dwell in it.
1:6:Who can stand before His indignation [His great wrath]?
And who can stand up and endure the fierceness of His anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire
And the rocks are destroyed by Him.
1:7:The Lord is good,
A strength and stronghold in the day of trouble;
He knows [He recognizes, cares for, and understands fully] those who take refuge and trust in Him.
1:8:But with an overwhelming flood [of judgment through invading armies]
He will make a complete destruction of its site
And will pursue His enemies into darkness.
1:9:Whatever [plot] you [Assyrians] devise against the Lord,
He will make a complete end of it;
Affliction [of God’s people by the hand of Assyria] will not occur twice.
1:10:Like tangled thorn branches [gathered for fuel],
And like those drowned in drunkenness,
The people of Nineveh are consumed [through fire]
Like stubble completely withered and dry [in the day of the Lord’s wrath].
1:11:From you [O Nineveh],
One has gone forth who plotted evil against the Lord,
A malevolent counselor [the king of Assyria].
1:12:This is what the Lord says,
“Though they are at full strength and many in number,
Even so, they will be cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you and caused you grief [O Jerusalem],
I will afflict you no longer.
1:13:“Now, I will break his yoke [of taxation] off you,
And I will tear off your shackles.”
1:14:The Lord has given a command concerning you [O king of Nineveh]:
“Your name will no longer be perpetuated.
I will cut off the carved idols and cast images
From the temple of your gods;
I will prepare your grave,
For you are vile and unworthy.”
1:15:Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news [telling of Assyria’s destruction],
Who announces peace and prosperity!
Celebrate your feasts, O Judah;
Perform your vows.
For the wicked one [the king of Assyria] will never again pass through you;
He is completely cut off.
2:1:The Overthrow of Nineveh
The one who scatters has come up against you [Nineveh].
Man the fortress and ramparts, watch the road;
Strengthen your back [prepare for battle], summon all your strength.
2:2:For the Lord will restore the splendor and majesty of Jacob
Like the splendor of [ancient and united] Israel,
Even though destroyers have destroyed them
And ruined their vine branches.
2:3:The shields of his soldiers [of Media and Babylon] are colored red;
The warriors are dressed in scarlet.
The chariots blaze with fire of [flashing] steel
When he is prepared to march,
And the cypress spears are brandished [for battle].
2:4:The chariots race madly in the streets;
They rush wildly in the broad plazas.
Their appearance is like torches;
They rush in various directions like forked lightning.
2:5:He remembers and summons his nobles;
They stumble in their march [terrified because of the attack].
They hurry to the city wall,
And the mantelet is prepared and firmly set up.
2:6:The gates of the rivers [surrounding Nineveh] are opened
And the palace [of sun-dried brick] is dissolved [by the torrents].
2:7:It is decreed:
Nineveh is stripped, and she is carried away,
And her handmaids are moaning like the sound of doves,
Beating on their breasts [in sorrow].
2:8:Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,
Now her inhabitants are fleeing;
“Stop! Stop!” [a few cry,]
But no one turns back.
2:9:Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
For there is no end to the treasure—
Wealth from every precious object.
2:10:She is emptied! She is desolate and waste!
Hearts melting [in fear] and knees knocking!
Anguish is in the whole body,
And the faces of all grow pale!
2:11:Where is the den of the lions (Assyria)
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion, lioness, and lion’s cub prowled
With nothing to fear?
2:12:The lion [of Assyria] tore enough for his cubs (Assyrian citizens),
Killed [enough prey] for his lionesses,
And filled his lairs with prey
And his dens with torn flesh.
2:13:“Behold, I am against you [Nineveh],” declares the Lord of hosts, “and I will burn your chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the land, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
3:1:Nineveh’s Complete Ruin
Woe (judgment is coming) to the city of blood [guilty of murder and mayhem], completely full of lies and pillage;
Her prey never departs [alive].
3:2:The noise of the [cracking of the] whip,
The noise of the rattling of the wheel,
Galloping horses
And rumbling and bounding chariots [in the assault of Nineveh]!
3:3:Horsemen charging,
Swords flashing, spears gleaming,
Many slain, a mass of corpses,
No end of corpses—
The horsemen stumble over the corpses!
3:4:All because of the many acts of prostitution of [Nineveh] the prostitute,
The charming and well-favored one, the mistress of sorceries,
Who betrays nations by her acts of prostitution (idolatry)
And families by her sorceries.
3:5:“Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts,
“And I will lift up your skirts over your face,
And I will let the nations look at your nakedness [O Nineveh]
And the kingdoms at your disgrace.
3:6:“I will throw filth on you
And make you vile and treat you with contempt,
And set you up as a spectacle.
3:7:“And it will come about that all who see you
Will shrink back and run from you and say,
‘Nineveh is completely ruined!
Who will grieve for her?’
Where will I seek comforters for you?”
3:8:Are you better than Thebes,
Which was situated by the waters of the Nile,
With water surrounding her,
Whose defense was the sea (the Nile),
Whose wall consisted of the sea?
3:9:Ethiopia was her strength,
And Egypt too, without limits.
Put and Lubim were among her helpers.
3:10:Yet she became an exile;
She went into captivity.
Her young children were dashed to pieces
At the head of every street;
They cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound with chains.
3:11:You too [Nineveh] will become drunk [with the cup of God’s wrath];
You will be hidden.
You too [Nineveh] will search [in vain] for a refuge from the enemy.
3:12:All your fortresses are [nothing but] fig trees with ripe figs—
When shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater.
3:13:Behold, your people are [as weak and helpless as] women in your midst!
The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies;
Fire consumes the bars across your gates.
3:14:Draw water for a [long, continued] siege!
Strengthen your fortresses!
Go down to the clay pits, trample the mortar!
Prepare the brick kiln [to burn bricks for the rampart]!
3:15:But there [in the very midst of these preparations] the fire will devour you;
The sword will cut you down;
It will devour you as the locust does.
Multiply yourself like the creeping locusts;
Multiply yourself like the swarming locusts.
3:16:You have increased your traders more than the [visible] stars of heaven—
The creeping locust strips and destroys and then flies away.
3:17:Your guardsmen are like the swarming locusts.
Your marshals are like the hordes of grasshoppers
Settling in the stone walls on a cold day.
When the sun rises, they fly away,
And no one knows the place where they are.
3:18:Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria;
Your nobles are lying down [in death].
Your people are scattered on the mountains
And there is no one to gather them.
3:19:There is no relief and healing for your hurt;
Your wound is incurable.
All who hear the news about you
Clap their hands over [what has happened to] you.
For on whom has your [unceasing] evil not come continually?
habakkuk:1:1:Chaldeans Used to Punish Judah
The oracle (a burdensome message—a pronouncement from God) which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
1:2:O Lord, how long will I call for help
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, “Violence!”
Yet You do not save.
1:3:Why do You make me see iniquity,
And cause me to look on wickedness?
For destruction and violence are before me;
Strife continues and contention arises.
1:4:Therefore, the law is ineffective and ignored
And justice is never upheld,
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore, justice becomes perverted.
1:5:[The Lord replied,] “Look among the nations! See!
Be astonished! Wonder!
For I am doing something in your days—
You would not believe it if you were told.
1:6:“For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans [who rule in Babylon],
That fierce and impetuous nation
Who march throughout the earth
To take possession of dwelling places that do not belong to them.
1:7:“The Chaldeans are dreaded and feared;
Their justice and authority originate with themselves and are defined only by their decree.
1:8:“Their horses are swifter than leopards
And keener than [hungry] wolves in the evening,
Their horsemen come galloping,
Their horsemen come from far away;
They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.
1:9:“They all come for violence;
Their horde of faces moves [eagerly] forward,
They gather prisoners like sand.
1:10:“They make fun of kings
And rulers are a laughing matter to them.
They ridicule every stronghold
And heap up rubble [for earth mounds] and capture it.
1:11:“Then they will sweep by like the wind and pass on.
But they will be held guilty,
They [and all men] whose own power and strength is their god.”
1:12:Are You not from everlasting,
O Lord, my God, My Holy One?
We will not die.
O Lord, You have appointed the Chaldeans [who rule in Babylon] to execute [Your] judgment,
And You, O Rock, have established them to correct and chastise.
1:13:Your eyes are too pure to approve evil,
And You cannot look favorably on wickedness.
Why then do You look favorably
On those who act treacherously?
Why are you silent when the wicked (Chaldean oppressors) destroy
Those more righteous than they?
1:14:Why do You make men like the fish of the sea,
Like reptiles and creeping things that have no ruler [and are helpless against their enemies]?
1:15:The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook,
And drag them away with a net,
And gather them together in their fishing net;
So they rejoice and are glad.
1:16:Therefore, they offer sacrifices to their net
And burn incense to their fishing net;
Because through these things their catch is large and they live luxuriously,
And their food is plentiful.
1:17:Will they continue to empty their net
And [mercilessly] go on destroying nations without sparing?
2:1:God Answers the Prophet
I will stand at my guard post
And station myself on the tower;
And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me,
And what answer I will give [as His spokesman] when I am reproved.
2:2:Then the Lord answered me and said,
“Write the vision
And engrave it plainly on [clay] tablets
So that the one who reads it will run.
2:3:“For the vision is yet for the appointed [future] time
It hurries toward the goal [of fulfillment]; it will not fail.
Even though it delays, wait [patiently] for it,
Because it will certainly come; it will not delay.
2:4:“Look at the proud one,
His soul is not right within him,
But the righteous will live by his faith [in the true God].
2:5:“Moreover, wine is treacherous and betrays the arrogant man,
So that he does not stay at home.
His appetite is large like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He gathers to himself all nations
And collects to himself all peoples [as if he owned them].
2:6:“Will all these [victims of his greed] not take up a taunting song against him,
And in mocking derision against him
Say, ‘Woe (judgment is coming) to him who increases that which is not his—
How long [will he possess it]?
And [woe to him who] makes himself wealthy with loans.’
2:7:“Will your creditors not rise up suddenly,
And those who collect from you awaken?
Then you will become plunder for them.
2:8:“Because you [king of Babylon] have looted many nations,
All peoples who are left will loot you—
Because of human bloodshed and for the violence done to the land,
To the city and all its inhabitants.
2:9:“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who obtains wicked gain for his house [and thinks by so doing]
To set his nest on high,
That he may be rescued from the hand of evil.
2:10:“You have devised a shameful thing for your house
By cutting off and putting an end to many peoples;
So you are sinning against your own life and forfeiting it.
2:11:“For the stone will cry out from the wall [to accuse you—built in sin!]
And the rafter will answer it out of the woodwork.
2:12:“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who builds a city with bloodshed
And establishes a town by violence!
2:13:“Is it not indeed from the Lord of hosts
That peoples labor [only] for the fire [that will destroy their work],
And nations grow weary for nothing [that is, things which have no lasting value]?
2:14:“But [the time is coming when] the earth shall be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea.
2:15:“Woe (judgment is coming) to you who make your neighbors drink,
Who mix in your venom to make them drunk
So that you may look at their nakedness!
2:16:“You will be filled with disgrace instead of honor.
Now drink and expose your own nakedness!
The cup [of wrath] in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you [O destroyer],
And utter disgrace will be on your own glory.
2:17:“For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
The destruction of the animals will terrify you
On account of human bloodshed and the violence done to the land,
To the city and all its inhabitants.
2:18:“What profit is the carved image when its maker has formed it?
It is only a cast image, and a teacher of lies.
For its maker trusts in his own creation [as his god]
When he makes speechless idols.
2:19:“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who says to the wooden image, ‘Awake!’
And to the speechless stone, ‘Arise!’
And that is your teacher?
Look, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
And there is no breath at all inside it.
2:20:“But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth hush and be silent before Him.”
3:1:God’s Salvation of His People
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to wild and enthusiastic music.
3:2:O Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear.
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath [earnestly] remember compassion and love.
3:3:God [approaching from Sinai] comes from Teman (Edom),
And the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah (pause, and calmly think of that).
His splendor and majesty covers the heavens
And the earth is full of His praise.
3:4:His brightness is like the sunlight;
He has [bright] rays flashing from His hand,
And there [in the sunlike splendor] is the hiding place of His power.
3:5:Before Him goes the pestilence [of judgment as in Egypt],
And [the burning] plague [of condemnation] follows at His feet [as in Sennacherib’s army].
3:6:He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations,
Yes, the eternal mountains were shattered,
The ancient hills bowed low and collapsed.
His ways are eternal.
3:7:I [Habakkuk, in my vision] saw the tents of Cushan under distress;
The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.
3:8:Did the Lord rage against the rivers,
Or was Your anger against the rivers,
Or was Your wrath against the [Red] Sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
On Your chariots of salvation?
3:9:Your bow was made bare;
The rods of chastisement were sworn. Selah (pause, calmly think of that).
You split the earth with rivers [bringing waters to dry places].
3:10:The mountains saw You and [they] trembled and writhed [as if in pain];
The downpour of waters swept by [as a deluge].
The deep uttered its voice and raged,
It lifted its hands high.
3:11:The sun and moon stood in their places [as before Joshua];
They went away at the light of Your [swift] arrows,
At the radiance and gleam of Your glittering spear.
3:12:In indignation You marched through the earth;
In anger You trampled and threshed the nations.
3:13:You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For the salvation and rescue of Your anointed [people Israel].
You struck the head from the house of the wicked
To lay him open from the thigh to the neck. Selah (pause, and calmly think of that).
3:14:With the enemy’s own spears, You pierced
The head of his hordes.
They stormed out to scatter us,
Rejoicing like those
Who secretly devour the oppressed [of Israel].
3:15:You have trampled on the sea with Your horses,
On the surge of many waters.
3:16:I heard and my whole inner self trembled;
My lips quivered at the sound.
Decay and rottenness enter my bones,
And I tremble in my place.
Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the people to arise who will invade and attack us.
3:17:Though the fig tree does not blossom
And there is no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive fails
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock is cut off from the fold
And there are no cattle in the stalls,
3:18:Yet I will [choose to] rejoice in the Lord;
I will [choose to] shout in exultation in the [victorious] God of my salvation!
3:19:The Lord God is my strength [my source of courage, my invincible army];
He has made my feet [steady and sure] like hinds’ feet
And makes me walk [forward with spiritual confidence] on my high places [of challenge and responsibility].
For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.
zephaniah:1:1:Day of Judgment on Judah
The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah:
1:2:“I will completely consume and sweep away all things
From the face of the earth [in judgment],” says the Lord.
1:3:“I will consume and sweep away man and beast;
I will consume and sweep away the birds of the air
And the fish of the sea,
And the stumbling blocks (idols) along with the wicked;
And I will cut off and destroy man from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
1:4:“I will also stretch out My hand [in judgment] against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will cut off and destroy the remnant of Baal from this place,
And the names and remembrance of the idolatrous priests along with the [false] priests,
1:5:And those who bow down and worship the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, and the stars] on their housetops
And those who bow down and swear [oaths] to [and pretend to worship] the Lord and [yet also] swear by [the pagan god called] Milcom [god of the Ammonites],
1:6:And those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And those who have not sought the Lord [as their most important need] or inquired of Him.”
1:7:[Hush!] Be silent before the Lord God [there is no acceptable excuse to offer]!
For the day [of the vengeance] of the Lord is near,
For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice (Judah),
He has set apart [for His use] those who have accepted His invitation [the Chaldeans who rule Babylon].
1:8:“Then it will come about on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
That I will punish the princes and the king’s sons
And all who are clothed in [lavish] foreign apparel [reflecting their paganism].
1:9:“On that day I will also punish all those who leap over the temple threshold,
Who fill their [pagan] lord’s temple with violence and deceit.
1:10:“On that day,” declares the Lord,
“There will be the sound of crying from the Fish (Damascus) Gate [in the northern wall of Jerusalem where invaders enter]
And wailing from the Second Quarter [of the city],
And a loud crash from the hills.
1:11:“Wail [in anguish], you inhabitants of the Mortar (Valley of Siloam),
For all the merchants of Canaan will be silenced and destroyed;
All who weigh out silver will be cut off.
1:12:“It will come about at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps
And I will punish the men
Who [like old wine] are stagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.’
1:13:“Furthermore, their wealth will become plunder
And their houses a desolation.
Yes, they will build houses but not live in them,
And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”
1:14:The great [judgment] day of the Lord is near,
Near and coming very quickly.
Listen! The [voice of the] day of the Lord!
The warrior cries out bitterly [unable to fight or to flee].
1:15:That day is a day of [the outpouring of the] wrath [of God],
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and devastation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
1:16:A day of trumpet and the battle cry [of invaders]
Against the fortified cities
And against the high corner towers (battlements).
1:17:I will bring distress on men
So that they will walk like the blind [unable to find a way of escape],
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
Their blood will be poured out like dust [and trampled underfoot],
And their flesh like dung.
1:18:Neither their silver nor their gold
Will be able to rescue them
On the day of the Lord’s indignation and wrath.
And the whole earth will be consumed
In the fire of His jealous wrath,
For He shall make a full and complete end,
Indeed a terrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.
2:1:Judgments on Judah’s Enemies
Gather yourselves together [in repentance], yes, gather [in submission],
O nation without shame,
2:2:Before the decree takes effect [and the time for repentance is lost]—
The day passes like the chaff [whirled by the wind]—
Before the burning and fierce anger of the Lord comes upon you,
Before the day of the wrath of the Lord comes upon you.
2:3:Seek the Lord [search diligently for Him and regard Him as the foremost necessity of your life],
All you humble of the land
Who have practiced His ordinances and have kept His commandments;
Seek righteousness, seek humility [regard them as vital].
Perhaps you will be hidden [and pardoned and rescued]
In the day of the Lord’s anger.
2:4:For [this is the fate of the Philistines:] Gaza will be abandoned
And Ashkelon a desolation;
[The people of] Ashdod will be driven out at noon [in broad daylight]
And Ekron will be uprooted and destroyed.
2:5:Woe (judgment is coming) to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites [in Philistia]!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
I will destroy you
So that no inhabitant will be left.
2:6:So the [depopulated] seacoast shall be pastures,
With [deserted] meadows for shepherds and folds for flocks.
2:7:The seacoast will belong
To the remnant of the house of Judah;
They will pasture [their flocks] on it.
In the [deserted] houses of Ashkelon [in Philistia] they [of Judah] will lie down and rest in the evening,
For the Lord their God will care for them;
And restore their fortune [permitting them to occupy the land].
2:8:“I have heard the taunting of Moab
And the revilings of the sons of Ammon,
With which they have taunted My people
And become arrogant against their territory [by violating Israel’s boundary and trying to seize its land].
2:9:“Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel,
“Moab will in fact become like Sodom
And the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah,
A land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
And a perpetual desolation.
The remnant of My people will plunder them
And what is left of My nation will inherit them [as their own].”
2:10:This they shall have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the Lord of hosts.
2:11:The Lord will be terrifying and awesome to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down and worship Him, everyone from his own place.
2:12:“You also, O Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword.”
2:13:And the Lord will stretch out His hand against the north
And destroy Assyria,
And He will make Nineveh a desolation [a wasteland],
Parched as the desert.
2:14:Flocks will lie down in her midst,
All the animals which range in herds;
Both the pelican and the short-eared owl
Will roost on the top of Nineveh’s pillars.
Birds will sing in the window,
Desolation will be on the threshold;
For He has uncovered the cedar paneling.
2:15:This is the joyous city
Which dwells carelessly [feeling so secure],
Who says in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me.”
What a desolation she has become,
A lair for [wild] animals!
Everyone who passes by her will hiss [in scorn]
And wave his hand in contempt.
3:1:Woe to Jerusalem and the Nations
Woe (judgment is coming) to her who is rebellious and defiled,
The tyrannical city [Jerusalem]!
3:2:She did not listen and heed the voice [of God];
She accepted no correction.
She did not trust in the Lord [but trusted her own power];
She did not draw near to her God [but to the pagan gods of Baal or Molech].
3:3:Her officials within her are roaring lions;
Her judges are [as hungry as] the wolves at evening,
They leave nothing for the morning.
3:4:Her prophets are reckless and treacherous men;
Her priests have profaned the sanctuary;
They have done violence to the law [by pretending their word is God’s word].
3:5:The Lord is righteous within her;
He will do no injustice.
Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He does not fail.
But the unjust person knows no shame.
3:6:“I [the Lord] have cut off and destroyed nations [as a warning to Judah];
Their corner towers (battlements) are in ruins.
I have made their streets desolate
So that no one passes by;
Their cities are destroyed
So that there is no man, there is no inhabitant.
3:7:“I said, ‘Most certainly you will [reverently] fear Me;
Accept correction.’
So Jerusalem’s dwelling will not be cut off
In accordance with all that I have appointed concerning her [punishment],
But they were eager [even rising early] to make all their deeds corrupt.
3:8:“Therefore [you of the godly remnant of Judah, patiently] wait for Me,” declares the Lord,
“[Wait] for the day when I rise up as a witness [against the nations].
For it is My decision and My right to gather the nations,
To assemble kingdoms,
To pour out on them My indignation,
All [the heat of] My burning anger;
For [in that day] all the earth shall be consumed
By the fire of My zeal.
3:9:“Then I will give to the peoples [clear and pure speech from] purified lips [which reflect their purified hearts],
That all of them may call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him shoulder to shoulder (united).
3:10:“From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
My worshipers, [the descendants of] My dispersed ones,
Will bring My offerings.
3:11:“On that day you [Israel] will feel no shame
Because of all your acts
By which you have rebelled and sinned against Me;
Then I will remove from among you
Your rejoicing ones who delight in their pride;
And you will never again behave arrogantly
On My holy mountain [Mount Zion].
3:12:A Remnant of Israel
“But I will leave among you
A humble and lowly people,
And they will take refuge and trust confidently in the name of the Lord.
3:13:“The remnant of Israel will do no wrong
Nor speak lies,
Nor will a deceitful tongue
Be found in their mouths;
For they will eat and lie down
With no one to make them tremble and feel afraid.”
3:14:Shout for joy, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O Israel!
Rejoice, be in high spirits and glory with all your heart,
O Daughter of Jerusalem [in that day]!
3:15:The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
He has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, even the Lord [Himself], is in your midst;
You will no longer fear disaster.
3:16:In that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not be afraid, O Zion;
Do not let your hands fall limp.
3:17:“The Lord your God is in your midst,
A Warrior who saves.
He will rejoice over you with joy;
He will be quiet in His love [making no mention of your past sins],
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
3:18:“I will gather those [Israelites in captivity] who grieve about the appointed feasts—
They came from you, [O Zion];
On whom the reproach [of exile] is a burden.
3:19:“Behold, at that time I am going to deal
With all your oppressors;
I will save the lame
And gather the scattered,
And I will turn their shame into praise and renown
In every land [where they have suffered].
3:20:“At that time I will bring you in,
Yes, at the time I gather you together;
For I will make you a name and a praise
Among all the peoples of the earth
When I restore your fortunes [and freedom] before your eyes,”
Says the Lord.
haggai:1:1:Haggai Begins Temple Building
In the second year of Darius the king [of Persia], on the first day of the sixth month (Aug 29, 520 b.c.), the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
1:2:“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘These people say, “The time has not come that the Lord’s house (temple) should be rebuilt.”’”
1:3:Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
1:4:“Is it time for you yourselves to live in your [expensive] paneled houses while this house [of the Lord] lies in ruins?”
1:5:Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways and thoughtfully reflect on your conduct!
1:6:You have planted much, but you harvest little; you eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you do not have enough to be intoxicated; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns wages earns them just to put them in a bag with holes in it [because God has withheld His blessing].”
1:7:Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways and thoughtfully reflect on your conduct!
1:8:Go up to the hill country, bring lumber and rebuild My house (temple), that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord [accepting it as done for My glory].
1:9:You look for much [harvest], but it comes to little; and even when you bring that home, I blow it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house, which lies in ruins while each of you runs to his own house [eager to enjoy it].
1:10:Therefore, because of you [that is, your sin and disobedience] the heavens withhold the dew and the earth withholds its produce.
1:11:I called for a drought on the land and the hill country, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.”
1:12:Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people [who had returned from exile], listened carefully and obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, since the Lord their God had sent him. And the people [reverently] feared the Lord.
1:13:Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people saying, “ ‘I am with you,’ declares the Lord.”
1:14:So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,
1:15:on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month (Sept 21, 520 b.c.) in the second year of Darius the king.
2:1:The Builders Encouraged
On the twenty-first day of the seventh month (Oct 17, 520 b.c., the second year of Darius king of Persia), the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying,
2:2:“Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
2:3:‘Who is left among you who saw this house (temple) in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison?
2:4:But now be courageous, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord, ‘be courageous also, Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and be courageous, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the Lord of hosts.
2:5:‘As for the promise which I made with you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit stands [firm and immovable] and continues with you; do not fear!’
2:6:“For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.
2:7:‘I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the desirable and precious things of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory and splendor,’ says the Lord of hosts.
2:8:‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts.
2:9:‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I shall give [the ultimate] peace and prosperity,’ declares the Lord of hosts.”
2:10:On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (Dec 18, 520 b.c.), in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying,
2:11:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Ask the priests for a ruling:
2:12:‘If a man carries meat that is holy [because it has been offered in sacrifice to God] in the fold of his garment, and he touches bread, or cooked food, or wine, or oil, or any [kind of] food with this fold, does what he touches become holy [dedicated exclusively to God’s service]?’” And the priests answered, “No!” [Holiness is not transferrable.]
2:13:Then Haggai said, “If one who is [ceremonially] unclean because of [contact with] a corpse touches any of these [articles of food], will it be unclean?” And the priests answered, “It will be unclean.” [Ceremonial uncleanness, like sin, is infectious.]
2:14:Then Haggai answered, “ ‘So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there [on the altar] is unclean [because they who offer it are unclean].
2:15:But now, do consider [what will happen] from this day forward: before one stone was placed on another in the temple of the Lord,
2:16:from that time when one came to a grain heap expecting twenty measures, there would be only ten; and when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures, there would be only twenty.
2:17:I struck you and the work of your hands with scorching wind, mildew, and hail; yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares the Lord.
2:18:‘Do consider from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of the Lord was founded, consider:
2:19:Is the seed still in the barn? As to the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree—they have not produced. Yet from this day on I will bless you [in the harvest of your crops].’”
2:20:And again the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month (Dec 18, 520 b.c.), saying,
2:21:“Speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, ‘I am going to shake the heavens and the earth.
2:22:I will [in the distant future] overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the [ungodly] nations; and I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them, and the horses and their riders will go down, every one by the sword of his brother [annihilating one another].
2:23:‘On that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you [through the Messiah, your descendant] like a signet ring, for I have chosen you [as the one with whom to renew My covenant to David’s line],’” declares the Lord of hosts.
zechariah:1:1:A Call to Repentance
In the eighth month of the second year [of the reign] of Darius [the king of Persia], the word of the Lord came to Zechariah (the Lord remembers) the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
1:2:“The Lord was extremely angry with your fathers.
1:3:Therefore say to the Jews, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts (armies), “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and I shall return to you.
1:4:Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Repent [that is, change your way of thinking] and return now from your evil way [of life] and from your evil deeds.”’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me,” declares the Lord.
1:5:“Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
1:6:But did not My words (warnings) and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘As the Lord of hosts planned to do to us [in discipline and punishment], in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so has He dealt with us.’”’”
1:7:Patrol of the Earth
On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month (Feb 15, 519 b.c.), which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of [the reign of] Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, as follows:
1:8:In the night I saw [a vision] and behold, a Man was riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees that were in the ravine; and behind Him were horses: red, sorrel (reddish-brown), and white.
1:9:Then I said, “O my lord, what are these?” And the angel who was speaking with me said, “I will show you what these are.”
1:10:And the Man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth and patrol it.”
1:11:And the men on the horses answered the Angel of the Lord who stood among the myrtle trees and said, “We have gone throughout the earth [patrolling it] and behold, all the earth sits at rest [in peace and free from war].”
1:12:Then the Angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will You withhold mercy and compassion from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which You have had indignation and anger these seventy years [of the Babylonian captivity]?”
1:13:And the Lord answered the angel who was speaking with me with gracious and comforting words.
1:14:So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “Proclaim, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I am jealous [with a burning, fiery passion] for Jerusalem and for Zion [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine] with a great jealousy.
1:15:But I am very angry with the nations who are at ease and feel secure; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster [against the people of Israel].”
1:16:‘Therefore, thus says the Lord, “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy and compassion. My house shall be built in it,” says the Lord of hosts, “and a measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.”’
1:17:“Proclaim again, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord shall again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”’”
1:18:Then I looked up, and saw four horns (powers)!
1:19:So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he answered me, “These are the horns [the powerful Gentile nations] that have scattered Judah (the Southern Kingdom), Israel (the Northern Kingdom), and Jerusalem (capital city of Judah).”
1:20:Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.
1:21:I asked, “What are these [horns and craftsmen] coming to do?” And he said, “These are the horns (powers) that have scattered Judah so that no man raised up his head [because of the suffering inflicted by the Gentile nations]. But these craftsmen have come to terrify them and make them panic, and throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”
2:1:God’s Favor to Zion
And I looked up, and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
2:2:So I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is.”
2:3:And behold, the angel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him,
2:4:and he said to the second angel, “Run, speak to that young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited [like villages] without walls [spreading out into the open country] because of the great number of people and livestock in it.
2:5:‘For I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire around her [protecting her from enemies], and I will be the glory in her midst.’”
2:6:“Hear this! Flee from [Babylon] the land of the north [which shall come under judgment],” declares the Lord, “for I have scattered you like the four winds of the heavens,” declares the Lord.
2:7:“Hear, Zion (Jerusalem)! Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon!”
2:8:For thus says the Lord of hosts, “After glory He has sent Me against the nations which plunder you—for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.
2:9:Behold, I will wave my hand over them and they shall become plunder for their own slaves. Then you shall know (recognize, understand fully) that the Lord of hosts has sent Me.
2:10:Sing for joy and rejoice, O Daughter of Zion; for behold, I am coming, and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the Lord.
2:11:Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day and shall be My people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know (recognize, understand fully) that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.
2:12:The Lord will take possession of Judah as His portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.
2:13:“Be still before the Lord, all mankind; for He is roused (raised up) from His holy habitation [in response to His persecuted people].”
3:1:Joshua, the High Priest
Then the guiding angel showed me Joshua the high priest [representing disobedient, sinful Israel] standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at Joshua’s right hand to be his adversary and to accuse him.
3:2:And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Even the Lord, who [now and ever] has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is this not a log snatched and rescued from the fire?”
3:3:Now Joshua was clothed with filthy (nauseatingly vile) garments and was standing before the Angel [of the Lord].
3:4:He spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And He said to Joshua, “See, I have caused your wickedness to be taken away from you, and I will clothe and beautify you with rich robes [of forgiveness].”
3:5:And I (Zechariah) said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with [rich] garments. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.
3:6:And the Angel of the Lord [solemnly and earnestly] admonished Joshua, saying,
3:7:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If you will walk in My ways [that is, remain faithful] and perform My service, then you will also govern My house and have charge of My courts, and I will give you free access [to My presence] among these who are standing here.
3:8:The Branch
Now listen, Joshua, the high priest, you and your colleagues who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol [of what is to come]—for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch [in Messianic glory].
3:9:For behold, the stone which I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes (symbolizing infinite intelligence, omniscience). Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will remove the wickedness and guilt of this land in a single day.
3:10:In that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and his fig tree [enjoying peace and prosperity in the kingdom].’”
4:1:The Golden Lampstand and Olive Trees
And the angel who was speaking with me came back and awakened me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep.
4:2:He said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with its bowl [for oil] on the top of it and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it.
4:3:And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side [supplying it continuously with oil].”
4:4:So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”
4:5:Then the angel who was speaking with me answered me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”
4:6:Then he said to me, “This [continuous supply of oil] is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel [prince of Judah], saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit [of whom the oil is a symbol],’ says the Lord of hosts.
4:7:‘What are you, O great mountain [of obstacles]? Before Zerubbabel [who will rebuild the temple] you will become a plain (insignificant)! And he will bring out the capstone [of the new temple] with loud shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”
4:8:Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
4:9:“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know (recognize, understand fully) that the Lord of hosts has sent me [as His messenger] to you.
4:10:Who [with reason] despises the day of small things (beginnings)? For these seven [eyes] shall rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord which roam throughout the earth.”
4:11:Then I said to him [who was speaking with me], “What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on its left?”
4:12:And a second time I said to him, “What are these two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes by which the golden oil is emptied?”
4:13:And he answered me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”
4:14:Then he said, “These are the two sons of fresh oil [Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the prince of Judah] who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth [as His anointed ones].”
5:1:The Flying Scroll
Again I looked up, and I saw a scroll flying in the air!
5:2:And the angel said to me, “What do you see?” And I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits (thirty feet) and its width is ten cubits (fifteen feet).”
5:3:Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of the whole land; for everyone who steals will be cut off according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears [oaths falsely] shall be cut off according to the writing on the other side.
5:4:I will send the curse out,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night in that house and consume it, both its timber and its stones.”
5:5:Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and said to me, “Now look up and see what this is going forth.”
5:6:And I said, “What is it?” And he said, “This is the ephah (grain basket) going forth. This,” he continued, “is their appearance throughout the land
5:7:(and behold, a [round, flat] lead cover was lifted up); and there sat a woman inside the ephah.”
5:8:Then he said, “This is Wickedness (Godlessness)!” And he threw her back down into the middle of the ephah and threw the lead cover on its opening.
5:9:Then I looked up, and there were two women coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens.
5:10:I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the ephah?”
5:11:And he said to me, “To the land of Shinar (Babylon) to build a temple for her; and when it is prepared, she shall be set there on her own pedestal.”
6:1:The Four Chariots
Now again I looked up, and four chariots were coming out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of [firm, immovable] bronze (divine judgment).
6:2:The first chariot had red horses (war, bloodshed), the second chariot had black horses (famine, death),
6:3:the third chariot had white horses (victory), and the fourth chariot had strong dappled horses (death through judgment).
6:4:Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”
6:5:The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go out after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth,
6:6:with the chariot with the black horses going toward the north country; then the one with the white horses follows after them [because there are two northern powers to overcome], and the chariot with the dappled horses goes toward the south country.”
6:7:When the strong horses went out, they were eager to patrol the earth. And the Lord said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth [watching and protecting it].
6:8:Then He called out to me and said to me, “See, those who are going to the north country have quieted My Spirit [of wrath] in the north country.”
6:9:The word of the Lord also came to me, saying,
6:10:“Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, from Tobijah, and from Jedaiah [as representatives]; and you go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon.
6:11:The Symbolic Crowns
Take silver and gold [from them], and make an ornate crown and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
6:12:Then say to Joshua, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold (look, keep in sight, watch), a Man (Messiah) whose name is Branch, for He shall branch out from His place (Israel, the Davidic line); and He shall build the [ultimate] temple of the Lord.
6:13:Yes, [you are to build a temple of the Lord, but] it is He who shall build the [ultimate] temple of the Lord, and He shall bear the honor and majesty [as the only begotten of the Father] and sit and rule on His throne. And He shall be a Priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between the two offices [Priest and King].”’
6:14:Now the crown shall become a reminder in the temple of the Lord to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah.
6:15:And those who are far away will come and [help] build the temple of the Lord.” Then you shall know [without any doubt] that the Lord of hosts sent me (Zechariah) to you. And it will come about if you will diligently obey the [voice of the] Lord your God.
7:1:Hearts like Flint
In the fourth year of [the reign of] King Darius [of Persia], the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev (Dec 7, 518 b.c.).
7:2:Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to seek the favor of the Lord,
7:3:speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts and to the prophets, saying, “[Now that I am returned from exile] shall I weep in the fifth month [mourning the destruction of the temple], and fast as I have done these many years [in Babylon]?”
7:4:Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me (Zechariah), saying,
7:5:“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years [that you were in exile], was it actually for Me that you fasted?
7:6:When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves [to satisfy your own needs]?
7:7:Should you not hear the words which the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous along with her cities around her, and the South (the Negev) and the foothills were inhabited?’”
7:8:Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying,
7:9:“Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion, to each other;
7:10:and do not oppress or exploit the widow or the fatherless, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise or even imagine evil in your hearts against one another.’
7:11:But they refused to listen and pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder [stiffening themselves in resistance] and stopped up their ears.
7:12:They made their hearts [hard] like flint, so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.
7:13:And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts;
7:14:“but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after they had gone, so that no one passed through or returned, for they [by their sins] had made the pleasant land desolate and deserted.’”
8:1:The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion
Then the word of the Lord of hosts came [to me], saying,
8:2:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], and I am jealous for her with great wrath [against her enemies].’
8:3:Thus says the Lord, ‘I shall return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the [faithful] City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’
8:4:Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Old men and old women will again sit in the streets (public places) of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of his advanced age.
8:5:And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.’
8:6:Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If it is difficult in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days [in which this comes to pass], will it also be difficult in My sight?’ declares the Lord of hosts.
8:7:Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the east country and from the west,
8:8:and I will bring them home and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth (faithfulness) and in righteousness.’
8:9:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Let your hands be strong, you who in these days hear these words from the mouths of the prophets who, on the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, foretold that the temple might be rebuilt.
8:10:For before those days there were no wages for man or animal; nor was there any peace or success for him who went out or came in because of his enemies, for I set all men against one another.
8:11:But now [in this time since you began to build] I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the Lord of hosts.
8:12:For there the seed will produce peace and prosperity; the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will produce its increase, and the heavens will give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit and possess all these things.
8:13:And as you have been a curse among the nations, O house of Judah (Southern Kingdom) and house of Israel (Northern Kingdom), so I will save you, that you may be a blessing. Fear not; let your hands be strong.’
8:14:“For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Just as I planned to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I did not relent,
8:15:so I have again planned in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!
8:16:These are the things which you should do: speak the truth with one another; judge with truth and pronounce the judgment that brings peace in [the courts at] your gates.
8:17:And let none of you devise or even imagine evil in your heart against another, and do not love lying or half-truths; for all these things I hate,’ declares the Lord.”
8:18:Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me (Zechariah), saying,
8:19:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘The fast of the fourth [month to mourn the breaching of Jerusalem’s walls], the fast of the fifth [month to mourn the temple’s destruction], the fast of the seventh [month to mourn Gedaliah’s assassination], and the fast of the tenth [month to mourn the siege of Jerusalem] will become times of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so [to bring this about] love truth and peace.’
8:20:“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘It will come to pass that peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will come [to Jerusalem].
8:21:‘The inhabitants of one [city] will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to ask the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts. I will go also.”
8:22:So many peoples and powerful nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to ask the Lord for His favor.’
8:23:Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘In those days ten men [as representatives] from all the nations will grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”
9:1:Prophecies against Neighboring Nations
The oracle (a burdensome message) of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach [in Syria], with Damascus as its resting place (for the eyes of men, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the Lord),
9:2:And Hamath also, which borders on it (Damascus),
Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.
9:3:For Tyre built herself an [impregnable] stronghold [on an island offshore],
And she has heaped up silver like dust
And gold like the mire of the streets.
9:4:Behold, the Lord will dispossess her
And throw her wealth into the sea;
And Tyre will be devoured by fire.
9:5:Ashkelon will see it and fear;
Gaza will writhe in pain,
And Ekron, for her hope and expectation, has been ruined.
The king will perish from Gaza,
And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.
9:6:And a mongrel race will live in Ashdod,
And I will put an end to the pride and arrogance of the Philistines.
9:7:I will take the blood from their mouths
And their detestable things from between their teeth [those repulsive, idolatrous sacrifices eaten with the blood].
Then they too will be a remnant for our God,
And be like a clan in Judah,
And Ekron will be like one of the Jebusites.
9:8:Then I will camp around My house [as a guard] because of an army,
Because of him who passes by and returns;
And no oppressor will again overrun them (Israel),
For now My eyes are upon them [providentially protecting them].
9:9:Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King (Messianic King) is coming to you;
He is righteous and endowed with salvation,
Humble and unassuming [in submission to the will of the Father] and riding on a donkey,
Upon a colt, the foal of a donkey.
9:10:I will cut off the [war] chariot from Ephraim
And the [war] horse from Jerusalem,
And the bow of war will be cut off.
And He will speak [words of] peace to the nations,
And His dominion shall be from sea to sea [absolutely endless],
And from the River [Euphrates] to the ends of the earth.
9:11:Salvation of Judah and Ephraim
As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you [My chosen people, the covenant that was sealed with blood]
I have freed your prisoners from the waterless pit.
9:12:Return to the stronghold [of security and prosperity], O prisoners who have the hope;
Even today I am declaring that I will restore double [your former prosperity] to you [as firstborn among nations].
9:13:For I will bend Judah as My bow,
I will fit the bow with Ephraim [as My arrow].
And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece,
And will make you [Israel] like the sword of a warrior.
9:14:Then the Lord will be seen [hovering] over them [protecting His people],
And His arrow will go forth like lightning;
And the Lord God will blow the trumpet
And will march in the windstorms of the south.
9:15:The Lord of hosts shall defend and protect them;
And they will devour [the enemy] and trample down the slingstones [that have missed their mark],
And they will drink [of victory] and be boisterous as with wine;
And they shall be filled like sacrificial bowls [used to catch the blood],
Drenched like the corners of the [sacrificial] altar.
9:16:And the Lord their God shall save them on that day
As the flock of His people;
For they are like the [precious] jewels of a crown,
Displayed and glittering in His land.
9:17:For how great is God’s goodness and how great is His beauty! And how great [He will make Israel’s] goodliness and [Israel’s] beauty!
Grain and new wine will make the young men and virgins flourish.
10:1:God Will Bless Judah and Ephraim
Ask for rain from the Lord at the time of the spring rain.
It is the Lord who makes the thunder clouds;
And He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field to everyone.
10:2:For the teraphim (household idols) speak wickedness (emptiness, worthlessness),
And the diviners see lying visions
And tell false dreams;
They comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep,
They are afflicted and suffer because there is no shepherd.
10:3:“My anger is kindled against the shepherds [who are not true shepherds],
And I shall punish the male goats (leaders);
For the Lord of hosts has visited His flock, the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom),
And will make them like His beautiful and majestic horse in the battle.
10:4:“From them (Judah) shall come the Cornerstone,
From them the tent peg,
From them the bow of battle,
From them every ruler, all of them together.
10:5:“They will be like mighty men
Trampling down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle;
And they will fight because the Lord is with them,
And the [enemies’] riders on horses will be shamed.
10:6:“I will strengthen the house of Judah [making it superior],
And I will save the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back [and allow them to live securely],
Because I have had compassion on them.
They will be as though I had not rejected them,
For I am the Lord their God, and I will listen and answer them.
10:7:“Then Ephraim will be like a mighty warrior,
And their heart will rejoice as if from wine;
Yes, their children will see it and rejoice;
Their heart will rejoice and shout triumphantly in the Lord.
10:8:“I will whistle for them and gather them together,
For I have redeemed them;
And they will increase [again] as they have increased before [in Egypt].
10:9:“When I scatter them among the nations,
They will remember Me in far countries,
And with their children they will live and come back [to Me and the land I gave them].
10:10:“I will bring them (all Israel) back home again from the land of Egypt
And gather them from Assyria,
And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon [the land on the east and on the west of the Jordan]
Until no room can be found for them.
10:11:“And they will pass through the sea of distress and anxiety [with the Lord leading His people, as at the Red Sea]
And He will strike the waves in the sea,
So that all the depths of the Nile will dry up;
And the pride of Assyria will be brought down
And the scepter [of the taskmasters] of Egypt will pass away.
10:12:“And I will strengthen Israel in the Lord,
And they will walk [and glory] in His name,” declares the Lord.
11:1:The Doomed Flock
Open your doors, O Lebanon,
That fire may devour your cedars.
11:2:Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,
Because the magnificent trees have been destroyed;
Wail, O oaks of Bashan,
For the inaccessible forest [on the steep mountainside] has come down.
11:3:There is a sound of the shepherds’ wail,
For their splendor (grazing land) is ruined;
There is a sound of the young lions’ roar,
For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.
11:4:Thus says the Lord my God, “Pasture the flock doomed for slaughter,
11:5:whose buyers slay them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I have become rich!’ And their own shepherds have no pity on them nor protect them [from the wolves].
11:6:For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord; “but behold, I will cause the men to fall, each into the hand of another and into the hands of his [foreign] king. And the enemy will strike the land, and I will not rescue the people from their hand.”
11:7:So I [Zechariah] pastured the flock doomed for slaughter, truly [as the name implies] the most miserable of sheep. And I took two [shepherd’s] staffs, the one I called Favor (Grace) and the other I called Union (Bonds); so I pastured the flock.
11:8:Then I eliminated the three [incompetent, unfit] shepherds [the civil rulers, the priests, and the prophets] in one month, for I was impatient with them, and they also were tired of me and despised me.
11:9:So I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed; and let the survivors devour one another’s flesh.”
11:10:I took my staff, Favor, and broke it in pieces, breaking the covenant which I had made with all the peoples.
11:11:So the covenant was broken on that day, and thus the most wretched of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord.
11:12:I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, do not.” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver as my wages.
11:13:Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter [as if to the dogs]—that magnificent sum at which I am valued by them!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord.
11:14:Then I broke my second staff, Union, into pieces to break the brotherhood between Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and Israel (the Northern Kingdom).
11:15:The Lord said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment [of a shepherd, but this time] of a foolish shepherd.
11:16:For behold, I am going to raise up a [false] shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or feed the healthy; but will eat the flesh of the fat ones and tear off their hoofs [to consume everything].
11:17:“Woe (judgment is coming) to the worthless and foolish shepherd
Who deserts the flock!
The sword will strike his arm
And his right eye!
His arm shall be totally withered
And his right eye completely blinded.”
12:1:Jerusalem to Be Attacked
The oracle (a burdensome message) of the word of the Lord concerning Israel.
Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him:
12:2:“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling (staggering) to all the surrounding peoples; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.
12:3:And in that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will come and be gathered against it.
12:4:In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will strike every horse with panic and his rider with madness; but I will open My eyes and watch over the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the [opposing] nations with blindness.
12:5:Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are our strength in the Lord of hosts, their God.’
12:6:“In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, and like a flaming torch among sheaves [of grain]. They will devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left; and the people of Jerusalem will again live [securely] in their own place, in Jerusalem.
12:7:The Lord shall save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah.
12:8:In that day the Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem, and the one who is impaired among them in that day [of persecution] will become [strong and noble] like David; and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the Lord [who is] before them.
12:9:And in that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
12:10:“I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace (unmerited favor) and supplication. And they will look at Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him as one who weeps bitterly over a firstborn.
12:11:In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of [the city of] Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddo [over beloved King Josiah].
12:12:The land will mourn, every family by itself; the [royal] family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan [David’s son] by itself and their wives by themselves;
12:13:the [priestly] family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei [grandson of Levi] by itself and their wives by themselves;
12:14:all the families that remain, each by itself, and their wives by themselves [each with an overwhelming individual regret for having blindly rejected their Messiah].
13:1:False Prophets Ashamed
“In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the people of Jerusalem for [cleansing from] sin and impurity.
13:2:“In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the [false] prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.
13:3:And if anyone still [appears as a prophet and falsely] prophesies, then his father and his mother who gave birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you have spoken lies in the name of the Lord’; and his father and his mother who gave birth to him shall pierce him through when he prophesies.
13:4:And in that day the [false] prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not wear a hairy robe [of true prophets] in order to deceive,
13:5:but he will [deny his identity and] say, ‘I am no prophet. I work the ground, because a man sold me as a slave in my youth.’
13:6:And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those wounds I received in the house of my friends.’
13:7:“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
And against the Man, My Associate,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.
“Strike the Shepherd so that the sheep [of the flock] may be scattered;
And I will turn My hand and stretch it out against the little ones [of the flock].
13:8:“It will come about in all the land,”
Declares the Lord,
“Two parts in it will be cut off and perish,
But the third will be left alive.
13:9:“And I will bring the third part through the fire,
Refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will listen and answer them;
I will say, ‘They are My people,’
And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”
14:1:God Will Battle Jerusalem’s Foes
Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you (Jerusalem) will be divided in your midst.
14:2:For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured and the houses plundered and the women ravished; and half of the city will be exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
14:3:Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.
14:4:In that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from the east to the west by a very large valley, and half of the mountain will move toward the north and half of it toward the south.
14:5:You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; and you will flee just as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones (believers, angels) with Him.
14:6:In that day there will be no light; the glorious ones (heavenly bodies) shall be darkened.
14:7:But it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord—not day and not night, but at evening time there will be light.
14:8:And in that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea (Dead Sea) and half of them to the western sea (the Mediterranean); it will be in summer as well as in winter.
14:9:God Will Be King over All
And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord shall be the only one [worshiped], and His name the only one.
14:10:All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon, [the Rimmon that is] south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain [lifted up] on its site from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses.
14:11:It will be inhabited, for there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.
14:12:Now this will be the plague with which the Lord shall strike all the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.
14:13:In that day a great panic and dismay from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other.
14:14:Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered together—gold and silver and garments in great abundance.
14:15:So like this plague [on men] there will be the plague on the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the livestock in those camps.
14:16:Then everyone who is left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and celebrate the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).
14:17:And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them.
14:18:If the family of Egypt does not go up [to Jerusalem] and present themselves, then no rain will fall on them. It will be the plague with which the Lord will strike the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).
14:19:This will be the [consequent] punishment [for the sin] of Egypt, and the [consequent] punishment [for the sin] of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).
14:20:In that day there will be written on the little bells on the horses, “HOLY TO The Lord.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be [holy to the Lord] like the bowls before the altar.
14:21:Every cooking pot in [all the houses in] Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts, and all who sacrifice will come and take them and boil [their sacrifices] in them. And in that day there will no longer be a Canaanite [that is, any godless or spiritually unclean person, whether Jew or Gentile] in the house of the Lord of hosts.
malachi:1:1:God’s Love for Jacob
The oracle (burdensome message) of the word of the Lord to Israel through [My messenger] Malachi.
1:2:“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How and in what way have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I loved Jacob (Israel);
1:3:but [in comparison with My love for Jacob] I have hated Esau (Edom), and I have made his mountains a wasteland, and have given his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.”
1:4:Though [impoverished] Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins.” Thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the Wicked Territory, the people against whom the Lord is indignant forever.”
1:5:Your own eyes will see this and you will say, “The Lord is great and shall be magnified beyond the border of Israel!”
1:6:Sin of the Priests
“ ‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is the [reverent] fear and respect due Me?’ says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise My name. But you say, ‘How and in what way have we despised Your name?’
1:7:You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By thinking that the table of the Lord is contemptible and may be despised.
1:8:When you [priests] present the blind [animals] for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer such a thing [as a blind or lame or sick animal] to your governor [as a gift or as payment for your taxes]. Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you graciously?” says the Lord of hosts.
1:9:“But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering from your hand [as an imperfect animal for sacrifice], will He show favor to any of you?” says the Lord of hosts.
1:10:“Oh, that there were even one among you [whose duty it is to minister to Me] who would shut the gates, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar uselessly [with an empty, worthless pretense]! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from your hand.
1:11:For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, My name shall be great among the nations. In every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name shall be great among the nations,” says the Lord of hosts.
1:12:“But you [priests] profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.’
1:13:You also say, ‘How tiresome this is!’ And you disdainfully sniff at it,” says the Lord of hosts, “and you bring what was taken by robbery, and the lame or the sick [animals]; this you bring as an offering! Should I receive it with pleasure from your hand?” says the Lord.
1:14:“But cursed is the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows [to offer] it, but sacrifices to the Lord a blemished or diseased thing! For I am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts, “and My name is to be [reverently and greatly] feared among the nations.”
2:1:Priests to Be Disciplined
“Now, O priests, this commandment is for you.
2:2:If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the Lord of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings [on the people]. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.
2:3:Behold, I am going to rebuke your seed, and I will spread the refuse on your faces, the refuse from the festival offerings; and you will be taken away with it [in disgrace].
2:4:Then you will know [without any doubt] that I have sent this [new] commandment to you (priests), that My covenant may continue with Levi [the priestly tribe],” says the Lord of hosts.
2:5:“My covenant with Levi was [one of] life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he [and the priests] feared Me and stood in reverent awe of My name.
2:6:True instruction was in Levi’s mouth and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from wickedness.
2:7:For the lips of the priest should guard and preserve knowledge [of My law], and the people should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
2:8:But as for you [priests], you have turned from the way and you have caused many to stumble by your instruction [in the law]. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of hosts.
2:9:“So I have also made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality [to people] in [your administration of] the law.”
2:10:Sin in the Family
Do we not all have one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers [with God]?
2:11:Judah has been treacherous (disloyal), and an repulsive act has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
2:12:As for the man who does this, may the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob to the last man those who do this [evil thing], awake and aware, even the one who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts.
2:13:This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with [your own] weeping and sighing, because the Lord no longer regards your offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.
2:14:But you say, “Why [does He reject it]?” Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously. Yet she is your marriage companion and the wife of your covenant [made by your vows].
2:15:But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.
2:16:“For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong and violence,” says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore keep watch on your spirit, so that you do not deal treacherously [with your wife].”
2:17:You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or [by asking], “Where is the God of justice?”
3:1:The Purifier
“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will prepare and clear the way before Me. And the Lord [the Messiah], whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.
3:2:But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s soap [which removes impurities and uncleanness].
3:3:He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi [the priests], and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord [grain] offerings in righteousness.
3:4:Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in ancient years.
3:5:“Then I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, and against those who oppress the laborer in his wages and widows and the fatherless, and against those who turn away the alien [from his right], and those who do not fear Me [with awe-filled reverence],” says the Lord of hosts.
3:6:“For I am the Lord, I do not change [but remain faithful to My covenant with you]; that is why you, O sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.
3:7:“Yet from the days of your fathers you have turned away from My statutes and ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
3:8:You Have Robbed God
“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings [you have withheld].
3:9:You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, this whole nation!
3:10:Bring all the tithes (the tenth) into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you [so great] a blessing until there is no more room to receive it.
3:11:Then I will rebuke the devourer (insects, plague) for your sake and he will not destroy the fruits of the ground, nor will your vine in the field drop its grapes [before harvest],” says the Lord of hosts.
3:12:“All nations shall call you happy and blessed, for you shall be a land of delight,” says the Lord of hosts.
3:13:“Your words have been harsh against Me,” says the Lord. “But you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’
3:14:You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. What profit is it if we keep His ordinances, and walk around like mourners before the Lord of hosts?
3:15:So now we call the arrogant happy and blessed. Evildoers are exalted and prosper; and when they test God, they escape [unpunished].’”
3:16:The Book of Remembrance
Then those who feared the Lord [with awe-filled reverence] spoke to one another; and the Lord paid attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who fear the Lord [with an attitude of reverence and respect] and who esteem His name.
3:17:“They will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on that day when I publicly recognize them and openly declare them to be My own possession [that is, My very special treasure]. And I will have compassion on them and spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”
3:18:Then you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him.
4:1:Final Admonition
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant (proud, self-righteous, haughty), and every evildoer shall be stubble; and the day that is coming shall set them on fire,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
4:2:But for you who fear My name [with awe-filled reverence] the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go forward and leap [joyfully] like calves [released] from the stall.
4:3:You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,” says the Lord of hosts.
4:4:“Remember [with thoughtful concern] the Law of Moses My servant, the statutes and the ordinances which I commanded him on [Mount] Horeb [to give] to all Israel.
4:5:“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.
4:6:He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance], so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse [of complete destruction].”
matthew:1:1:The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son (descendant) of David, the son (descendant) of Abraham:
1:2:Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers [who became the twelve tribes of Israel].
1:3:Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.
1:4:Ram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon.
1:5:Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.
1:6:Jesse was the father of David the king.
David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.
1:7:Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa.
1:8:Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah.
1:9:Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
1:10:Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah.
1:11:Josiah became the father of Jeconiah [also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] and his brothers, at the time of the deportation (exile) to Babylon.
1:12:After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel.
1:13:Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor.
1:14:Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud.
1:15:Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob.
1:16:Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah (Christ).
1:17:So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen; from David to the Babylonian deportation (exile), fourteen generations; and from the Babylonian deportation to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
1:18:Conception and Birth of Jesus
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by [the power of] the Holy Spirit.
1:19:And Joseph her [promised] husband, being a just and righteous man and not wanting to expose her publicly to shame, planned to send her away and divorce her quietly.
1:20:But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
1:21:She will give birth to a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus (The Lord is salvation), for He will save His people from their sins.”
1:22:All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet [Isaiah]:
1:23:“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel”—which, when translated, means, “God with us.”
1:24:Then Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and he took Mary [to his home] as his wife,
1:25:but he kept her a virgin until she had given birth to a Son [her firstborn child]; and he named Him Jesus (The Lord is salvation).
2:1:The Visit of the Magi
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king (Herod the Great), magi (wise men) from the east came to Jerusalem, asking,
2:2:“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
2:3:When Herod the king heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
2:4:So he called together all the chief priests and scribes of the people and [anxiously] asked them where the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) was to be born.
2:5:They replied to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what has been written by the prophet [Micah]:
2:6:‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are not in any way least among the leaders of Judah;
For from you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
2:7:Then Herod secretly sent for the magi and learned from them the [exact] time the star [had first] appeared.
2:8:Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”
2:9:After hearing the king, they went their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them [continually leading the way] until it came and stood over the place where the young Child was.
2:10:When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
2:11:And after entering the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, after opening their treasure chests, they presented to Him gifts [fit for a king, gifts] of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
2:12:And having been warned [by God] in a dream not to go back to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
2:13:The Flight to Egypt
Now when they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod intends to search for the Child in order to destroy Him.”
2:14:So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.
2:15:He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet [Hosea]: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
2:16:Herod Slaughters the Babies
Then Herod, when he realized that he had been tricked by the magi, was extremely angry, and he sent [soldiers] and put to death all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that area who were two years old and under, according to the date which he had learned from the magi.
2:17:Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
2:18:“A voice was heard in Ramah,
Weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
She refused to be comforted,
Because they were no more.”
2:19:But when Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said,
2:20:“Get up! Take the Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.”
2:21:Then Joseph got up, and took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
2:22:But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod [the Great], he was afraid to go there. Then being warned by God in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee,
2:23:and went and settled in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
3:1:The Preaching of John the Baptist
In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea [along the western side of the Dead Sea] and saying,
3:2:“Repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life], for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
3:3:This is the one who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
“The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the road for the Lord,
Make His highways straight (level, direct)!’”
3:4:Now this same John had clothing made of camel’s hair and a [wide] leather band around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
3:5:At that time Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;
3:6:and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
3:7:But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the [divine] wrath and judgment to come?
3:8:So produce fruit that is consistent with repentance [demonstrating new behavior that proves a change of heart, and a conscious decision to turn away from sin];
3:9:and do not presume to say to yourselves [as a defense], ‘We have Abraham for our father [so our inheritance assures us of salvation]’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children (descendants) for Abraham.
3:10:And already the axe [of God’s judgment] is swinging toward the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
3:11:“As for me, I baptize you with water because of [your] repentance [that is, because you are willing to change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret your sin and live a changed life], but He (the Messiah) who is coming after me is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to remove [even as His slave]; He will baptize you [who truly repent] with the Holy Spirit and [you who remain unrepentant] with fire (judgment).
3:12:His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear out His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat (believers) into His barn (kingdom), but He will burn up the chaff (the unrepentant) with unquenchable fire.”
3:13:The Baptism of Jesus
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan [River], to be baptized by him.
3:14:But John tried to prevent Him [vigorously protesting], saying, “It is I who need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”
3:15:But Jesus replied to him, “Permit it just now; for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John permitted [it and baptized] Him.
3:16:After Jesus was baptized, He came up immediately out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he (John) saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him (Jesus),
3:17:and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased and delighted!”
4:1:The Temptation of Jesus
Then Jesus was led by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
4:2:After He had gone without food for forty days and forty nights, He became hungry.
4:3:And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4:4:But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”
4:5:Then the devil took Him into the holy city [Jerusalem] and placed Him on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple.
4:6:And he said [mockingly] to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,
‘He will command His angels concerning You [to serve, care for, protect and watch over You]’;
and
‘They will lift you up on their hands,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
4:7:Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’”
4:8:Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory [splendor, magnificence, and excellence] of them;
4:9:and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”
4:10:Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”
4:11:Then the devil left Him; and angels came and ministered to Him [bringing Him food and serving Him].
4:12:Jesus Begins His Ministry
Now when Jesus heard that John [the Baptist] had been arrested and put in prison, He left for Galilee.
4:13:And leaving Nazareth, He went and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the country of Zebulun and Naphtali.
4:14:This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
4:15:“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee [in the district] of the Gentiles—
4:16:“The people who were sitting (living) in [spiritual] darkness have seen a great Light,
And for those who were sitting (living) in the land and shadow of [spiritual and moral] death,
Upon them a Light has dawned.”
4:17:From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life], for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
4:18:The First Disciples
As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He noticed two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
4:19:And He said to them, “Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men.”
4:20:Immediately they left their nets and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].
4:21:And going on [further] from there He noticed two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them [to follow Him as His disciples].
4:22:Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].
4:23:Ministry in Galilee
And He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news (gospel) of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people [demonstrating and revealing that He was indeed the promised Messiah].
4:24:So the news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were sick, those suffering with various diseases and pains, those under the power of demons, and epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.
4:25:Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and the other side of the Jordan.
5:1:The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes
When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him.
5:2:Then He began to teach them, saying,
5:3:“Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].
5:4:“Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are those who mourn [over their sins and repent], for they will be comforted [when the burden of sin is lifted].
5:5:“Blessed [inwardly peaceful, spiritually secure, worthy of respect] are the gentle [the kind-hearted, the sweet-spirited, the self-controlled], for they will inherit the earth.
5:6:“Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [those who actively seek right standing with God], for they will be [completely] satisfied.
5:7:“Blessed [content, sheltered by God’s promises] are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
5:8:“Blessed [anticipating God’s presence, spiritually mature] are the pure in heart [those with integrity, moral courage, and godly character], for they will see God.
5:9:“Blessed [spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor] are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they will [express His character and] be called the sons of God.
5:10:“Blessed [comforted by inner peace and God’s love] are those who are persecuted for doing that which is morally right, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].
5:11:“Blessed [morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness] are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil things against you because of [your association with] Me.
5:12:Be glad and exceedingly joyful, for your reward in heaven is great [absolutely inexhaustible]; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
5:13:Disciples and the World
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste (purpose), how can it be made salty? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and walked on by people [when the walkways are wet and slippery].
5:14:“You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
5:15:nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
5:16:Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.
5:17:“Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the Law [of Moses] or the [writings of the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
5:18:For I assure you and most solemnly say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [of the pen] will pass from the Law until all things [which it foreshadows] are accomplished.
5:19:So whoever breaks one of the least [important] of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least [important] in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
5:20:“For I say to you that unless your righteousness (uprightness, moral essence) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
5:21:Personal Relationships
“You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.’
5:22:But I say to you that everyone who continues to be angry with his brother or harbors malice against him shall be guilty before the court; and whoever speaks [contemptuously and insultingly] to his brother, Raca (You empty-headed idiot)!’ shall be guilty before the supreme court (Sanhedrin); and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of the fiery hell.
5:23:So if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and while there you remember that your brother has something [such as a grievance or legitimate complaint] against you,
5:24:leave your offering there at the altar and go. First make peace with your brother, and then come and present your offering.
5:25:Come to terms quickly [at the earliest opportunity] with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way [to court], so that your opponent does not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you are thrown into prison.
5:26:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid the last cent.
5:27:“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’;
5:28:but I say to you that everyone who [so much as] looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
5:29:If your right eye makes you stumble and leads you to sin, tear it out and throw it away [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
5:30:If your right hand makes you stumble and leads you to sin, cut it off and throw it away [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
5:31:“It has also been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife is to give her a certificate of divorce’;
5:32:but I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on grounds of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits adultery.
5:33:“Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not make false vows, but you shall fulfill your vows to the Lord [as a religious duty].’
5:34:But I say to you, do not make an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God;
5:35:or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
5:36:Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you are not able to make a single hair white or black.
5:37:But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’ [a firm yes or no]; anything more than that comes from the evil one.
5:38:“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth [punishment that fits the offense].’
5:39:But I say to you, do not resist an evil person [who insults you or violates your rights]; but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other toward him also [simply ignore insignificant insults or trivial losses and do not bother to retaliate—maintain your dignity, your self-respect, your poise].
5:40:If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also [for the Lord repays the offender].
5:41:And whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
5:42:Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
5:43:“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor (fellow man) and hate your enemy.’
5:44:“But I say to you, love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
5:45:so that you may [show yourselves to] be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on those who are evil and on those who are good, and makes the rain fall on the righteous [those who are morally upright] and the unrighteous [the unrepentant, those who oppose Him].
5:46:For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that?
5:47:And if you greet only your brothers [wishing them God’s blessing and peace], what more [than others] are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles [who do not know the Lord] do that?
5:48:You, therefore, will be perfect [growing into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly values into your daily life], as your heavenly Father is perfect.
6:1:Giving to the Poor and Prayer
“Be [very] careful not to do your good deeds publicly, to be seen by men; otherwise you will have no reward [prepared and awaiting you] with your Father who is in heaven.
6:2:“So whenever you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not blow a trumpet before you [to advertise it], as the hypocrites do [like actors acting out a role] in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored and recognized and praised by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full.
6:3:But when you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing [give in complete secrecy],
6:4:so that your charitable acts will be done in secret; and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.
6:5:“Also, when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray [publicly] standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets so that they may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full.
6:6:But when you pray, go into your most private room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.
6:7:“And when you pray, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
6:8:So do not be like them [praying as they do]; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
6:9:“Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
6:10:‘Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
6:11:‘Give us this day our daily bread.
6:12:‘And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment].
6:13:‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’
6:14:For if you forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
6:15:But if you do not forgive others [nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that it interferes with your relationship with God], then your Father will not forgive your trespasses.
6:16:Fasting, The True Treasure, Wealth (Mammon)
“And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they put on a sad and dismal face [like actors, discoloring their faces with ashes or dirt] so that their fasting may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full.
6:17:But when you fast, put oil on your head [as you normally would to groom your hair] and wash your face
6:18:so that your fasting will not be noticed by people, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.
6:19:“Do not store up for yourselves [material] treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
6:20:But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal;
6:21:for where your treasure is, there your heart [your wishes, your desires; that on which your life centers] will be also.
6:22:“The eye is the lamp of the body; so if your eye is clear [spiritually perceptive], your whole body will be full of light [benefiting from God’s precepts].
6:23:But if your eye is bad [spiritually blind], your whole body will be full of darkness [devoid of God’s precepts]. So if the [very] light inside you [your inner self, your heart, your conscience] is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness!
6:24:“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].
6:25:The Cure for Anxiety
“Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?
6:26:Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops] into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?
6:27:And who of you by worrying can add one hour to [the length of] his life?
6:28:And why are you worried about clothes? See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin [wool to make clothing],
6:29:yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these.
6:30:But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive and green today and tomorrow is [cut and] thrown [as fuel] into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
6:31:Therefore do not worry or be anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted), saying, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’
6:32:For the [pagan] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
6:33:But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.
6:34:“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
7:1:Judging Others
“Do not judge and criticize and condemn [others unfairly with an attitude of self-righteous superiority as though assuming the office of a judge], so that you will not be judged [unfairly].
7:2:For just as you [hypocritically] judge others [when you are sinful and unrepentant], so will you be judged; and in accordance with your standard of measure [used to pass out judgment], judgment will be measured to you.
7:3:Why do you look at the [insignificant] speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice and acknowledge the [egregious] log that is in your own eye?
7:4:Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye,’ when there is a log in your own eye?
7:5:You hypocrite (play-actor, pretender), first get the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
7:6:“Do not give that which is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, for they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
7:7:Prayer and the Golden Rule
“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.
7:8:For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.
7:9:Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will [instead] give him a stone?
7:10:Or if he asks for a fish, will [instead] give him a snake?
7:11:If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him.
7:12:“So then, in everything treat others the same way you want them to treat you, for this is [the essence of] the Law and the [writings of the] Prophets.
7:13:The Narrow and Wide Gates
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it.
7:14:But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.
7:15:A Tree and Its Fruit
“Beware of the false prophets, [teachers] who come to you dressed as sheep [appearing gentle and innocent], but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
7:16:By their fruit you will recognize them [that is, by their contrived doctrine and self-focus]. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
7:17:Even so, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the unhealthy tree bears bad fruit.
7:18:A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
7:19:Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
7:20:Therefore, by their fruit you will recognize them [as false prophets].
7:21:“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
7:22:Many will say to Me on that day [when I judge them], ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and driven out demons in Your name, and done many miracles in Your name?’
7:23:And then I will declare to them publicly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me [you are banished from My presence], you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].’
7:24:The Two Foundations
“So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, will be like a wise man [a far-sighted, practical, and sensible man] who built his house on the rock.
7:25:And the rain fell, and the floods and torrents came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
7:26:And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them, will be like a foolish (stupid) man who built his house on the sand.
7:27:And the rain fell, and the floods and torrents came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great and complete was its fall.”
7:28:When Jesus had finished [speaking] these words [on the mountain], the crowds were astonished and overwhelmed at His teaching;
7:29:for He was teaching them as one who had authority [to teach entirely of His own volition], and not as their scribes [who relied on others to confirm their authority].
8:1:Jesus Cleanses a Leper; The Centurion’s Faith
When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him.
8:2:And a leper came up to Him and bowed down before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You are able to make me clean (well).”
8:3:Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
8:4:And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one [about this]; but go, show yourself to the priest [for inspection] and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony (evidence) to them [of your healing].”
8:5:As Jesus went into Capernaum, a centurion came up to Him, begging Him [for help],
8:6:and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, with intense and terrible, tormenting pain.”
8:7:Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
8:8:But the centurion replied to Him, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.
8:9:For I also am a man subject to authority [of a higher rank], with soldiers subject to me; and I say to one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
8:10:When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you truthfully, I have not found such great faith [as this] with anyone in Israel.
8:11:I say to you that many [Gentiles] will come from east and west, and will sit down [to feast at the table, and enjoy God’s promises] with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven [because they accepted Me as Savior],
8:12:while the sons and heirs of the kingdom [the descendants of Abraham who will not recognize Me as Messiah] will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place [which is farthest removed from the kingdom] there will be weeping [in sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [in distress and anger].”
8:13:Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it will be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was restored to health at that very hour.
8:14:Peter’s Mother-in-law and Many Others Healed
When Jesus went into Peter’s house [in Capernaum], He saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.
8:15:He touched her hand and the fever left her; and she got up and served Him.
8:16:When evening came, they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons; and He cast out the evil spirits with a word, and restored to health all who were sick [exhibiting His authority as Messiah],
8:17:so that He fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He Himself took our infirmities [upon Himself] and carried away our diseases.”
8:18:Discipleship Tested
Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to cast off for the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
8:19:Then [on His way to board the boat] a scribe [who was a respected and authoritative interpreter of the Law] came and said to Him, “Master, I will accompany You [as Your student] wherever You go.”
8:20:Jesus replied to him, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
8:21:Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father (collect my inheritance).”
8:22:But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me [believing in Me as Master and Teacher], and allow the [spiritually] dead to bury their own dead.”
8:23:When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.
8:24:And suddenly a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus was sleeping.
8:25:And the disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us, we are going to die!”
8:26:He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was [at once] a great and wonderful calm [a perfect peacefulness].
8:27:The men wondered in amazement, saying, “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
8:28:Jesus Casts Out Demons
When He arrived at the other side in the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs met Him. They were so extremely fierce and violent that no one could pass by that way.
8:29:And they screamed out, “What business do we have [in common] with each other, Son of God? Have You come to torment us before the appointed time [of judgment]?”
8:30:Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was grazing.
8:31:The demons began begging Him, “If You drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”
8:32:And He said to them, “Go!” So they came out [of the men] and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and died in the water.
8:33:The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the men under the power of demons.
8:34:And the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region.
9:1:A Paralytic Healed
And Jesus, getting into a boat, crossed over the Sea of Galilee and came to [Capernaum] His own city.
9:2:They brought to Him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a stretcher. Seeing their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], Jesus said to the paralytic, “Do not be afraid, son; your sins are forgiven [the penalty is paid, the guilt removed, and you are declared to be in right standing with God].”
9:3:And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man blasphemes [by claiming the rights and prerogatives of God]!”
9:4:But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
9:5:For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven and the penalty paid,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? [Both are possible for God; both are impossible for man.]
9:6:But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority and the power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.”
9:7:And he got up and went home [healed and forgiven].
9:8:When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God and praised Him, who had given such authority and power to men.
9:9:Matthew Called
As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew (Levi) sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk].” And Matthew got up and followed Him.
9:10:Then as Jesus was reclining at the table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews] came and ate with Him and His disciples.
9:11:When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Master eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
9:12:But when Jesus heard this, He said, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but [only] those who are sick.
9:13:Go and learn what this [Scripture] means: ‘I desire compassion [for those in distress], and not [animal] sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call [to repentance] the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to change], but sinners [those who recognize their sin and actively seek forgiveness].”
9:14:The Question about Fasting
Then the disciples of John [the Baptist] came to Jesus, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees often fast [as a religious exercise], but Your disciples do not fast?”
9:15:And Jesus replied to them, “Can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
9:16:But no one puts a piece of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.
9:17:Nor is new wine put into old wineskins [that have lost their elasticity]; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the [fermenting] wine spills and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, so both are preserved.”
9:18:Miracles of Healing
While He was saying these things to them, a ruler (synagogue official) entered [the house] and kneeled down and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just now died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.”
9:19:Jesus got up and began to accompany the ruler, with His disciples.
9:20:Then a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the [tassel] fringe of His outer robe;
9:21:for she had been saying to herself, “If I only touch His outer robe, I will be healed.”
9:22:But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Take courage, daughter; your [personal trust and confident] faith [in Me] has made you well.” And at once the woman was [completely] healed.
9:23:When Jesus came to the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players [who were professional, hired mourners] and the [grieving] crowd making an uproar,
9:24:He said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead, but is sleeping.” And they laughed and jeered at Him.
9:25:But when the crowd had been sent outside, Jesus went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.
9:26:And the news about this spread throughout all that district.
9:27:As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, screaming loudly, “Have mercy and compassion on us, Son of David (Messiah)!”
9:28:When He went into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe [with a deep, abiding trust] that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
9:29:Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith [your trust and confidence in My power and My ability to heal] it will be done to you.”
9:30:And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows this!”
9:31:But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that whole district.
9:32:While they were going away, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Jesus.
9:33:And when the demon was driven out [by Jesus], the mute man spoke; and the crowds wondered in amazement, saying, “Never before has anything like this [miracle] been seen in Israel.”
9:34:But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by [the power of] the ruler of demons.”
9:35:Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages [in Galilee], teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news (gospel) of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness [His words and His works reflecting His Messiahship].
9:36:When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion and pity for them, because they were dispirited and distressed, like sheep without a shepherd.
9:37:Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few.
9:38:So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
10:1:The Twelve Disciples; Instructions for Service
Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority and power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
10:2:Now these are the names of the twelve apostles (special messengers, personally chosen representatives): first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
10:3:Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael); Thomas and Matthew (Levi) the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus (Judas, not Iscariot);
10:4:Simon the Cananaean (Zealot), and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.
10:5:Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them: “Do not go among the Gentiles, and do not go into a city of the Samaritans;
10:6:but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
10:7:And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
10:8:Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
10:9:Do not take gold, or silver, or [even] copper money in your money belt,
10:10:or a provision bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker deserves his support.
10:11:Whatever city or village you enter, ask who in it is worthy [who welcomes you and your message], and stay at his house until you leave [that city].
10:12:As you go into the house, give it your greeting [that is, ‘Peace be to this house’].
10:13:If [the family living in] the house is worthy [welcoming you and your message], give it your [blessing of] peace [that is, a blessing of well-being and prosperity, the favor of God]. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace.
10:14:Whoever does not welcome you, nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust [of it] off your feet [in contempt, breaking all ties].
10:15:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city [since it rejected the Messiah’s messenger].
10:16:A Hard Road before Them
“Listen carefully: I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves [have no self-serving agenda].
10:17:Beware of men [whose nature is to act in opposition to God], for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues;
10:18:and you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
10:19:But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you within that [very] hour;
10:20:for it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
10:21:“Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; and children will rise up and rebel against their parents and cause them to be put death.
10:22:And you will be hated by everyone because of [your association with] My name, but it is the one who has patiently persevered and endured to the end who will be saved.
10:23:“When they persecute you in one city [because of your faith in Me], flee to the next; for I assure you and most solemnly say to you, you will not finish going through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
10:24:The Meaning of Discipleship
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a bond-servant above his master.
10:25:It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the bond-servant like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul (Satan), how much more [will they speak evil of] the members of his household.
10:26:“So do not be afraid of them, for nothing is hidden that will not be revealed [at the judgment], or kept secret that will not be made known [at the judgment].
10:27:What I say to you in the dark (privately), tell in the light (publicly); and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops [to many people].
10:28:Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
10:29:Are not two little sparrows sold for a copper coin? And yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.
10:30:But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered [for the Father is sovereign and has complete knowledge].
10:31:So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
10:32:“Therefore, the one who confesses and acknowledges Me before men [as Lord and Savior, affirming a state of oneness with Me], that one I will also confess and acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven.
10:33:But the one who denies and rejects Me before men, that one I will also deny and reject before My Father who is in heaven.
10:34:“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword [of division between belief and unbelief].
10:35:For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
10:36:and a man’s enemies will be the members of his [own] household [when one believes and another does not].
10:37:“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
10:38:And he who does not take his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] is not worthy of Me.
10:39:Whoever finds his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].
10:40:The Reward of Service
“He who receives and welcomes you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.
10:41:He who receives and welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous (honorable) man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.
10:42:And whoever gives to one of these little ones [these who are humble in rank or influence] even a cup of cold water to drink because he is my disciple, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”
11:1:John’s Questions
When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He went on from there to teach and to preach in their [Galilean] cities.
11:2:Now when John [the Baptist] in prison heard about the activities of Christ, he sent word by his disciples
11:3:and asked Him, “Are You the Expected One (the Messiah), or should we look for someone else [who will be the promised One]?”
11:4:Jesus answered, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:
11:5:the blind receive [their] sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed [by healing] and the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
11:6:And blessed [joyful, favored by God] is he who does not take offense at Me [accepting Me as the Messiah and trusting confidently in My message of salvation].”
11:7:Jesus’ Tribute to John
As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind [which is commonplace]?
11:8:What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing [entirely unsuited for the harsh desert]? Those who wear soft clothing are in the palaces of kings!
11:9:But what did you [really] go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one [more eminent, more remarkable, and] far more than a prophet [who foretells the future].
11:10:This is the one of whom it is written [by the prophet Malachi],
‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’
11:11:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater [in privilege] than he.
11:12:From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize].
11:13:For all the prophets and the Law prophesied up until John.
11:14:And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is [the fulfillment of] Elijah [as the messenger] who was to come [before the kingdom].
11:15:He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.
11:16:“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like little children sitting in the market places, who call to the others,
11:17:and say ‘We piped the flute for you [playing wedding], and you did not dance; we wailed sad dirges [playing funeral], and you did not mourn and cry aloud.’
11:18:For John came neither eating nor drinking [with others], and they say, ‘He has a demon!’
11:19:The Son of Man came eating and drinking [with others], and they say, ‘Look! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews]!’ Yet wisdom is justified and vindicated by her deeds [in the lives of those who respond to Me].”
11:20:The Unrepenting Cities
Then He began to denounce [the people in] the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent [and change their hearts and lives].
11:21:“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon [cities of the Gentiles], they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes [their hearts would have been changed and they would have expressed sorrow for their sin and rebellion against God].
11:22:Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for [the pagan cities of] Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
11:23:And you, Capernaum, are you to be exalted to heaven [for your apathy and unresponsiveness]? You will descend to Hades (the realm of the dead); for if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
11:24:But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment, than for you.”
11:25:Come to Me
At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth [I openly and joyfully acknowledge Your great wisdom], that You have hidden these things [these spiritual truths] from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants [to new believers, to those seeking God’s will and purpose].
11:26:Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.
11:27:All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Son except the Father; and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son [deliberately] wills to reveal Him.
11:28:“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation].
11:29:Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls.
11:30:For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”
12:1:Sabbath Questions
At that particular time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.
12:2:But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
12:3:He said to them, “Have you not read [in the Scriptures] what David did when he was hungry, he and those who accompanied him—
12:4:how he went into the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests only?
12:5:Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break [the sanctity of] the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
12:6:But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.
12:7:And if you had only known what this statement means, ‘I desire compassion [for those in distress], and not [animal] sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
12:8:Lord of the Sabbath
For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
12:9:Leaving there, He went into their synagogue.
12:10:A man was there whose hand was withered. And they asked Jesus, “Is it lawful and permissible to heal on the Sabbath?”—they asked this so that they might accuse Him and bring charges into court.
12:11:But He said to them, “What man is there among you who, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?
12:12:How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and permissible to do good on the Sabbath.”
12:13:Then He said to the man, “Reach out your hand!” The man reached out and it was restored, as normal and healthy as the other.
12:14:But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, discussing how they could destroy Him.
12:15:Being aware of this, Jesus left there. Many followed Him, and He healed all of them [who were sick],
12:16:and warned them not to tell [publicly] who He was.
12:17:This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
12:18:“Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen;
My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased;
I will put My Spirit upon Him,
And He will proclaim justice to the nations.
12:19:“He will not quarrel, nor cry out loudly;
Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
12:20:“A battered reed He will not break,
And a smoldering wick He will not extinguish,
Until He leads justice to victory.
12:21:“And in His name the Gentiles (all the nations of the world) will hope [with confidence].”
12:22:The Pharisees Rebuked
Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man both spoke and saw.
12:23:All the people wondered in amazement, and said, “Could this be the Son of David (the Messiah)?”
12:24:But the Pharisees heard it and said, “This man casts out demons only by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan) the prince of the demons.”
12:25:Knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom that is divided against itself is being laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will [continue to] stand.
12:26:If Satan casts out Satan [that is, his demons], he has become divided against himself and disunited; how then will his kingdom stand?
12:27:If I cast out the demons by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan), by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.
12:28:But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you [before you expected it].
12:29:Or how can anyone go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man? Then he will ransack and rob his house.
12:30:The Unpardonable Sin
He who is not with Me [once and for all on My side] is against Me; and he who does not [unequivocally] gather with Me scatters.
12:31:“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy [every evil, abusive, injurious speaking, or indignity against sacred things] will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit will not be forgiven.
12:32:Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit [by attributing the miracles done by Me to Satan] will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
12:33:Words Reveal Character
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is recognized and judged by its fruit.
12:34:You brood of vipers, how can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
12:35:The good man, from his [inner] good treasure, brings out good things; and the evil man, from his [inner] evil treasure, brings out evil things.
12:36:But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak.
12:37:For by your words [reflecting your spiritual condition] you will be justified and acquitted of the guilt of sin; and by your words [rejecting Me] you will be condemned and sentenced.”
12:38:The Desire for Signs
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign (attesting miracle) from You [proving that You are what You claim to be].”
12:39:But He replied and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation [that is morally unfaithful to God] craves and demands a [miraculous] sign; but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah;
12:40:for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
12:41:The men of Nineveh will stand up [as witnesses] at the judgment against this generation, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now, something greater than Jonah is here.
12:42:The Queen of the South (Sheba) will stand up [as a witness] at the judgment against this generation, and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and now, something greater than Solomon is here.
12:43:“Now when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through waterless (dry, arid) places in search of rest, but it does not find it.
12:44:Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, and put in order.
12:45:Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. So will it also be with this wicked generation.”
12:46:Changed Relationships
While He was still talking to the crowds, it happened that His mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to Him.
12:47:Someone said to Him, “Look! Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside asking to speak to You.”
12:48:But Jesus replied to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”
12:49:And stretching out His hand toward His disciples [and all His other followers], He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!
12:50:For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven [by believing in Me, and following Me] is My brother and sister and mother.”
13:1:Jesus Teaches in Parables
That same day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting beside the sea [of Galilee].
13:2:But such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat there [positioning Himself as a teacher], while the whole crowd stood on the shore.
13:3:He told them many things in parables, saying, “Listen carefully: a sower went out to sow [seed in his field];
13:4:and as he sowed, some seed fell beside the road [between the fields], and the birds came and ate it.
13:5:Other seed fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil; and at once they sprang up because they had no depth of soil.
13:6:But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
13:7:Other seed fell among thorns, and thorns came up and choked them out.
13:8:Other seed fell on good soil and yielded grain, some a hundred times as much [as was sown], some sixty [times as much], and some thirty.
13:9:He who has ears [to hear], let him hear and heed My words.”
13:10:An Explanation
Then the disciples came to Him and asked, “Why do You speak to the crowds in parables?”
13:11:Jesus replied to them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
13:12:For whoever has [spiritual wisdom because he is receptive to God’s word], to him more will be given, and he will be richly and abundantly supplied; but whoever does not have [spiritual wisdom because he has devalued God’s word], even what he has will be taken away from him.
13:13:This is the reason I speak to the crowds in parables: because while [having the power of] seeing they do not see, and while [having the power of] hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand and grasp [spiritual things].
13:14:In them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
‘You will hear and keep on hearing, but never understand;
And you will look and keep on looking, but never comprehend;
13:15:For this nation’s heart has grown hard,
And with their ears they hardly hear,
And they have [tightly] closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart, and turn [to Me]
And I would heal them [spiritually].’
13:16:But blessed [spiritually aware, and favored by God] are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
13:17:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, many prophets and righteous men [who were honorable and in right standing with God] longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
13:18:The Sower Explained
“Listen then to the [meaning of the] parable of the sower:
13:19:When anyone hears the word of the kingdom [regarding salvation] and does not understand and grasp it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.
13:20:The one on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and at once welcomes it with joy;
13:21:yet he has no [substantial] root in himself, but is only temporary, and when pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles and falls away [abandoning the One who is the source of salvation].
13:22:And the one on whom seed was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the worries and distractions of the world and the deceitfulness [the superficial pleasures and delight] of riches choke the word, and it yields no fruit.
13:23:And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands and grasps it; he indeed bears fruit and yields, some a hundred times [as much as was sown], some sixty [times as much], and some thirty.”
13:24:Weeds among Wheat
Jesus gave them another parable [to consider], saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.
13:25:But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds [resembling wheat] among the wheat, and went away.
13:26:So when the plants sprouted and formed grain, the weeds appeared also.
13:27:The servants of the owner came to him and said, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then how does it have weeds in it?’
13:28:He replied to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Then do you want us to go and pull them out?’
13:29:But he said, ‘No; because as you pull out the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.
13:30:Let them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First gather the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
13:31:The Mustard Seed
He gave them another parable [to consider], saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;
13:32:and of all the seeds [planted in the region] it is the smallest, but when it has grown it is the largest of the garden herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air find shelter in its branches.”
13:33:The Leaven
He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and worked into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
13:34:All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables, and He said nothing to them without [using] a parable.
13:35:This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:
“I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things [unknown and unattainable] that have been hidden [from mankind] since the foundation of the world.”
13:36:The Weeds Explained
Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him saying, “Explain [clearly] to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
13:37:He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,
13:38:and the field is the world; and [as for] the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil one;
13:39:and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.
13:40:So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
13:41:The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend [those things by which people are led into sin], and all who practice evil [leading others into sin],
13:42:and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].
13:43:Then the righteous [those who seek the will of God] will shine forth [radiating the new life] like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears [to hear], let him hear and heed My words.
13:44:Hidden Treasure
“The kingdom of heaven is like a [very precious] treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field [securing the treasure for himself].
13:45:A Costly Pearl
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,
13:46:and upon finding a single pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
13:47:A Dragnet
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet which was lowered into the sea, and gathered fish of every kind,
13:48:and when it was full, they dragged it up on the beach; and they sat down and sorted out the good fish into baskets, but the worthless ones they threw away.
13:49:So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous
13:50:and throw the wicked into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].
13:51:“Have you understood all these things [in the lessons of the parables]?” They said to Jesus, “Yes.”
13:52:He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things that are new and fresh and things that are old and familiar.”
13:53:Jesus Revisits Nazareth
When Jesus had finished these parables, He left there.
13:54:And after coming to [Nazareth] His hometown, He began teaching them in their synagogue, and they were astonished, and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers [what is the source of His authority]?
13:55:Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
13:56:And His sisters, are they not [living here] among us? Where then did this Man get all this [wisdom and power]?”
13:57:And they took offense at Him [refusing to believe in Him]. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”
13:58:And He did not do many miracles there [in Nazareth] because of their unbelief.
14:1:John the Baptist Beheaded
At that time Herod [Antipas], the tetrarch [who governed a portion of Palestine including Galilee and Perea], heard the reports about Jesus,
14:2:and said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and that is why the miraculous powers are at work in him.”
14:3:For Herod had John arrested and bound him and put him in prison [at the fortress of Machaerus, east of the Jordan, to keep him away] because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,
14:4:for John had said to him, “It is not lawful (morally right) for you to have her [living with you as your wife].”
14:5:Although Herod wished to have him put to death, he feared the people, for they regarded John as a prophet.
14:6:But when Herod’s birthday came, [his niece Salome], the daughter of Herodias danced [immodestly] before them and pleased and fascinated Herod,
14:7:so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.
14:8:She, being coached by her mother [Herodias], said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
14:9:The king was distressed, but because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests, he ordered it to be given her.
14:10:He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.
14:11:His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother [Herodias].
14:12:And John’s disciples came and took away the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
14:13:Five Thousand Fed
When Jesus heard about John, He left there privately in a boat and went to a secluded place. But when the crowds heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.
14:14:When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt [profound] compassion for them and healed their sick.
14:15:When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is an isolated place and the hour is already late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
14:16:But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”
14:17:They replied, “We have nothing here except five loaves and two fish.”
14:18:He said, “Bring them here to Me.”
14:19:Then He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and He took the five loaves and the two fish and, looking up toward heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people,
14:20:and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up twelve full baskets of the leftover broken pieces.
14:21:There were about 5,000 men who ate, besides women and children.
14:22:Jesus Walks on the Water
Immediately He directed the disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee], while He sent the crowds away.
14:23:After He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When it was evening, He was there alone.
14:24:But the boat [by this time] was already a long distance from land, tossed and battered by the waves; for the wind was against them.
14:25:And in the fourth watch of the night (3:00-6:00 a.m.) Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.
14:26:When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.
14:27:But immediately He spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I! Do not be afraid!”
14:28:Peter replied to Him, “Lord, if it is [really] You, command me to come to You on the water.”
14:29:He said, “Come!” So Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
14:30:But when he saw [the effects of] the wind, he was frightened, and he began to sink, and he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
14:31:Immediately Jesus extended His hand and caught him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
14:32:And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
14:33:Then those in the boat worshiped Him [with awe-inspired reverence], saying, “Truly You are the Son of God!”
14:34:When they had crossed over [the sea], they went ashore at Gennesaret.
14:35:And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word throughout all the surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick;
14:36:and they begged Him to let them merely touch the fringe of His robe; and all who touched it were perfectly restored.
15:1:Tradition and Commandment
Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said,
15:2:“Why do Your disciples violate the tradition (religious laws) handed down by the [Jewish] elders? For Your disciples do not [ceremonially] wash their hands before they eat.”
15:3:He replied to them, “Why also do you violate the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders]?
15:4:For God said [through Moses], ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of or insults or treats improperly father or mother is to be put to death.’
15:5:But you say, ‘If anyone says to his father or mother, “Whatever [money or resource that] I have that would help you is [already dedicated and] given to God,”
15:6:he is not to honor his father or his mother [by helping them with their need].’ So by this you have invalidated the word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect] for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders].
15:7:You hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said,
15:8:‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
15:9:‘But in vain do they worship Me,
For they teach as doctrines the precepts of men.’”
15:10:After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said, “Listen and understand this:
15:11:It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that defiles and dishonors him, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles and dishonors him.”
15:12:Then the disciples came and said to Jesus, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard you say this?”
15:13:He answered, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be torn up by the roots.
15:14:Leave them alone; they are blind guides [leading blind followers]. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
15:15:The Heart of Man
Peter asked Him, “Explain this parable [about what defiles a person] to us.”
15:16:And He said, “Are you still so dull [and unable to put things together]?
15:17:Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?
15:18:But whatever [word] comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what defiles and dishonors the man.
15:19:For out of the heart come evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming).
15:20:These are the things which defile and dishonor the man; but eating with [ceremonially] unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
15:21:The Syrophoenician Woman
After leaving there, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
15:22:And a Canaanite woman from that district came out and began to cry out [urgently], saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David (Messiah); my daughter is cruelly possessed by a demon.”
15:23:But He did not say a word in answer to her. And His disciples came and asked Him [repeatedly], “Send her away, because she keeps shouting out after us.”
15:24:He answered, “I was commissioned by God and sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
15:25:But she came and began to kneel down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
15:26:And He replied, “It is not good (appropriate, fair) to take the children’s bread and throw it to the pet dogs.”
15:27:She said, “Yes, Lord; but even the pet dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters’ table.”
15:28:Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith [your personal trust and confidence in My power] is great; it will be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.
15:29:Healing Crowds
Jesus went on from there and passed along by [the eastern shore of] the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on the hillside and was sitting there.
15:30:And great crowds came to Him, bringing with them the lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they put them down at His feet; and He healed them.
15:31:So the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praised and glorified the God of Israel.
15:32:Four Thousand Fed
Then Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and have nothing [left] to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, because they might faint [from exhaustion] on the way [home].”
15:33:The disciples said to Him, “Where are we to get enough bread in this isolated place to feed so large a crowd?”
15:34:And Jesus asked them, “How many loaves [of bread] do you have?” They replied, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
15:35:He directed the crowd to sit down on the ground,
15:36:and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and when He had given thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples [gave them] to the people.
15:37:And they all ate and were satisfied, and they gathered up seven full baskets of the broken pieces that were left over.
15:38:[Among] those who ate were 4,000 men, not counting women and children.
15:39:Then Jesus sent the crowds away, got into the boat and went to the district of Magadan.
16:1:Pharisees Test Jesus
Now the Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus [to get something to use against Him], they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven [which would support His divine authority].
16:2:But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’
16:3:And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and has a threatening look.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but cannot interpret the signs of the times?
16:4:An evil and [morally] unfaithful generation craves a [miraculous] sign; but no sign will be given to it, except the sign of [the prophet] Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.
16:5:When the disciples reached the other side of the sea, they realized that they had forgotten to bring bread.
16:6:Jesus said to them, “Watch out and be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
16:7:They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring bread.”
16:8:But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you have no bread?
16:9:Do you still not understand or remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up?
16:10:Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up?
16:11:How is it that you fail to understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
16:12:Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the [false] teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
16:13:Peter’s Confession of Christ
Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
16:14:And they answered, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or [just] one of the prophets.”
16:15:He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16:16:Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the living God.”
16:17:Then Jesus answered him, “Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, favored by God] are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood (mortal man) did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
16:18:And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades (death) will not overpower it [by preventing the resurrection of the Christ].
16:19:I will give you the keys (authority) of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind [forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful] on earth will have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth will have [already] been loosed in heaven.”
16:20:Then He gave the disciples strict orders to tell no one that He was the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
16:21:Jesus Foretells His Death
From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples [clearly] that He must go to Jerusalem, and endure many things at the hands of the elders and the chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), and be killed, and be raised [from death to life] on the third day.
16:22:Peter took Him aside [to speak to Him privately] and began to reprimand Him, saying, “May God forbid it! This will never happen to You.”
16:23:But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on things of God, but on things of man.”
16:24:Discipleship Is Costly
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].
16:25:For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].
16:26:For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
16:27:For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory and majesty of His Father with His angels, and then He will repay each one in accordance with what he has done.
16:28:“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
17:1:The Transfiguration
Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John the brother of James, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
17:2:And His appearance changed dramatically in their presence; and His face shone [with heavenly glory, clear and bright] like the sun, and His clothing became as white as light.
17:3:And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.
17:4:Then Peter began to speak and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good and delightful and auspicious that we are here; if You wish, I will put up three [sacred] tents here—one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
17:5:While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased and delighted! Listen to Him!”
17:6:When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were terrified.
17:7:But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.”
17:8:And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.
17:9:And as they were going down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
17:10:The disciples asked Him, “Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
17:11:He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things;
17:12:but I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not recognize him, but did to him as they wished. The Son of Man is also going to suffer at their hands.”
17:13:Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.
17:14:The Demoniac
When they approached the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, kneeling before Him and saying,
17:15:“Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic (moonstruck) and suffers terribly; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
17:16:And I brought him to Your disciples, and they were not able to heal him.”
17:17:And Jesus answered, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”
17:18:Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed at once.
17:19:Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why could we not drive it out?”
17:20:He answered, “Because of your little faith [your lack of trust and confidence in the power of God]; for I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if you have [living] faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and [if it is God’s will] it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
17:21:[But this kind of demon does not go out except by prayer and fasting.]”
17:22:When they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed and handed over to men [who are His enemies];
17:23:and they will kill Him, and He will be raised [from death to life] on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved and distressed.
17:24:The Tribute Money
When they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel [temple tax] went up to Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the half-shekel?”
17:25:Peter answered, “Yes.” And when he came home, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly rulers collect duties or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?”
17:26:When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are exempt [from taxation].
17:27:However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take it and give it to them [to pay the temple tax] for you and Me.”
18:1:Rank in the Kingdom
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
18:2:He called a little child and set him before them,
18:3:and said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent [that is, change your inner self—your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
18:4:Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
18:5:Whoever receives and welcomes one child like this in My name receives Me;
18:6:but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from My teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
18:7:Stumbling Blocks
“Woe (judgment is coming) to the world because of stumbling blocks and temptations to sin! It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person on whose account or through whom the stumbling block comes!
18:8:“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off and throw it away from you [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into everlasting fire.
18:9:If your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; it is better for you to enter life with only one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fiery hell.
18:10:“See that you do not despise or think less of one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven [are in the presence of and] continually look upon the face of My Father who is in heaven.
18:11:[For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]
18:12:Ninety-nine Plus One
“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of the one that is lost?
18:13:And if it turns out that he finds it, I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost.
18:14:So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones be lost.
18:15:Discipline and Prayer
“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens and pays attention to you, you have won back your brother.
18:16:But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
18:17:If he pays no attention to them [refusing to listen and obey], tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile (unbeliever) and a tax collector.
18:18:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whatever you bind [forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful] on earth shall have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth shall have [already] been loosed in heaven.
18:19:“Again I say to you, that if two believers on earth agree [that is, are of one mind, in harmony] about anything that they ask [within the will of God], it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
18:20:For where two or three are gathered in My name [meeting together as My followers], I am there among them.”
18:21:Forgiveness
Then Peter came to Him and asked, “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? Up to seven times?”
18:22:Jesus answered him, “I say to you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven.
18:23:“Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
18:24:When he began the accounting, one who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him.
18:25:“But because he could not repay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and his children and everything that he possessed, and payment to be made.
18:26:So the slave fell on his knees and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’
18:27:And his master’s heart was moved with compassion and he released him and forgave him [canceling] the debt.
18:28:But that same slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began choking him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe!’
18:29:So his fellow slave fell on his knees and begged him earnestly, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’
18:30:But he was unwilling and he went and had him thrown in prison until he paid back the debt.
18:31:When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and they went and reported to their master [with clarity and in detail] everything that had taken place.
18:32:Then his master called him and said to him, ‘You wicked and contemptible slave, I forgave all that [great] debt of yours because you begged me.
18:33:Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave [who owed you little by comparison], as I had mercy on you?’
18:34:And in wrath his master turned him over to the torturers (jailers) until he paid all that he owed.
18:35:My heavenly Father will also do the same to [every one of] you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
19:1:Concerning Divorce
Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the part of Judea that is beyond the Jordan;
19:2:and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.
19:3:And Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
19:4:He replied, “Have you never read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,
19:5:and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined inseparably to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
19:6:So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
19:7:The Pharisees said to Him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
19:8:He said to them, “Because your hearts were hard and stubborn Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.
19:9:I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
19:10:The disciples said to Jesus, “If the relationship of a man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”
19:11:But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom [the capacity to receive] it has been given.
19:12:For there are eunuchs who have been born that way from their mother’s womb [making them incapable of consummating a marriage]; and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men [for royal service]; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”
19:13:Jesus Blesses Little Children
Then children were brought to Jesus so that He might place His hands on them [for a blessing] and pray; but the disciples reprimanded them.
19:14:But He said, “Leave the children alone, and do not forbid them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
19:15:After placing His hands on them [for a blessing], He went on from there.
19:16:The Rich Young Ruler
And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what [essentially] good thing shall I do to obtain eternal life [that is, eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?”
19:17:Jesus answered, “Why are you asking Me about what is [essentially] good? There is only One who is [essentially] good; but if you wish to enter into eternal life, keep the commandments.”
19:18:He said to Jesus, “Which commandments?” And Jesus answered, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not give false testimony;
19:19:Honor your father and mother; and love your neighbor as yourself” [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].
19:20:The young man said to Him, “I have kept all these things [from my youth]; what do I still lack?”
19:21:Jesus answered him, “If you wish to be perfect [that is, have the spiritual maturity that accompanies godly character with no moral or ethical deficiencies], go and sell what you have and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me [becoming My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk].”
19:22:But when the young man heard this, he left grieving and distressed, for he owned much property and had many possessions [which he treasured more than his relationship with God].
19:23:Jesus said to His disciples, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, it is difficult for a rich man [who clings to possessions and status as security] to enter the kingdom of heaven.
19:24:Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man [who places his faith in wealth and status] to enter the kingdom of God.”
19:25:When the disciples heard this, they were completely astonished and bewildered, saying, “Then who can be saved [from the wrath of God]?”
19:26:But Jesus looked at them and said, “With people [as far as it depends on them] it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
19:27:The Disciples’ Reward
Then Peter answered Him, saying, “Look, we have given up everything and followed You [becoming Your disciples and accepting You as Teacher and Lord]; what then will there be for us?”
19:28:Jesus said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, in the renewal [that is, the Messianic restoration and regeneration of all things] when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you [who have followed Me, becoming My disciples] will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
19:29:And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.
19:30:But many who are first [in this world] will be last [in the world to come]; and the last, first.
20:1:Laborers in the Vineyard
“For the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out in the morning at dawn to hire workmen for his vineyard.
20:2:When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.
20:3:And he went out about the third hour (9:00 a.m.) and saw others standing idle in the market place;
20:4:and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right (an appropriate wage).’ And they went.
20:5:He went out about the sixth hour (noon) and the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), and did the same thing.
20:6:And about the eleventh hour (5:00 p.m.) he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’
20:7:They answered him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He told them, ‘You go into the vineyard also.’
20:8:“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last [to be hired] and ending with the first [to be hired].’
20:9:Those who had been hired at the eleventh hour (5:00 p.m.) came and received a denarius each [a day’s wage].
20:10:Now when the first [to be hired] came, they thought they would get more; but each of them also received a denarius.
20:11:When they received it, they protested and grumbled at the owner of the estate,
20:12:saying, ‘These men who came last worked [only] one hour, and yet you have made them equal [in wages] to us who have carried [most of] the burden and [worked in] the scorching heat of the day.’
20:13:But the owner of the estate replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?
20:14:Take what belongs to you and go, but I choose to give to this last man [hired] the same as I give to you.
20:15:Am I not lawfully permitted to do what I choose with what is mine? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’
20:16:So those who are last [in this world] shall be first [in the world to come], and those who are first, last.”
20:17:Death, Resurrection Foretold
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve [disciples] aside, and along the way He said to them,
20:18:“Listen carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), and they will [judicially] condemn Him and sentence Him to death,
20:19:and will hand Him over to the Gentiles (Roman authorities) to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and He will be raised [to life] on the third day.”
20:20:Preferred Treatment Asked
Then [Salome] the mother of Zebedee’s children [James and John] came up to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down [in respect], asked a favor of Him.
20:21:And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit [in positions of honor and authority] one on Your right and one on Your left.”
20:22:But Jesus replied, “You do not realize what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup [of suffering] that I am about to drink?” They answered, “We are able.”
20:23:He said to them, “You will drink My cup [of suffering]; but to sit on My right and on My left this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.”
20:24:And when the [other] ten heard this, they were resentful and angry with the two brothers.
20:25:But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles have absolute power and lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them].
20:26:It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
20:27:and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your [willing and humble] slave;
20:28:just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many [paying the price to set them free from the penalty of sin].”
20:29:Sight for the Blind
As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.
20:30:And two blind men were sitting by the road, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David (Messiah)!”
20:31:The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David (Messiah) have mercy on us!”
20:32:Jesus stopped and called them, and asked, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
20:33:They answered Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.”
20:34:Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him [as His disciples].
21:1:The Triumphal Entry
When they approached Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples [ahead],
21:2:saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me.
21:3:If anyone says anything to you, you should say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and without delay the owner will send them [with you].”
21:4:This happened so that what was spoken by the prophet would be fulfilled, saying:
21:5:“Tell the daughter of Zion (the people of Jerusalem),
‘Behold, your King is coming to you,
Gentle and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
21:6:Then the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them,
21:7:and they brought the donkey and the colt, and placed their coats on them; and Jesus sat on the coats.
21:8:Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road [as before a king], while others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road.
21:9:The crowds that went ahead of Him, and those that followed Him, were shouting [in praise and adoration],
“Hosanna to the Son of David (Messiah);
Blessed [praised, glorified] is He who comes in the name of the Lord;
Hosanna in the highest [heaven]!”
21:10:When He entered Jerusalem, all the city was trembling [with excitement], saying, “Who is this?”
21:11:And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”
21:12:Cleansing the Temple
And Jesus entered the temple [grounds] and drove out [with force] all who were buying and selling [birds and animals for sacrifice] in the temple area, and He turned over the tables of the moneychangers [who made a profit exchanging foreign money for temple coinage] and the chairs of those who were selling doves [for sacrifice].
21:13:Jesus said to them, “It is written [in Scripture], ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”
21:14:And the blind and the lame came to Him in [the porticoes and courts of] the temple area, and He healed them.
21:15:But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful and miraculous things that Jesus had done, and heard the boys who were shouting in [the porticoes and courts of] the temple [in praise and adoration], “Hosanna to the Son of David (the Messiah),” they became indignant
21:16:and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus replied to them, “Yes; have you never read [in the Scripture], ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared and provided praise for Yourself’?”
21:17:Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
21:18:The Barren Fig Tree
Now early in the morning, as Jesus was coming back to the city, He was hungry.
21:19:Seeing a lone fig tree at the roadside, He went to it and found nothing but leaves on it; and He said to it, “Never again will fruit come from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.
21:20:When the disciples saw it, they were astonished and asked, “How is it that the fig tree has withered away all at once?”
21:21:Jesus replied to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if you have faith [personal trust and confidence in Me] and do not doubt or allow yourself to be drawn in two directions, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen [if God wills it].
21:22:And whatever you ask for in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
21:23:Authority Challenged
When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching and said, “By what [kind of] authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority [to exercise this power]?”
21:24:Jesus replied to them, “I will also ask you a question, and if you tell Me the answer, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
21:25:The baptism of John—from where did it come? From heaven [that is, ordained by God] or from men?” And they began debating among themselves [considering the implications of their answer], saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe John?’
21:26:But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the [response of the] crowd; for they all regard John as a prophet.”
21:27:So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what [kind of] authority I do these things.”
21:28:Parable of Two Sons
“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’
21:29:And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and changed his mind and went.
21:30:Then the man came to the second son and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go.
21:31:Which of the two did the will of the father?” The chief priests and elders replied, “The first one.” Jesus said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.
21:32:For John came to you [walking] in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even change your mind afterward and believe him [accepting what he proclaimed to you].
21:33:Parable of the Landowner
“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to tenant farmers and went on a journey [to another country].
21:34:When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his [share of the] fruit.
21:35:But the tenants took his servants and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third.
21:36:Again he sent other servants, more than the first time; and they treated them the same way.
21:37:Finally he sent his own son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son and have regard for him.’
21:38:But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This [man] is the heir; come on, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’
21:39:So they took the son and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
21:40:Now when the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those tenants?”
21:41:They said to Him, “He will put those despicable men to a miserable end, and rent out the vineyard to other tenants [of good character] who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”
21:42:Jesus asked them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘The [very] Stone which the builders rejected and threw away,
Has become the chief Cornerstone;
This is the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous and wonderful in our eyes’?
21:43:Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to [another] people who will produce the fruit of it.
21:44:And he who falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces; but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
21:45:When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was talking about them.
21:46:And although they were trying to arrest Him, they feared the people, because they regarded Jesus as a prophet.
22:1:Parable of the Marriage Feast
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying,
22:2:“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.
22:3:And he sent his servants to call those who had [previously] been invited to the wedding feast, but they refused to come.
22:4:Then he sent out some other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened calves are butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’
22:5:But they paid no attention [they disregarded the invitation, treating it with contempt] and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.
22:6:The rest [of the invited guests] seized his servants and mistreated them [insulting and humiliating them] and killed them.
22:7:The king was enraged [when he heard this], and sent his soldiers and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
22:8:Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding [feast] is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
22:9:So go to the main highways that lead out of the city, and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’
22:10:Those servants went out into the streets and gathered together all the people they could find, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests [sitting at the banquet table].
22:11:“But when the king came in to see the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed [appropriately] in wedding clothes,
22:12:and he said, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wearing the wedding clothes [that were provided for you]?’ And the man was speechless and without excuse.
22:13:Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the darkness outside; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].’
22:14:For many are called (invited, summoned), but few are chosen.”
22:15:Tribute to Caesar
Then the Pharisees went and conspired together plotting how to trap Him by [distorting] what He said.
22:16:They sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are sincere and that You teach the way of God truthfully, without concerning Yourself about [what] anyone [thinks or says of Your teachings]; for You are impartial and do not seek anyone’s favor [and You treat all people alike, regardless of status].
22:17:Tell us then, what do You think? Is it permissible [according to Jewish law and tradition] to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?”
22:18:But Jesus, aware of their malice, asked, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?
22:19:Show me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius [a day’s wage].
22:20:And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”
22:21:They said, “[The Emperor Tiberius] Caesar’s.” Then He said to them, “Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”
22:22:When they heard this, they were caught off guard, and they left Him and went away.
22:23:Jesus Answers the Sadducees
On that day some Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection [of the dead], came to Him and asked Him a question,
22:24:saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, leaving no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his widow, and raise children for his brother.’
22:25:Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother.
22:26:The second also [died childless], and the third, down to the seventh.
22:27:Last of all, the woman died.
22:28:So in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”
22:29:But Jesus replied to them, “You are all wrong because you know neither the Scriptures [which teach the resurrection] nor the power of God [for He is able to raise the dead].
22:30:For in the resurrection neither do men marry nor are women given in marriage, but they are like angels in heaven [who do not marry nor produce children].
22:31:But as to the resurrection of the dead—have you not read [in the Scripture] what God said to you:
22:32:‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
22:33:When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
22:34:Now when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced (muzzled) the Sadducees, they gathered together.
22:35:One of them, a lawyer [an expert in Mosaic Law], asked Jesus a question, to test Him:
22:36:“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
22:37:And Jesus replied to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
22:38:This is the first and greatest commandment.
22:39:The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’
22:40:The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
22:41:Now while the Pharisees were [still] gathered together, Jesus asked them a question:
22:42:“What do you [Pharisees] think of the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.”
22:43:Jesus asked them, “How is it then that David by the inspiration of the Spirit, calls Him ‘Lord,’ saying,
22:44:‘The Lord (the Father) said to my Lord (the Son, the Messiah),
“Sit at My right hand,
Until I put Your enemies under Your feet”’?
22:45:So then, if David calls Him (the Son, the Messiah) ‘Lord,’ how is He David’s son?”
22:46:No one was able to say a word to Him in answer, nor from that day on did anyone dare to question Him again.
23:1:Pharisaism Exposed
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,
23:2:saying: “The scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in Moses’ chair [of authority as teachers of the Law];
23:3:so practice and observe everything they tell you, but do not do as they do; for they preach [things], but do not practice them.
23:4:The scribes and Pharisees tie up heavy loads [that are hard to bear] and place them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not lift a finger [to make them lighter].
23:5:They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries (tefillin) wide [to make them more conspicuous] and make their tassels long.
23:6:They love the place of distinction and honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues [those on the platform near the scrolls of the Law, facing the congregation],
23:7:and to be greeted [with respect] in the market places and public forums, and to have people call them Rabbi.
23:8:But do not be called Rabbi (Teacher); for One is your Teacher, and you are all [equally] brothers.
23:9:Do not call anyone on earth [who guides you spiritually] your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
23:10:Do not let yourselves be called leaders or teachers; for One is your Leader (Teacher), the Christ.
23:11:But the greatest among you will be your servant.
23:12:Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be raised to honor.
23:13:Eight Woes
“But woe (judgment is coming) to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are [in the process of] entering to do so.
23:14:[Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you swallow up widows’ houses, and to cover it up you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation.]
23:15:“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte (convert to Judaism), and when he becomes a convert, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
23:16:“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears [an oath] by the sanctuary of the temple, that is nothing (non-binding); but whoever swears [an oath] by the gold of the temple is obligated [as a debtor to fulfill his vow and keep his promise].’
23:17:You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the sanctuary of the temple that sanctified the gold?
23:18:And [you scribes and Pharisees say], ‘Whoever swears [an oath] by the altar, that is nothing (non-binding), but whoever swears [an oath] by the offering on it, he is obligated [as a debtor to fulfill his vow and keep his promise].’
23:19:You [spiritually] blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?
23:20:Therefore, whoever swears [an oath] by the altar, swears both by it and by everything [offered] on it.
23:21:And whoever swears [an oath] by the sanctuary of the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells within it.
23:22:And whoever swears [an oath] by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
23:23:“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you give a tenth (tithe) of your mint and dill and cumin [focusing on minor matters], and have neglected the weightier [more important moral and spiritual] provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the [primary] things you ought to have done without neglecting the others.
23:24:You [spiritually] blind guides, who strain out a gnat [consuming yourselves with miniscule matters] and swallow a camel [ignoring and violating God’s precepts]!
23:25:“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and robbery and self-indulgence (unrestrained greed).
23:26:You [spiritually] blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the plate [examine and change your inner self to conform to God’s precepts], so that the outside [your public life and deeds] may be clean also.
23:27:“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.
23:28:So you, also, outwardly seem to be just and upright to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
23:29:“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets and decorate and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
23:30:and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
23:31:So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
23:32:Fill up, then, the [allotted] measure of the guilt of your fathers’ sins.
23:33:You serpents, you spawn of vipers, how can you escape the penalty of hell?
23:34:“Therefore, take notice, I am sending you prophets and wise men [interpreters, teachers] and scribes [men educated in the Mosaic Law and the writings of the prophets]; some of them you will kill and even crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues, and pursue and persecute from city to city,
23:35:so that on you will come the guilt of all the blood of the righteous shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah [the priest], the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
23:36:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, [the judgment for] all these things [these vile and murderous deeds] will come on this generation.
23:37:Lament over Jerusalem
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who murders the prophets and stones [to death] those [messengers] who are sent to her [by God]! How often I wanted to gather your children together [around Me], as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
23:38:Listen carefully: your house is being left to you desolate [completely abandoned by God and destitute of His protection]!
23:39:For I say to you, you will not see Me again [ministering to you publicly] until you say, ‘Blessed [to be celebrated with praise] is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
24:1:Signs of Christ’s Return
Jesus left the temple area and was going on His way when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to the [magnificent and massive] buildings of the temple.
24:2:And He said to them, “Do you see all these things? I assure you and most solemnly say to you, not one stone here will be left on another, which will not be torn down.”
24:3:While Jesus was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, and said, “Tell us, when will this [destruction of the temple] take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end (completion, consummation) of the age?”
24:4:Jesus answered, “Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error].
24:5:For many will come in My name [misusing it, and appropriating the strength of the name which belongs to Me], saying, ‘I am the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed),’ and they will mislead many.
24:6:You will continually hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end [of the age].
24:7:For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
24:8:But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs [of the intolerable anguish and the time of unprecedented trouble].
24:9:“Then they will hand you over to [endure] tribulation, and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.
24:10:At that time many will be offended and repelled [by their association with Me] and will fall away [from the One whom they should trust] and will betray one another [handing over believers to their persecutors] and will hate one another.
24:11:Many false prophets will appear and mislead many.
24:12:Because lawlessness is increased, the love of most people will grow cold.
24:13:But the one who endures and bears up [under suffering] to the end will be saved.
24:14:This good news of the kingdom [the gospel] will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end [of the age] will come.
24:15:Perilous Times
“So when you see the abomination of desolation [the appalling sacrilege that astonishes and makes desolate], spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader understand),
24:16:then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains [for refuge].
24:17:“Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things that are in his house [because there will not be enough time].
24:18:“Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his coat.
24:19:And woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
24:20:Pray that your flight [from persecution and suffering] will not be in winter, or on a Sabbath [when Jewish laws prohibit travel].
24:21:For at that time there will be a great tribulation (pressure, distress, oppression), such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will [again].
24:22:And if those days [of tribulation] had not been cut short, no human life would be saved; but for the sake of the elect (God’s chosen ones) those days will be shortened.
24:23:Then if anyone says to you [during the great tribulation], ‘Look! Here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe it.
24:24:For false Christs and false prophets will appear and they will provide great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect (God’s chosen ones).
24:25:Listen carefully, I have told you in advance.
24:26:So if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out there, or, ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms [of a house],’ do not believe it.
24:27:For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming [in glory] of the Son of Man [everyone will see Him clearly].
24:28:Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will flock together.
24:29:The Glorious Return
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not provide its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
24:30:And at that time the sign of the Son of Man [coming in His glory] will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth [and especially Israel] will mourn [regretting their rebellion and rejection of the Messiah], and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory [in brilliance and splendor].
24:31:And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet and they will gather together His elect (God’s chosen ones) from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
24:32:Parable of the Fig Tree
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its young shoots become tender and it puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near;
24:33:so you, too, when you see all these things [taking place], know for certain that He is near, right at the door.
24:34:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this generation [the people living when these signs and events begin] will not pass away until all these things take place.
24:35:Heaven and earth [as now known] will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
24:36:“But of that [exact] day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son [in His humanity], but the Father alone.
24:37:For the coming of the Son of Man (the Messiah) will be just like the days of Noah.
24:38:For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the [very] day when Noah entered the ark,
24:39:and they did not know or understand until the flood came and swept them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be [unexpected judgment].
24:40:At that time two men will be in the field; one will be taken [for judgment] and one will be left.
24:41:Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken [for judgment] and one will be left.
24:42:Be Ready for His Coming
“So be alert [give strict attention, be cautious and active in faith], for you do not know which day [whether near or far] your Lord is coming.
24:43:But understand this: If the head of the house had known what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
24:44:Therefore, you [who follow Me] must also be ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.
24:45:“Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has put in charge of his household to give the others [in the house] their food and supplies at the proper time?
24:46:Blessed is that [faithful] servant when his master returns and finds him doing so.
24:47:I assure you and most solemnly say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
24:48:But if that servant is evil and says in his heart, ‘My master is taking his time [he will not return for a long while],’
24:49:and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards;
24:50:the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour of which he is not aware,
24:51:and will cut him in two and put him with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].
25:1:Parable of Ten Virgins
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
25:2:Five of them were foolish [thoughtless, silly, and careless], and five were wise [far-sighted, practical, and sensible].
25:3:For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take any [extra] oil with them,
25:4:but the wise took flasks of oil along with their lamps.
25:5:Now while the bridegroom was delayed, they all began to nod off, and they fell asleep.
25:6:But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! The bridegroom [is coming]! Go out to meet him.’
25:7:Then all those virgins got up and put their own lamps in order [trimmed the wicks and added oil and lit them].
25:8:But the foolish virgins said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’
25:9:But the wise replied, ‘No, otherwise there will not be enough for us and for you, too; go instead to the dealers and buy oil for yourselves.’
25:10:But while they were going away to buy oil, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut and locked.
25:11:Later the others also came, and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open [the door] for us.’
25:12:But He replied, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, I do not know you [we have no relationship].’
25:13:Therefore, be on the alert [be prepared and ready], for you do not know the day nor the hour [when the Son of Man will come].
25:14:Parable of the Talents
“For it is just like a man who was about to take a journey, and he called his servants together and entrusted them with his possessions.
25:15:To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and then he went on his journey.
25:16:The one who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he [made a profit and] gained five more.
25:17:Likewise the one who had two [made a profit and] gained two more.
25:18:But the one who had received the one went and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
25:19:“Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
25:20:And the one who had received the five talents came and brought him five more, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted to me five talents. See, I have [made a profit and] gained five more talents.’
25:21:His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little, I will put you in charge of many things; share in the joy of your master.’
25:22:“Also the one who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have [made a profit and] gained two more talents.’
25:23:His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little, I will put you in charge of many things; share in the joy of your master.’
25:24:“The one who had received one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a harsh and demanding man, reaping [the harvest] where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed.
25:25:So I was afraid [to lose the talent], and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is your own.’
25:26:“But his master answered him, ‘You wicked, lazy servant, you knew that I reap [the harvest] where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter seed.
25:27:Then you ought to have put my money with the bankers, and at my return I would have received my money back with interest.
25:28:So take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
25:29:“For to everyone who has [and values his blessings and gifts from God, and has used them wisely], more will be given, and [he will be richly supplied so that] he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have [because he has ignored or disregarded his blessings and gifts from God], even what he does have will be taken away.
25:30:And throw out the worthless servant into the outer darkness; in that place [of grief and torment] there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].
25:31:The Judgment
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory and majesty and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
25:32:All the nations will be gathered before Him [for judgment]; and He will separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats;
25:33:and He will put the sheep on His right [the place of honor], and the goats on His left [the place of rejection].
25:34:“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father [you favored of God, appointed to eternal salvation], inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
25:35:For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
25:36:I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me [with help and ministering care]; I was in prison, and you came to Me [ignoring personal danger].’
25:37:Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
25:38:And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
25:39:And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
25:40:The King will answer and say to them, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me.’
25:41:“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Leave Me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (demons);
25:42:for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
25:43:I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me [with help and ministering care].’
25:44:Then they also [in their turn] will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
25:45:Then He will reply to them, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these [my followers], you did not do it for Me.’
25:46:Then these [unbelieving people] will go away into eternal (unending) punishment, but those who are righteous and in right standing with God [will go, by His remarkable grace] into eternal (unending) life.”
26:1:The Plot to Kill Jesus
When Jesus had finished this discourse, He said to His disciples,
26:2:“You know that the Passover is coming in two days, and the Son of Man is to be betrayed and handed over for crucifixion.”
26:3:Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of the [elegant home of the Jewish] high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
26:4:and plotted together to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him.
26:5:But they said, “It must not be during the festival (Passover), otherwise there might be a riot among the people.”
26:6:The Anointing in Bethany
Now when Jesus was [back] in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper,
26:7:a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume and she poured it on Jesus’ head as He reclined at the table.
26:8:But when the disciples saw it they were indignant and angry, saying, “Why all this waste [of money]?
26:9:For this perfume might have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
26:10:But Jesus, aware [of the malice] of this [remark], said to them, “Why are you bothering the woman? She has done a good thing to Me.
26:11:For you always have the poor with you; but you will not always have Me.
26:12:When she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.
26:13:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, wherever this gospel [of salvation] is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her [for her act of love and devotion].”
26:14:Judas’ Bargain
Then one of the twelve [disciples], who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
26:15:and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Jesus over to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver.
26:16:And from that moment Judas began looking for an opportune time to betray Jesus.
26:17:Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread (Passover Week) the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”
26:18:He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time [to suffer and atone for sin] is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’”
26:19:[Accordingly] the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.
26:20:The Last Passover
When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.
26:21:And as they were eating, He said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you that one of you will betray Me.”
26:22:Being deeply grieved and extremely distressed, each one of them began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?”
26:23:Jesus answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the bowl with Me [as a pretense of friendship] will betray Me.
26:24:The Son of Man is to go [to the cross], just as it is written [in Scripture] of Him; but woe (judgment is coming) to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”
26:25:And Judas, the betrayer, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself.”
26:26:The Lord’s Supper Instituted
Now as they were eating Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
26:27:And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;
26:28:for this is My blood of the [new and better] covenant, which [ratifies the agreement and] is being poured out for many [as a substitutionary atonement] for the forgiveness of sins.
26:29:But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
26:30:After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
26:31:Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night [disillusioned about Me, confused, and some even ashamed of Me], for it is written [in the Scriptures], ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
26:32:But after I am raised [to life], I will go ahead of you [leading the way] to Galilee.”
26:33:Peter replied to Him, “Though they all fall away because of You [and doubt and disown You], I will never fall away!”
26:34:Jesus said to him, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this night, before a rooster crows, you will [completely] deny Me three times.”
26:35:Peter said to Jesus, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And all the disciples said the same thing.
26:36:The Garden of Gethsemane
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane (olive-press), and He told His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
26:37:And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee [James and John], He began to be grieved and greatly distressed.
26:38:Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and stay awake and keep watch with Me.”
26:39:And after going a little farther, He fell face down and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible [that is, consistent with Your will], let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
26:40:And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not stay awake and keep watch with Me for one hour?
26:41:Keep actively watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
26:42:He went away a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
26:43:Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
26:44:So, leaving them again, He went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words once more.
26:45:Then He returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Listen, the hour [of My sacrifice] is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners [whose way and nature is to oppose God].
26:46:Get up, let us go. Look, My betrayer is near!”
26:47:Jesus’ Betrayal and Arrest
As Jesus was still speaking, Judas [Iscariot], one of the twelve [disciples], came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, [who came as representatives] from the chief priests and elders of the people.
26:48:Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him.”
26:49:Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, “Greetings (rejoice), Rabbi!” And he kissed Him [in a deliberate act of betrayal].
26:50:Jesus said to Judas, “Friend, do what you came for.” Then they came and seized Jesus and arrested Him.
26:51:And one of those who were with Jesus reached out and drew his sword, and struck [Malchus] the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.
26:52:Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back in its place; for all those who habitually draw the sword will die by the sword.
26:53:Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will immediately provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?
26:54:How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen this way?”
26:55:At that moment Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a robber? Day after day I used to sit in the porches and courts of the temple teaching, and you did not arrest Me.
26:56:But all this has taken place so that the Scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted Him and fled.
26:57:Jesus before Caiaphas
Those who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) had gathered [illegally] together.
26:58:But Peter followed Him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the [elegant home of the Jewish] high priest, and went inside, and sat with the guards to see the outcome.
26:59:Now the chief priests and the whole Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) tried to get false witnesses to testify against Jesus, so that they might [have a reason to] put Him to death.
26:60:They found none, even though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward,
26:61:and testified, “This man said, ‘I am able to tear down the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”
26:62:The high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Have You no answer to give? What is it that these men are testifying against You?”
26:63:But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I call on You to swear a binding oath by the living God, that you tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
26:64:Jesus said to him, “You have [in fact] said it; but more than that I tell you [regardless of what you do with Me now], in the future you will see [Me revealed as] the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
26:65:Then the high priest tore his robes [in mock horror] and exclaimed, “He has blasphemed [by making Himself God’s equal]! What further need have we of witnesses or evidence? See, you have now heard the blasphemy.
26:66:What do you think?” They answered, “He deserves to be put to death.”
26:67:Then they spat in His face and struck Him with their fists; and some slapped Him,
26:68:saying, “Prophesy to us, You Christ (Messiah, Anointed); who was it that struck You?”
26:69:Peter’s Denials
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came up to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.”
26:70:But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.”
26:71:And when he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”
26:72:And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.”
26:73:After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them too; for even your [Galilean] accent gives you away.”
26:74:Then he began to curse [that is, to invoke God’s judgment on himself] and swear [an oath], “I do not know the man!” And at that moment a rooster crowed.
26:75:And Peter remembered the [prophetic] words of Jesus, when He had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly [in repentance].
27:1:Judas’ Remorse
When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) conferred together against Jesus, [plotting how] to put Him to death [since under Roman rule they had no power to execute anyone];
27:2:so they bound Him, and led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate the governor [of Judea, who had the authority to condemn prisoners to death].
27:3:When Judas, His betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was gripped with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders,
27:4:saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They replied, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!”
27:5:And throwing the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary, he left; and went away and hanged himself.
27:6:The chief priests, picking up the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put these in the treasury [of the temple], because it is the price of blood.”
27:7:So after consultation they used the money to buy the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers.
27:8:Therefore that piece of ground has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
27:9:Then the words spoken by Jeremiah the prophet were fulfilled: “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him on whom a price had been set by the sons of Israel;
27:10:and they gave them for the Potter’s Field, as the Lord directed me.”
27:11:Jesus before Pilate
Now Jesus stood before [Pilate] the governor, and the governor asked Him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” [In affirmation] Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.”
27:12:But when the charges were brought against Him by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer.
27:13:Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they are testifying against You?”
27:14:But Jesus did not reply to him, not even to a single accusation, so that the governor was greatly astonished.
27:15:Now at the feast [of the Passover] the governor was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner whom the people chose.
27:16:And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner [guilty of insurrection and murder], called Barabbas.
27:17:So when they had assembled [for this purpose], Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to set free for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
27:18:For Pilate knew that it was because of jealousy that the chief priests and elders had handed Jesus over to him.
27:19:While he was seated on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous and innocent Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.”
27:20:But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death.
27:21:The governor said to them, “Which of the two do you wish me to set free for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.”
27:22:Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all replied, “Let Him be crucified!”
27:23:And he said, “Why, what has He done that is evil?” But they continued shouting all the louder, “Let Him be crucified!”
27:24:So when Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but rather that a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands [to ceremonially cleanse himself of guilt] in the presence of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this [righteous] Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.”
27:25:And all the people answered, “Let [the responsibility for] His blood be on us and on our children!”
27:26:So he set Barabbas free for them; but after having Jesus severely whipped (scourged), he handed Him over to be crucified.
27:27:Jesus Is Mocked
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and they gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him.
27:28:They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on Him [as a king’s robe].
27:29:And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand [as a scepter]. Kneeling before Him, they ridiculed Him, saying, “Hail (rejoice), King of the Jews!”
27:30:They spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him repeatedly on the head.
27:31:After they finished ridiculing Him, they stripped Him of the scarlet robe and put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.
27:32:Now as they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced into service to carry the cross of Jesus.
27:33:The Crucifixion
And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull,
27:34:they offered Him wine mixed with gall (myrrh, a bitter-tasting narcotic) to drink; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.
27:35:And when they had crucified Him, they divided His clothes among them by casting lots.
27:36:Then sitting down there, they began to keep watch over Him [to guard against any rescue attempt].
27:37:And above His head they put the accusation against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
27:38:At the same time two robbers were crucified with Jesus, one on the right and one on the left.
27:39:Those who passed by were hurling abuse at Him and jeering at Him, wagging their heads [in scorn and ridicule],
27:40:and they said [tauntingly], “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself [from death]! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
27:41:In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, mocked Him, saying,
27:42:“He saved others [from death]; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him and acknowledge Him.
27:43:He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
27:44:The robbers who had been crucified with Him also began to insult Him in the same way.
27:45:Now from the sixth hour (noon) there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.).
27:46:About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud [agonized] voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
27:47:When some of the bystanders there heard it, they began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.”
27:48:Immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, soaked it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.
27:49:But the rest said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him [from death].”
27:50:And Jesus cried out again with a loud [agonized] voice, and gave up His spirit [voluntarily, sovereignly dismissing and releasing His spirit from His body in submission to His Father’s plan].
27:51:And [at once] the veil [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split apart.
27:52:The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints (God’s people) who had fallen asleep [in death] were raised [to life];
27:53:and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city (Jerusalem) and appeared to many people.
27:54:Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, they were terribly frightened and filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
27:55:There were also many women there looking on from a distance, who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him.
27:56:Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and [Salome] the mother of Zebedee’s sons [James and John].
27:57:Jesus Is Buried
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus.
27:58:He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus [so that he might bury Him], and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.
27:59:And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth (burial wrapping),
27:60:and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock; and he rolled a large stone over the entrance of the tomb and went away.
27:61:And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.
27:62:The next day, that is, the day after the [day of] preparation [for the Sabbath], the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate,
27:63:and said, “Sir, we have remembered that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise [from the dead].’
27:64:Therefore, give orders to have the tomb made secure and safeguarded until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception [the reporting of His resurrection] will be worse than the first [the reporting that He is the Messiah].”
27:65:Pilate said to them, “You have a guard [of soldiers]; go [with them], make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
27:66:So they went and made the tomb secure, and along with [stationing] a guard of soldiers [to be on watch] they set a seal on the stone.
28:1:Jesus Is Risen!
Now after the Sabbath, near dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
28:2:And a great earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone [from the opening of the tomb], and sat on it.
28:3:The angel’s appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow.
28:4:The guards shook, paralyzed with fear [at the sight] of him and became like dead men [pale and immobile].
28:5:But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
28:6:He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said [He would]. Come! See the place where He was lying.
28:7:Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee [as He promised]. There you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
28:8:So the women left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell [the good news to] the disciples.
28:9:And as they went, suddenly, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” And they went to Him and took hold of His feet [in homage] and worshiped Him [as the Messiah].
28:10:Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell My brothers to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me [just as I promised].”
28:11:While they were on their way, some of the [Roman] guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.
28:12:And when the chief priests had gathered with the elders and had consulted together [to develop a plan of deception], they gave a sufficient sum of money [as a bribe] to the soldiers,
28:13:and said, “You say this, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him while we were sleeping.’
28:14:And if the governor (Pilate) hears about it, we will calm him down and keep you out of trouble.”
28:15:So they took the money [they were paid for lying] and did as they were instructed; and this [fabricated] story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to the present day.
28:16:The Great Commission
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.
28:17:And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted [that it was really He].
28:18:Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
28:19:Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
28:20:teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.”
mark:1:1:The Preaching of John the Baptist
The beginning of the [facts regarding the] good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
1:2:As it is written and forever remains in the [writings of the] prophet Isaiah:
“Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way—
1:3:A voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”
1:4:John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins [that is, requiring a change of one’s old way of thinking, turning away from sin and seeking God and His righteousness].
1:5:And all the country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem were continually going out to him; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
1:6:John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a [wide] leather band around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
1:7:And he was preaching, saying, “After me comes He who is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I, and I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the straps of His sandals [even as His slave].
1:8:As for me, I baptized you [who came to me] with water [only]; but He will baptize you [who truly repent] with the Holy Spirit.”
1:9:The Baptism of Jesus
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
1:10:Immediately coming up out of the water, he (John) saw the heavens torn open, and the Spirit like a dove descending on Him (Jesus);
1:11:and a voice came out of heaven saying: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased and delighted!”
1:12:Immediately the [Holy] Spirit forced Him out into the wilderness.
1:13:He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted [to do evil] by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered continually to Him.
1:14:Jesus Preaches in Galilee
Now after John [the Baptist] was arrested and taken into custody, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of [the kingdom of] God,
1:15:and saying, “The [appointed period of] time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life] and believe [with a deep, abiding trust] in the good news [regarding salvation].”
1:16:As Jesus was walking by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon [Peter] and Simon’s brother, Andrew, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.
1:17:And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men.”
1:18:Immediately they left their nets and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].
1:19:Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who were also in the boat mending and cleaning the nets.
1:20:Immediately Jesus called to them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers, and went away to follow Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].
1:21:They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.
1:22:They were completely amazed at His teaching; because He was teaching them as one having [God-given] authority, and not as the scribes.
1:23:Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out [terribly from the depths of his throat],
1:24:saying, “What business do You have with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
1:25:Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet (muzzled, silenced), and come out of him!”
1:26:The unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions, and screeching with a loud voice, came out of him.
1:27:They were all so amazed that they debated and questioned each other, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits (demons), and they obey Him.”
1:28:Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere throughout the district surrounding Galilee.
1:29:Healing the Crowds
And immediately they left the synagogue and went into the house of Simon [Peter] and Andrew, accompanied by James and John.
1:30:Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they told Him about her.
1:31:Jesus went to her, and taking her by the hand, raised her up; and the fever left her, and she began to serve them [as her guests].
1:32:Now when evening came, after the sun had set [and the Sabbath Day had ended, in a steady stream] they were bringing to Him all who were sick and those who were under the power of demons,
1:33:until [it seemed as though] the whole city had gathered together at the door.
1:34:And Jesus healed many who were suffering with various diseases; and He drove out many demons, but would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him [recognizing Him as the Son of God].
1:35:Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left [the house], and went out to a secluded place, and was praying there.
1:36:Simon [Peter] and his companions searched [everywhere, looking anxiously] for Him,
1:37:and they found Him and said, “Everybody is looking for You!”
1:38:He replied, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so I may preach there also; that is why I came [from the Father].”
1:39:So He went throughout Galilee, preaching [the gospel] in their synagogues and casting out demons.
1:40:And a leper came to Him, begging Him and falling on his knees before Him, saying, “If You are willing, You are able to make me clean.”
1:41:Moved with compassion [for his suffering], Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
1:42:The leprosy left him immediately and he was cleansed [completely healed and restored to health].
1:43:And Jesus [deeply moved] admonished him sternly and sent him away immediately,
1:44:saying to him, “See that you tell no one anything [about this]; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your purification what Moses commanded, as proof to them [that you are really healed].”
1:45:But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news [of his healing], to such an extent that Jesus could no longer openly enter a city [where He was known], but stayed out in the unpopulated places; yet people were still coming to Him from everywhere.
2:1:The Paralytic Healed
Jesus returned to Capernaum, and a few days later the news went out that He was at home.
2:2:So many people gathered together that there was no longer room [for them], not even near the door; and Jesus was discussing with them the word [of God].
2:3:Then they came, bringing to Him a paralyzed man, who was being carried by four men.
2:4:When they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Jesus; and when they had dug out an opening, they let down the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying.
2:5:When Jesus saw their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], He said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
2:6:But some of the scribes were sitting there debating in their hearts [the implication of what He had said],
2:7:“Why does this man talk that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins [remove guilt, nullify sin’s penalty, and assign righteousness] except God alone?”
2:8:Immediately Jesus, being fully aware [of their hostility] and knowing in His spirit that they were thinking this, said to them, “Why are you debating and arguing about these things in your hearts?
2:9:Which is easier, to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your mat and walk’?
2:10:But so that you may know that the Son of Man has the authority and power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralyzed man,
2:11:“I say to you, get up, pick up your mat and go home.”
2:12:And he got up and immediately picked up the mat and went out before them all, so that they all were astonished and they glorified and praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
2:13:Jesus went out again along the [Galilean] seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.
2:14:Levi (Matthew) Called
As He was passing by, He saw Levi (Matthew) the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax collector’s booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk].” And he got up and followed Him [becoming His disciple, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].
2:15:And it happened that Jesus was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, and many tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews] were eating with Him and His disciples; for there were many of them and they were following Him.
2:16:When the scribes [belonging to the sect] of the Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with the sinners [including non-observant Jews] and tax collectors, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
2:17:When Jesus heard this, He said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but [only] those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners [who recognize their sin and humbly seek forgiveness].”
2:18:Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting [as a ritual]; and they came and asked Jesus, “Why are John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fasting, but Your disciples are not doing so?”
2:19:Jesus answered, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast while the bridegroom is [still] with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
2:20:But the days will come when the bridegroom is [forcefully] taken away from them, and they will fast at that time.
2:21:“No one sews a patch of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse.
2:22:No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the wineskins. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”
2:23:Question of the Sabbath
One Sabbath He was walking along [with His disciples] through the grainfields, and as they went along, His disciples began picking the heads of grain.
2:24:The Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
2:25:Jesus said to them, “Have you never read [in the Scriptures] what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and his companions;
2:26:how he went into the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for anyone but the priests to eat, and how he also gave it to the men who were with him?”
2:27:Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
2:28:So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath [and He has authority over it].”
3:1:Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
Again Jesus went into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered.
3:2:The Pharisees were watching Jesus closely to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him [in the Jewish high court].
3:3:He said to the man whose hand was withered, “Get up and come forward!”
3:4:He asked them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent.
3:5:After looking around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness and arrogance of their hearts, He told the man, “Hold out your hand.” And he held it out, and his hand was [completely] restored.
3:6:Then the Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians [to plot] against Him, as to how they might [fabricate some legal grounds to] put Him to death.
3:7:Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a large crowd from Galilee followed Him; and also people from Judea,
3:8:and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and [from the region] beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon; a vast number of people came to Him because they were hearing about all [the things] that He was doing.
3:9:And He told His disciples to have a small boat stand ready for Him because of the many people, so that they would not crowd Him;
3:10:for He had healed many, and as a result all who had diseases pressed around Him to touch Him.
3:11:Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and screamed out, “You are the Son of God!”
3:12:Jesus sternly warned them [again and again] not to tell who He was.
3:13:The Twelve Are Chosen
He went up on the hillside and called those whom He Himself wanted and chose; and they came to Him.
3:14:And He appointed twelve [disciples], so that they would be with Him [for instruction] and so that He could send them out to preach [the gospel as apostles—that is, as His special messengers, personally chosen representatives],
3:15:and to have authority and power to cast out demons.
3:16:He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter),
3:17:and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”);
3:18:and [He also appointed] Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew (Nathanael), and Matthew (Levi the tax collector), and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus (Judas the son of James), and Simon the Zealot;
3:19:and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.
3:20:Then He came to a house [in Capernaum], and a crowd formed again, so [many people] that Jesus and His disciples could not even eat a meal [together].
3:21:When His own family heard this they went to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He is out of His mind.”
3:22:The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul (Satan),” and “He is driving out the demons by the [power of the] ruler of the demons.”
3:23:So He called them to Himself and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan?
3:24:If a kingdom is divided [split into factions and rebelling] against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
3:25:And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
3:26:And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.
3:27:But no one can go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man, and then he will ransack and rob his house.
3:28:“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and all the abusive and blasphemous things they say;
3:29:but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit and His power [by attributing the miracles done by Me to Satan] never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin [a sin which is unforgivable in this present age as well as in the age to come]”—
3:30:[Jesus said this] because the scribes and Pharisees were [attributing His miracles to Satan by] saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
3:31:Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called for Him.
3:32:A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Look! Your mother and Your brothers are outside asking for You.”
3:33:And He replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”
3:34:Looking at those who were sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!
3:35:For whoever does the will of God [by believing in Me, and following Me], he is My brother and sister and mother.”
4:1:Parable of the Sower and Soils
Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea [of Galilee]. And a very large crowd gathered around Him, so He got into a boat [anchoring it a short distance out] on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore.
4:2:And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them,
4:3:“Listen! A sower went out to sow seed;
4:4:and as he was sowing, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
4:5:Other seed fell on rocks where there was not much soil; and immediately a plant sprang up because the soil had no depth.
4:6:And when the sun came up, the plant was scorched; and because it had no root, it dried up and withered away.
4:7:Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.
4:8:And other seed fell into good soil, and as the plants grew and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times [as much as had been sown].”
4:9:And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”
4:10:As soon as He was alone, those who were around Him, together with the twelve [disciples], began asking Him about [the interpretation of] the parables.
4:11:He said to them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you [who have teachable hearts], but those who are outside [the unbelievers, the spiritually blind] get everything in parables,
4:12:so that they will continually look but not see, and they will continually hear but not understand, otherwise they might turn [from their rejection of the truth] and be forgiven.”
4:13:Explanation
Then He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand and grasp the meaning of all the parables?
4:14:The sower sows the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation].
4:15:These [in the first group] are the ones along the road where the word is sown; but when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
4:16:In a similar way these [in the second group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy [but accept it only superficially];
4:17:and they have no real root in themselves, so they endure only for a little while; then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they [are offended and displeased at being associated with Me and] stumble and fall away.
4:18:And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
4:19:but the worries and cares of the world [the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures], and the deceitfulness [and the false security or glamour] of wealth [or fame], and the passionate desires for all the other things creep in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
4:20:And those [in the last group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation] and accept it and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much [as was sown].”
4:21:He said to them, “A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not [brought in] to be put on the lampstand?
4:22:For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been kept secret, but that it would come to light [that is, things are hidden only temporarily, until the appropriate time comes for them to be known].
4:23:If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”
4:24:Then He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By your own standard of measurement [that is, to the extent that you study spiritual truth and apply godly wisdom] it will be measured to you [and you will be given even greater ability to respond]—and more will be given to you besides.
4:25:For whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a yearning for truth], even what he has will be taken away from him.”
4:26:Parable of the Seed
Then He said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who throws seed on the ground;
4:27:and he goes to bed at night and gets up every day, and [in the meantime] the seed sprouts and grows; how [it does this], he does not know.
4:28:The earth produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head [of grain], then the mature grain in the head.
4:29:But when the crop ripens, he immediately puts in the sickle [to reap], because [the time for] the harvest has come.”
4:30:Parable of the Mustard Seed
And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it?
4:31:It is like a mustard seed, which, when it is sown on the ground, even though it is smaller than all the [other] seeds that are [sown] on the soil,
4:32:yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden herbs; and it puts out large branches, so that the birds of the sky are able to make nests and live under its shade.”
4:33:With many such parables, Jesus spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear and understand it;
4:34:and He did not say anything to them without [using] a parable; He did, however, explain everything privately to His own disciples.
4:35:Jesus Stills the Sea
On that [same] day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee].”
4:36:So leaving the crowd, they took Him with them, just as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him.
4:37:And a fierce windstorm began to blow, and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already being swamped.
4:38:But Jesus was in the stern, asleep [with His head] on the [sailor’s leather] cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are about to die?”
4:39:And He got up and [sternly] rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still (muzzled)!” And the wind died down [as if it had grown weary] and there was [at once] a great calm [a perfect peacefulness].
4:40:Jesus said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith and confidence [in Me]?”
4:41:They were filled with great fear, and said to each other, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
5:1:The Gerasene Demoniac
They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.
5:2:When Jesus got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him,
5:3:and the man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with chains.
5:4:For he had often been bound with shackles [for the feet] and with chains, and he tore apart the chains and broke the shackles into pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue and tame him.
5:5:Night and day he was constantly screaming and shrieking among the tombs and on the mountains, and cutting himself with [sharp] stones.
5:6:Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him [in homage];
5:7:and screaming with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have in common with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God [swear to me], do not torment me!”
5:8:For Jesus had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
5:9:He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”
5:10:And he began begging Him repeatedly not to send them out of the region.
5:11:Now there was a large herd of pigs grazing there on the mountain.
5:12:And the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the pigs so that we may go into them!”
5:13:Jesus gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out [of the man] and entered the pigs. The herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea; and they were drowned [one after the other] in the sea.
5:14:The herdsmen [tending the pigs] ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what had happened.
5:15:They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the man who had [previously] had the “legion” [of demons]; and they were frightened.
5:16:Those who had seen it described [in detail] to the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man, and [told them all] about the pigs.
5:17:So the people began to beg with Jesus to leave their region.
5:18:As He was stepping into the boat, the [Gentile] man who had been demon-possessed was begging with Him [asking] that he might go with Him [as a disciple].
5:19:Jesus did not let him [come], but [instead] He said to him, “Go home to your family and tell them all the great things that the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.”
5:20:So he [obeyed and] went away and began to publicly proclaim in Decapolis [the region of the ten Hellenistic cities] all the great things that Jesus had done for him; and all the people were astonished.
5:21:Miracles and Healing
When Jesus had again crossed over in the boat to the other side [of the sea], a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore.
5:22:One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up; and seeing Him, fell at His feet
5:23:and begged anxiously with Him, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; [please] come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will be healed and live.”
5:24:And Jesus went with him; and a large crowd followed Him and pressed in around Him [from all sides].
5:25:A woman [in the crowd] had [suffered from] a hemorrhage for twelve years,
5:26:and had endured much [suffering] at the hands of many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but instead had become worse.
5:27:She had heard [reports] about Jesus, and she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His outer robe.
5:28:For she thought, “If I just touch His clothing, I will get well.”
5:29:Immediately her flow of blood was dried up; and she felt in her body [and knew without any doubt] that she was healed of her suffering.
5:30:Immediately Jesus, recognizing in Himself that power had gone out from Him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched My clothes?”
5:31:His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in around You [from all sides], and You ask, ‘Who touched Me?’”
5:32:Still He kept looking around to see the woman who had done it.
5:33:And the woman, though she was afraid and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.
5:34:Then He said to her, “Daughter, your faith [your personal trust and confidence in Me] has restored you to health; go in peace and be [permanently] healed from your suffering.”
5:35:While He was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue official’s house, saying [to Jairus], “Your daughter has died; why bother the Teacher any longer?”
5:36:Overhearing what was being said, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; only keep on believing [in Me and my power].”
5:37:And He allowed no one to go with Him [as witnesses], except Peter and James and John the brother of James.
5:38:They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He looked [with understanding] at the uproar and commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing [in mourning].
5:39:When He had gone in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is sleeping.”
5:40:They began laughing [scornfully] at Him [because they knew the child was dead]. But He made them all go outside, and took along the child’s father and mother and His own [three] companions, and entered the room where the child was.
5:41:Taking the child’s hand, He said [tenderly] to her, “Talitha kum!”—which translated [from Aramaic] means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”
5:42:The little girl immediately got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they [who witnessed the child’s resurrection] were overcome with great wonder and utter amazement.
5:43:He gave strict orders that no one should know about this, and He told them to give her something to eat.
6:1:Teaching at Nazareth
Jesus left there and came to His hometown [Nazareth]; and His disciples followed Him.
6:2:When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and many who listened to Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things [this knowledge and spiritual insight]? What is this wisdom [this confident understanding of the Scripture] that has been given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?
6:3:Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are His sisters not here with us?” And they were [deeply] offended by Him [and their disapproval blinded them to the fact that He was anointed by God as the Messiah].
6:4:Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor (respect) except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
6:5:And He could not do a miracle there at all [because of their unbelief] except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.
6:6:He wondered at their unbelief.
And He was going around in the villages teaching.
6:7:The Twelve Sent Out
And He called the twelve [disciples] and began to send them out [as His special messengers] two by two, and gave them authority and power over the unclean spirits.
6:8:He told them to take nothing for the journey except a mere walking stick—no bread, no [traveler’s] bag, no money in their belts—
6:9:but to wear sandals; and [He told them] not to wear two tunics.
6:10:And He told them, “Wherever you go into a house, stay there until you leave that town.
6:11:Any place that does not welcome you or listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet as a testimony against them [breaking all ties with them because they rejected My message].”
6:12:So they went out and preached that men should repent [that is, think differently, recognize sin, turn away from it, and live changed lives].
6:13:And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many who were sick, and healing them.
6:14:John’s Fate Recalled
King Herod [Antipas] heard about this, for Jesus’ name and reputation had become well known. People were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.”
6:15:But others were saying, “He is Elijah!” And others were saying, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets [of old].”
6:16:But when Herod heard [of it], he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen [from the dead]!”
6:17:For Herod himself had sent [guards] and had John arrested and shackled in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his [half-] brother Philip, because he (Herod) had married her.
6:18:For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful [under Mosaic Law] for you to have your brother’s wife.”
6:19:Herodias had a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she could not,
6:20:because Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he continually kept him safe. When he heard John [speak], he was very perplexed; but he enjoyed listening to him.
6:21:But an opportune time [finally] came [for Herodias]. Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his officials (nobles, courtiers) and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
6:22:Now [Salome] the daughter of Herodias came in and danced [for the men]. She pleased and beguiled Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.”
6:23:And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.”
6:24:She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And Herodias replied, “The head of John the Baptist!”
6:25:And she rushed back to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter!”
6:26:The king was deeply grieved, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests [who might have regarded him as weak], he was unwilling to [break his word and] refuse her.
6:27:So the king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring back John’s head. And he went and had John beheaded in the prison,
6:28:and brought back his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.
6:29:When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away John’s body and laid it in a tomb.
6:30:Five Thousand Fed
The apostles [who had been sent out on a mission] gathered together with Jesus and told Him everything that they had done and taught.
6:31:He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while”—for there were many [people who were continually] coming and going, and they could not even find time to eat.
6:32:And they went away by themselves in the boat to a secluded place.
6:33:Many [people] saw them leaving, and recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the [surrounding] cities, and got there ahead of them.
6:34:When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd [waiting], and He was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd [lacking guidance]; and He began to teach them many things.
6:35:When the day was nearly gone, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it is already late;
6:36:send the crowds away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
6:37:But He replied, “You give them something to eat!” And they asked Him, “Shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
6:38:He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five [loaves], and two fish.”
6:39:Then Jesus commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass.
6:40:They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties [so that the crowd resembled an orderly arrangement of colorful garden plots].
6:41:Taking the five loaves and two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing [of praise and thanksgiving to the Father]. Then He broke the loaves and [repeatedly] gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and He divided up the two fish among them all.
6:42:They all ate and were satisfied.
6:43:And the disciples picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces [of the loaves], and of the fish.
6:44:Those who ate the loaves were five thousand men [not counting the women and children].
6:45:Jesus Walks on the Water
Jesus immediately insisted that His disciples get into the boat and go ahead [of Him] to the other side to Bethsaida, while He was dismissing the crowd.
6:46:And after He said goodbye to them, He went to the mountain to pray.
6:47:Now when evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and Jesus was alone on the land.
6:48:Seeing the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night (3:00-6:00 a.m.) He came to them, walking on the sea. And [acted as if] He intended to pass by them.
6:49:But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out [in horror];
6:50:for they all saw Him and were shaken and terrified. But He immediately spoke with them and said, “Take courage! It is I (I Am)! Stop being afraid.”
6:51:Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased [as if exhausted by its own activity]; and they were completely overwhelmed,
6:52:because they had not understood [the miracle of] the loaves [how it revealed the power and deity of Jesus]; but [in fact] their heart was hardened [being oblivious and indifferent to His amazing works].
6:53:Healing at Gennesaret
When they had crossed over [the sea], they reached the land of Gennesaret and anchored at the shore.
6:54:They got out of the boat and immediately people recognized Him,
6:55:and ran throughout that surrounding countryside and began to carry around on their mats those who were sick, to any place where they heard He was.
6:56:And wherever He came into villages, or cities, or the countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places and pleading with Him [to allow them] just to touch the fringe (tassel with a blue cord) of His robe; and all who touched it were healed.
7:1:Followers of Tradition
Now the Pharisees and some of the scribes came from Jerusalem and gathered around Him,
7:2:and they had seen that some of His disciples ate their bread with [ceremonially] impure hands, that is, unwashed [and defiled according to Jewish religious ritual].
7:3:(For the Pharisees and all of the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, holding firmly to the traditions of the elders;
7:4:and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves [completely according to ritual]; and there are many other things [oral, man-made laws and traditions handed down to them] which they follow diligently, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper utensils.)
7:5:So the Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus, “Why do Your disciples not live their lives according to the tradition of the elders, but [instead] eat their bread with [ceremonially] unwashed hands?”
7:6:He replied, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), as it is written [in Scripture],
‘These people honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7:7:‘They worship Me in vain [their worship is meaningless and worthless, a pretense],
Teaching the precepts of men as doctrines [giving their traditions equal weight with the Scriptures].’
7:8:You disregard and neglect the commandment of God, and cling [faithfully] to the tradition of men.”
7:9:He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside and nullifying the commandment of God in order to keep your [man-made] tradition and regulations.
7:10:For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother [with respect and gratitude]’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of his father or mother must be put to death’;
7:11:but you [Pharisees and scribes] say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you is Corban, (that is to say, already a gift to God),”’
7:12:then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother [since helping them would violate his vow of Corban];
7:13:so you nullify the [authority of the] word of God [acting as if it did not apply] because of your tradition which you have handed down [through the elders]. And you do many things such as that.”
7:14:The Heart of Man
After He called the people to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen [carefully] to Me, all of you, [hear] and understand [what I am saying]:
7:15:there is nothing outside a man [such as food] which by going into him can defile him [morally or spiritually]; but the things which come out of [the heart of] a man are what defile and dishonor him.
7:16:[“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]
7:17:When Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples asked Him about the parable.
7:18:And He said to them, “Are you, too, so foolish and lacking in understanding? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile and dishonor him,
7:19:since it does not enter his heart, but [only] his stomach, and [from there it] is eliminated?” (By this, He declared all foods ceremonially clean.)
7:20:And He said, “Whatever comes from [the heart of] a man, that is what defiles and dishonors him.
7:21:For from within, [that is] out the heart of men, come base and malevolent thoughts and schemes, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, adulteries,
7:22:acts of greed and covetousness, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained conduct, envy and jealousy, slander and profanity, arrogance and self-righteousness and foolishness (poor judgment).
7:23:All these evil things [schemes and desires] come from within and defile and dishonor the man.”
7:24:The Syrophoenician Woman
Jesus got up and left there and went to the region of Tyre [and Sidon, the coastal area of Phoenicia]. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know about it; but it was impossible for Him to be hidden [from the public].
7:25:Instead, after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet.
7:26:Now the woman was a Gentile (Greek), a Syrophoenician by nationality. And she kept pleading with Him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
7:27:He was saying to her, “First let the children [of Israel] be fed, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the pet dogs (non-Jews).”
7:28:But she replied, “Yes, Lord, but even the pet dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
7:29:And He said to her, “Because of this answer [reflecting your humility and faith], go [knowing that your request is granted]; the demon has left your daughter [permanently].”
7:30:And returning to her home, she found the child lying on the couch [relaxed and resting], the demon having gone.
7:31:Soon after this Jesus left the region of Tyre, and passed through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of Decapolis [the ten Hellenistic cities].
7:32:They brought to Him a man who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him.
7:33:Jesus, taking him aside by himself, away from the crowd, put His fingers into the man’s ears, and after spitting, He touched the man’s tongue [with the saliva];
7:34:and looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” which [in Aramaic] means, “Be opened and released!”
7:35:And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he began speaking plainly.
7:36:Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.
7:37:They were thoroughly astounded and completely overwhelmed, saying, “He has done everything well! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
8:1:Four Thousand Fed
In those days, when there was again a large crowd [gathered before Him] and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and told them,
8:2:“I feel compassion for the crowd; they have been with Me now for three days and have nothing [left] to eat.
8:3:If I send them away to their homes hungry, they will faint [from exhaustion] on the road; because some of them have come a long way.”
8:4:His disciples replied to Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this isolated place to feed these people?”
8:5:He asked them, “How many loaves [of bread] do you have?” They said, “Seven.”
8:6:He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and [repeatedly] gave them to His disciples to set before them, and they served the crowd.
8:7:They also had a few small fish; and when Jesus had blessed them [and given thanks], He ordered these [fish] to be set before them as well.
8:8:And the people ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.
8:9:About four thousand [men] were there [besides women and children]; and He sent them away.
8:10:Then immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
8:11:The Pharisees came out and began to argue [contentiously and debate] with Him, demanding from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him [because of their unbelief].
8:12:He groaned and sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? I assure you and most solemnly say to you, no sign will be given to this generation!”
8:13:Leaving them, He again boarded the boat and left for the other side.
8:14:Now the disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.
8:15:Jesus repeatedly ordered them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
8:16:They began discussing this with one another, saying, “It is because we have no bread [that He said this].”
8:17:Jesus, aware of this [discussion], said to them, “Why are you discussing [the fact] that you have no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?
8:18:Though you have eyes, do you not see? And though you have ears, do you not hear and listen [to what I have said]? And do you not remember,
8:19:when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They answered, “Twelve.”
8:20:“And [when I broke] the seven [loaves] for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they answered, “Seven.”
8:21:And He was saying to them, “Do you still not understand?”
8:22:Then they came to Bethsaida; and some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged Him to touch him.
8:23:Taking the blind man by the hand, He led him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?”
8:24:And he looked up and said, “I see people, but [they look] like trees, walking around.”
8:25:Then again Jesus laid His hands on his eyes; and the man stared intently and [his sight] was [completely] restored, and he began to see everything clearly.
8:26:And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”
8:27:Peter’s Confession of Christ
Then Jesus and His disciples went out to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
8:28:They answered Him, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.”
8:29:And He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter replied to Him, “You [in contrast to the others] are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).”
8:30:Then Jesus strictly warned them not to tell anyone about Him.
8:31:And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must [of necessity] suffer many things and be rejected [as the Messiah] by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and must be put to death, and after three days rise [from death to life].
8:32:He was stating the matter plainly [not holding anything back]. Then Peter took Him aside and began to reprimand Him.
8:33:But turning around [with His back to Peter] and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan; for your mind is not set on God’s will or His values and purposes, but on what pleases man.”
8:34:Jesus called the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].
8:35:For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake and the gospel’s will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].
8:36:For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world [with all its pleasures], and forfeit his soul?
8:37:For what will a man give in exchange for his soul and eternal life [in God’s kingdom]?
8:38:For whoever is ashamed [here and now] of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
9:1:The Transfiguration
And Jesus said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste (experience) death before they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
9:2:Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured (changed in form) before them [and began to shine brightly with divine and regal glory];
9:3:and His clothes became radiant and dazzling, intensely white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them.
9:4:Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were having a conversation with Jesus.
9:5:Peter responded and said to Jesus, “Rabbi (Master), it is good for us to be here; let us make three [sacred] tents—one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
9:6:For he did not [really] know what to say because they were terrified [and stunned by the miraculous sight].
9:7:Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him and obey Him!”
9:8:Suddenly they looked around and no longer saw anyone with them, except Jesus alone.
9:9:As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus expressly ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
9:10:So they [carefully and faithfully] kept the matter to themselves, discussing and questioning [with one another] what it meant to rise from the dead.
9:11:They asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first [before the Messiah comes]?”
9:12:He answered them, “Elijah does come first and restores and reestablishes all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things [grief and physical distress] and be treated with contempt [utterly despised and rejected]?
9:13:But I say to you that Elijah has in fact come [already], and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written [in Scripture] of him.”
9:14:All Things Possible
When they came [back] to the [other nine] disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes questioning and arguing with them.
9:15:Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Jesus, they were startled and began running up to greet Him.
9:16:He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?”
9:17:One of the crowd replied to Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him unable to speak;
9:18:and whenever it seizes him [intending to do harm], it throws him down, and he foams [at the mouth], and grinds his teeth and becomes stiff. I told Your disciples to drive it out, and they could not do it.”
9:19:He replied, “O unbelieving (faithless) generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!”
9:20:They brought the boy to Him. When the [demonic] spirit saw Him, immediately it threw the boy into a convulsion, and falling to the ground he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth.
9:21:Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he answered, “Since childhood.
9:22:The demon has often thrown him both into fire and into water, intending to kill him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”
9:23:Jesus said to him, “[You say to Me,] ‘If You can?’ All things are possible for the one who believes and trusts [in Me]!”
9:24:Immediately the father of the boy cried out [with a desperate, piercing cry], saying, “I do believe; help [me overcome] my unbelief.”
9:25:When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering [around them], He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again!”
9:26:After screaming out and throwing him into a terrible convulsion, it came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse [so still and pale] that many [of the spectators] said, “He is dead!”
9:27:But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he stood up.
9:28:When He had gone indoors, His disciples began asking Him privately, “Why were we unable to drive it out?”
9:29:He replied to them, “This kind [of unclean spirit] cannot come out by anything but prayer [to the Father].”
9:30:Death and Resurrection Foretold
They went on from there and began to go through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know it,
9:31:because He was teaching His disciples [and preparing them for the future]. He told them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed and handed over to men [who are His enemies], and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise [from the dead] three days later.”
9:32:But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him [what He meant].
9:33:They arrived at Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He asked them, “What were you discussing and arguing about on the road?”
9:34:But they kept quiet, because on the road they had discussed and debated with one another which one [of them] was the greatest.
9:35:Sitting down [to teach], He called the twelve [disciples] and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all [in importance] and a servant of all.”
9:36:Taking a child, He set him before them; and taking him in His arms, He said to them,
9:37:“Whoever receives and welcomes one child such as this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives not [only] Me, but Him who sent Me.”
9:38:Dire Warnings
John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not accompanying us [as Your disciple].”
9:39:But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.
9:40:For he who is not against us is for us.
9:41:For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he will not lose his reward.
9:42:“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe and trust in Me to stumble [that is, to sin or lose faith], it would be better for him if a heavy millstone [one requiring a donkey’s strength to turn it] were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
9:43:If your hand causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]! It is better for you to enter life crippled, than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,
9:44:[where their worm does not die, and the fire is not put out.]
9:45:If your foot causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]! It would be better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell,
9:46:[where their worm does not die, and the fire is not put out.]
9:47:If your eye causes you to stumble and sin, throw it out [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]! It would be better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
9:48:where their worm [that feeds on the dead] does not die, and the fire is not put out.
9:49:“For everyone will be salted with fire.
9:50:Salt is good and useful; but if salt has lost its saltiness (purpose), how will you make it salty? Have salt within yourselves continually, and be at peace with one another.”
10:1:Jesus’ Teaching about Divorce
Getting up, He left there (Capernaum) and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; and crowds gathered around Him again and accompanied Him, and as was His custom, He once more began to teach them.
10:2:Pharisees came to Jesus to test Him [intending to trick Him into saying something wrong], and asked Him, “Is it lawful [according to Scripture] for a man to divorce his wife and send her away?”
10:3:He replied to them, “What did Moses command you?”
10:4:They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.”
10:5:But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of hearts [your callousness and insensitivity toward your wives and the provision of God] he wrote you this precept.
10:6:But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.
10:7:For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother [to establish a home with his wife],
10:8:and the two shall become one flesh; so that they are no longer two, but [are united as] one flesh.
10:9:Therefore, what God has united and joined together, man must not separate [by divorce].”
10:10:In the house the disciples began questioning Him again about this.
10:11:And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;
10:12:and if a woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
10:13:Jesus Blesses Little Children
People were bringing children to Him so that He would touch and bless them, but the disciples reprimanded them and discouraged them [from coming].
10:14:But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and He said to them, “Allow the children to come to Me; do not forbid them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
10:15:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever does not receive and welcome the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”
10:16:And He took the children [one by one] in His arms and blessed them [with kind, encouraging words], placing His hands on them.
10:17:The Rich Young Ruler
As He was leaving on His journey, a man ran up and knelt before Him and asked Him, “Good Teacher [You who are essentially good and morally perfect], what shall I do to inherit eternal life [that is, eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?”
10:18:Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is [essentially] good [by nature] except God alone.
10:19:You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not testify falsely, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”
10:20:And he replied to Him, “Teacher, I have [carefully] kept all these [commandments] since my youth.”
10:21:Looking at him, Jesus felt a love (high regard, compassion) for him, and He said to him, “You lack one thing: go and sell all your property and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have [abundant] treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me [becoming My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk].”
10:22:But the man was saddened at Jesus’ words, and he left grieving, because he owned much property and had many possessions [which he treasured more than his relationship with God].
10:23:Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who are wealthy [and cling to possessions and status as security] to enter the kingdom of God!”
10:24:The disciples were amazed and bewildered by His words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is [for those who place their hope and confidence in riches] to enter the kingdom of God!
10:25:It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man [who places his faith in wealth or status] to enter the kingdom of God.”
10:26:They were completely and utterly astonished, and said to Him, “Then who can be saved [from the wrath of God]?”
10:27:Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people [as far as it depends on them] it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
10:28:Peter started saying to Him, “Look, we have given up everything and followed You [becoming Your disciples and accepting You as Teacher and Lord].”
10:29:Jesus said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there is no one who has given up a house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake,
10:30:who will not receive a hundred times as much now in the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms—along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
10:31:But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”
10:32:Jesus’ Sufferings Foretold
Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were perplexed [at what Jesus had said], and those who were following were alarmed and afraid. And again He took the twelve [disciples] aside and began telling them what was going to happen to Him,
10:33:saying, “Listen very carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed and handed over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles (Romans).
10:34:They will mock and ridicule Him and spit on Him, and whip (scourge) Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise [from the dead].”
10:35:James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.”
10:36:And He replied to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
10:37:They said to Him, “Grant that we may sit [with You], one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory [Your majesty and splendor in Your kingdom].”
10:38:But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism [of suffering and death] with which I am baptized?”
10:39:And they replied to Him, “We are able.” Jesus told them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.
10:40:But to sit on My right or left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared [by My Father].”
10:41:Hearing this, the [other] ten became indignant with James and John.
10:42:Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their powerful men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them].
10:43:But this is not how it is among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,
10:44:and whoever wishes to be first and most important among you must be slave of all.
10:45:For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
10:46:Bartimaeus Receives His Sight
Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting beside the road [as was his custom].
10:47:When Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and say, “Jesus, Son of David (Messiah), have mercy on me!”
10:48:Many sternly rebuked him, telling him to keep still and be quiet; but he kept on shouting out all the more, “Son of David (Messiah), have mercy on me!”
10:49:Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, telling him, “Take courage, get up! He is calling for you.”
10:50:Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped up and came to Jesus.
10:51:And Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni (my Master), let me regain my sight.”
10:52:Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith [and confident trust in My power] has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Jesus on the road.
11:1:The Triumphal Entry
When they were nearing Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of His disciples,
11:2:saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a [donkey’s] colt tied, which has never been ridden by anyone; untie it and bring it here.
11:3:If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it’; and immediately he will send it here.”
11:4:So they went away [to the village] and found a colt tied outside at a gate in the street, and they untied it.
11:5:Some of the people who were standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”
11:6:They replied to them just as Jesus had directed, and they allowed them to go.
11:7:They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it, and He sat on it.
11:8:And many [of the people] spread their coats on the road [as an act of tribute and homage before a new king], and others [scattered a layer of] leafy branches which they had cut from the fields [honoring Him as Messiah].
11:9:Those who went in front and those who were following [Him] were shouting [in joy and praise],
“Hosanna (Save, I pray)!
Blessed (praised, glorified) is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
11:10:“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!
Hosanna in the highest [heaven]!”
11:11:Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple [enclosure]; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve [disciples], because it was already late [in the day].
11:12:On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He was hungry.
11:13:Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if He would find anything on it. But He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
11:14:He said to it, “No one will ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening [to what He said].
11:15:Jesus Drives Moneychangers from the Temple
Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple [grounds] and began driving out [with force] the people who were selling and buying [animals for sacrifice] in the temple area, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers [who made a profit exchanging foreign money for temple coinage] and the seats of those who were selling doves;
11:16:and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise or household wares through the temple [grounds, using the temple area irreverently as a shortcut].
11:17:He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ den.”
11:18:The chief priests and the scribes heard this and began searching for a way to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, since the entire crowd was struck with astonishment at His teaching.
11:19:When evening came, Jesus and His disciples would leave the city.
11:20:In the morning, as they were passing by, the disciples saw that the fig tree had withered away from the roots up.
11:21:And remembering, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi (Master), look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered!”
11:22:Jesus replied, “Have faith in God [constantly].
11:23:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea!’ and does not doubt in his heart [in God’s unlimited power], but believes that what he says is going to take place, it will be done for him [in accordance with God’s will].
11:24:For this reason I am telling you, whatever things you ask for in prayer [in accordance with God’s will], believe [with confident trust] that you have received them, and they will be given to you.
11:25:Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him [drop the issue, let it go], so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions and wrongdoings [against Him and others].
11:26:[“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your transgressions.”]
11:27:Jesus’ Authority Questioned
They came again to Jerusalem. And as Jesus was walking in the [courts and porches of the] temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him,
11:28:and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?”
11:29:Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
11:30:Was the baptism of John [the Baptist] from heaven [that is, ordained by God] or from men? Answer Me.”
11:31:They began discussing it with each other, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’
11:32:But shall we say, ‘From men?’” —they were afraid [to answer because] of the crowd, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet.
11:33:So they replied to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
12:1:Parable of the Vineyard Owner
Jesus began to speak to them [the chief priests, scribes and elders who were questioning Him] in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a pit for the wine press and built a tower; and he rented it out to tenant farmers and left the country.
12:2:When the harvest season came he sent a servant to the tenants, in order to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
12:3:They took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
12:4:Again he sent them another servant, and they [threw stones and] wounded him in the head, and treated him disgracefully.
12:5:And he sent another, and that one they killed; then many others—some they beat and some they killed.
12:6:He still had one man left to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
12:7:But those tenants said to each other, ‘This man is the heir! Come on, let us kill him [and destroy the evidence], and his inheritance will be ours!’
12:8:So they took him and killed him, and threw his body outside the vineyard.
12:9:What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and will give the vineyard to others.
12:10:Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘The stone which the builders regarded as unworthy and rejected,
This [very stone] has become the chief Cornerstone
12:11:This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous and wonderful in our eyes’?”
12:12:And they were looking for a way to seize Him, but they were afraid of the crowd; for they knew that He spoke this parable in reference to [and as a charge against] them. And so they left Him and went away.
12:13:Jesus Answers the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes
Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus in order to trap Him into making a statement [that they could use against Him].
12:14:They came and said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and have no personal bias toward anyone; for You are not influenced by outward appearances or social status, but in truth You teach the way of God. Is it lawful [according to Jewish law and tradition] to pay the poll-tax to [Tiberius] Caesar, or not?
12:15:Should we pay [the tax] or should we not pay?” But knowing their hypocrisy, He asked them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a coin (denarius) to look at.”
12:16:So they brought one. Then He asked them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
12:17:Jesus said to them, “Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were greatly amazed at Him.
12:18:Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Him, and began questioning Him, saying,
12:19:“Teacher, Moses wrote for us [a law] that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but leaves no child, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.
12:20:There were seven brothers; the first [one] took a wife, and died leaving no children.
12:21:The second brother married her, and died leaving no children; and the third likewise;
12:22:and so all seven [married her and died, and] left no children. Last of all the woman died also.
12:23:In the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven [brothers] were married to her.”
12:24:Jesus said to them, “Is this not why you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures [that teach the resurrection] nor the power of God [who is able to raise the dead]?
12:25:For when they rise from the dead, they do not marry nor are they given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
12:26:But concerning the raising of the dead, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?
12:27:He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken and you are deceiving yourselves!”
12:28:Then one of the scribes [an expert in Mosaic Law] came up and listened to them arguing [with one another], and noticing that Jesus answered them well, asked Him, “Which commandment is first and most important of all?”
12:29:Jesus answered, “The first and most important one is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord;
12:30:and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul (life), and with all your mind (thought, understanding), and with all your strength.’
12:31:This is the second: ‘You shall [unselfishly] love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
12:32:The scribe said to Him, “Admirably answered, Teacher; You truthfully stated that He is One, and there is no other but Him;
12:33:and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to [unselfishly] love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
12:34:When Jesus saw that he answered thoughtfully and intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions.
12:35:Jesus began to say, as He taught in [a portico or court of] the temple, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
12:36:David himself said [when inspired] by the Holy Spirit,
‘The Lord (the Father) said to my Lord (the Son, the Messiah),
“Sit at My right hand,
Until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’
12:37:David himself calls Him (the Son, the Messiah) ‘Lord’; so how can it be that He is David’s Son?” The large crowd enjoyed hearing Jesus and listened to Him with delight.
12:38:In [the course of] His teaching He was saying, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes [displaying their prominence], and like to receive respectful greetings in the market places,
12:39:and [they love] the chief seats in the synagogues and the places of distinction and honor at banquets,
12:40:[these scribes] who devour (confiscate) widows’ houses, and offer long prayers for appearance’s sake [to impress others]. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
12:41:The Widow’s Mite
And He sat down opposite the [temple] treasury, and began watching how the people were putting money into the treasury. And many rich people were putting in large sums.
12:42:A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a mite.
12:43:Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this poor widow put in [proportionally] more than all the contributors to the treasury.
12:44:For they all contributed from their surplus, but she, from her poverty, put in all she had, all she had to live on.”
13:1:Things to Come
As He was coming out of the temple [grounds], one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, look what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”
13:2:Jesus replied to him, “You see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left on another which will not be torn down!”
13:3:As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately,
13:4:“Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be fulfilled?”
13:5:Jesus began to say to them, “Be careful and see to it that no one misleads you.
13:6:Many will come in My name [misusing My name or claiming to be the Messiah], saying, ‘I am He!’ and will deceive and mislead many.
13:7:When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed (frightened, troubled); these things must take place, but the end is not yet.
13:8:For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These things are the beginning of the birth pangs [the intolerable anguish and suffering].
13:9:“But be on your guard; they will turn you over to courts, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand [as accused] before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them.
13:10:The gospel [that is, the good news regarding the way of salvation] must first be preached to all the [Gentile] nations.
13:11:When they take you and turn you over [to the court], do not worry beforehand about what to say, but say whatever is given to you [by God] in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit [who will speak through you].
13:12:Brother will betray brother to [be put to] death, and a father [will hand over] his child; and children will rise up and take a stand against parents and have them put to death.
13:13:You will be hated by everyone because of [your association with] My name, but the one who [patiently perseveres empowered by the Holy Spirit and] endures to the end, he will be saved.
13:14:“But when you see the abomination of desolation standing [in the temple sanctuary] where it ought not to be (let the reader understand) then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.
13:15:Whoever is on the housetop must not go down [to enter the house], or go inside to take anything out of his house;
13:16:whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his coat.
13:17:And woe to those women who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
13:18:Pray that it will not occur in winter,
13:19:for at that time there will be such tribulation as has not occurred, from the beginning of the creation which God made, until now—and never will [be again].
13:20:And if the Lord had not shortened the days, no human life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose [for Himself], He shortened the days.
13:21:Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not believe it;
13:22:for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and they will provide signs and wonders in order to deceive, if [such a thing were] possible, even the elect [those God has chosen for Himself].
13:23:But be on your guard; I have told you everything in advance.
13:24:The Return of Christ
“But in those days, after [the suffering and distress of] that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,
13:25:and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.
13:26:Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory [in royal majesty and splendor].
13:27:And then He will send out the angels, and will gather together His elect [those He has chosen for Himself] from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.
13:28:“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: as soon as its branch becomes tender and it puts out its leaves, you recognize that summer is near.
13:29:Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, know [for certain] that He is near, right at the door.
13:30:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this generation [the people living when these signs and events begin] will not pass away until all these things take place.
13:31:Heaven and earth [as now known] will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
13:32:But of that [exact] day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son [in His humanity], but the Father alone.
13:33:“Be on guard and stay constantly alert [and pray]; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.
13:34:It is like a man away on a journey, who when he left home put his servants in charge, each with his particular task, and also ordered the doorkeeper to be continually alert.
13:35:Therefore, be continually on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—
13:36:[stay alert,] in case he should come suddenly and unexpectedly and find you asleep and unprepared.
13:37:What I say to you I say to everyone, ‘Be on the alert [stay awake and be continually cautious]!’”
14:1:Death Plot and the Anointing in Bethany
It was now two days before the Passover and [the festival of] Unleavened Bread, and the chief priests and the scribes were searching for a deceitful way to arrest Jesus and kill Him;
14:2:but they were saying, “Not during the festival, for the people might riot.”
14:3:While He was in Bethany [as a guest] at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster vial of very costly and precious perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured the perfume over His head.
14:4:But there were some who were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted?
14:5:For this perfume might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii [a laborer’s wages for almost a year], and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.
14:6:But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why are you bothering her and causing trouble? She has done a good and beautiful thing to Me.
14:7:For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do something good to them; but you will not always have Me.
14:8:She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.
14:9:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, wherever the good news [regarding salvation] is proclaimed throughout the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
14:10:Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve [disciples], went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.
14:11:When they heard this they were delighted, and promised to give him money. And he began looking for an opportune time to betray Jesus.
14:12:The Last Passover
On the first day [of the festival] of Unleavened Bread, when [as was customary] they sacrificed the Passover lamb, His disciples asked Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?”
14:13:And He sent two of His disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him;
14:14:and say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’
14:15:He will show you a large upstairs room, furnished and ready [with carpets and dining couches]; prepare [the supper] for us there.”
14:16:The disciples left and went to the city and found everything just as He had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
14:17:When it was evening, He came with the twelve [disciples].
14:18:While they were reclining at the table, Jesus said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you that one of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me.”
14:19:They began to be grieved and deeply distressed and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?”
14:20:And He replied, “It is one of the twelve [disciples], one who is dipping bread in the bowl with Me.
14:21:For the Son of Man goes [to the cross] just as it is written [in Scripture] of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”
14:22:The Lord’s Supper
While they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it [giving thanks and praise], and He broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take it. This is My body.”
14:23:And when He had taken a cup [of wine] and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
14:24:And He said to them, “This is My blood of the [new] covenant, [My blood] which is being poured out for many [for the forgiveness of sins].
14:25:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
14:26:After they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
14:27:Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away [and be ashamed and be afraid to be associated with Me as disciples], because it is written, ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’
14:28:But after I have been raised [from the dead], I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
14:29:But Peter said to Him, “Even if they all fall away [and desert You, ashamed and afraid of being associated with You], yet I will not [do so]!”
14:30:Jesus said to him, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you will deny [that you even know] Me three times.”
14:31:But Peter kept saying insistently, “If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing as well.
14:32:Jesus in Gethsemane
Then they went to a place called Gethsemane; and Jesus said to His disciples, “Sit down here until I have prayed.”
14:33:He took Peter and James and John with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled [extremely anguished at the prospect of what was to come].
14:34:And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved and overwhelmed with sorrow, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.”
14:35:After going a little farther, He fell to the ground [distressed by the weight of His spiritual burden] and began to pray that if it were possible [in the Father’s will], the hour [of suffering and death for the sins of mankind] might pass from Him.
14:36:He was saying, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for You; take this cup [of judgment] away from Me; but not what I will, but what You will.”
14:37:And He came back and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Were you unable to keep watch for one hour?
14:38:Keep [actively] watching and praying so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
14:39:He went away again and prayed, saying the same words.
14:40:And again He came back and found them sleeping, because their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know how to answer Him.
14:41:He came back a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough [of that]! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
14:42:Get up, let us go. Look, my betrayer is near!”
14:43:Betrayal and Arrest
And at once, while He was still speaking, Judas [Iscariot], one of the twelve [disciples], came up, and with him a crowd of men with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders [of the Sanhedrin].
14:44:Now the betrayer had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away safely [under guard].”
14:45:When Judas came, immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Rabbi (Master)!” and he kissed Him [forcefully].
14:46:They laid hands on Him and seized Him.
14:47:But one of the bystanders [Simon Peter] drew his sword and struck [Malchus] the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.
14:48:Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a robber?
14:49:Day after day I was with you, teaching in the [courts and porches of the] temple, and you did not seize Me; but this has happened so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled.”
14:50:Then all of His disciples abandoned Him and fled.
14:51:A young man was following Him, wearing [only] a linen sheet over his naked body; and some men seized him.
14:52:But pulling free of the linen sheet, he escaped [from them] naked.
14:53:Jesus before His Accusers
They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) gathered together.
14:54:Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers [guards and servants] and warming himself at the fire.
14:55:Now the chief priests and the entire Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) were trying to obtain testimony against Jesus [which they could use] to have Him [condemned and] executed, but they were not finding any.
14:56:For many [people] were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimonies were not consistent.
14:57:Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying,
14:58:“We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple (sanctuary) that was made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’”
14:59:Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent.
14:60:The high priest stood up and came forward and asked Jesus, “Have You no answer to give [in response] to what these men are testifying against You?”
14:61:But Jesus kept silent and gave no answer at all. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the Blessed One?”
14:62:Jesus said, “I am; and you will [all] see the Son of Man seated [with authority] at the right hand of Power (the Father), and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
14:63:Then tearing his robe [to express his indignation], the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses?
14:64:You have heard the blasphemy [that is, His claim to be the Son of God]. What is your decision?” And they all condemned Him to be [guilty and] deserving of death.
14:65:And some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy [by telling us who hit you]!” Then the officers took custody of Him and struck him in the face.
14:66:Peter’s Denials
While Peter was down below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came,
14:67:and when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked intently at him and said, “You were with Jesus the Nazarene, too.”
14:68:But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” Then he went out [of the courtyard] to the porch, [and a rooster crowed.]
14:69:The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to tell the bystanders, “This [man] is one of them.”
14:70:But again he denied it. After a little while, the bystanders again said to Peter, “You are in fact one of them, for [it is clear from your accent, that] you are a Galilean, too.”
14:71:But he began to invoke a curse [on himself] and to swear [an oath], “I do not know this man you are talking about!”
14:72:Immediately a rooster crowed the second time. And Peter remembered what Jesus said to him: “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And thinking of this, he began weeping [in anguish].
15:1:Jesus before Pilate
Early in the morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes and the whole Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), immediately consulted together; and they bound Jesus, they took Him away [violently] and handed Him over to Pilate.
15:2:Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He replied to him, “It is as you say.”
15:3:The chief priests began accusing Him of many things.
15:4:Then Pilate again asked Him, “Have You no answer [to give]? See how many charges they are bringing against You!”
15:5:But Jesus gave no further answer; so Pilate was perplexed.
15:6:Now at the [Passover] feast Pilate used to set free for them any one prisoner whom they requested.
15:7:The man called Barabbas was imprisoned with the insurrectionists (revolutionaries) who had committed murder in the civil rebellion.
15:8:The crowd came up and began asking Pilate to do as he usually did for them.
15:9:Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to set free for you the King of the Jews?”
15:10:For he was aware that the chief priests had turned Jesus over to him because of envy and resentment.
15:11:But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to get him to release Barabbas for them instead.
15:12:Again Pilate answered, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”
15:13:They screamed back, “Crucify Him!”
15:14:But Pilate asked them, “Why, what has He done that is evil?” But they screamed all the more, “Crucify Him!”
15:15:So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, set Barabbas free for them; and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over [to his soldiers] to be crucified.
15:16:Jesus Is Mocked
The soldiers led Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the entire [Roman] battalion [of 600 soldiers].
15:17:They dressed Him up in [a ranking Roman officer’s robe of] purple, and after twisting [together] a crown of thorns, they placed it on Him;
15:18:and they began saluting and mocking Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!”
15:19:They kept beating Him on the head with a reed and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing in [mock] homage to Him.
15:20:After they had mocked Him, they took off the purple robe and put His own clothes on Him. And they led Him out [of the city] to crucify Him.
15:21:They forced into service a passer-by coming in from the countryside, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.
15:22:The Crucifixion
Then they brought Him to the place [called] Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.
15:23:They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh [to dull the pain], but He would not take it.
15:24:And they crucified Him, and divided up His clothes among themselves, casting lots for them to see who should take what.
15:25:It was the third hour (9:00 a.m.) when they crucified Him.
15:26:The inscription of the accusation against Him had been written [above Him]: “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
15:27:They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left.
15:28:[And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “He was counted with the transgressors.”]
15:29:Those who were passing by were insulting Him with abusive and insolent language, wagging their heads [as a sign of contempt], and saying, “Ha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in [only] three days,
15:30:save Yourself by coming down from the cross!”
15:31:In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were ridiculing and mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others [from death]; He cannot save Himself!
15:32:Let the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe and trust [in Him]!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.
15:33:When the sixth hour (noon) came, darkness covered the whole land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.).
15:34:And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
15:35:Some of the bystanders heard Him and said, “Look! He is calling for Elijah!”
15:36:Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah is coming to take Him down.”
15:37:But Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed out His last [voluntarily, sovereignly dismissing and releasing His spirit from His body in submission to His Father’s plan].
15:38:And the veil [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
15:39:When the centurion, who was standing opposite Him, saw the way He breathed His last [being fully in control], he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
15:40:Now some women also were watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome.
15:41:When Jesus was in Galilee, they used to accompany him and minister to Him; and there were also many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.
15:42:Jesus Is Buried
When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
15:43:Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent and respected member of the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God—and he courageously dared to go in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.
15:44:Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time [only six hours after being crucified], and he summoned the centurion and asked him whether He was already dead.
15:45:And when he learned from the centurion [that Jesus was in fact dead], he gave the body to Joseph [by granting him permission to remove it].
15:46:So Joseph purchased a [fine] linen cloth [for wrapping the body], and after taking Jesus down [from the cross], he wrapped Him in the linen cloth and placed Him in a tomb which had been cut out of rock. Then he rolled a [large, wheel-shaped] stone against the entrance of the tomb.
15:47:Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were [carefully] watching to see where He was laid.
16:1:The Resurrection
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome purchased [sweet-smelling] spices, so that they might go and anoint Him.
16:2:Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
16:3:And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
16:4:Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, though it was extremely large.
16:5:Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right, wearing a [long, stately] white robe; and they were amazed and bewildered.
16:6:And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See, [here is] the place where they laid Him.
16:7:But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there, just as He told you.’”
16:8:They went out and fled from the tomb, for they were seized with trembling and astonishment; and they said nothing [about it] to anyone, because they were afraid.
16:9:[Now Jesus, having risen [from death] early on the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.
16:10:She went and reported it to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping.
16:11:When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it.
16:12:After that, He appeared in a different form to two of them as they were walking along the way to the country.
16:13:They returned [to Jerusalem] and told the others, but they did not believe them either.
16:14:The Disciples Commissioned
Later, Jesus appeared to the eleven [disciples] themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He called them to account for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen [from death].
16:15:And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
16:16:He who has believed [in Me] and has been baptized will be saved [from the penalty of God’s wrath and judgment]; but he who has not believed will be condemned.
16:17:These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues;
16:18:they will pick up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.”
16:19:So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
16:20:And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord was working with them and confirming the word by the signs that followed.]
luke:1:1:Introduction
Since [as is well known] many have undertaken to compile an orderly account of the things which have been fulfilled among us [by God],
1:2:exactly as they were handed down to us by those [with personal experience] who from the beginning [of Christ’s ministry] were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word [that is, of the teaching concerning salvation through faith in Christ],
1:3:it seemed fitting for me as well, [and so I have decided] after having carefully searched out and investigated all the events accurately, from the very beginning, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus;
1:4:so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught [that is, the history and doctrine of the faith].
1:5:Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
In the days of Herod [the Great], king of Judea, there was a certain priest whose name was Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron [the first high priest of Israel], and her name was Elizabeth.
1:6:They both were righteous (approved) in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.
1:7:But they were childless, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both far advanced in years.
1:8:Now it happened while Zacharias was serving as priest before God in the appointed order of his priestly division,
1:9:as was the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter [the sanctuary of] the temple of the Lord and burn incense [on the altar of incense].
1:10:And all the congregation was praying outside [in the court of the temple] at the hour of the incense offering.
1:11:And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
1:12:When Zacharias saw the angel, he was troubled and overcome with fear.
1:13:But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, because your petition [in prayer] was heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.
1:14:You will have great joy and delight, and many will rejoice over his birth,
1:15:for he will be great and distinguished in the sight of the Lord; and will never drink wine or liquor, and he will be filled with and empowered to act by the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.
1:16:He will turn many of the sons of Israel back [from sin] to [love and serve] the Lord their God.
1:17:It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous [which is to seek and submit to the will of God]—in order to make ready a people [perfectly] prepared [spiritually and morally] for the Lord.”
1:18:And Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I be certain of this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in age.”
1:19:The angel replied and said to him, “I am Gabriel; I stand and minister in the [very] presence of God, and I have been sent [by Him] to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
1:20:Listen carefully, you will be continually silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe what I told you; but my words will be fulfilled at their proper time.”
1:21:The people [outside in the court] were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering about his long delay in the temple.
1:22:But when he did come out, he was unable to speak to them. They realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute.
1:23:When his time of priestly service was finished, he returned to his home.
1:24:Now after this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and for five months she secluded herself completely, saying,
1:25:“This is how the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor on me, to take away my disgrace among men.”
1:26:Jesus’ Birth Foretold
Now in the sixth month [of Elizabeth’s pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,
1:27:to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
1:28:And coming to her, the angel said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
1:29:But she was greatly perplexed at what he said, and kept carefully considering what kind of greeting this was.
1:30:The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
1:31:Listen carefully: you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.
1:32:He will be great and eminent and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
1:33:and He will reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”
1:34:Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin and have no intimacy with any man?”
1:35:Then the angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a cloud]; for that reason the holy (pure, sinless) Child shall be called the Son of God.
1:36:And listen, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.
1:37:For with God nothing [is or ever] shall be impossible.”
1:38:Then Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel left her.
1:39:Mary Visits Elizabeth
Now at this time Mary arose and hurried to the hill country, to a city of Judah (Judea),
1:40:and she entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.
1:41:When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, her baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him.
1:42:And she exclaimed loudly, “Blessed [worthy to be praised] are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
1:43:And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?
1:44:For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
1:45:And blessed [spiritually fortunate and favored by God] is she who believed and confidently trusted that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her [by the angel sent] from the Lord.”
1:46:The Magnificat
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies and exalts the Lord,
1:47:And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
1:48:“For He has looked [with loving care] on the humble state of His maidservant;
For behold, from now on all generations will count me blessed and happy and favored by God!
1:49:“For He who is mighty has done great things for me;
And holy is His name [to be worshiped in His purity, majesty, and glory].
1:50:“And His mercy is upon generation after generation
Toward those who [stand in great awe of God and] fear Him.
from generation to generation.
1:51:“He has done mighty deeds with His [powerful] arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
1:52:“He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And exalted those who were humble.
1:53:“He has filled the hungry with good things;
And sent the rich away empty-handed.
1:54:“He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
1:55:Just as He promised to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
1:56:And Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months, and then returned to her home.
1:57:John Is Born
Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son.
1:58:Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown His great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her.
1:59:It happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child [as required by the Law], and they intended to name him Zacharias, after his father;
1:60:but his mother answered, “No indeed; instead he will be called John.”
1:61:And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by that name.”
1:62:Then they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called.
1:63:And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished.
1:64:At once Zacharias’ mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began speaking, praising and blessing and thanking God.
1:65:Then fear came on all their neighbors; and all these things were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea.
1:66:All who heard these things kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this little boy turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him [to bring about his birth].
1:67:Zacharias’ Prophecy
Now Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him, and he prophesied, saying,
1:68:“Blessed (praised, glorified) be the Lord, the God of Israel,
Because He has visited us and brought redemption to His people,
1:69:And He has raised up a horn of salvation [a mighty and valiant Savior] for us
In the house of David His servant—
1:70:Just as He promised by the mouth of His holy prophets from the most ancient times—
1:71:Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
1:72:To show mercy [as He promised] to our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant [the promised blessing],
1:73:The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
1:74:To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
1:75:In holiness [being set apart] and righteousness [being upright] before Him all our days.
1:76:“And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord (the Messiah) to prepare His ways;
1:77:To give His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
1:78:Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise (the Messiah) from on high will dawn and visit us,
1:79:To shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
To guide our feet [in a straight line] into the way of peace and serenity.”
1:80:The child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel [as John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah].
2:1:Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem
Now in those days a decree went out from [the emperor] Caesar Augustus, that all the inhabited world (the Roman Empire) should be registered [in a census].
2:2:This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
2:3:And everyone went to register for the census, each to his own city.
2:4:So Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
2:5:in order to register with Mary, who was betrothed to him, and was with child.
2:6:While they were there [in Bethlehem], the time came for her to give birth,
2:7:and she gave birth to her Son, her firstborn; and she wrapped Him in [swaddling] cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no [private] room for them in the inn.
2:8:In the same region there were shepherds staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
2:9:And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone around them, and they were terribly frightened.
2:10:But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.
2:11:For this day in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (the Messiah).
2:12:And this will be a sign for you [by which you will recognize Him]: you will find a Baby wrapped in [swaddling] cloths and lying in a manger.”
2:13:Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host (angelic army) praising God and saying,
2:14:“Glory to God in the highest [heaven],
And on earth peace among men with whom He is well-pleased.”
2:15:When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying one to another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem, and see this [wonderful] thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”
2:16:So they went in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the Baby as He lay in the manger.
2:17:And when they had seen this, they made known what had been told them about this Child,
2:18:and all who heard it were astounded and wondered at what the shepherds told them.
2:19:But Mary treasured all these things, giving careful thought to them and pondering them in her heart.
2:20:The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.
2:21:Jesus Presented at the Temple
At the end of eight days, when He was to be circumcised, He was named Jesus, the name given [to Him] by the angel [Gabriel] before He was conceived in the womb.
2:22:And when the time for their purification came [that is, the mother’s purification and the baby’s dedication] according to the Law of Moses, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord [set apart as the Firstborn]
2:23:(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy [set apart and dedicated] to the Lord)”
2:24:and [they came also] to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord [to be appropriate for a family of modest means], “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
2:25:Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout [carefully observing the divine Law], and looking for the Consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
2:26:It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
2:27:Prompted by the Spirit, he came into the temple [enclosure]; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him the custom required by the Law,
2:28:Simeon took Him into his arms, and blessed and praised and thanked God, and said,
2:29:“Now, Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to leave [this world] in peace,
According to Your word;
2:30:For my eyes have seen Your Salvation,
2:31:Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
2:32:A Light for revelation to the Gentiles [to disclose what was previously unknown],
And [to bring] the praise and honor and glory of Your people Israel.”
2:33:And His [legal] father and His mother were amazed at what was said about Him.
2:34:Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Listen carefully: this Child is appointed and destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that is to be opposed—
2:35:and a sword [of deep sorrow] will pierce through your own soul—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
2:36:There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, and had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage,
2:37:and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She did not leave the [area of the] temple, but was serving and worshiping night and day with fastings and prayers.
2:38:She, too, came up at that very moment and began praising and giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all who were looking for the redemption and deliverance of Jerusalem.
2:39:Return to Nazareth
And when they had done everything [in connection with Jesus’ birth] according to the Law of the Lord, they went back to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.
2:40:And the Child continued to grow and become strong [in spirit], filled with wisdom; and the grace (favor, spiritual blessing) of God was upon Him.
2:41:Visit to Jerusalem
Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover Feast.
2:42:And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem, according to the custom of the Feast;
2:43:and as they were returning [to Nazareth], after spending the required number of days [at the Feast], the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem. Now His parents did not know this,
2:44:but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and traveled a day’s journey; and [then] they began searching [anxiously] for Him among their relatives and acquaintances.
2:45:When they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem looking for Him [everywhere].
2:46:Three days later they found Him in the [court of the] temple, sitting among the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.
2:47:All who heard Him were amazed by His intelligence and His understanding and His answers.
2:48:When they saw Him, they were overwhelmed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Listen, Your father and I have been [greatly distressed and] anxiously looking for You.”
2:49:And He answered, “Why did you have to look for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”
2:50:But they did not understand what He had said to them.
2:51:He went down to Nazareth with them, and was continually submissive and obedient to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
2:52:And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men.
3:1:John the Baptist Preaches
Now in the fifteenth year of [Emperor] Tiberius Caesar’s reign—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod [Antipas] was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene—
3:2:in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas [his son-in-law], the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.
3:3:And he went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin;
3:4:as it is written and forever remains written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.
3:5:‘Every ravine shall be filled up,
And every mountain and hill shall be leveled;
And the crooked [places] shall be made straight,
And the rough roads smooth;
3:6:and all mankind shall see the salvation of God.’”
3:7:So he began saying to the crowds who were coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath [of God that is] to come?
3:8:Therefore produce fruit that is worthy of [and consistent with your] repentance [that is, live changed lives, turn from sin and seek God and His righteousness]. And do not even begin to say to yourselves [as a defense], ‘We have Abraham for our father [and so our heritage assures us of salvation]’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children (descendants) for Abraham [for God can replace the unrepentant, regardless of their heritage, with those who are obedient].
3:9:Even now the axe [of God’s judgment] is swinging toward the root of the trees; so every tree that does not produce good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.”
3:10:The crowds asked him, “Then what are we to do?”
3:11:And John replied, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do the same.”
3:12:Even some tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked, “Teacher, what are we to do?”
3:13:And he told them, “Collect no more than the fixed amount you have been ordered to [collect].”
3:14:Some soldiers asked him, “And what about us, what are we to do?” And he replied to them, “Do not extort money from anyone or harass or blackmail anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”
3:15:Now the people were in a state of expectation, and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
3:16:John answered them all by saying, “As for me, I baptize you [only] with water; but One who is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I is coming, and I am not fit to untie the strap of His sandals [even as His slave]. He will baptize you [who truly repent] with the Holy Spirit and [you who remain unrepentant] with fire.
3:17:His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat (believers) into His barn (kingdom); but He will burn up the chaff (the unrepentant) with unquenchable fire.”
3:18:So with many other appeals and various admonitions John preached the good news (gospel) to the people.
3:19:But when Herod [Antipas] the tetrarch was repeatedly reprimanded [and convicted by John’s disapproval] for having Herodias, his brother’s wife [as his own], and for all the wicked things that Herod had done,
3:20:he also added this to them all: he locked up John in prison.
3:21:Jesus’ Baptism
Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, the [visible] heaven was opened,
3:22:and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, “You are My Son, My Beloved, in You I am well-pleased and delighted!”
3:23:Genealogy of Jesus
When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son [by marriage] of Eli,
3:24:the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
3:25:the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Hesli, the son of Naggai,
3:26:the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda,
3:27:the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,
3:28:the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,
3:29:the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
3:30:the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,
3:31:the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
3:32:the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,
3:33:the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,
3:34:the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
3:35:the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of Shelah,
3:36:the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
3:37:the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,
3:38:the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
4:1:The Devil Tempts Jesus
Now Jesus, full of [and in perfect communication with] the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
4:2:for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they ended, He was hungry.
4:3:Then the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to turn into bread.”
4:4:Jesus replied to him, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”
4:5:Then he led Jesus up [to a high mountain] and displayed before Him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth [and their magnificence] in the twinkling of an eye.
4:6:And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this realm and its glory [its power, its renown]; because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
4:7:Therefore if You worship before me, it will all be Yours.”
4:8:Jesus replied to him, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.’”
4:9:Then he led Jesus to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple, and said [mockingly] to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here;
4:10:for it is written and forever remains written,
‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard and protect You,’
4:11:and,
‘they will lift You up on their hands,
So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
4:12:Jesus replied to him, “It is said [in Scripture], ‘you shall not tempt the Lord your God [to prove Himself to you].’”
4:13:When the devil had finished every temptation, he [temporarily] left Him until a more opportune time.
4:14:Jesus’ Public Ministry
Then Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread through the entire region.
4:15:And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised and glorified and honored by all.
4:16:So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.
4:17:The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
4:18:“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah),
Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy),
4:19:to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the favor of God abound greatly].”
4:20:Then He rolled up the scroll [having stopped in the middle of the verse], gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]; and the eyes of all those in the synagogue were [attentively] fixed on Him.
4:21:He began speaking to them: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence.”
4:22:And [as He continued on] they all were speaking well of Him, and were in awe and were wondering about the words of grace which were coming from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
4:23:So He said to them, “You will no doubt quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal Yourself! Whatever [miracles] that we heard were done [by You] in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well.’”
4:24:Then He said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.
4:25:But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;
4:26:and yet Elijah was not sent [by the Lord] to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
4:27:And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and not one of them was cleansed [by being healed] except Naaman the Syrian.”
4:28:As they heard these things [about God’s grace to these two Gentiles], the people in the synagogue were filled with a great rage;
4:29:and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to hurl Him down the cliff.
4:30:But passing [miraculously] through the crowd, He went on His way.
4:31:Then He came down [from the hills of Nazareth] to Capernaum, a city of Galilee [on the shore of the sea], and He was teaching them on the Sabbath;
4:32:and they were surprised [almost overwhelmed] at His teaching, because His message was [given] with authority and power and great ability.
4:33:There was a man in the synagogue who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud and terrible voice,
4:34:“Let us alone! What business do we have [in common] with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
4:35:But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent (muzzled, gagged) and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown the man down among them, he came out of him without injuring him in any way.
4:36:They were all astonished and in awe, and began saying to one another, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out!”
4:37:And the news about Him spread into every place in the surrounding district (Galilee).
4:38:Many Are Healed
Then Jesus got up and left the synagogue and went to Simon’s (Peter’s) house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her.
4:39:Standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and immediately she got up and began serving them [as her guests].
4:40:While the sun was setting [marking the end of the Sabbath day], all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them [exhibiting His authority as Messiah].
4:41:Demons also were coming out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that He was the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
4:42:When daybreak came, Jesus left [Simon Peter’s house] and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and [they] came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving them.
4:43:But He said, “I must preach [the good news of] the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because I was sent for this purpose.”
4:44:So He continued preaching in the synagogues of Judea [the country of the Jews, including Galilee].
5:1:The First Disciples
Now it happened that while Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee), with the people crowding all around Him and listening to the word of God;
5:2:that He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.
5:3:He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the shore. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat.
5:4:When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon [Peter], “Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch [of fish].”
5:5:Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night [to the point of exhaustion] and caught nothing [in our nets], but at Your word I will [do as you say and] lower the nets [again].”
5:6:When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were [at the point of] breaking;
5:7:so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats [with fish], so that they began to sink.
5:8:But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
5:9:For he and all his companions were completely astounded at the catch of fish which they had taken;
5:10:and so were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon [Peter]. Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear; from now on you will be catching men!”
5:11:After they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].
5:12:The Leper and the Paralytic
While Jesus was in one of the cities, there came a man covered with [an advanced case of] leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean and well.”
5:13:And Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.
5:14:Jesus ordered him to tell no one [that he might happen to meet], “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your purification, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony (witness) to them [that this is a work of Messiah].”
5:15:But the news about Him was spreading farther, and large crowds kept gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their illnesses.
5:16:But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray [in seclusion].
5:17:One day as He was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present with Him to heal.
5:18:Some men came carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, and they tried to bring him in and lay him down in front of Jesus.
5:19:But finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof [and removed some tiles to make an opening] and lowered him through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.
5:20:When Jesus saw their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], He said, “Man, your sins are forgiven.”
5:21:The scribes and the Pharisees began to consider and question [the implications of what He had said], saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies [by claiming the rights and prerogatives of God]? Who can forgive sins [that is, remove guilt, nullify sin’s penalty, and assign righteousness] except God alone?”
5:22:But Jesus, knowing their [hostile] thoughts, answered them, “Why are you questioning [these things] in your hearts?
5:23:Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
5:24:But, in order that you may know that the Son of Man (the Messiah) has authority and power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralyzed man, “I say to you, get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.”
5:25:He immediately stood up before them, picked up his stretcher, and went home glorifying and praising God.
5:26:They were all astonished, and they began glorifying God; and they were filled with [reverential] fear and kept saying, “We have seen wonderful and incredible things today!”
5:27:Call of Levi (Matthew)
After this Jesus went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi (Matthew) sitting at the tax booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk].”
5:28:And he left everything behind and got up and began to follow Jesus [as His disciple].
5:29:Levi (Matthew) gave a great banquet for Him at his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them.
5:30:The Pharisees and their scribes [seeing those with whom He was associating] began murmuring in discontent to His disciples, asking, “Why are you eating and drinking with the tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews]?”
5:31:And Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but [only] those who are sick.
5:32:I did not come to call the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to repent], but sinners to repentance [to change their old way of thinking, to turn from sin and to seek God and His righteousness].”
5:33:Then they said to Him, “The disciples of John [the Baptist] often practice fasting and offer prayers [of special petition], and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but Yours eat and drink.”
5:34:Jesus said to them, “Can you make the wedding guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?
5:35:But days [for mourning] will come when the bridegroom is [forcefully] taken away from them. They will fast in those days.”
5:36:He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old one; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.
5:37:And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.
5:38:But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
5:39:And no one, after drinking old wine, wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’”
6:1:Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
One Sabbath while Jesus was passing through fields of standing grain, it happened that His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
6:2:But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
6:3:Jesus replied to them, “Have you not even read [in the Scriptures] what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him—
6:4:how he went into the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful [for anyone] to eat except the priests alone, and [how he also] gave it to the men who were with him?”
6:5:Jesus was saying to them, “The Son of Man (the Messiah) is Lord [even] of the Sabbath.”
6:6:On another Sabbath He went into the synagogue and taught, and a man was present whose right hand was withered.
6:7:The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely [with malicious intent], to see if He would [actually] heal [someone] on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse Him.
6:8:But He was aware of their thoughts, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward.” So he got up and stood there.
6:9:Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you directly: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?”
6:10:After looking around at them all, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did, and his hand was [fully] restored.
6:11:But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with senseless rage [and lacked spiritual insight], and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
6:12:Choosing the Twelve
Now at this time Jesus went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.
6:13:When day came, He called His disciples and selected twelve of them, whom He also named apostles (special messengers, personally chosen representatives):
6:14:Simon, whom He also named Peter, and his brother Andrew; and [the brothers] James and John; and Philip, and Bartholomew [also called Nathanael];
6:15:and Matthew (Levi, the tax collector) and Thomas; and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot;
6:16:Judas [also called Thaddaeus] the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor [to the Lord].
6:17:Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a vast multitude of people from all over Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon,
6:18:who had come to listen to Him and to be healed of their diseases. Even those who were troubled by unclean spirits (demons) were being healed.
6:19:All the people were trying to touch Him, because [healing] power was coming from Him and healing them all.
6:20:The Beatitudes
And looking toward His disciples, He began speaking: “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are you who are poor [in spirit, those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for the kingdom of God is yours [both now and forever].
6:21:Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are you who hunger now [for righteousness, actively seeking right standing with God], for you will be [completely] satisfied. Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are you who weep now [over your sins and repent], for you will laugh [when the burden of sin is lifted].
6:22:Blessed [morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness] are you when people hate you, and exclude you [from their fellowship], and insult you, and scorn your name as evil because of [your association with] the Son of Man.
6:23:Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for your reward in heaven is great [absolutely inexhaustible]; for their fathers used to treat the prophets in the same way.
6:24:But woe (judgment is coming) to you who are rich [and place your faith in possessions while remaining spiritually impoverished], for you are [already] receiving your comfort in full [and there is nothing left to be awarded to you].
6:25:Woe to you who are well-fed (gorged, satiated) now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now [enjoying a life of self-indulgence], for you will mourn and weep [and deeply long for God].
6:26:Woe to you when all the people speak well of you and praise you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.
6:27:“But I say to you who hear [Me and pay attention to My words]: Love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, [make it a practice to] do good to those who hate you,
6:28:bless and show kindness to those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
6:29:Whoever strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other one also [simply ignore insignificant insults or losses and do not bother to retaliate—maintain your dignity]. Whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.
6:30:Give to everyone who asks of you. Whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.
6:31:Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.
6:32:If you [only] love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
6:33:If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
6:34:If you lend [money] to those from whom you expect to receive [it back], what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners expecting to receive back the same amount.
6:35:But love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great (rich, abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High; because He Himself is kind and gracious and good to the ungrateful and the wicked.
6:36:Be merciful (responsive, compassionate, tender) just as your [heavenly] Father is merciful.
6:37:“Do not judge [others self-righteously], and you will not be judged; do not condemn [others when you are guilty and unrepentant], and you will not be condemned [for your hypocrisy]; pardon [others when they truly repent and change], and you will be pardoned [when you truly repent and change].
6:38:Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with the standard of measurement you use [when you do good to others], it will be measured to you in return.”
6:39:He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man guide [another] blind man? Will they not both fall into a hole in the ground?
6:40:A student is not superior to his teacher; but everyone, after he has been completely trained, will be like his teacher.
6:41:Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice or consider the log that is in your own eye?
6:42:How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, allow me to take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite (play actor, pretender), first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
6:43:For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.
6:44:For each tree is known and identified by its own fruit. For figs are not picked from thorn bushes, nor is a cluster of grapes picked from a briar bush.
6:45:The [intrinsically] good man produces what is good and honorable and moral out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart; and the [intrinsically] evil man produces what is wicked and depraved out of the evil [in his heart]; for his mouth speaks from the overflow of his heart.
6:46:A Secure Foundation
“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not practice what I tell you?
6:47:Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and obeys them, I will show you whom he is like:
6:48:he is like a [far-sighted, practical, and sensible] man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and yet could not shake it, because it had been securely built and founded on the rock.
6:49:But the one who has [merely] heard and has not practiced [what I say], is like a [foolish] man who built a house on the ground without any foundation, and the torrent burst against it; and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”
7:1:Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Slave
After He had finished all that He had to say in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.
7:2:Now a [Roman] centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and on the verge of death.
7:3:When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him, asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.
7:4:When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with Him earnestly [to come], saying, “He is worthy for You to do this for him,
7:5:because he loves our nation and he built us our synagogue [at his own expense].”
7:6:And Jesus went with them. But when He was near the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof.
7:7:Therefore I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You. But just speak a word, and my slave will be healed.
7:8:For I also am a man subject to authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
7:9:Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith [as this man’s].”
7:10:When the messengers who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
7:11:Soon afterward Jesus went to a city called Nain [near Nazareth], and His disciples and a large crowd accompanied Him.
7:12:Now as He approached the city gate, a dead man was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her [in the funeral procession].
7:13:When the Lord saw her, He felt [great] compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.”
7:14:And He came up and touched the bier [on which the body rested], and the pallbearers stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise [from death]!”
7:15:The man who was dead sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
7:16:Fear and profound awe gripped them all, and they began glorifying and honoring and praising God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people [to help and care for and provide for them]!”
7:17:This news about Him spread through all of Judea and in all the surrounding countryside.
7:18:A Delegation from John
John’s disciples brought word to him [in prison] of all these things.
7:19:John called two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One (the Messiah), or should we look for someone else?”
7:20:So the men came to Jesus and said, “John the Baptist sent us to You to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One (the Messiah), or should we look for someone else?’”
7:21:At that very hour Jesus healed many people of sicknesses and infirmities and evil spirits; and He gave [the gracious gift of] sight to many who were blind.
7:22:So He replied to them, “Go and tell John about everything you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news (gospel) preached to them.
7:23:Blessed [joyful, spiritually favored] is he who does not take offense at Me.”
7:24:When John’s messengers left, Jesus began speaking to the crowds about John: “What did you go out to the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
7:25:But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing [entirely unsuited for the harsh wilderness]? Those who wear splendid clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces!
7:26:But what did you [really] go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one far more [eminent and remarkable] than a prophet [who foretells the future].
7:27:This is the one of whom it is written [by the prophet Malachi],
‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’
7:28:I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater [in privilege] than he.”
7:29:All the people and the tax collectors who heard Jesus, acknowledged [the validity of] God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John.
7:30:But the Pharisees and the lawyers [who were experts in the Mosaic Law] annulled and set aside God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.
7:31:“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation [who set aside God’s plan], and what are they like?
7:32:They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to one another, and saying, ‘We played the flute for you [pretending to be at a wedding], and you did not dance; we sang a dirge [pretending to be at a funeral], and you did not weep [so nothing we did appealed to you].’
7:33:For John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’
7:34:The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a man who is a glutton and a [heavy] wine-drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews].’
7:35:Yet wisdom is vindicated and shown to be right by all her children [by the lifestyle, moral character, and good deeds of her followers].”
7:36:The Anointing in Galilee
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and He went into the Pharisee’s house [in the region of Galilee] and reclined at the table.
7:37:Now there was a woman in the city who was [known as] a sinner; and when she found out that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume;
7:38:and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began wetting His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and [respectfully] kissed His feet [as an act signifying both affection and submission] and anointed them with the perfume.
7:39:Now when [Simon] the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this Man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching Him, that she is a [notorious] sinner [an outcast, devoted to sin].”
7:40:Parable of Two Debtors
Jesus, answering, said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Teacher, say it.”
7:41:“A certain moneylender had two debtors: one owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
7:42:When they had no means of repaying [the debts], he freely forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?”
7:43:Simon answered, “The one, I take it, for whom he forgave more.” Jesus said to him, “You have decided correctly.”
7:44:Then turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house [but you failed to extend to Me the usual courtesies shown to a guest]; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair [demonstrating her love].
7:45:You gave Me no [welcoming] kiss, but from the moment I came in, she has not ceased to kiss My feet.
7:46:You did not [even] anoint My head with [ordinary] oil, but she has anointed My feet with [costly and rare] perfume.
7:47:Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
7:48:Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
7:49:Those who were reclining at the table with Him began saying among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
7:50:Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith [in Me] has saved you; go in peace [free from the distress experienced because of sin].”
8:1:Ministering Women
Soon afterward, Jesus began going around from one city and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve [disciples] were with Him,
8:2:and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases: Mary, called Magdalene [from the city of Magdala in Galilee], from whom seven demons had come out,
8:3:and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means [as was the custom for a rabbi’s disciples].
8:4:Parable of the Sower
When a large crowd was gathering together, and people from city after city were coming to Him, He spoke [to them] using a parable:
8:5:“The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky ate it up.
8:6:And some seed fell on [shallow soil covering] the rocks, and as soon as it sprouted, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
8:7:Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out.
8:8:And some fell into good soil, and grew up and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”
8:9:Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable meant.
8:10:And He said, “To you [who have been chosen] it has been granted to know and recognize the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that though seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
8:11:“Now [the meaning of] the parable is this: The seed is the word of God [concerning eternal salvation].
8:12:Those beside the road are the people who have heard; then the devil comes and takes the message [of God] away from their hearts, so that they will not believe [in Me as the Messiah] and be saved.
8:13:Those on the rocky soil are the people who, when they hear, receive and welcome the word with joy; but these have no firmly grounded root. They believe for a while, and in time of trial and temptation they fall away [from Me and abandon their faith].
8:14:The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, but as they go on their way they are suffocated with the anxieties and riches and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity.
8:15:But as for that seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word with a good and noble heart, and hold on to it tightly, and bear fruit with patience.
8:16:Parable of the Lamp
“Now no one lights a lamp and then covers it with a container [to hide it], or puts it under a bed; instead, he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.
8:17:For there is nothing hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come out into the open.
8:18:So be careful how you listen; for whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a longing for truth], even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”
8:19:Then Jesus’ mother and His brothers came up toward Him, but they could not reach Him because of the crowd.
8:20:And He was told, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, asking to see You.”
8:21:But He answered, “My mother and My brothers are these who listen to the word of God and do it!”
8:22:Jesus Calms the Sea
Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake (Sea of Galilee).” So they set out.
8:23:But as they were sailing, He fell asleep. And a fierce gale of wind swept down [as if through a wind tunnel] on the lake, and they began to be swamped, and were in great danger.
8:24:They came to Jesus and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are about to die!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging, violent waves, and they ceased, and it became calm [a perfect peacefulness].
8:25:And He said to them, “Where is your faith [your confidence in Me]?” They were afraid and astonished, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey Him?”
8:26:The Demoniac Cured
Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is east of Galilee.
8:27:Now when Jesus stepped out on land, He was met by a man from the city [of Gerasa] who was possessed with demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and was not living in a house, but among the tombs.
8:28:Seeing Jesus, he cried out [with a terrible voice from the depths of his throat] and fell down before Him [in dread and terror], and shouted loudly, “What business do we have [in common] with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me [before the appointed time of judgment]!”
8:29:Now He was [already] commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him [violently] many times; and he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.
8:30:Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, “Legion”; because many demons had entered him.
8:31:They continually begged Him not to command them to go into the abyss.
8:32:Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the mountain. The demons begged Jesus to allow them to enter the pigs, and He gave them permission.
8:33:Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
8:34:When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and told it in the city and out in the country.
8:35:And people came out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind (mentally healthy); and they were frightened.
8:36:Those who had seen it told them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been healed.
8:37:Then all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, because they were overwhelmed with fear. So Jesus got into the boat and returned [to the west side of the Sea of Galilee].
8:38:But the man from whom the demons had gone out kept begging Him, pleading to go with Him; but Jesus sent him away, saying,
8:39:“Return home and tell [about] all the great things God has done for you.” So the man went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
8:40:Miracles of Healing
Now as Jesus was returning [to Galilee], the people welcomed Him, for they had all been expecting Him.
8:41:Now a man named Jairus, a synagogue official, came [to Him]; and he fell at Jesus’ feet and began begging Him to come to his house;
8:42:for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as Jesus went, the people were crowding against Him [almost crushing Him].
8:43:And a woman who had [suffered from] a hemorrhage for twelve years [and had spent all her money on physicians], and could not be healed by anyone,
8:44:came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His outer robe, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
8:45:Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” While they all were denying it, Peter [and those who were with him] said, “Master, the people are crowding and pushing against You!”
8:46:But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, because I was aware that power [to heal] had gone out of Me.”
8:47:When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came up trembling and fell down before Him. She declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed.
8:48:He said to her, “Daughter, your faith [your personal trust and confidence in Me] has made you well. Go in peace (untroubled, undisturbed well-being).”
8:49:While He was still speaking, someone from the synagogue official’s house came and said [to Jairus], “Your daughter is dead; do not inconvenience the Teacher any further.”
8:50:But Jesus, hearing this, answered him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe and trust [in Me and have faith in My ability to do this], and she will be made well.”
8:51:When He came to the house, He allowed no one to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother.
8:52:Now they were all weeping loudly and mourning for her; but He said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead, but is sleeping.”
8:53:Then they began laughing scornfully at Him and ridiculing Him, knowing [without any doubt] that she was dead.
8:54:But Jesus took hold of her hand and spoke, saying, “Child, arise!”
8:55:And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He ordered that she be given something to eat.
8:56:Her parents were greatly astonished [by the miracle]; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.
9:1:Ministry of the Twelve
Now Jesus called together the twelve [disciples] and gave them [the right to exercise] power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.
9:2:Then He sent them out [on a brief journey] to preach the kingdom of God and to perform healing.
9:3:And He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey [that might encumber you]—neither a walking stick, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece.
9:4:Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city [to go to another].
9:5:And as for all those who do not welcome you, when you leave that city, shake the dust off your feet [breaking all ties with them] as a testimony against them [that they rejected My message].”
9:6:So they began going from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing the sick everywhere.
9:7:Now Herod [Antipas] the tetrarch [who governed a portion of Palestine including Galilee and Perea] heard about all that was being done [by Jesus], and he was thoroughly perplexed, because it was said by some that John [the Baptist whom he had ordered beheaded] had been raised from the dead,
9:8:and by others that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the [other] prophets of old had been resurrected.
9:9:Herod said, “I personally had John beheaded. Who is this man about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see Jesus.
9:10:When the apostles returned, they told Him all that they had done. He took them with Him and He privately withdrew [across the Jordan] to a city called Bethsaida.
9:11:But when the crowds learned of it, they followed Him; and He welcomed them and He began talking to them about the kingdom of God, and healing those who needed to be healed.
9:12:Five Thousand Fed
Now the day was ending, and the twelve [disciples] came and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging, and get provisions; because here we are in an isolated place.”
9:13:But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”
9:14:(For there were about 5,000 men.) And He said to His disciples, “Have them sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each.”
9:15:They did so, and had them all sit down.
9:16:Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and He looked up to heaven [and gave thanks] and blessed them, and broke them and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
9:17:They all ate and were [completely] satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were [abundant and were] picked up—twelve baskets full.
9:18:Now it happened that as Jesus was praying privately, the disciples were with Him, and He asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
9:19:They answered, “John the Baptist, and some say, Elijah; but others, that one of the ancient prophets has come back to life.”
9:20:And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter replied, “The Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) of God!”
9:21:But He strictly warned and admonished them not to tell this to anyone,
9:22:saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected [as the Messiah] by the elders and chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), and be put to death, and on the third day be raised up [from death to life].”
9:23:And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross daily [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].
9:24:For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake, he is the one who will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].
9:25:For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], and loses or forfeits himself?
9:26:For whoever is ashamed [here and now] of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the [heavenly] Father and of the holy angels.
9:27:But I tell you truthfully, there are some among those standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
9:28:The Transfiguration
Now about eight days after these teachings, He took along Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
9:29:As He was praying, the appearance of His face became different [actually transformed], and His clothing became white and flashing with the brilliance of lightning.
9:30:And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah,
9:31:who appeared in glory, and were speaking of His departure [from earthly life], which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.
9:32:Now Peter and those who were with him had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and splendor and majesty, and the two men who were standing with Him.
9:33:And as these [men, Moses and Elijah] were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is delightful and good for us to be here; we should make three [sacred] tents; one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying.
9:34:But even as he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were [greatly] afraid as they entered the cloud.
9:35:Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, My Chosen One; listen and obey and yield to Him!”
9:36:When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found there alone. And they kept silent, and told no one at that time any of the things which they had seen [concerning the divine manifestation].
9:37:On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him.
9:38:And a man from the crowd shouted for help, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he is my only child;
9:39:and a spirit seizes him, and suddenly he cries out, and it throws him into a convulsion so that he foams at the mouth; and only with [great] difficulty does it leave him, mauling and bruising him as it leaves.
9:40:I begged Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
9:41:Jesus answered, “You unbelieving and perverted generation! How long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here [to Me].”
9:42:Even while the boy was coming, the demon slammed him down and threw him into a [violent] convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.
9:43:They were all amazed [practically overwhelmed] at the [evidence of the] greatness of God and His majesty and His wondrous work.
But while they were still awed by everything Jesus was doing, He said to His disciples,
9:44:“Let these words sink into your ears: the Son of Man is going to be betrayed and handed over to men [who are His enemies].”
9:45:However, they did not understand this statement. Its meaning was kept hidden from them so that they would not grasp it; and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
9:46:The Test of Greatness
An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest [surpassing the others in esteem and authority].
9:47:But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and had him stand beside Him,
9:48:and He told them, “Whoever welcomes this child in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me [also] welcomes Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you [that is, the one who is genuinely humble—the one with a realistic self-view]—he is the one who is [truly] great.”
9:49:John replied, “Master, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name; and we tried to stop him because he does not follow along with us.”
9:50:But Jesus told him, “Do not stop him; for he who is not against you is for you.”
9:51:Now when the time was approaching for Him to be taken up [to heaven], He was determined to go to Jerusalem [to fulfill His purpose].
9:52:He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went into a Samaritan village to make arrangements for Him;
9:53:but the people would not welcome Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem.
9:54:When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and destroy them?”
9:55:But He turned and rebuked them [and He said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are;
9:56:for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they journeyed on to another village.
9:57:Exacting Discipleship
As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.”
9:58:And Jesus told him, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
9:59:He said to another, “Follow Me [accepting Me as Master and Teacher].” But he said, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”
9:60:But He said to him, “Allow the [spiritually] dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and spread the news about the kingdom of God.”
9:61:Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord [as Your disciple]; but first let me say goodbye to those at my home.”
9:62:But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back [to the things left behind] is fit for the kingdom of God.”
10:1:The Seventy Sent Out
Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them out ahead of Him, two by two, into every city and place where He was about to go.
10:2:He was saying to them, “The harvest is abundant [for there are many who need to hear the good news about salvation], but the workers [those available to proclaim the message of salvation] are few. Therefore, [prayerfully] ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.
10:3:Go your way; listen carefully: I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
10:4:Do not carry a money belt, a provision bag, or [extra] sandals; and do not greet anyone along the way [who would delay you].
10:5:Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace [that is, a blessing of well-being and prosperity, the favor of God] to this house.’
10:6:And if anyone of peace is there [someone who is sweet-spirited and hospitable], your [blessing of] peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.
10:7:Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not move from house to house.
10:8:Whenever you go into a city and they welcome you, eat what is set before you;
10:9:and heal those in it who are sick [authenticating your message], and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
10:10:But whatever city you enter and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say,
10:11:‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you [breaking all ties]; yet understand this, that the kingdom of God has come near [and you rejected it].’
10:12:I tell you, it will be more bearable in that day [of judgment] for Sodom than for that city.
10:13:“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented and changed their minds long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes [to show deep regret for sin].
10:14:However, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.
10:15:And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades (the realm of the dead).
10:16:“The one who listens to you listens to Me; and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and the one who rejects Me rejects Him [My heavenly Father] who sent Me.”
10:17:The Joyous Results
The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
10:18:He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like [a flash of] lightning.
10:19:Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you.
10:20:Nevertheless do not rejoice at this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
10:21:In that very hour He was overjoyed and rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and He said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things [relating to salvation] from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to infants [the childlike and untaught]. Yes, Father, for this way was [Your gracious will and choice, and was] well-pleasing in Your sight.
10:22:All things have been transferred and turned over to Me by My Father and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him.”
10:23:Then turning to His disciples, Jesus said privately, “Blessed [joyful, spiritually enlightened, and favored by God] are the eyes which see what you see,
10:24:for I say to you that many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, and they did not see it; and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
10:25:And a certain lawyer [an expert in Mosaic Law] stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
10:26:Jesus said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
10:27:And he replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
10:28:Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this habitually and you will live.”
10:29:But he, wishing to justify and vindicate himself, asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
10:30:Parable of the Good Samaritan
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, who stripped him of his clothes [and belongings], beat him, and went their way [unconcerned], leaving him half dead.
10:31:Now by coincidence a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
10:32:Likewise a Levite also came down to the place and saw him, and passed by on the other side [of the road].
10:33:But a Samaritan (foreigner), who was traveling, came upon him; and when he saw him, he was deeply moved with compassion [for him],
10:34:and went to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them [to sooth and disinfect the injuries]; and he put him on his own pack-animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
10:35:On the next day he took out two denarii (two days’ wages) and gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I return.’
10:36:Which of these three do you think proved himself a neighbor to the man who encountered the robbers?”
10:37:He answered, “The one who showed compassion and mercy to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and constantly do the same.”
10:38:Martha and Mary
Now while they were on their way, Jesus entered a village [called Bethany], and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.
10:39:She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was continually listening to His teaching.
10:40:But Martha was very busy and distracted with all of her serving responsibilities; and she approached Him and said, “Lord, is it of no concern to You that my sister has left me to do the serving alone? Tell her to help me and do her part.”
10:41:But the Lord replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about so many things;
10:42:but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part [that which is to her advantage], which will not be taken away from her.”
11:1:Instruction about Prayer
It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”
11:2:He said to them,
“When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
11:3:‘Give us each day our daily bread.
11:4:‘And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us [who has offended or wronged us].
And lead us not into temptation [but rescue us from evil].’”
11:5:Parable of Persistence
Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves [of bread];
11:6:for a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come to visit me, and I have nothing to serve him’;
11:7:and from inside he answers, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’
11:8:I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence and boldness he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
11:9:“So I say to you, ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking, and you will find; knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
11:10:For everyone who keeps on asking [persistently], receives; and he who keeps on seeking [persistently], finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [persistently], the door will be opened.
11:11:What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?
11:12:Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
11:13:If you, then, being evil [that is, sinful by nature], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!”
11:14:Pharisees’ Blasphemy
And [at another time] Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was [controlling a man so as to make him] mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds were awed.
11:15:But some of them said, “He drives out demons by [the power of] Beelzebul (Satan), the ruler of the demons.”
11:16:Others, trying to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven.
11:17:But He, well aware of their thoughts and purpose, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is doomed to destruction; and a house divided against itself falls.
11:18:If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand and continue to survive? For you are saying that I drive out demons by [the power of] Beelzebul.
11:19:Now if I drive out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons [the Jewish exorcists] drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.
11:20:But if I drive out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has already come upon you.
11:21:When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his belongings are undisturbed and secure.
11:22:But when someone stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he robs him of all his armor on which he had relied and divides his [goods as] spoil.
11:23:He who is not with Me [believing in Me as Lord and Savior] is against Me [there is no impartial position]; and he who does not gather with Me [assisting in My ministry], scatters.
11:24:“When the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search [of a place] of rest; and not finding any, it says, ‘I will go back to my house (person) from which I came.’
11:25:And when it comes, it finds the place swept and put in order.
11:26:Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in [the person] and live there; and the last state of that person becomes worse than the first.”
11:27:Now while Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed (happy, favored by God) is the womb that gave birth to You and the breasts at which You nursed!”
11:28:But He said, “On the contrary, blessed (happy, favored by God) are those who hear the word of God and continually observe it.”
11:29:The Sign of Jonah
Now as the crowds were increasing [in number], He began to say, “This [present] generation is a wicked generation; it seeks a sign (attesting miracle), but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah [the prophet].
11:30:For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man also be [a sign] to this generation.
11:31:The Queen of the South (the kingdom of Sheba) will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and look, something greater than Solomon is here.
11:32:The men of Nineveh will stand up [as witnesses] at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and look, something greater than Jonah is here.
11:33:“No one lights a lamp and then puts it in a cellar nor under a basket [hiding the light], but [instead it is put] on the lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.
11:34:The eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is clear [spiritually perceptive, focused on God], your whole body also is full of light [benefiting from God’s precepts]. But when it is bad [spiritually blind], your body also is full of darkness [devoid of God’s word].
11:35:Be careful, therefore, that the light that is in you is not darkness.
11:36:So if your whole body is illuminated, with no dark part, it will be entirely bright [with light], as when the lamp gives you light with its bright rays.”
11:37:Woes upon the Pharisees
Now after Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him. He went in [the Pharisee’s home] and reclined at the table [without ceremonially washing His hands].
11:38:The Pharisee noticed this and was surprised that Jesus did not first ceremonially wash before the meal.
11:39:But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate [as required by tradition]; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
11:40:You foolish ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?
11:41:But give that which is within as charity [that is, acts of mercy and compassion, not as a public display, but as an expression of your faithfulness to God], and then indeed all things are clean for you.
11:42:“But woe (judgment is coming) to you Pharisees, because you [self-righteously] tithe mint and rue and every [little] garden herb [tending to all the minutiae], and yet disregard and neglect justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done, without neglecting the others.
11:43:Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be respectfully greeted in the market places.
11:44:Woe to you! For you are like graves which are unmarked, and people walk over them without being aware of it [and are ceremonially unclean].”
11:45:One of the lawyers [an expert in the Mosaic Law] answered Him, “Teacher, by saying this, You insult us too!”
11:46:But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well, because you weigh men down with burdens [man-made rules, unreasonable requirements] which are hard to bear, and you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers [to lighten the load].
11:47:Woe to you! For you repair or build tombs for the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them.
11:48:So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers, because they [actually] killed them, and you repair or build their tombs.
11:49:For this reason also the wisdom of God said [in the Scriptures], ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will put to death and some they will persecute,
11:50:so that charges may be brought against this generation [holding them responsible] for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world,
11:51:from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah [the priest], who was murdered between the altar and the house of God. Yes, I tell you, charges will be brought against this generation.’
11:52:Woe to you lawyers, because you have taken away the key to knowledge (scriptural truth). You yourselves did not enter, and you held back those who were entering [by your flawed interpretation of God’s word and your man-made tradition].”
11:53:When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile [toward Him] and to interrogate Him on many subjects,
11:54:plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say.
12:1:God Knows and Cares
In the meantime, after so many thousands of the people had gathered that they were stepping on one another, Jesus began speaking first of all to His disciples, “Be continually on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees [that is, their pervasive, corrupting influence and teaching], which is hypocrisy [producing self-righteousness].
12:2:But there is nothing [so carefully] concealed that it will not be revealed, nor so hidden that it will not be made known.
12:3:For that reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.
12:4:“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do.
12:5:But I will point out to you whom you should fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority and power to hurl [you] into hell; yes, I say to you, [stand in great awe of God and] fear Him!
12:6:Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? Yet not one of them has [ever] been forgotten in the presence of God.
12:7:Indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are far more valuable than many sparrows.
12:8:“I say to you, whoever declares openly and confesses Me before men [speaking freely of Me as his Lord], the Son of Man also will declare openly and confess him [as one of His own] before the angels of God.
12:9:But he who denies Me before men will be denied in the presence of the angels of God.
12:10:And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit [that is, whoever intentionally discredits the Holy Spirit by attributing the authenticating miracles done by Me to Satan], it will not be forgiven him [for him there is no forgiveness].
12:11:When they bring you before the synagogues and the magistrates and the authorities, do not be worried about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say;
12:12:for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
12:13:Covetousness Denounced
Someone from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”
12:14:But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or an arbitrator over [the two of] you?”
12:15:Then He said to them, “Watch out and guard yourselves against every form of greed; for not even when one has an overflowing abundance does his life consist of nor is it derived from his possessions.”
12:16:Parable of the Wealthy Fool
Then He told them a parable, saying, “There was a rich man whose land was very fertile and productive.
12:17:And he began thinking to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place [large enough in which] to store my crops?’
12:18:Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my storehouses and build larger ones, and I will store all my grain and my goods there.
12:19:And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many good things stored up, [enough] for many years; rest and relax, eat, drink and be merry (celebrate continually).”’
12:20:But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared?’
12:21:So it is for the one who continues to store up and hoard possessions for himself, and is not rich [in his relationship] toward God.”
12:22:Jesus said to His disciples, “For this reason I tell you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; or about your body, as to what you will wear.
12:23:For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
12:24:Consider the ravens, for they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the crop]; they have no storehouse or barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds!
12:25:And which of you by worrying can add one hour to his life’s span?
12:26:So if you are not even able to do a very little thing [such as that], why are you worried about the rest?
12:27:Consider the lilies and wildflowers, how they grow [in the open field]. They neither labor nor spin [wool to make clothing]; yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these.
12:28:But if this is how God clothes the grass which is in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You of little faith!
12:29:So as for you, do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink; nor have an anxious and unsettled mind.
12:30:For all the [pagan] nations of the world greedily seek these things; and your [heavenly] Father [already] knows that you need them.
12:31:But [strive for and actively] seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
12:32:Do not be afraid and anxious, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
12:33:“Sell your possessions (show compassion) and give [donations] to the poor. Provide money belts for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing and inexhaustible treasure in the heavens, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
12:34:For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
12:35:Be in Readiness
“Be dressed and ready for active service, and keep your lamps continuously burning.
12:36:Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that when he comes and knocks they may immediately open the door for him.
12:37:Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) are those servants whom the master finds awake and watching when he arrives. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he will prepare himself to serve, and will have them recline at the table, and will come and wait on them.
12:38:Whether he comes in the second watch (before midnight), or even in the third (after midnight), and finds them so [prepared and ready], blessed are those servants.
12:39:“But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time the thief was coming, he [would have been awake and alert, and] would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
12:40:You too, be continually ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”
12:41:Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us [disciples], or to everyone else as well?”
12:42:Parable of the Faithful Steward
The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward [of the estate], whom his master will put in charge over his household, to give his servants their portion of food at the proper time?
12:43:Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is that servant whom his master finds so doing when he arrives.
12:44:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
12:45:But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is taking his time in coming,’ and begins to beat the servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk,
12:46:the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
12:47:And that servant who knew his master’s will, and yet did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will be beaten with many lashes [of the whip],
12:48:but the one who did not know it and did things worthy of a beating, will receive only a few [lashes]. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
12:49:Christ Divides Men
“I have come to cast fire (judgment) on the earth; and how I wish that it were already kindled!
12:50:I have a baptism [of great suffering] with which to be baptized, and how [greatly] I am distressed until it is accomplished!
12:51:Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division [between believers and unbelievers];
12:52:for from now on five in one household will be divided [over Me], three against two and two against three.
12:53:They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
12:54:He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain,’ and that is how it turns out.
12:55:And when [you see that] a south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it happens.
12:56:You hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders)! You know how to analyze and intelligently interpret the appearance of the earth and sky [to forecast the weather], but why do you not intelligently interpret this present time?
12:57:“And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?
12:58:For while you are going with your opponent [at law] to appear before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle, so that he does not drag you before the judge, and the judge does not [rule against you and] turn you over to the officer, and the officer does not throw you into prison.
12:59:I say to you, you [absolutely] will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.”
13:1:Call to Repent
Just at that time some people came who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate [the governor] had mixed with their sacrifices.
13:2:Jesus replied to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they have suffered in this way?
13:3:I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.
13:4:Or do you assume that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed were worse sinners than all the others who live in Jerusalem?
13:5:I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.”
13:6:Parable of the Fig Tree
Then He began telling them this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, but did not find any;
13:7:so he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and have found none. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground [depleting the soil and blocking the sunlight]?’
13:8:But he replied to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, [just] one more year until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;
13:9:and if it bears fruit after this, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”
13:10:Healing on the Sabbath
Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
13:11:And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had an illness caused by a spirit (demon). She was bent double, and could not straighten up at all.
13:12:When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are released from your illness.”
13:13:Then He laid His hands on her; and immediately she stood erect again and she began glorifying and praising God.
13:14:But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work ought to be done; so come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”
13:15:But the Lord replied to him, “You hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders)! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it?
13:16:And this woman, a daughter (descendant) of Abraham whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?”
13:17:As He was saying this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things that were being done by Him.
13:18:Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven
So this led Him to say, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?
13:19:It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky found shelter and nested in its branches.”
13:20:And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?
13:21:It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three peck measures of flour until it was all leavened.”
13:22:Teaching in the Villages
Jesus journeyed on through cities and villages, teaching and making His way toward Jerusalem.
13:23:And someone asked Him, “Lord, will only a few be saved [from the penalties of the last judgment]?” And He said to them,
13:24:“Strive to enter through the narrow door [force aside unbelief and the attractions of sin]; for many, I tell you, will try to enter [by their own works] and will not be able.
13:25:Once the head of the house gets up and closes the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door [again and again], saying, ‘Lord, open to us!’ then He will answer you, ‘I do not know where you are from [for you are not of My household].’
13:26:Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’;
13:27:but He will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers!’
13:28:In that place there will be weeping [in sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [in distress and anger] when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out and driven away.
13:29:And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and they will sit down [and feast at the table] in the kingdom of God.
13:30:And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
13:31:At that very hour some Pharisees came up and said to Him, “Leave and go away from here, because Herod [Antipas] wants to kill You.”
13:32:And He said to them, “Go and tell that fox [that sly, cowardly man], ‘Listen carefully: I cast out demons and perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I reach My goal.’
13:33:Nevertheless I must travel on today and tomorrow and the day after that—for it cannot be that a prophet would die outside of Jerusalem.
13:34:O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones [to death] those [messengers] who are sent to her [by God]! How often I have wanted to gather your children together [around Me], just as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were not willing!
13:35:Listen carefully: your house is left to you desolate [abandoned by God and destitute of His protection]; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed [to be celebrated with praise] is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
14:1:Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
It happened one Sabbath, when He went for a meal at the house of one of the ruling Pharisees, that they were watching Him closely and carefully [hoping to entrap Him].
14:2:And there in front of Him was a man who had dropsy (extreme swelling).
14:3:And Jesus asked the lawyers and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”
14:4:But they kept silent. Then He took hold of the man and healed him, and sent him on his way.
14:5:Then He said to them, “Which one of you, having a son or an ox that falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”
14:6:And they were unable to reply to this.
14:7:Parable of the Guests
Now Jesus began telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been selecting the places of honor at the table, saying to them,
14:8:“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down [to eat] at the place of honor, since a more distinguished person than you may have been invited by the host,
14:9:and he who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place,’ and then, in disgrace you proceed to take the last place.
14:10:But when you are invited, go and sit down [to eat] at the last place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; and then you will be honored in the presence of all who are at the table with you.
14:11:For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled [before others], and he who habitually humbles himself (keeps a realistic self-view) will be exalted.”
14:12:Jesus also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or wealthy neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.
14:13:But when you give a banquet or a reception, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame, and the blind,
14:14:and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous (the just, the upright).”
14:15:When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is he who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
14:16:Parable of the Dinner
But Jesus said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many guests;
14:17:and at the dinner hour he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is ready now.’
14:18:But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have purchased a piece of land and I have to go out and see it; please consider me excused.’
14:19:Another one said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’
14:20:And another said, ‘I have [recently] married a wife, and for that reason I am unable to come.’
14:21:So the servant came back and reported this to his master. Then [his master,] the head of the household, became angry [at the rejections of his invitation] and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the disabled and the blind and the lame.’
14:22:And the servant [after returning] said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’
14:23:Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled [with guests].
14:24:For I tell you, not one of those who were invited [and declined] will taste my dinner.’”
14:25:Discipleship Tested
Now large crowds were going along with Jesus; and He turned and said to them,
14:26:“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God]—he cannot be My disciple.
14:27:Whoever does not carry his own cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow after Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] cannot be My disciple.
14:28:For which one of you, when he wants to build a watchtower [for his guards], does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to finish it?
14:29:Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is unable to finish [the building], all who see it will begin to ridicule him,
14:30:saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’
14:31:Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one who is coming against him with twenty thousand?
14:32:Or else [if he feels he is not powerful enough], while the other [king] is still a far distance away, he sends an envoy and asks for terms of peace.
14:33:So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not [carefully consider the cost and then for My sake] give up all his own possessions.
14:34:“Therefore, salt is good; but if salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?
14:35:It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”
15:1:The Lost Sheep
Now all the tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews] were coming near Jesus to listen to Him.
15:2:Both the Pharisees and the scribes began muttering and complaining, saying, “This man accepts and welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
15:3:So He told them this parable:
15:4:“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost, [searching] until he finds it?
15:5:And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
15:6:And when he gets home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’
15:7:I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
15:8:The Lost Coin
“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins [each one equal to a day’s wages] and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
15:9:And when she has found it, she calls together her [women] friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I found the lost coin!’
15:10:In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents [that is, changes his inner self—his old way of thinking, regrets past sins, lives his life in a way that proves repentance; and seeks God’s purpose for his life].”
15:11:The Prodigal Son
Then He said, “A certain man had two sons.
15:12:The younger of them [inappropriately] said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that falls to me.’ So he divided the estate between them.
15:13:A few days later, the younger son gathered together everything [that he had] and traveled to a distant country, and there he wasted his fortune in reckless and immoral living.
15:14:Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to do without and be in need.
15:15:So he went and forced himself on one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
15:16:He would have gladly eaten the [carob] pods that the pigs were eating [but they could not satisfy his hunger], and no one was giving anything to him.
15:17:But when he [finally] came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough food, while I am dying here of hunger!
15:18:I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.
15:19:I am no longer worthy to be called your son; [just] treat me like one of your hired men.”’
15:20:So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
15:21:And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
15:22:But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe [for the guest of honor] and put it on him; and give him a ring for his hand, and sandals for his feet.
15:23:And bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let us [invite everyone and] feast and celebrate;
15:24:for this son of mine was [as good as] dead and is alive again; he was lost and has been found.’ So they began to celebrate.
15:25:“Now his older son was in the field; and when he returned and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
15:26:So he summoned one of the servants and began asking what this [celebration] meant.
15:27:And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’
15:28:But the elder brother became angry and deeply resentful and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.
15:29:But he said to his father, ‘Look! These many years I have served you, and I have never neglected or disobeyed your command. Yet you have never given me [so much as] a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;
15:30:but when this [other] son of yours arrived, who has devoured your estate with immoral women, you slaughtered that fattened calf for him!’
15:31:The father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
15:32:But it was fitting to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was [as good as] dead and has begun to live. He was lost and has been found.’”
16:1:The Unjust Steward (Manager)
Now Jesus was also saying to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager [of his estate], and accusations [against this man] were brought to him, that this man was squandering his [master’s] possessions.
16:2:So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management [of my affairs], for you can no longer be [my] manager.’
16:3:The manager [of the estate] said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig [for a living], and I am ashamed to beg.
16:4:I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management, people [who are my master’s debtors] will welcome me into their homes.’
16:5:So he summoned his master’s debtors one by one, and he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
16:6:He said, ‘A hundred measures of [olive] oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
16:7:Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
16:8:And his master commended the unjust manager [not for his misdeeds, but] because he had acted shrewdly [by preparing for his future unemployment]; for the sons of this age [the non-believers] are shrewder in relation to their own kind [that is, to the ways of the secular world] than are the sons of light [the believers].
16:9:And I tell you [learn from this], make friends for yourselves [for eternity] by means of the wealth of unrighteousness [that is, use material resources as a way to further the work of God], so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.
16:10:“He who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little thing is also dishonest in much.
16:11:Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of earthly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?
16:12:And if you have not been faithful in the use of that [earthly wealth] which belongs to another [whether God or man, and of which you are a trustee], who will give you that which is your own?
16:13:No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand devotedly by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon [that is, your earthly possessions or anything else you trust in and rely on instead of God].”
16:14:Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were sneering and ridiculing Him.
16:15:So He said to them, “You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts [your thoughts, your desires, your secrets]; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.
16:16:“The Law and the [writings of the] Prophets were proclaimed until John; since then the gospel of the kingdom of God has been and continues to be preached, and everyone tries forcefully to go into it.
16:17:Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a letter of the Law to fail and become void.
16:18:“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.
16:19:The Rich Man and Lazarus
“Now there was a certain rich man who was habitually dressed in expensive purple and fine linen, and celebrated and lived joyously in splendor every day.
16:20:And a poor man named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, covered with sores.
16:21:He [eagerly] longed to eat the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.
16:22:Now it happened that the poor man died and his spirit was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom (paradise); and the rich man also died and was buried.
16:23:In Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom (paradise).
16:24:And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in severe agony in this flame.’
16:25:But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things [all the comforts and delights], and Lazarus likewise bad things [all the discomforts and distresses]; but now he is comforted here [in paradise], while you are in severe agony.
16:26:And besides all this, between us and you [people] a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to come over from here to you will not be able, and none may cross over from there to us.’
16:27:So the rich man said, ‘Then, father [Abraham], I beg you to send Lazarus to my father’s house—
16:28:for I have five brothers—in order that he may solemnly warn them and witness to them, so that they too will not come to this place of torment.’
16:29:But Abraham said, ‘They have [the Scriptures given by] Moses and the [writings of the] Prophets; let them listen to them.’
16:30:He replied, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent [they will change their old way of thinking and seek God and His righteousness].’
16:31:And he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to [the messages of] Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
17:1:Instructions
Jesus said to His disciples, “Stumbling blocks [temptations and traps set to lure one to sin] are sure to come, but woe (judgment is coming) to him through whom they come!
17:2:It would be better for him if a millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] were hung around his neck and he were hurled into the sea, than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble [in sin and lose faith].
17:3:Pay attention and always be on guard [looking out for one another]! If your brother sins and disregards God’s precepts, solemnly warn him; and if he repents and changes, forgive him.
17:4:Even if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him [that is, give up resentment and consider the offense recalled and annulled].”
17:5:The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith [our ability to confidently trust in God and in His power].”
17:6:And the Lord said, “If you have [confident, abiding] faith in God [even as small] as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree [which has very strong roots], ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea’; and [if the request was in agreement with the will of God] it would have obeyed you.
17:7:“Which of you who has a servant plowing or tending sheep will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat?’
17:8:Will he not instead say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and appropriately clothe yourself [for service] and serve me while I eat and drink; then afterward you may eat and drink?’
17:9:He does not thank the servant just because he did what he was ordered to do, does he?
17:10:So you too, when you have done everything that was assigned and commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants [undeserving of praise or a reward, for we have not gone beyond our obligation]; we have merely done what we ought to do.’”
17:11:Ten Lepers Cleansed
While Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing [along the border] between Samaria and Galilee.
17:12:As He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance;
17:13:and they raised their voices and called out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
17:14:When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were [miraculously] healed and made clean.
17:15:One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying and praising and honoring God with a loud voice;
17:16:and he lay face downward at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him [over and over]. He was a Samaritan.
17:17:Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten [of you] cleansed? Where are the [other] nine?
17:18:Was there no one found to return and to give thanks and praise to God, except this foreigner?”
17:19:Jesus said to him, “Get up and go [on your way]. Your faith [your personal trust in Me and your confidence in God’s power] has restored you to health.”
17:20:Now having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed or with a visible display;
17:21:nor will people say, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For the kingdom of God is among you [because of My presence].”
17:22:Second Coming Foretold
Then He said to the disciples, “The time will come when you will long to see [even] one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
17:23:They will say to you, ‘Look [the Messiah is] there!’ or ‘Look [He is] here!’ Do not go away [to see Him], and do not run after them.
17:24:For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, gives light to the other part of the sky, so [visible] will the Son of Man be in His day.
17:25:But first He must suffer many things and be repudiated and rejected and considered unfit [to be the Messiah] by this [unbelieving] generation.
17:26:And just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the time of [the second coming of] the Son of Man:
17:27:the people were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, [they were indifferent to God] until the day that Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
17:28:It was the same as it was in the days of Lot. People were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building [carrying on business as usual, without regard for their sins];
17:29:but on the [very] day that Lot left Sodom it rained fire and brimstone (burning sulfur) from heaven and destroyed them all.
17:30:It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
17:31:On that day, whoever is on the housetop, with his belongings in the house, must not come down [and go inside] to take them out; and likewise whoever is in the field must not turn back.
17:32:Remember [what happened to] Lot’s wife [when she looked back]!
17:33:Whoever seeks to save his life will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] will keep it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].
17:34:I tell you, on that night [when Messiah comes again] there will be two [sleeping] in one bed; the one (the non-believer) will be taken [away in judgment] and the other (the believer) will be left.
17:35:There will be two women grinding [at the mill] together; the one (the non-believer) will be taken [away in judgment] and the other (the believer) will be left.
17:36:[“Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”]
17:37:And they asked Him, “Where, Lord?” He answered, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will be gathered.”
18:1:Parables on Prayer
Now Jesus was telling the disciples a parable to make the point that at all times they ought to pray and not give up and lose heart,
18:2:saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and had no respect for man.
18:3:There was a [desperate] widow in that city and she kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice and legal protection from my adversary.’
18:4:For a time he would not; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man,
18:5:yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will give her justice and legal protection; otherwise by continually coming she [will be an intolerable annoyance and she] will wear me out.’”
18:6:Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says!
18:7:And will not [our just] God defend and avenge His elect [His chosen ones] who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay [in providing justice] on their behalf?
18:8:I tell you that He will defend and avenge them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [this kind of persistent] faith on the earth?”
18:9:The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous [posing outwardly as upright and in right standing with God], and who viewed others with contempt:
18:10:“Two men went up into the temple [enclosure] to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
18:11:The Pharisee stood [ostentatiously] and began praying to himself [in a self-righteous way, saying]: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men—swindlers, unjust (dishonest), adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
18:12:I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’
18:13:But the tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but was striking his chest [in humility and repentance], saying, ‘God, be merciful and gracious to me, the [especially wicked] sinner [that I am]!’
18:14:I tell you, this man went to his home justified [forgiven of the guilt of sin and placed in right standing with God] rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself [forsaking self-righteous pride] will be exalted.”
18:15:Now they were also bringing their babies to Him, so that He would touch and bless them, and when the disciples noticed it, they began reprimanding them.
18:16:But Jesus called them to Himself, saying [to the apostles], “Allow the children to come to Me, and do not forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
18:17:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God [with faith and humility] like a child will not enter it at all.”
18:18:The Rich Young Ruler
A certain ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher [You who are essentially and morally good], what shall I do to inherit eternal life [that is, eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?”
18:19:Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is [essentially and morally] good except God alone.
18:20:You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not testify falsely, Honor your father and your mother.’”
18:21:He replied, “I have kept all these things from my youth.”
18:22:When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “You still lack one thing; sell everything that you have and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have [abundant] treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me [becoming My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk].”
18:23:But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.
18:24:Jesus looked at him and said, “How difficult it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!
18:25:For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man [who places his faith in wealth or status] to enter the kingdom of God.”
18:26:And those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”
18:27:But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”
18:28:Peter said, “Look, we have left all [things—homes, families, businesses] and followed You.”
18:29:And He said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God,
18:30:who will not receive many times as much in this present age and in the age to come, eternal life.”
18:31:Then taking the twelve [disciples] aside, He said to them, “Listen carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that have been written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled and completed.
18:32:He will be betrayed and handed over to the Gentiles (Roman authorities), and will be mocked and ridiculed and insulted and abused and spit on,
18:33:and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise [from the dead].”
18:34:But the disciples understood none of these things [about the approaching death and resurrection of Jesus]. This statement was hidden from them, and they did not grasp the [meaning of the] things that were said [by Jesus].
18:35:Bartimaeus Receives Sight
As He was approaching Jericho [on His way to Jerusalem], it happened that a blind man was sitting beside the road begging.
18:36:Now when he heard a crowd going by, he began to ask what this was [about].
18:37:They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
18:38:So he shouted out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David (Messiah), have mercy on me!”
18:39:Those who were leading the way were sternly telling him to keep quiet; but he screamed all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
18:40:Then Jesus stopped and ordered that the blind man be led to Him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him,
18:41:“What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me regain my sight!”
18:42:Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight; your [personal trust and confident] faith [in Me] has made you well.”
18:43:Immediately he regained his sight and began following Jesus, glorifying and praising and honoring God. And all the people, when they saw it, praised God.
19:1:Zaccheus Converted
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.
19:2:And there was a man called Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector [a superintendent to whom others reported], and he was rich.
19:3:Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, but he could not see because of the crowd, for he was short in stature.
19:4:So he ran on ahead [of the crowd] and climbed up in a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.
19:5:When Jesus reached the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
19:6:So Zaccheus hurried and came down, and welcomed Jesus with joy.
19:7:When the people saw it, they all began muttering [in discontent], “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a [notorious] sinner.”
19:8:Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “See, Lord, I am [now] giving half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will give back four times as much.”
19:9:Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this household, because he, too, is a [spiritual] son of Abraham;
19:10:for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
19:11:Parable of Money Usage
While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they assumed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately [as soon as He reached the city].
19:12:So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to obtain for himself a kingdom, and [then] to return.
19:13:So he called ten of his servants, and gave them ten minas [one apiece, each equal to about a hundred days’ wages] and said to them, ‘Do business [with this] until I return.’
19:14:But his citizens [the residents of his new kingdom] hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be a king over us.’
19:15:When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these servants, to whom he had given the money, be called to him, that he might find out what business they had done.
19:16:The first one came before him and said, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.’
19:17:And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you proved yourself faithful and trustworthy in a very little thing, you shall [now] have authority over ten cities [in my kingdom].’
19:18:The second one came and said, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’
19:19:And he said to him also, ‘And you shall take charge over five cities.’
19:20:Then another came and said, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I have kept laid up in a handkerchief [for safekeeping].
19:21:I was [always] afraid of you, because you are a stern man; you pick up what you did not lay down and you reap what you did not sow.’
19:22:He said to the servant, ‘I will judge and condemn you by your own words, you worthless servant! Did you [really] know that I was a stern man, picking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?
19:23:Then why did you not [at the very least] put my money in a bank? Then on my return, I would have collected it with interest.’
19:24:Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’
19:25:And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas already!’
19:26:[Jesus explained,] ‘I tell you that to everyone who has [because he valued his gifts from God and has used them wisely], more will be given; but from the one who does not have [because he disregarded his gifts from God], even what he has will be taken away.’
19:27:[The king ended by saying,] ‘But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them, bring them here and kill them in my presence.’”
19:28:The Triumphal Entry
After saying these things, Jesus went on ahead [of them], going up to Jerusalem.
19:29:When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples,
19:30:saying, “Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a [donkey’s] colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here.
19:31:If anybody asks you, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ you will say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
19:32:So those who were sent left and found the colt just as He had told them.
19:33:As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
19:34:They said, “The Lord needs it.”
19:35:They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their robes over the colt and put Jesus on it.
19:36:As He rode along, people were spreading their coats on the road [as an act of homage before a king].
19:37:As soon as He was approaching [Jerusalem], near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the entire multitude of the disciples [all those who were or claimed to be His followers] began praising God [adoring Him enthusiastically and] joyfully with loud voices for all the miracles and works of power that they had seen,
19:38:shouting,
“Blessed (celebrated, praised) is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory (majesty, splendor) in the highest [heaven]!”
19:39:Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples [for shouting these Messianic praises].”
19:40:Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these [people] keep silent, the stones will cry out [in praise]!”
19:41:As He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it [and the spiritual ignorance of its people],
19:42:saying, “If [only] you had known on this day [of salvation], even you, the things which make for peace [and on which peace depends]! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.
19:43:For a time [of siege] is coming when your enemies will put up a barricade [with pointed stakes] against you, and surround you [with armies] and hem you in on every side,
19:44:and they will level you to the ground, you [Jerusalem] and your children within you. They will not leave in you one stone on another, all because you did not [come progressively to] recognize [from observation and personal experience] the time of your visitation [when God was gracious toward you and offered you salvation].”
19:45:Traders Driven from the Temple
Jesus went into the temple [enclosure] and began driving out those who were selling,
19:46:saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a robbers’ den.”
19:47:He was teaching day after day in the temple [porches and courts]; but the chief priests and scribes and the leading men among the people were seeking [a way] to put Him to death,
19:48:and they could not find anything that they could do, for all the people [stayed close to Him and] were hanging on to every word He said.
20:1:Jesus’ Authority Questioned
On one of the days, as Jesus was instructing the people in the temple [area] and preaching the good news (gospel), the chief priests and the scribes along with the elders confronted Him,
20:2:and said to Him, “Tell us by what kind of authority You are doing these things? Or who is the one who gave You this authority?”
20:3:Jesus replied, “I will also ask you a question. You tell Me:
20:4:The baptism of John [the Baptist]—was it from heaven [that is, ordained by God] or from men?”
20:5:They discussed and debated it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’
20:6:But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are firmly convinced that John was a prophet.”
20:7:So they replied that they did not know from where it came.
20:8:Then Jesus said to them, “Nor am I telling you by what [kind of] authority I do these things.”
20:9:Parable of the Vineyard Owner
Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey for a long time [to another country].
20:10:At harvest time he sent a servant [as his representative] to the tenants, so that they would give him his share of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed.
20:11:So he again sent another servant; they also beat him and dishonored and treated him disgracefully and sent him away empty-handed.
20:12:And he sent yet a third; and this one too they wounded and threw out [of the vineyard].
20:13:Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will have respect for him.’
20:14:But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves, saying, ‘This [man] is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’
20:15:So they threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
20:16:He will come and put these tenants to death and will give the vineyard to others.” When the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders heard this, they said, “May it never be!”
20:17:But Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is [the meaning of] this that is written:
‘The [very] Stone which the builders rejected,
this became the chief Cornerstone’?
20:18:Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken and shattered in pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”
20:19:Tribute to Caesar
The scribes and the chief priests tried to [find a way to] arrest Him at that very hour, but they were afraid of the people; because they understood that He spoke this parable against them.
20:20:So they watched [for a chance to trap] Him. They sent spies who pretended to be upright and sincere, in order that they might catch Him in some statement [that they could distort and use against Him], so that they could turn Him over to the control and authority of [Pilate] the governor.
20:21:They asked Him, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and that You show no partiality to anyone, but teach the way of God truthfully.
20:22:Is it lawful [according to Jewish law and tradition] for us to pay taxes (tribute money) to Caesar or not?”
20:23:But He saw through their trickery and said to them,
20:24:“Show Me a [Roman] denarius. Whose image and inscription does the coin have?” They answered, “[the Emperor Tiberius] Caesar’s.”
20:25:He said to them, “Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
20:26:They were not able to seize on anything He said in the presence of the people; and being unnerved at His reply, they were silent.
20:27:Is There a Resurrection?
Now some of the Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Him
20:28:and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us [a law that] if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife and no children, his brother should marry the wife and raise children for his brother.
20:29:Now there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless.
20:30:And the second,
20:31:and the third married her, and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children.
20:32:Finally the woman also died.
20:33:So in the [life after] resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had married her.”
20:34:Jesus said to them, “The sons of this [world and present] age marry and [the women] are given in marriage;
20:35:but those who are considered worthy to gain that [other world and that future] age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;
20:36:and they cannot die again, because they are [immortal] like the angels (equal to, angel-like). And they are children of God, being participants in the resurrection.
20:37:But [as for the fact] that the dead are raised [from death], even Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
20:38:Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living [so these forefathers will be among the resurrected]; for all live [in a definite relationship] to Him.”
20:39:Some of the scribes replied, “Teacher, you have spoken well [so that there is no room for blame].”
20:40:And they did not dare to question Him further about anything [because of the wisdom He displayed in His answers].
20:41:Then He said to them, “How is it that people say that the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) is David’s son?
20:42:For David himself says in the book of Psalms,
‘The Lord (the Father) said to my Lord (the Son, the Messiah),
“Sit at My right hand,
20:43:Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’
20:44:So David calls Him (the Son) ‘Lord,’ and how then is He David’s son?”
20:45:And with all the people listening, He said to His disciples,
20:46:“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes [displaying their prominence], and love respectful greetings in the [crowded] market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets.
20:47:These [men] who confiscate and devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense [to appear devout] offer long prayers. These [men] will receive the greater [sentence of] condemnation.”
21:1:The Widow’s Gift
Looking up, He saw the rich people putting their gifts into the treasury.
21:2:And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins.
21:3:He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in [proportionally] more than all of them;
21:4:for they all put in gifts from their abundance; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
21:5:As some were talking about the temple, that it was decorated with beautiful stones and consecrated offerings [of magnificent gifts of gold which were displayed on the walls and hung in the porticoes], He said,
21:6:“As for all these things which you see, the time will come when there will not be one stone left on another that will not be torn down.”
21:7:They asked Him, “Teacher, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to happen?”
21:8:He said, “Be careful and see to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name [appropriating for themselves the name Messiah which belongs to Me alone], saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not follow them.
21:9:When you hear of wars and disturbances [civil unrest, revolts, uprisings], do not panic; for these things must take place first, but the end will not come immediately.”
21:10:Things to Come
Then Jesus told them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
21:11:There will be violent earthquakes, and in various places famines and [deadly and devastating] pestilences (plagues, epidemics); and there will be terrible sights and great signs from heaven.
21:12:“But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, turning you over to the synagogues and prisons, and bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake.
21:13:This will be a time and an opportunity for you to testify [about Me].
21:14:So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves;
21:15:for I will give you [skillful] words and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.
21:16:But you will be betrayed and handed over even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death,
21:17:and you will be continually hated by everyone because of [your association with] My name.
21:18:But not a hair of your head will perish.
21:19:By your [patient] endurance [empowered by the Holy Spirit] you will gain your souls.
21:20:“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by [hostile] armies, then understand [with confident assurance] that her complete destruction is near.
21:21:At that time, those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are inside the city (Jerusalem) must get out, and those who are [out] in the country must not enter the city;
21:22:for these are days of vengeance [of rendering full justice or satisfaction], so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.
21:23:Woe to those women who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For great trouble and anguish will be on the land, and wrath and retribution on this people [Israel].
21:24:And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (completed).
21:25:The Return of Christ
“There will be signs (attesting miracles) in the sun and moon and stars; and on the earth [there will be] distress and anguish among nations, in perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea and the waves,
21:26:people fainting from fear and expectation of the [dreadful] things coming on the world; for the [very] powers of the heavens will be shaken.
21:27:Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with [transcendent, overwhelming] power [subduing the nations] and with great glory.
21:28:Now when these things begin to occur, stand tall and lift up your heads [in joy], because [suffering ends as] your redemption is drawing near.”
21:29:Parable of the Fig Tree
Then He told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees;
21:30:as soon as they put out leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is near.
21:31:So you too, when you see these things happening, know [without any doubt] that the kingdom of God is near.
21:32:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this generation [those living at that definite period of time preceding the second coming] will not pass away until everything takes place.
21:33:Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
21:34:“But be on guard, so that your hearts are not weighed down and depressed with the giddiness of debauchery and the nausea of self-indulgence and the worldly worries of life, and then that day [when the Messiah returns] will not come on you suddenly like a trap;
21:35:for it will come upon all those who live on the face of all the earth.
21:36:But keep alert at all times [be attentive and ready], praying that you may have the strength and ability [to be found worthy and] to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man [at His coming].”
21:37:Now in the daytime Jesus was teaching in [the porches and courts of] the temple, but at night He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet.
21:38:And early in the morning all the people would come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.
22:1:Preparing the Passover
Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching.
22:2:The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people [who listened devotedly to His teaching, and who respected His spiritual wisdom].
22:3:Then Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve [disciples].
22:4:And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him and hand Him over to them.
22:5:They were delighted and agreed with him to give him money.
22:6:So he consented, and began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus to them [at a time when He was] separated from the crowd [because the people might riot or stop them from seizing Him].
22:7:Then came the preparation day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.
22:8:So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us, so that we may eat it.”
22:9:They asked Him, “Where do You want us to prepare it?”
22:10:He replied, “When you have entered the city, a man carrying an earthen jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house that he enters.
22:11:And say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’
22:12:Then he will show you a large upstairs room, furnished [with carpets and dining couches]; prepare the meal there.”
22:13:They left and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.
22:14:The Lord’s Supper
When the hour [for the meal] had come, Jesus reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him.
22:15:He said to them, “I have earnestly wanted to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;
22:16:for I say to you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
22:17:And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves;
22:18:for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”
22:19:And when He had taken bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
22:20:And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant [ratified] in My blood.
22:21:But listen, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table.
22:22:For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe (judgment is coming) to that man by whom He is betrayed and handed over!”
22:23:And they began to discuss among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to do this.
22:24:Who Is Greatest?
Now a dispute also arose among them as to which of them was regarded to be the greatest.
22:25:Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles have absolute power and lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’
22:26:But it is not to be this way with you; on the contrary, the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest [and least privileged], and the [one who is the] leader, like the servant.
22:27:For who is the greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
22:28:“You are those who have remained and have stood by Me in My trials;
22:29:and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you [the privilege]
22:30:that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
22:31:“Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan has demanded permission to sift [all of] you like grain;
22:32:but I have prayed [especially] for you [Peter], that your faith [and confidence in Me] may not fail; and you, once you have turned back again [to Me], strengthen and support your brothers [in the faith].”
22:33:And Peter said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death!”
22:34:Jesus said, “I say to you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will [utterly] deny three times that you know Me.”
22:35:And He said to them, “When I sent you out without a money belt and [provision] bag and [extra] sandals, did you lack anything?” They answered, “Nothing.”
22:36:Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money belt is to take it along, and also his [provision] bag, and he who has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one.
22:37:For I tell you that this [Scripture] which is written must be completed and fulfilled in Me: ‘And He was counted with the criminals’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment [and is settled].”
22:38:They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”
22:39:The Garden of Gethsemane
And He came out and went, as was His habit, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed Him.
22:40:When He arrived at the place [called Gethsemane], He said to them, “Pray continually that you may not fall into temptation.”
22:41:And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,
22:42:saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup [of divine wrath] from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done.”
22:43:Now an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
22:44:And being in agony [deeply distressed and anguished; almost to the point of death], He prayed more intently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down on the ground.
22:45:When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow,
22:46:and He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not fall into temptation.”
22:47:Judas Betrays Jesus
While He was still speaking, a crowd came, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve [disciples], was leading the way for them. He approached Jesus to kiss Him.
22:48:And Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
22:49:When those who were around Him saw what was about to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?”
22:50:And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
22:51:But Jesus replied, “Stop! No more of this.” And He touched the ear and healed him.
22:52:Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders [of the Sanhedrin] who had come out against Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a robber?
22:53:Day after day when I was with you in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power and authority of darkness are yours.”
22:54:Peter’s Denials
Then they seized Him, and led Him away and brought Him to the [elegant] house of the [Jewish] high priest. And Peter was following at a [safe] distance.
22:55:After they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat among them.
22:56:And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, “This man was with Him too.”
22:57:But Peter denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him!”
22:58:A little later someone else saw him and said, “You are one of them too.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”
22:59:After about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, “This man was with Him, for he is a Galilean too.”
22:60:But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.
22:61:The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.”
22:62:And he went out and wept bitterly [deeply grieved and distressed].
22:63:Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking and ridiculing Him [and treating Him with contempt] and beating Him.
22:64:They blindfolded Him and asked, “Prophesy, who is it that struck You?”
22:65:And they were saying many other [evil and slanderous] things against Him, blaspheming [speaking sacrilegiously and abusively about] Him.
22:66:Jesus before the Sanhedrin
When day came, the Council of the elders of the people (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) assembled, both chief priests and scribes; and they led Jesus away to the council chamber, saying,
22:67:“If You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe [what I say],
22:68:and if I ask a question, you will not answer.
22:69:But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”
22:70:And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” He replied, “It is just as you say.”
22:71:Then they asked, “What further need of testimony do we have? For we ourselves have heard it from His own mouth.”
23:1:Jesus before Pilate
Then the whole assembly got up and brought Him before Pilate.
23:2:They began to accuse Jesus, asserting, “We found this Man misleading and perverting our nation and forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and claiming that He Himself is Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), a King.”
23:3:So Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is just as you say.”
23:4:Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this Man.”
23:5:But they were insistent and said, “He stirs up the people [to rebel], teaching throughout Judea, starting from Galilee even as far as here [in Jerusalem].”
23:6:When Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.
23:7:And when he learned that He belonged to the jurisdiction of Herod [Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee], he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
23:8:Jesus before Herod
When Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly pleased. He had wanted to see Him for a long time because of what he had heard about Him, and was hoping to see some [miraculous] sign [even something spectacular] done by Him.
23:9:And he questioned Him at some length, but Jesus made no reply.
23:10:The chief priests and the scribes were standing there, continually accusing Him heatedly.
23:11:And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking and ridiculing Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate.
23:12:Now that very day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other—before this they had been enemies.
23:13:Pilate Seeks Jesus’ Release
Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people,
23:14:and said to them, “You brought this man before me as one who corrupts and incites the people to rebellion. After examining Him before you, I have found no guilt in this Man regarding the charges which you make against Him.
23:15:No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and indeed, He has done nothing to deserve death.
23:16:Therefore I will punish Him [to teach Him a lesson] and release Him.”
23:17:[Now he was obligated to release to them one prisoner at the Feast.]
23:18:But they [loudly] shouted out all together, saying, “Away with this Man, and release Barabbas to us!”
23:19:(He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection that happened in the city, and for murder.)
23:20:Pilate addressed them again, wanting to release Jesus,
23:21:but they kept shouting out, “Crucify, crucify Him!”
23:22:A third time he said to them, “Why, what wrong has He done? I have found no guilt [no crime, no offense] in Him demanding death; therefore I will punish Him [to teach Him a lesson] and release Him.”
23:23:But they were insistent and unrelenting, demanding with loud voices that Jesus be crucified. And their voices began to prevail and accomplish their purpose.
23:24:Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted.
23:25:And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he handed over Jesus to their will.
23:26:Simon Bears the Cross
When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in [to the city] from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.
23:27:Following Him was a large crowd of the people, including women who were mourning and wailing for Him.
23:28:But Jesus, turning toward them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
23:29:For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have never nursed.’
23:30:Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’
23:31:For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
23:32:Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be executed with Him.
23:33:The Crucifixion
When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.
23:34:And Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing His clothes among themselves.
23:35:Now the people stood by, watching; but even the rulers ridiculed and sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others [from death]; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) of God, His Chosen One.”
23:36:The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him and [cruelly] offering Him sour wine,
23:37:and sarcastically saying, “If you are [really] the King of the Jews, save Yourself [from death]!”
23:38:Now there was also an inscription above Him: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
23:39:One of the criminals who had been hanged [on a cross beside Him] kept hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us [from death]!”
23:40:But the other one rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
23:41:We are suffering justly, because we are getting what we deserve for what we have done; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
23:42:And he was saying, “Jesus, [please] remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”
23:43:Jesus said to him, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
23:44:It was now about the sixth hour (noon), and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.),
23:45:because the sun was obscured; and the veil [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two [from top to bottom].
23:46:And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!” Having said this, He breathed His last.
23:47:Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he began praising and honoring God, saying, “Certainly this Man was innocent.”
23:48:All the crowds who had gathered for this spectacle, when they saw what had happened, began to return [to their homes], beating their breasts [as a sign of mourning or repentance].
23:49:And all His acquaintances and the women who had accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, watching these things.
23:50:Jesus Is Buried
A man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), a good and honorable man
23:51:(he had not consented to the Council’s plan and action) a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for and expecting the kingdom of God;
23:52:this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
23:53:And [after receiving permission] he took it down and wrapped it in a linen [burial] cloth and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had yet been laid.
23:54:It was the day of preparation [for the Sabbath], and the Sabbath was dawning.
23:55:Now the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed [closely], and saw the tomb and how His body was laid.
23:56:Then they went back and prepared spices and ointments and sweet-smelling herbs.
And on the Sabbath they rested in accordance with the commandment [forbidding work].
24:1:The Resurrection
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared [to finish anointing the body].
24:2:And they found the [large, circular] stone rolled back from the tomb,
24:3:but when they went inside, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
24:4:While they were perplexed and wondering about this, suddenly, two men in dazzling clothing stood near them;
24:5:and as the women were terrified and were bowing their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why are you looking for the living One among the dead?
24:6:He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee,
24:7:saying that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise [from death to life].”
24:8:And they remembered His words,
24:9:and after returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven [apostles] and to all the rest.
24:10:Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna [the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward] and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.
24:11:But their report seemed to them like idle talk and nonsense, and they would not believe them.
24:12:But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Stooping [at the small entrance] and looking in, he saw only the linen wrappings; and he went away, wondering about what had happened.
24:13:The Road to Emmaus
And then, that very day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.
24:14:And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place.
24:15:While they were talking and discussing it, Jesus Himself came up and began walking with them.
24:16:But their eyes were [miraculously] prevented from recognizing Him.
24:17:Then Jesus asked them, “What are you discussing with one another as you walk along?” And they stood still, looking brokenhearted.
24:18:One of them, named Cleopas, answered Him, “Are you the only stranger visiting Jerusalem who is unaware of the things which have happened here in these [recent] days?”
24:19:He asked, “What things?” And they replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet powerful in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people,
24:20:and how the chief priests and our rulers handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and crucified Him.
24:21:But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel and set our nation free. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.
24:22:And also some of the women among us shocked us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,
24:23:and they did not find His body. Then they came back, saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive!
24:24:Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women had said, but they did not see Him.”
24:25:Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to trust and believe in everything that the prophets have spoken!
24:26:Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and [only then to] enter His glory?”
24:27:Then beginning with Moses and [throughout] all the [writings of the] prophets, He explained and interpreted for them the things referring to Himself [found] in all the Scriptures.
24:28:Then they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as if He were going farther.
24:29:But they urged Him [not to go on], saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening, and the day has just about ended.” So He went inside to stay with them.
24:30:And it happened that as He reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them.
24:31:Then their eyes were [suddenly] opened [by God] and they [clearly] recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.
24:32:They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was talking with us on the road and opening the Scriptures to us?”
24:33:They got up that very hour and went back to Jerusalem, and found the eleven [apostles] gathered together and those who were with them,
24:34:saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon [Peter]!”
24:35:They began describing in detail what had happened on the road, and how Jesus was recognized by them when He broke the bread.
24:36:Other Appearances
While they were talking about this, Jesus Himself [suddenly] stood among them and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
24:37:But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a spirit.
24:38:And He said, “Why are you troubled, and why are doubts rising in your hearts?
24:39:Look at [the marks in] My hands and My feet, [and see] that it is I Myself. Touch Me and see; a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”
24:40:After saying this, He showed them His hands and His feet.
24:41:While they still did not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
24:42:They gave Him a piece of broiled fish,
24:43:and He took it and ate it in front of them.
24:44:Then He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you, everything which has been written about Me in the Law of Moses and the [writings of the] Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
24:45:Then He opened their minds to [help them] understand the Scriptures,
24:46:and said, “And so it is written, that the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
24:47:and that repentance [necessary] for forgiveness of sins would be preached in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
24:48:You are witnesses of these things.
24:49:Listen carefully: I am sending the Promise of My Father [the Holy Spirit] upon you; but you are to remain in the city [of Jerusalem] until you are clothed (fully equipped) with power from on high.”
24:50:The Ascension
Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifted up His hands and blessed them.
24:51:While He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up into heaven.
24:52:And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy [fully understanding that He lives and that He is the Son of God];
24:53:and they were continually in the temple blessing and praising God.
john:1:1:The Deity of Jesus Christ
In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.
1:2:He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God.
1:3:All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being.
1:4:In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men.
1:5:The Light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it].
1:6:The Witness of John the Baptist
There came a man commissioned and sent from God, whose name was John.
1:7:This man came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe [in Christ, the Light] through him.
1:8:John was not the Light, but came to testify about the Light.
1:9:There it was—the true Light [the genuine, perfect, steadfast Light] which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone.
1:10:He (Christ) was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.
1:11:He came to that which was His own [that which belonged to Him—His world, His creation, His possession], and those who were His own [people—the Jewish nation] did not receive and welcome Him.
1:12:But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the right [the authority, the privilege] to become children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name—
1:13:who were born, not of blood [natural conception], nor of the will of the flesh [physical impulse], nor of the will of man [that of a natural father], but of God [that is, a divine and supernatural birth—they are born of God—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified].
1:14:The Word Made Flesh
And the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is] full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception).
1:15:John testified [repeatedly] about Him and has cried out [testifying officially for the record, with validity and relevance], “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I and has priority over me, for He existed before me.’”
1:16:For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].
1:17:For the Law was given through Moses, but grace [the unearned, undeserved favor of God] and truth came through Jesus Christ.
1:18:No one has seen God [His essence, His divine nature] at any time; the [One and] only begotten God [that is, the unique Son] who is in the intimate presence of the Father, He has explained Him [and interpreted and revealed the awesome wonder of the Father].
1:19:The Testimony of John
This is the testimony of John [the Baptist] when the Jews sent priests and Levites to him from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
1:20:And he confessed [truthfully] and did not deny [that he was only a man], but acknowledged, “I am not the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)!”
1:21:They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the [promised] Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
1:22:Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
1:23:He said, “I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
1:24:Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.
1:25:They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
1:26:John answered them, “I baptize [only] in water, but among you there stands One whom you do not recognize and of whom you know nothing.
1:27:It is He [the preeminent One] who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie [even as His slave].”
1:28:These things occurred in Bethany across the Jordan [at the Jordan River crossing], where John was baptizing.
1:29:The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
1:30:This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I and has priority over me, for He existed before me.’
1:31:I did not recognize Him [as the Messiah]; but I came baptizing in water so that He would be [publicly] revealed to Israel.”
1:32:John gave [further] evidence [testifying officially for the record, with validity and relevance], saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.
1:33:I did not recognize Him [as the Messiah], but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this One is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
1:34:I myself have [actually] seen [that happen], and my testimony is that this is the Son of God!”
1:35:Jesus’ Public Ministry, First Converts
Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,
1:36:and he looked at Jesus as He walked along, and said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”
1:37:The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
1:38:And Jesus turned and saw them following Him, and asked them, “What do you want?” They answered Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”
1:39:He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went [with Him] and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
1:40:One of the two who heard what John said and [as a result] followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
1:41:He first looked for and found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means the Christ).
1:42:Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas (which is translated Peter).”
1:43:The next day Jesus decided to go into Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher, and walking the same path of life that I walk].”
1:44:Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
1:45:Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote about—Jesus from Nazareth, the son of Joseph [according to public record].”
1:46:Nathanael answered him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.”
1:47:Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Here is an Israelite indeed [a true descendant of Jacob], in whom there is no guile nor deceit nor duplicity!”
1:48:Nathanael said to Jesus, “How do You know [these things about] me?” Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, when you were still under the fig tree, I saw you.”
1:49:Nathanael answered, “Rabbi (Teacher), You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”
1:50:Jesus replied, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe [in Me]? You will see greater things than this.”
1:51:Then He said to him, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man [the bridge between heaven and earth].”
2:1:Miracle at Cana
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;
2:2:and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
2:3:When the wine was all gone, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no more wine.”
2:4:Jesus said to her, “[Dear] woman, what is that to you and to Me? My time [to act and to be revealed] has not yet come.”
2:5:His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
2:6:Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification (ceremonial washing), containing twenty or thirty gallons each.
2:7:Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.
2:8:Then He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter [of the banquet].” So they took it to him.
2:9:And when the headwaiter tasted the water which had turned into wine, not knowing where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew) he called the bridegroom,
2:10:and said to him, “Everyone else serves his best wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then he serves that which is not so good; but you have kept back the good wine until now.”
2:11:This, the first of His signs (attesting miracles), Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed His glory [displaying His deity and His great power openly], and His disciples believed [confidently] in Him [as the Messiah—they adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him].
2:12:After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.
2:13:First Passover—Cleansing the Temple
Now the Passover of the Jews was approaching, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2:14:And in the temple [enclosure] He found the people who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at their tables.
2:15:He made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;
2:16:then to those who sold the doves He said, “Take these things away! Stop making My Father’s house a place of commerce!”
2:17:His disciples remembered that it is written [in the Scriptures], “Zeal (love, concern) for Your house [and its honor] will consume Me.”
2:18:Then the Jews retorted, “What sign (attesting miracle) can You show us as [proof of] your authority for doing these things?”
2:19:Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
2:20:Then the Jews replied, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and You will raise it up in three days?”
2:21:But He was speaking of the temple which was His body.
2:22:So when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered what He had said. And they believed and trusted in and relied on the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
2:23:Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in His name [identifying themselves with Him] after seeing His signs (attesting miracles) which He was doing.
2:24:But Jesus, for His part, did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people [and understood the superficiality and fickleness of human nature],
2:25:and He did not need anyone to testify concerning man [and human nature], for He Himself knew what was in man [in their hearts—in the very core of their being].
3:1:The New Birth
Now there was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler (member of the Sanhedrin) among the Jews,
3:2:who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, “Rabbi (Teacher), we know [without any doubt] that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs [these wonders, these attesting miracles] that You do unless God is with him.”
3:3:Jesus answered him, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a person is born again [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified], he cannot [ever] see and experience the kingdom of God.”
3:4:Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?”
3:5:Jesus answered, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God.
3:6:That which is born of the flesh is flesh [the physical is merely physical], and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
3:7:Do not be surprised that I have told you, ‘You must be born again [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified].’
3:8:The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
3:9:Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be possible?”
3:10:Jesus replied, “You are the [great and well-known] teacher of Israel, and yet you do not know nor understand these things [from Scripture]?
3:11:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, we speak only of what we [absolutely] know and testify about what we have [actually] seen [as eyewitnesses]; and [still] you [reject our evidence and] do not accept our testimony.
3:12:If I told you earthly things [that is, things that happen right here on earth] and you do not believe, how will you believe and trust Me if I tell you heavenly things?
3:13:No one has gone up into heaven, but there is One who came down from heaven, the Son of Man [Himself—whose home is in heaven].
3:14:Just as Moses lifted up the [bronze] serpent in the desert [on a pole], so must the Son of Man be lifted up [on the cross],
3:15:so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life [after physical death, and will actually live forever].
3:16:“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.
3:17:For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him.
3:18:Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him].
3:19:This is the judgment [that is, the cause for indictment, the test by which people are judged, the basis for the sentence]: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
3:20:For every wrongdoer hates the Light, and does not come to the Light [but shrinks from it] for fear that his [sinful, worthless] activities will be exposed and condemned.
3:21:But whoever practices truth [and does what is right—morally, ethically, spiritually] comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are—accomplished in God [divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence on Him].”
3:22:John’s Last Testimony
After these things Jesus and His disciples went into the land of Judea, and there He spent time with them and baptized.
3:23:Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and were being baptized—
3:24:for John had not yet been thrown into prison.
3:25:Therefore there arose a controversy between John’s disciples and a Jew in regard to purification (ceremonial washing).
3:26:So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi (Teacher), the Man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan [at the Jordan River crossing]—and to whom you have testified—look, He is baptizing too, and everyone is going to Him!”
3:27:John replied, “A man can receive nothing [he can claim nothing at all] unless it has been granted to him from heaven [for there is no other source than the sovereign will of God].
3:28:You yourselves are my witnesses that I stated, ‘I am not the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed),’ but, ‘I have [only] been sent ahead of Him [as His appointed forerunner and messenger to announce and proclaim His coming].’
3:29:He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this pleasure and joy of mine is now complete.
3:30:He must increase [in prominence], but I must decrease.
3:31:“He who comes from [heaven] above is above all others; he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks [about things] of the earth [his viewpoint and experience are earthly]. He who comes from heaven is above all.
3:32:What He has [actually] seen and heard, of that He testifies; and yet no one accepts His testimony [as true].
3:33:Whoever receives His testimony has set his seal [of approval] to this: God is true [and he knows that God cannot lie].
3:34:For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God [proclaiming the Father’s own message]; for God gives the [gift of the] Spirit without measure [generously and boundlessly]!
3:35:The Father loves the Son and has given and entrusted all things into His hand.
3:36:He who believes and trusts in the Son and accepts Him [as Savior] has eternal life [that is, already possesses it]; but he who does not believe the Son and chooses to reject Him, [disobeying Him and denying Him as Savior] will not see [eternal] life, but [instead] the wrath of God hangs over him continually.”
4:1:Jesus Goes to Galilee
So when the Lord learned that the Pharisees had been told that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John
4:2:(although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were),
4:3:He left Judea and returned again to Galilee.
4:4:Now He had to go through Samaria.
4:5:So He arrived at a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the tract of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph;
4:6:and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, tired as He was from His journey, sat down by the well. It was then about the sixth hour (noon).
4:7:The Samaritan Woman
Then a woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink”—
4:8:For His disciples had gone off into the city to buy food—
4:9:The Samaritan woman asked Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans.)
4:10:Jesus answered her, “If you knew [about] God’s gift [of eternal life], and who it is who says, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him [instead], and He would have given you living water (eternal life).”
4:11:She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with [no bucket and rope] and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
4:12:Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and who used to drink from it himself, and his sons and his cattle also?”
4:13:Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.
4:14:But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life.”
4:15:The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not get thirsty nor [have to continually] come all the way here to draw.”
4:16:At this, Jesus said, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
4:17:The woman answered, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I do not have a husband’;
4:18:for you have had five husbands, and the man you are now living with is not your husband. You have said this truthfully.”
4:19:The woman said to Him, “Sir, I see that You are a prophet.
4:20:Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one ought to worship is in Jerusalem [at the temple].”
4:21:Jesus replied, “Woman, believe Me, a time is coming [when God’s kingdom comes] when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
4:22:You [Samaritans] do not know what you worship; we [Jews] do know what we worship, for salvation is from the Jews.
4:23:But a time is coming and is already here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit [from the heart, the inner self] and in truth; for the Father seeks such people to be His worshipers.
4:24:God is spirit [the Source of life, yet invisible to mankind], and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
4:25:The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ—the Anointed); when that One comes, He will tell us everything [we need to know].”
4:26:Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you, am He (the Messiah).”
4:27:Just then His disciples came, and they were surprised to find Him talking with a woman. However, no one said, “What are You asking about?” or, “Why are You talking to her?”
4:28:Then the woman left her water jar, and went into the city and began telling the people,
4:29:“Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done! Can this be the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)?”
4:30:So the people left the city and were coming to Him.
4:31:Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus [to have a meal], saying, “Rabbi (Teacher), eat.”
4:32:But He told them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”
4:33:So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him something to eat?”
4:34:Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to completely finish His work.
4:35:Do you not say, ‘It is still four months until the harvest comes?’ Look, I say to you, raise your eyes and look at the fields and see, they are white for harvest.
4:36:Already the reaper is receiving his wages and he is gathering fruit for eternal life; so that he who plants and he who reaps may rejoice together.
4:37:For in this case the saying is true, ‘One [person] sows and another reaps.’
4:38:I sent you to reap [a crop] for which you have not worked. Others have worked and you have been privileged to reap the results of their work.”
4:39:The Samaritans
Now many Samaritans from that city believed in Him and trusted Him [as Savior] because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.”
4:40:So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked Him to remain with them; and He stayed there two days.
4:41:Many more believed in Him [with a deep, abiding trust] because of His word [His personal message to them];
4:42:and they told the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; for [now] we have heard Him for ourselves and know [with confident assurance] that this One is truly the Savior of [all] the world.”
4:43:After the two days He went on from there into Galilee.
4:44:For Jesus Himself declared that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
4:45:So when He arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed Him, since they had seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they too came to the feast.
4:46:Healing a Nobleman’s Son
So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son was sick in Capernaum.
4:47:Having heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he went to meet Him and began asking Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.
4:48:Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you [people] see [miraculous] signs and wonders, you [simply] will not believe.”
4:49:The royal official pleaded with Him, “Sir, do come down [at once] before my child dies!”
4:50:Jesus said to him, “Go; your son lives!” The man believed what Jesus said to him and started home.
4:51:As he was already going down [the road], his servants met him and reported that his son was living [and was healthy].
4:52:So he asked them at what time he began to get better. They said, “Yesterday during the seventh hour the fever left him.”
4:53:Then the father realized that it was at that very hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son lives”; and he and his entire household believed and confidently trusted [in Him as Savior].
4:54:This is the second sign (attesting miracle) that Jesus performed [in Cana] after He had come from Judea to Galilee [revealing that He is the Messiah].
5:1:The Healing at Bethesda
Later on there was a Jewish feast (festival), and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
5:2:Now in Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew (Jewish Aramaic) Bethesda, having five porticoes (alcoves, colonnades).
5:3:In these porticoes lay a great number of people who were sick, blind, lame, withered, [waiting for the stirring of the water;
5:4:for an angel of the Lord went down into the pool at appointed seasons and stirred up the water; the first one to go in after the water was stirred was healed of his disease.]
5:5:There was a certain man there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
5:6:When Jesus noticed him lying there [helpless], knowing that he had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to get well?”
5:7:The invalid answered, “Sir, I have no one to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am coming [to get into it myself], someone else steps down ahead of me.”
5:8:Jesus said to him, “Get up; pick up your pallet and walk.”
5:9:Immediately the man was healed and recovered his strength, and picked up his pallet and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath.
5:10:So the Jews kept saying to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted to pick up your pallet [because it is unlawful].”
5:11:He answered them, “The Man who healed me and gave me back my strength was the One who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’”
5:12:They asked him, “Who is the Man who told you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?”
5:13:Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away [unnoticed] since there was a crowd in that place.
5:14:Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
5:15:The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
5:16:For this reason the Jews began to persecute Jesus continually because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.
5:17:But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now [He has never ceased working], and I too am working.”
5:18:Jesus’ Equality with God
This made the Jews more determined than ever to kill Him, for not only was He breaking the Sabbath [from their viewpoint], but He was also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
5:19:So Jesus answered them by saying, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord], unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son [in His turn] also does in the same way.
5:20:For the Father dearly loves the Son and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be filled with wonder.
5:21:Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life [and allows them to live on], even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.
5:22:For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment [that is, the prerogative of judging] to the Son [placing it entirely into His hands],
5:23:so that all will give honor (reverence, homage) to the Son just as they give honor to the Father. [In fact] the one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who has sent Him.
5:24:“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the person who hears My word [the one who heeds My message], and believes and trusts in Him who sent Me, has (possesses now) eternal life [that is, eternal life actually begins—the believer is transformed], and does not come into judgment and condemnation, but has passed [over] from death into life.
5:25:Two Resurrections
I assure you and most solemnly say to you, a time is coming and is [here] now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live.
5:26:For just as the Father has life in Himself [and is self-existent], even so He has given to the Son to have life in Himself [and be self-existent].
5:27:And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is a Son of Man [sinless humanity, qualifying Him to sit in judgment over mankind].
5:28:Do not be surprised at this; for a time is coming when all those who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
5:29:and they will come out—those who did good things [will come out] to a resurrection of [new] life, but those who did evil things [will come out] to a resurrection of judgment [that is, to be sentenced].
5:30:“I can do nothing on my own initiative or authority. Just as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just (fair, righteous, unbiased), because I do not seek My own will, but only the will of Him who sent Me.
5:31:“If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid.
5:32:There is another [My Father] who testifies about Me, and I know [without any doubt] that His testimony on My behalf is true and valid.
5:33:Testimony of John
You have sent [an inquiry] to John [the Baptist] and he has testified [as an eyewitness] to the truth.
5:34:But the testimony I receive is not from man [a merely human witness]; but I say these things so that you may be saved [that is, have eternal life].
5:35:John was the lamp that kept on burning and shining [to show you the way], and you were willing for a while to rejoice in his light.
5:36:Testimony of Works
But the testimony which I have is far greater than the testimony of John; for the works that the Father has given Me to finish—the very same works [that is, the miracles and proofs of My deity] that I am [now] doing—testify about Me, [by providing evidence] that the Father has sent Me.
5:37:Testimony of the Father
And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form [His majesty and greatness—what He is like].
5:38:You do not have His word (Scripture) abiding in you [actually living in your hearts and minds], because you do not believe in Him whom He has sent.
5:39:Testimony of the Scripture
You search and keep on searching and examining the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and yet it is those [very Scriptures] that testify about Me;
5:40:and still you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
5:41:I do not receive glory and approval from men;
5:42:but I know you and recognize that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
5:43:I have come in My Father’s name and with His power, and you do not receive Me [because your minds are closed]; but if another comes in his own name and with no authority or power except his own, you will receive him and give your approval to an imposter.
5:44:How can you believe [in Me], when you [seek and] receive glory and approval from one another, and yet you do not seek the glory and approval which comes from the one and only God?
5:45:Do not think that I [am the One who] will accuse you before the Father. There [already] is one who accuses you: Moses, [the very one] in whom you have placed your hope [for salvation].
5:46:For if you believed and relied on [the Scriptures written by] Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me [personally].
5:47:But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
6:1:Five Thousand Fed
After this, Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Sea of Tiberias).
6:2:A large crowd was following Him because they had seen the signs (attesting miracles) which He continually performed on those who were sick.
6:3:And Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down there with His disciples.
6:4:Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was approaching.
6:5:Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming toward Him, and He said to Philip, “Where will we buy bread for these people to eat?”
6:6:But He said this to test Philip, because He knew what He was about to do.
6:7:Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii (200 days’ wages) worth of bread is not enough for each one to receive even a little.”
6:8:One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,
6:9:“There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are these for so many people?”
6:10:Jesus said, “Have the people sit down [to eat].” Now [the ground] there was [covered with] an abundance of grass, so the men sat down, about 5,000 in number.
6:11:Then Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated; the same also with the fish, as much as they wanted.
6:12:When they had eaten enough, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.”
6:13:So they gathered them up, and they filled twelve large baskets with pieces from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
6:14:When the people saw the sign (attesting miracle) that He had done, they began saying, “This is without a doubt the promised Prophet who is to come into the world!”
6:15:Jesus Walks on the Water
Then Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountainside by Himself.
6:16:When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea,
6:17:and they got into a boat and started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had still not come [back] to them.
6:18:The sea was getting rough and rising high because a strong wind was blowing.
6:19:Then, when they had rowed three or four miles [and were near the center of the sea], they saw Jesus walking on the sea and approaching the boat; and they were [terribly] frightened.
6:20:But Jesus said to them, “It is I (I Am); do not be afraid.”
6:21:Then they were willing to take Him on board the boat, and immediately the boat reached the [shore of the] land to which they were going.
6:22:The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea realized that there had been only one small boat there, and that Jesus had not boarded the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone away alone.
6:23:[Now some] other small boats from Tiberias had come in near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks.
6:24:So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they boarded the small boats themselves and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
6:25:And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”
6:26:Words to the People
Jesus answered, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, you have been searching for Me, not because you saw the signs (attesting miracles), but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
6:27:Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures [and leads] to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you; for God the Father has authorized Him and put His seal on Him.”
6:28:Then they asked Him, “What are we to do, so that we may habitually be doing the works of God?”
6:29:Jesus answered, “This is the work of God: that you believe [adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith] in the One whom He has sent.”
6:30:So they said to Him, “What sign (attesting miracle) will You do that we may see it and believe You? What [supernatural] work will You do [as proof]?
6:31:Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written [in Scripture], ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”
6:32:Then Jesus said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.
6:33:For the Bread of God is He who comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
6:34:Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”
6:35:Jesus replied to them, “I am the Bread of Life. The one who comes to Me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in Me [as Savior] will never be thirsty [for that one will be sustained spiritually].
6:36:But as I told you, you have seen Me and still you do not believe.
6:37:All that My Father gives Me will come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will most certainly not cast out [I will never, never reject anyone who follows Me].
6:38:For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
6:39:This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but that I [give new life and] raise it up at the last day.
6:40:For this is My Father’s will and purpose, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him [as Savior] will have eternal life, and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day.”
6:41:Words to the Jews
Now the Jews murmured and found fault with Him because He said, “I am the Bread that came down out of heaven.”
6:42:They kept saying, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now [have the arrogance to] say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”
6:43:So Jesus answered, “Stop murmuring among yourselves.
6:44:No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him [giving him the desire to come to Me]; and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day.
6:45:It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father, comes to Me.
6:46:Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He [who was with the Father and] who is from God; He [alone] has seen the Father.
6:47:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he who believes [in Me as Savior—whoever adheres to, trusts in, relies on, and has faith in Me—already] has eternal life [that is, now possesses it].
6:48:I am the Bread of Life [the Living Bread which gives and sustains life].
6:49:Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
6:50:This is the Bread that comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
6:51:I am the Living Bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread [believes in Me, accepts Me as Savior], he will live forever. And the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh (body).”
6:52:Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
6:53:And Jesus said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood [unless you believe in Me as Savior and believe in the saving power of My blood which will be shed for you], you do not have life in yourselves.
6:54:The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood [believes in Me, accepts Me as Savior] has eternal life [that is, now possesses it], and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day.
6:55:For My flesh is true [spiritual] food, and My blood is true [spiritual] drink.
6:56:He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood [believes in Me, accepts Me as Savior] remains in Me, and I [in the same way remain] in him.
6:57:Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, even so the one who feeds on Me [believes in Me, accepts Me as Savior] will also live because of Me.
6:58:This is the Bread which came down out of heaven. It is not like [the manna that] our fathers ate and they [eventually] died; the one who eats this Bread [believes in Me, accepts Me as Savior] will live forever.”
6:59:Words to the Disciples
He said these things in a synagogue while He was teaching in Capernaum.
6:60:When many of His disciples heard this, they said, “This is a difficult and harsh and offensive statement. Who can [be expected to] listen to it?”
6:61:But Jesus, aware that His disciples were complaining about it, asked them, “Does this cause you to stumble and take offense?
6:62:What then [will you think] if you see the Son of Man ascending to [the realm] where He was before?
6:63:It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh conveys no benefit [it is of no account]. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life [providing eternal life].
6:64:But [still] there are some of you who do not believe and have faith.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who did not believe, and who would betray Him.
6:65:And He was saying, “This is the reason why I have told you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him [that is, unless he is enabled to do so] by the Father.”
6:66:Peter’s Confession of Faith
As a result of this many of His disciples abandoned Him, and no longer walked with Him.
6:67:So Jesus said to the twelve [disciples], “You do not want to leave too, do you?”
6:68:Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You [alone] have the words of eternal life [you are our only hope].
6:69:We have believed and confidently trusted, and [even more] we have come to know [by personal observation and experience] that You are the Holy One of God [the Christ, the Son of the living God].”
6:70:Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve [disciples]? And yet one of you is a devil (ally of Satan).”
6:71:Now He was speaking of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot; for he, one of the twelve [disciples], was about to betray Him.
7:1:Jesus Teaches at the Feast
After this, Jesus walked [from place to place] in Galilee, for He would not walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.
7:2:Now the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) was approaching.
7:3:So His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea, so that Your disciples [there] may also see the works that You do.
7:4:No one does anything in secret when he wants to be known publicly. If You [must] do these things, show Yourself openly to the world and make Yourself known!”
7:5:For not even His brothers believed in Him.
7:6:So Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come; but any time is right for you.
7:7:The world cannot hate you [since you are part of it], but it does hate Me because I denounce it and testify that its deeds are evil.
7:8:Go up to the feast yourselves. I am not going up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.”
7:9:Having said these things to them, He stayed behind in Galilee.
7:10:But [afterward], when His brothers had gone up to the feast, He went up too, not publicly [with a caravan], but quietly [because He did not want to be noticed].
7:11:So the Jews kept looking for Him at the feast and asking, “Where is He?”
7:12:There was a lot of whispered discussion and murmuring among the crowds about Him. Some were saying, “He is a good man”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He misleads the people [giving them false ideas].”
7:13:Yet no one was speaking out openly and freely about Him for fear of [the leaders of] the Jews.
7:14:When the feast was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple [court] and began to teach.
7:15:Then the Jews were perplexed. They said, “How did this man become learned [so versed in the Scriptures and theology] without formal training?”
7:16:Jesus answered them by saying, “My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me.
7:17:If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know whether the teaching is of God or whether I speak on My own accord and by My own authority.
7:18:He who speaks on his own accord seeks glory and honor for himself. But He who seeks the glory and the honor of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness or deception in Him.
7:19:“Did not Moses give you the Law? And yet not one of you keeps the Law. Why do you want to kill Me [for not keeping it]?”
7:20:The crowd answered, “You have a demon [You are out of Your mind]! Who wants to kill You?”
7:21:Jesus replied, “I did one work, and you are all astounded.
7:22:For this reason Moses has given you [God’s law regarding] circumcision (not that it originated with Moses, but with the patriarchs) and you circumcise a man [even] on the Sabbath.
7:23:If, to avoid breaking the Law of Moses, a man undergoes circumcision on the Sabbath, why are you angry with Me for making a man’s whole body well on the Sabbath?
7:24:Do not judge by appearance [superficially and arrogantly], but judge fairly and righteously.”
7:25:Then some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Is this not the Man they want to kill?
7:26:Look, He is speaking publicly, and they say nothing to Him! Is it possible that the rulers really know that this is the Christ?
7:27:But we know where this Man is from; whenever the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.”
7:28:Then Jesus called out as He taught in the temple, “You know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come on my own initiative [as self-appointed], but He who sent Me is true, and Him you do not know.
7:29:I know Him Myself because I am from Him [I came from His very presence] and it was He [personally] who sent Me.”
7:30:So they were eager to arrest Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His time had not yet come.
7:31:But many from the crowd believed in Him. And they kept saying, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs and exhibit more proofs than this Man?”
7:32:The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things [under their breath] about Him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent guards to arrest Him.
7:33:Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am [still] with you, and then I go to Him who sent Me.
7:34:You will look for Me, and will not [be able to] find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
7:35:Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does this Man intend to go that we will not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion [of Jews scattered and living] among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
7:36:What does this statement of His mean, ‘You will look for Me, and will not [be able to] find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”
7:37:Now on the last and most important day of the feast, Jesus stood and called out [in a loud voice], “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink!
7:38:He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, ‘From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.’”
7:39:But He was speaking of the [Holy] Spirit, whom those who believed in Him [as Savior] were to receive afterward. The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor).
7:40:Division of People over Jesus
Listening to these words, some of the people said, “This is certainly the Prophet!”
7:41:Others said, “This is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)!” But others said, “Surely the Christ is not going to come out of Galilee, is He?
7:42:Does the Scripture not say that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”
7:43:So the crowd was divided because of Him.
7:44:Some of them wanted to arrest Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
7:45:Then the guards went [back] to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring Him [here with you]?”
7:46:The guards replied, “Never [at any time] has a man talked the way this Man talks!”
7:47:Then the Pharisees said to them, “Have you also been deluded and swept off your feet?
7:48:Has any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him?
7:49:But this [ignorant, contemptible] crowd that does not know the Law is accursed and doomed!”
7:50:Nicodemus (the one who came to Jesus before and was one of them) asked,
7:51:“Does our Law convict someone without first giving him a hearing and finding out what he is [accused of] doing?”
7:52:They responded, “Are you also from Galilee? Search [and read the Scriptures], and see [for yourself] that no prophet comes from Galilee!”
7:53:[And everyone went to his own house.
8:1:The Adulterous Woman
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
8:2:Early in the morning He came back into the temple [court], and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began teaching them.
8:3:Now the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They made her stand in the center of the court,
8:4:and they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of adultery.
8:5:Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women [to death]. So what do You say [to do with her—what is Your sentence]?”
8:6:They said this to test Him, hoping that they would have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and began writing on the ground with His finger.
8:7:However, when they persisted in questioning Him, He straightened up and said, “He who is without [any] sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
8:8:Then He stooped down again and started writing on the ground.
8:9:They listened [to His reply], and they began to go out one by one, starting with the oldest ones, until He was left alone, with the woman [standing there before Him] in the center of the court.
8:10:Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”
8:11:She answered, “No one, Lord!” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go. From now on sin no more.”]
8:12:Jesus Is the Light of the World
Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
8:13:Then the Pharisees told Him, “You are testifying on Your own behalf; Your testimony is not valid.”
8:14:Jesus replied, “Even if I do testify on My own behalf, My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.
8:15:You judge according to human standards [just by what you see]. I do not judge anyone.
8:16:But even if I do judge, My judgment is true and My decision is right; for I am not alone [in making it], but I and the Father who sent Me [make the same judgment].
8:17:Even in your own law it is written that the testimony of two persons is true [valid and admissible].
8:18:I am One [of the Two] who testifies about Myself, and My Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”
8:19:Then the Pharisees said to Him, “Where is this Father of Yours?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”
8:20:Jesus said these things in the treasury, as He taught in the temple [courtyard]; and no one seized Him, because His time had not yet come.
8:21:Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, and you will die [unforgiven and condemned] in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”
8:22:So the Jews were asking [among themselves], “Will He kill Himself? Is that why He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”
8:23:He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.
8:24:That is why I told you that you will die [unforgiven and condemned] in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am the One [I claim to be], you will die in your sins.”
8:25:So they said to Him, “Who are You [anyway]?” Jesus replied, “What have I been saying to you from the beginning?
8:26:I have many things to say and judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I say to the world [only] the things that I have heard from Him.”
8:27:They did not realize [or have the spiritual insight to understand] that He was speaking to them about the Father.
8:28:So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man [on the cross], you will know then [without any doubt] that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own authority, but I say these things just as My Father taught Me.
8:29:And He who sent Me is [always] with Me; He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.”
8:30:As He said these things, many believed in Him.
8:31:The Truth Will Make You Free
So Jesus was saying to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word [continually obeying My teachings and living in accordance with them, then] you are truly My disciples.
8:32:And you will know the truth [regarding salvation], and the truth will set you free [from the penalty of sin].”
8:33:They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone. What do You mean by saying, ‘You will be set free’?”
8:34:Jesus answered, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, everyone who practices sin habitually is a slave of sin.
8:35:Now the slave does not remain in a household forever; the son [of the master] does remain forever.
8:36:So if the Son makes you free, then you are unquestionably free.
8:37:I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you plan to kill Me, because My word has no place [to grow] in you [and it makes no change in your heart].
8:38:I tell the things that I have seen at My Father’s side [in His very presence]; so you also do the things that you heard from your father.”
8:39:They answered, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are [truly] Abraham’s children, then do the works of Abraham and follow his example.
8:40:But as it is, you want to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. This is not the way Abraham acted.
8:41:You are doing the works of your [own] father.” They said to Him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one [spiritual] Father: God.”
8:42:Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father [but He is not], you would love and recognize Me, for I came from God [out of His very presence] and have arrived here. For I have not even come on My own initiative [as self-appointed], but He [is the One who] sent Me.
8:43:Why do you misunderstand what I am saying? It is because [your spiritual ears are deaf and] you are unable to hear [the truth of] My word.
8:44:You are of your father the devil, and it is your will to practice the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks what it natural to him, for he is a liar and the father of lies and half-truths.
8:45:But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me [and continue in your unbelief].
8:46:Which one of you [has proof and] convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?
8:47:Whoever is of God and belongs to Him hears [the truth of] God’s words; for this reason you do not hear them: because you are not of God and you are not in fellowship with Him.”
8:48:The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right when we say You are a Samaritan and [that You] have a demon [and are under its power]?”
8:49:Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon. On the contrary, I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
8:50:However, I am not seeking glory for Myself. There is One who seeks [glory for Me] and judges [those who dishonor Me].
8:51:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if anyone keeps My word [by living in accordance with My message] he will indeed never, ever see and experience death.”
8:52:The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon [and are under its power]. Abraham died, and also the prophets; yet You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never, ever taste of death.’
8:53:Are You greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too! Whom do You make Yourself out to be?”
8:54:Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is [worth] nothing. It is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
8:55:Yet you do not know Him, but I know Him fully. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him and keep His word.
8:56:Your father Abraham [greatly] rejoiced to see My day (My incarnation). He saw it and was delighted.”
8:57:Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not even fifty years old, and You [claim to] have seen Abraham?”
8:58:Jesus replied, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, before Abraham was born, I Am.”
8:59:So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus concealed Himself and left the temple.
9:1:Healing the Man Born Blind
While He was passing by, He noticed a man [who had been] blind from birth.
9:2:His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi (Teacher), who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”
9:3:Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed and illustrated in him.
9:4:We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.
9:5:As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world [giving guidance through My word and works].”
9:6:When He had said this, He spat on the ground and made mud with His saliva, and He spread the mud [like an ointment] on the man’s eyes.
9:7:And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.
9:8:So the neighbors, and those who used to know him as a beggar, said, “Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?”
9:9:Some said, “It is he.” Still others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But he kept saying, “I am the man.”
9:10:So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
9:11:He replied, “The Man called Jesus made mud and smeared it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received my sight!”
9:12:They asked him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”
9:13:Controversy over the Man
Then they brought the man who was formerly blind to the Pharisees.
9:14:Now it was on a Sabbath day that Jesus made the mud and opened the man’s eyes.
9:15:So the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He smeared mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.”
9:16:Then some of the Pharisees said, “This Man [Jesus] is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner (a non-observant Jew) do such signs and miracles?” So there was a difference of opinion among them.
9:17:Accordingly they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “[It must be that] He is a prophet!”
9:18:However, the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the man’s parents.
9:19:They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?”
9:20:His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
9:21:but as to how he now sees, we do not know; or who has opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him [and stop asking us]; he is of age, he will speak for himself and give his own account of it.”
9:22:His parents said this because they were afraid of [the leaders of] the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue (excommunicated).
9:23:Because of this his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
9:24:So a second time they called the man who had been [born] blind, and said to him, “Give God glory and praise [for your sight]! We know this Man [Jesus] is a sinner [separated from God].”
9:25:Then he answered, “I do not know whether He is a sinner [separated from God]; but one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
9:26:So they said to him, “What did He [actually] do to you? How did He open your eyes?”
9:27:He answered, “I already told you and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again and again? Do you want to become His disciples, too?”
9:28:And [at that remark] they stormed at him and jeered, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses!
9:29:We know [for certain] that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this Man, we do not know where He is from.”
9:30:The man replied, “Well, this is astonishing! You do not know where He comes from, and yet He opened my eyes!
9:31:We know [according to your tradition] that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone fears God and does His will, He hears him.
9:32:Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.
9:33:If this Man were not from God, He would not be able to do anything [like this because God would not hear His prayer].”
9:34:They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins [from head to foot], and you [presume to] teach us?” Then they threw him out [of the synagogue].
9:35:Jesus Affirms His Deity
Jesus heard that they had put him out [of the synagogue], and finding him, He asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
9:36:He answered, “Who is He, Sir? Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”
9:37:Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and [in fact] He is the one who is talking with you.”
9:38:And he said, “Lord, I believe [in You and Your word]!” And he worshiped Him [with reverence and awe].
9:39:Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment [to separate those who believe in Me from those who reject Me—to declare judgment on those who choose to be separated from God], so that the sightless would see, and those who see would become blind.”
9:40:Some Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “Are we also blind?”
9:41:Jesus said to them, “If you were blind [to spiritual things], you would have no sin [and would not be blamed for your unbelief]; but since you claim to have [spiritual] sight, [you have no excuse so] your sin and guilt remain.
10:1:Parable of the Good Shepherd
“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up from some other place [on the stone wall], that one is a thief and a robber.
10:2:But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep [the protector and provider].
10:3:The doorkeeper opens [the gate] for this man, and the sheep hear his voice and pay attention to it. And [knowing that they listen] he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out [to pasture].
10:4:When he has brought all his own sheep outside, he walks on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice and recognize his call.
10:5:They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
10:6:Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what He was talking about.
10:7:So Jesus said again, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, I am the Door for the sheep [leading to life].
10:8:All who came before Me [as false messiahs and self-appointed leaders] are thieves and robbers, but the [true] sheep did not hear them.
10:9:I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (spiritual security).
10:10:The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].
10:11:I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His [own] life for the sheep.
10:12:But the hired man [who merely serves for wages], who is neither the shepherd nor the owner of the sheep, when he sees the wolf coming, deserts the flock and runs away; and the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.
10:13:The man runs because he is a hired hand [who serves only for wages] and is not concerned about the [safety of the] sheep.
10:14:I am the Good Shepherd, and I know [without any doubt those who are] My own and My own know Me [and have a deep, personal relationship with Me]—
10:15:even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down My [very own] life [sacrificing it] for the benefit of the sheep.
10:16:I have other sheep [beside these] that are not of this fold. I must bring those also, and they will listen to My voice and pay attention to My call, and they will become one flock with one Shepherd.
10:17:For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My [own] life so that I may take it back.
10:18:No one takes it away from Me, but I lay it down voluntarily. I am authorized and have power to lay it down and to give it up, and I am authorized and have power to take it back. This command I have received from My Father.”
10:19:A division [of opinion] occurred again among the Jews because of these words [of His].
10:20:Many of them said, “He has a demon and He is mad [insane—He raves and rambles]. Why listen to Him?”
10:21:Others were saying, “These are not the words and thoughts of one possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
10:22:Jesus Asserts His Deity
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem.
10:23:It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple [area] in Solomon’s portico.
10:24:So the Jews surrounded Him and began saying to Him, “How long are You going to keep us in suspense? If You are [really] the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), tell us so plainly and openly.”
10:25:Jesus answered them, “I have told you so, yet you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name testify concerning Me [they are My credentials and the evidence declaring who I am].
10:26:But you do not believe Me [so you do not trust and follow Me] because you are not My sheep.
10:27:The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me.
10:28:And I give them eternal life, and they will never, ever [by any means] perish; and no one will ever snatch them out of My hand.
10:29:My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
10:30:I and the Father are One [in essence and nature].”
10:31:Again the Jews picked up stones to stone Him.
10:32:Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works [and many acts of mercy] from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”
10:33:The Jews answered Him, “We are not going to stone You for a good work, but for blasphemy, because You, a mere man, make Yourself out to be God.”
10:34:Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods [human judges representing God, not divine beings]’?
10:35:If He called them gods, men to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be undone or annulled or broken),
10:36:[if that is true] then do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and set apart for Himself and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
10:37:If I do not do the works of My Father [that is, the miracles that only God could perform], then do not believe Me.
10:38:But if I am doing them, even if you do not believe Me or have faith in Me, [at least] believe the works [that I do—admit that they are the works of God], so that you may know and keep on knowing [clearly—without any doubt] that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father [that is, I am One with Him].”
10:39:So they tried again to seize Him, but He eluded their grasp.
10:40:He went back again across the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there.
10:41:Many came to Him, and they were saying, “John did not perform a single sign (attesting miracle), but everything John said about this Man was true and accurate.”
10:42:And many there believed and confidently trusted in Him [accepting Him as Savior, and following His teaching].
11:1:The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus
Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived.
11:2:It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
11:3:So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, he [our brother and Your friend] whom You love is sick.”
11:4:When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death; but [on the contrary it is] for the glory and honor of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”
11:5:Now Jesus loved and was concerned about Martha and her sister and Lazarus [and considered them dear friends].
11:6:So [even] when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed in the same place two more days.
11:7:Then He said to His disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
11:8:The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi (Teacher), the Jews were only recently going to stone You, and You are [thinking of] going back there again?”
11:9:Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours [of light] in the day? Anyone who walks in the daytime does not stumble, because he sees [by] the light of this world.
11:10:But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because there is no light in him.”
11:11:He said this, and after that said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him.”
11:12:The disciples answered, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
11:13:However, Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was referring to natural sleep.
11:14:So then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
11:15:And for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
11:16:Then Thomas, who was called Didymus (the twin), said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go too, that we may die with Him.”
11:17:So when Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
11:18:Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away;
11:19:and many of the Jews had come to see Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning [the loss of] their brother.
11:20:So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him, while Mary remained sitting in the house.
11:21:Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
11:22:Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give to You.”
11:23:Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise [from the dead].”
11:24:Martha replied, “I know that he will rise [from the dead] in the resurrection on the last day.”
11:25:Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, relies on) Me [as Savior] will live even if he dies;
11:26:and everyone who lives and believes in Me [as Savior] will never die. Do you believe this?”
11:27:She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed and continue to believe that You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of God, He who was [destined and promised] to come into the world [and it is for You that the world has waited].”
11:28:After she had said this, she left and called her sister Mary, privately whispering [to her], “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.”
11:29:And when she heard this, she got up quickly and went to Him.
11:30:Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met Him.
11:31:So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her, saw how quickly Mary got up and left, they followed her, assuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
11:32:When Mary came [to the place] where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
11:33:When Jesus saw her sobbing, and the Jews who had come with her also sobbing, He was deeply moved in spirit [to the point of anger at the sorrow caused by death] and was troubled,
11:34:and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said, “Lord, come and see.”
11:35:Jesus wept.
11:36:So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him [as a close friend]!”
11:37:But some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the blind man’s eyes, have kept this man from dying?”
11:38:So Jesus, again deeply moved within [to the point of anger], approached the tomb. It was a cave, and a boulder was lying against it [to cover the entrance].
11:39:Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be an offensive odor, for he has been dead four days! [It is hopeless!]”
11:40:Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe [in Me], you will see the glory of God [the expression of His excellence]?”
11:41:So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes [toward heaven] and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
11:42:I knew that You always hear Me and listen to Me; but I have said this because of the people standing around, so that they may believe that You have sent Me [and that You have made Me Your representative].”
11:43:When He had said this, He shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
11:44:Out came the man who had been dead, his hands and feet tightly wrapped in burial cloths (linen strips), and with a [burial] cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and release him.”
11:45:So then, many of the Jews who had come to [be with] Mary and who were eyewitnesses to what Jesus had done, believed in Him.
11:46:But some of them went back to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
11:47:Conspiracy to Kill Jesus
So the chief priests and Pharisees convened a council [of the leaders in Israel], and said, “What are we doing? For this man performs many signs (attesting miracles).
11:48:If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our [holy] place (the temple) and our nation.”
11:49:But one of them, Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year [the year of Christ’s crucifixion], said to them, “You know nothing at all!
11:50:Nor do you understand that it is expedient and politically advantageous for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”
11:51:Now he did not say this [simply] on his own initiative; but being the high priest that year, he [was unknowingly used by God and] prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
11:52:and not only for the nation, but also for the purpose of gathering together into one body the children of God who have been scattered abroad.
11:53:So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.
11:54:For that reason Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but left there and went to the district that borders on the uninhabited wilderness, to a town called Ephraim; and He stayed there with the disciples.
11:55:Now the Passover of the Jews was approaching, and many from the country went up to Jerusalem before Passover to purify themselves [ceremonially, so that they would be able to participate in the feast].
11:56:So they were looking for Jesus as they stood in the temple [area], and saying among themselves, “What do you think? Will He not come to the feast at all?”
11:57:Now the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it so that they might arrest Him.
12:1:Mary Anoints Jesus
Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom He had raised from the dead.
12:2:So they gave a supper for Him there. Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.
12:3:Then Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
12:4:But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, the one who was going to betray Him, said,
12:5:“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and [the money] given to the poor?”
12:6:Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor [for he had never cared about them], but because he was a thief; and since he had the money box [serving as treasurer for the twelve disciples], he used to pilfer what was put into it.
12:7:So Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep [the rest of] it for the day of My burial.
12:8:You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”
12:9:A large crowd of Jews learned that He was there [at Bethany]; and they came, not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.
12:10:So the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus also,
12:11:because on account of him many of the Jews were going away [from the teaching and traditions of the Jewish leaders] and believing in Jesus [following Him as Savior and Messiah].
12:12:The Triumphal Entry
The next day, when the large crowd who had come to the Passover feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
12:13:they took branches of palm trees [in homage to Him as King] and went out to meet Him, and they began shouting and kept shouting “Hosanna! Blessed (celebrated, praised) is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
12:14:And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; just as it is written [in Scripture],
12:15:“Do not fear, Daughter of Zion; Behold, Your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
12:16:His disciples did not understand [the meaning of] these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified and exalted, they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him.
12:17:So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to tell others about Him.
12:18:For this reason the crowd went to meet Him, because they heard that He had performed this [miraculous] sign.
12:19:Then the Pharisees [argued and] said to one another, “You see that your efforts are futile. Look! The whole world has gone [running] after Him!”
12:20:Greeks Seek Jesus
Now there were some Greeks (Gentiles) among those who were going up to worship at the feast;
12:21:these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
12:22:Philip came and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
12:23:And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified and exalted.
12:24:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone [just one grain, never more]. But if it dies, it produces much grain and yields a harvest.
12:25:The one who loves his life [eventually] loses it [through death], but the one who hates his life in this world [and is concerned with pleasing God] will keep it for life eternal.
12:26:If anyone serves Me, he must [continue to faithfully] follow Me [without hesitation, holding steadfastly to Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]; and wherever I am [in heaven’s glory], there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
12:27:Jesus Foretells His Death
“Now My soul is troubled and deeply distressed; what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour [of trial and agony]’? But it is for this [very] purpose that I have come to this hour [this time and place].
12:28:[Rather, I will say,] ‘Father, glorify (honor, extol) Your name!’” Then a voice came from heaven saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
12:29:The crowd of people who stood nearby and heard the voice said that it had thundered; others said, “An angel has spoken to Him!”
12:30:Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.
12:31:Now judgment is upon this world [the sentence is being passed]. Now the ruler of this world (Satan) will be cast out.
12:32:And I, if and when I am lifted up from the earth [on the cross], will draw all people to Myself [Gentiles, as well as Jews].”
12:33:He said this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.
12:34:At this the crowd answered Him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; how then can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”
12:35:So Jesus said to them, “The Light is among you [only] a little while longer. Walk while you have the Light [keep on living by it], so that darkness will not overtake you. He who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going [he is drifting aimlessly].
12:36:While you have the Light, believe and trust in the Light [have faith in it, hold on to it, rely on it], so that you may become sons of Light [being filled with Light as followers of God].”
Jesus said these things, and then He left and hid Himself from them.
12:37:Even though He had done so many signs (attesting miracles) right before them, yet they still did not believe and failed to trust Him—
12:38:This was to fulfill what Isaiah the prophet said: “Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm (the power) of the Lord been shown (unveiled, revealed)?”
12:39:Therefore they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,
12:40:“He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, to keep them from seeing with their eyes and understanding with their heart and being converted; otherwise, I [their God] would heal them.”
12:41:Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory and spoke about Him.
12:42:Nevertheless, even many of the leading men believed in Him [as Savior and Messiah], but because of the Pharisees they would not confess it, for fear that [if they acknowledged Him openly] they would be put out of the synagogue (excommunicated);
12:43:for they loved the approval of men more than the approval of God.
12:44:But Jesus loudly declared, “The one who believes and trusts in Me does not believe [only] in Me but [also believes] in Him who sent Me.
12:45:And whoever sees Me sees the One who sent Me.
12:46:I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes and trusts in Me [as Savior—all those who anchor their hope in Me and rely on the truth of My message] will not continue to live in darkness.
12:47:If anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but to save the world.
12:48:Whoever rejects Me and refuses to accept My teachings, has one who judges him; the very word that I spoke will judge and condemn him on the last day.
12:49:For I have never spoken on My own initiative or authority, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment regarding what to say and what to speak.
12:50:I know that His commandment is eternal life. So the things I speak, I speak [in accordance with His exact instruction,] just as the Father has told Me.”
13:1:The Lord’s Supper
Now before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that His hour had come [and it was time] for Him to leave this world and return to the Father. Having [greatly] loved His own who were in the world, He loved them [and continuously loves them with His perfect love] to the end (eternally).
13:2:It was during supper, when the devil had already put [the thought of] betraying Jesus into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son,
13:3:that Jesus, knowing that the Father had put everything into His hands, and that He had come from God and was [now] returning to God,
13:4:got up from supper, took off His [outer] robe, and taking a [servant’s] towel, He tied it around His waist.
13:5:Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet
Then He poured water into the basin and began washing the disciples’ feet and wiping them with the towel which was tied around His waist.
13:6:When He came to Simon Peter, he said to Him, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?”
13:7:Jesus replied to him, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but you will [fully] understand it later.”
13:8:Peter said to Him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me [we can have nothing to do with each other].”
13:9:Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, [in that case, wash] not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!”
13:10:Jesus said to him, “Anyone who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, and is completely clean. And you [My disciples] are clean, but not all of you.”
13:11:For He knew who was going to betray Him; for that reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”
13:12:So when He had washed their feet and put on His [outer] robe and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you?
13:13:You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you are right in doing so, for that is who I am.
13:14:So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet as well.
13:15:For I gave you [this as] an example, so that you should do [in turn] as I did to you.
13:16:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.
13:17:If you know these things, you are blessed [happy and favored by God] if you put them into practice [and faithfully do them].
13:18:I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but [this has happened] in order that the Scripture may be fulfilled: ‘He who eats My bread has raised up his heel against Me [as My enemy].’
13:19:From now on I am telling you [what will happen] before it occurs, so that when it does take place you may believe that I am He [who I say I am—the Christ, the Anointed, the Messiah].
13:20:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the one who receives and welcomes whomever I send receives Me; and the one who receives Me receives Him who sent Me [in that same way].”
13:21:Jesus Predicts His Betrayal
After Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, one of you will betray Me and hand Me over.”
13:22:The disciples began looking at one another, puzzled and disturbed as to whom He could mean.
13:23:One of His disciples, whom Jesus loved (esteemed), was leaning against Jesus’ chest.
13:24:So Simon Peter motioned to him (John) and [quietly] asked [him to ask Jesus] of whom He was speaking.
13:25:Then leaning back against Jesus’ chest, he (John) asked Him [privately], “Lord, who is it?”
13:26:Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I am going to give this piece [of bread] after I have dipped it.” So when He had dipped the piece of bread [into the dish], He gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.
13:27:After [Judas had taken] the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly [without delay].”
13:28:But no one reclining at the table knew why He said this to him.
13:29:Some thought that, since Judas [as the treasurer of the group] had the money box, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he was to give something to the poor.
13:30:After taking the piece of bread, he went out immediately; and it was night.
13:31:So when Judas had left, Jesus said, “Now is [the time for] the Son of Man [to be] glorified, and God is glorified in Him;
13:32:[if God is glorified in Him,] God will also glorify Him (the Son) in Himself, and will glorify Him at once.
13:33:Little children, I am with you [only] a little longer. You will look for Me and, as I told the Jews, so I tell you now, ‘Where I am going, you are not able to come.’
13:34:I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another.
13:35:By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”
13:36:Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now; but you will be able to follow later.”
13:37:Peter said to Him, “Lord, why cannot I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You!”
13:38:Jesus answered, “Will you [really] lay down your life for Me? I assure you and most solemnly say to you, before a rooster crows you will deny and completely disown Me three times.
14:1:Jesus Comforts His Disciples
“Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me.
14:2:In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you.
14:3:And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.
14:4:And [to the place] where I am going, you know the way.”
14:5:Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; so how can we know the way?”
14:6:Jesus said to him, “I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
14:7:Jesus’ Oneness with the Father
If you had [really] known Me, you would also have known My Father. From now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
14:8:Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father and then we will be satisfied.”
14:9:Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you do not know Me yet, Philip, nor recognize clearly who I am? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’
14:10:Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not say on My own initiative or authority, but the Father, abiding continually in Me, does His works [His attesting miracles and acts of power].
14:11:Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe [Me] because of the [very] works themselves [which you have witnessed].
14:12:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me [as Savior] will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these [in extent and outreach], because I am going to the Father.
14:13:And I will do whatever you ask in My name [as My representative], this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified and celebrated in the Son.
14:14:If you ask Me anything in My name [as My representative], I will do it.
14:15:“If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments.
14:16:Role of the Spirit
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever—
14:17:the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.
14:18:“I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, bereaved, and helpless]; I will come [back] to you.
14:19:After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.
14:20:On that day [when that time comes] you will know for yourselves that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.
14:21:The person who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him [I will make Myself real to him].”
14:22:Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, what has happened that You are going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?”
14:23:Jesus answered, “If anyone [really] loves Me, he will keep My word (teaching); and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling place with him.
14:24:One who does not [really] love Me does not keep My words. And the word (teaching) which you hear is not Mine, but is the Father’s who sent Me.
14:25:“I have told you these things while I am still with you.
14:26:But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.
14:27:Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]
14:28:You heard Me tell you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you [really] loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going [back] to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
14:29:I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does take place, you may believe and have faith [in Me].
14:30:I will not speak with you much longer, for the ruler of the world (Satan) is coming. And he has no claim on Me [no power over Me nor anything that he can use against Me];
14:31:but so that the world may know [without any doubt] that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father has commanded Me [and act in full agreement with Him]. Get up, let us go from here.
15:1:Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches
“I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
15:2:Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit].
15:3:You are already clean because of the word which I have given you [the teachings which I have discussed with you].
15:4:Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me.
15:5:I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.
15:6:If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken off] branch, and withers and dies; and they gather such branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
15:7:If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.
15:8:My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples.
15:9:I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me; remain in My love [and do not doubt My love for you].
15:10:If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.
15:11:I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing.
15:12:Disciples’ Relation to Each Other
“This is My commandment, that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you.
15:13:No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends.
15:14:You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you.
15:15:I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father.
15:16:You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you.
15:17:This [is what] I command you: that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another.
15:18:Disciples’ Relation to the World
“If the world hates you [and it does], know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
15:19:If you belonged to the world, the world would love [you as] its own and would treat you with affection. But you are not of the world [you no longer belong to it], but I have chosen you out of the world. And because of this the world hates you.
15:20:Remember [and continue to remember] that I told you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
15:21:But they will do all these [hurtful] things to you for My name’s sake [because you bear My name and are identified with Me], for they do not know the One who sent Me.
15:22:If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have [the guilt of their] sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
15:23:The one who hates Me also hates My Father.
15:24:If I had not done among them the works (attesting miracles) which no one else [ever] did, they would not have [the guilt of their] sin; but now [the fact is that] they have both seen [these works] and have hated Me [and continue to hate Me] and My Father as well.
15:25:But [this is so] that the word which has been written in their Law would be fulfilled, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’
15:26:“But when the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of Truth who comes from the Father, He will testify and bear witness about Me.
15:27:But you will testify also and be My witnesses, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
16:1:Jesus’ Warning
“I have told you these things so that you will not stumble or be caught off guard and fall away.
16:2:They will put you out of the synagogues and make you outcasts. And a time is coming when whoever kills you will think that he is offering service to God.
16:3:And they will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me.
16:4:I have told you these things [now], so that when their time comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not say these things to you at the beginning, because I was with you.
16:5:The Holy Spirit Promised
“But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
16:6:But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts [and taken complete possession of them].
16:7:But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you].
16:8:And He, when He comes, will convict the world about [the guilt of] sin [and the need for a Savior], and about righteousness, and about judgment:
16:9:about sin [and the true nature of it], because they do not believe in Me [and My message];
16:10:about righteousness [personal integrity and godly character], because I am going to My Father and you will no longer see Me;
16:11:about judgment [the certainty of it], because the ruler of this world (Satan) has been judged and condemned.
16:12:“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear [to hear] them now.
16:13:But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future].
16:14:He will glorify and honor Me, because He (the Holy Spirit) will take from what is Mine and will disclose it to you.
16:15:All things that the Father has are Mine. Because of this I said that He [the Spirit] will take from what is Mine and will reveal it to you.
16:16:Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Foretold
“A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.”
16:17:Some of His disciples said to one another, “What does He mean when He tells us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I am going to My Father’?”
16:18:So they were saying, “What does He mean when He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”
16:19:Jesus knew that they wanted to ask Him, so He said to them, “Are you wondering among yourselves about what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’?
16:20:I assure you and most solemnly say to you, that you will weep and grieve [in great mourning], but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.
16:21:A woman, when she is in labor, has pain because her time [to give birth] has come; but when she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of her joy that a child has come into the world.
16:22:So for now you are in grief; but I will see you again, and [then] your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away from you your [great] joy.
16:23:Prayer Promises
In that day you will not [need to] ask Me about anything. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name [as My representative], He will give you.
16:24:Until now you have not asked [the Father] for anything in My name; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy may be full and complete.
16:25:“I have told you these things in figurative language (veiled language, proverbs); the hour is now coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.
16:26:In that day you will ask in My name, and I am not saying to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf [because it will be unnecessary];
16:27:for the Father Himself [tenderly] loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from the Father.
16:28:I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
16:29:His disciples said, “Ah, now You are speaking plainly to us and not in figures of speech!
16:30:Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; because of this we believe [without any doubt] that you came from God.”
16:31:Jesus answered them, “Do you now [at last] believe?
16:32:Take careful notice: an hour is coming, and has arrived, when you will all be scattered, each to his own home, leaving Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
16:33:I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]
17:1:The High Priestly Prayer
When Jesus had spoken these things, He raised His eyes to heaven [in prayer] and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, so that Your Son may glorify You.
17:2:Just as You have given Him power and authority over all mankind, [now glorify Him] so that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him [to be His—permanently and forever].
17:3:Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true [supreme and sovereign] God, and [in the same manner know] Jesus [as the] Christ whom You have sent.
17:4:I have glorified You [down here] on the earth by completing the work that You gave Me to do.
17:5:Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory and majesty that I had with You before the world existed.
17:6:“I have manifested Your name [and revealed Your very self, Your real self] to the people whom You have given Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept and obeyed Your word.
17:7:Now [at last] they know [with confident assurance] that all You have given Me is from You [it is really and truly Yours].
17:8:For the words which You gave Me I have given them; and they received and accepted them and truly understood [with confident assurance] that I came from You [from Your presence], and they believed [without any doubt] that You sent Me.
17:9:I pray for them; I do not pray for the world, but for those You have given Me, because they belong to You;
17:10:and all things that are Mine are Yours, and [all things that are] Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them.
17:11:I am no longer in the world; yet they are still in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are.
17:12:While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and protected them, and not one of them was lost except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
17:13:The Disciples in the World
But now I am coming to You; and I say these things [while I am still] in the world so that they may experience My joy made full and complete and perfect within them [filling their hearts with My delight].
17:14:I have given to them Your word [the message You gave Me]; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world and do not belong to the world, just as I am not of the world and do not belong to it.
17:15:I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but that You keep them and protect them from the evil one.
17:16:They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17:17:Sanctify them in the truth [set them apart for Your purposes, make them holy]; Your word is truth.
17:18:Just as You commissioned and sent Me into the world, I also have commissioned and sent them (believers) into the world.
17:19:For their sake I sanctify Myself [to do Your will], so that they also may be sanctified [set apart, dedicated, made holy] in [Your] truth.
17:20:“I do not pray for these alone [it is not for their sake only that I make this request], but also for [all] those who [will ever] believe and trust in Me through their message,
17:21:that they all may be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe [without any doubt] that You sent Me.
17:22:Their Future Glory
I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one, just as We are one;
17:23:I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected and completed into one, so that the world may know [without any doubt] that You sent Me, and [that You] have loved them, just as You have loved Me.
17:24:Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given to Me [as Your gift to Me], may be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
17:25:“O just and righteous Father, although the world has not known You and has never acknowledged You [and the revelation of Your mercy], yet I have always known You; and these [believers] know [without any doubt] that You sent Me;
17:26:and I have made Your name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them [overwhelming their heart], and I [may be] in them.”
18:1:Judas Betrays Jesus
Having said these things, Jesus left with His disciples and went across the ravine of the Kidron. There was a garden there, which He and His disciples entered.
18:2:Now Judas, who was betraying Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with His disciples.
18:3:So Judas, having obtained the Roman cohort and some officers from the high priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
18:4:Then Jesus, knowing all that was about to happen to Him, went to them and asked, “Whom do you want?”
18:5:They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus said, “I am He.” And Judas, who was betraying Him, was also standing with them.
18:6:When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
18:7:Again He asked them, “Whom do you want?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
18:8:Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you want Me, let these men go on their way.”
18:9:This was to fulfill and verify the words He had spoken, “Of those whom You have given Me, I have not lost even one.”
18:10:Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.
18:11:So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword [back] in its sheath! Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”
18:12:Jesus before Annas and Caiaphas
So the cohort and their commander and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him,
18:13:and led Him to Annas first; for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.
18:14:It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.
18:15:Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, so he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the [residence of the] high priest;
18:16:but Peter was standing outside at the door. So the other disciple (John), who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter inside.
18:17:Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”
18:18:Now the servants and the officers had made a fire of coals, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. And Peter was with them, standing and warming himself.
18:19:Then the high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and about His teaching.
18:20:Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in a synagogue and in the temple [area], where all the Jews habitually congregate; and I said nothing in secret.
18:21:Why question Me? Question those who have heard what I said to them. They know what I said.”
18:22:But when He said this, one of the officers who was standing nearby struck Jesus [in the face], saying, “Is that how You answer the high priest?”
18:23:Jesus replied, “If I have said anything wrong, make a formal statement about the wrong; but if [I spoke] properly, why did you strike Me?”
18:24:So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
18:25:Peter’s Denial of Jesus
Now Simon Peter was [still] standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”
18:26:One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you with Him in the garden?”
18:27:So Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.
18:28:Jesus before Pilate
Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium (governor’s palace). Now it was early and the Jews did not enter the Praetorium so that they would not be [ceremonially] unclean, but might [be able to] eat [and participate in the Feast of Unleavened Bread which began after] the Passover [supper].
18:29:So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”
18:30:They answered, “If He were not a criminal, we would not have handed Him over to you [for judgment].”
18:31:Then Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and judge Him according to your own law.” The Jews said, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.”
18:32:This was to fulfill the word which Jesus had spoken to indicate by what manner of death He was going to die.
18:33:So Pilate went into the Praetorium again, and called Jesus and asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
18:34:Jesus replied, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?”
18:35:Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and their chief priests have handed You over to me. What have You done [that is worthy of death]?”
18:36:Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world [nor does it have its origin in this world]. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting [hard] to keep Me from being handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this world.”
18:37:So Pilate said to Him, “Then You are a King?” Jesus answered, “You say [correctly] that I am a King. This is why I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth [who is a friend of the truth and belongs to the truth] hears and listens carefully to My voice.”
18:38:Pilate said to Him [scornfully], “What is truth?”
And when he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation].
18:39:But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. So shall I release for you the King of the Jews?”
18:40:Then they all shouted back again, “Not this Man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.
19:1:The Crown of Thorns
So then Pilate took Jesus and had Him scourged (flogged, whipped).
19:2:And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe around Him;
19:3:and they kept coming up to Him, saying [mockingly], “Hail, King of the Jews [Good health! Peace! Long life to you, King of the Jews]!” And they slapped Him in the face.
19:4:Then Pilate came out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation].”
19:5:So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, “Look! The Man!”
19:6:When the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify [Him]! Crucify [Him]!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation].”
19:7:The Jews answered him, “We have a law [regarding blasphemy], and according to that law He should die, because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”
19:8:So when Pilate heard this said, he was [even] more alarmed and afraid.
19:9:He went into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus did not answer him.
19:10:So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?”
19:11:Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me at all if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the sin and guilt of the one who handed Me over to you is greater [than your own].”
19:12:As a result of this, Pilate kept making efforts to release Him, but the Jews kept screaming, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar! Anyone who makes himself out [to be] a king opposes Caesar [and rebels against the emperor]!”
19:13:When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
19:14:Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover [week], and it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Look, your King!”
19:15:But they shouted, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
19:16:The Crucifixion
Then he handed Him over to them to be crucified.
19:17:So they took Jesus, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of the Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.
19:18:There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.
19:19:Pilate also wrote an inscription [on a placard] and put it on the cross. And it was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
19:20:And many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.
19:21:Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but, ‘He said, “I am King of the Jews.”’”
19:22:Pilate replied, “What I have written I have written [and it remains written].”
19:23:Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer clothes and made four parts, a part for each soldier, and also the tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven [in one piece] from the top throughout.
19:24:So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it will be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture, “They divided My outer clothing among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.”
19:25:So the soldiers did these things.
But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, His mother’s sister [Salome], Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
19:26:So Jesus, seeing His mother, and the disciple whom He loved (esteemed) standing near, said to His mother, “[Dear] woman, look, [here is] your son!”
19:27:Then He said to the disciple (John), “Look! [here is] your mother [protect and provide for her]!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
19:28:After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said in fulfillment of the Scripture, “I am thirsty.”
19:29:A jar full of sour wine was placed there; so they put a sponge soaked in the sour wine on [a branch of] hyssop and held it to His mouth.
19:30:When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and [voluntarily] gave up His spirit.
19:31:Care of the Body of Jesus
Since it was the day of Preparation [for the Sabbath], in order to prevent the bodies from hanging on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high holy day) the Jews asked Pilate to have their legs broken [to hasten death] and the bodies taken away.
19:32:So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other who had been crucified with Him.
19:33:But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
19:34:But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came [flowing] out.
19:35:And he (John, the eyewitness) who has seen it has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also [who read this] may believe.
19:36:For these things took place to fulfill the Scripture, “Not a bone of His shall be broken.”
19:37:And again another Scripture says, “They shall look at Him whom they have pierced.”
19:38:And after this, Joseph of Arimathea—a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews—asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away His body.
19:39:Nicodemus, who had first come to Him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, [weighing] about a hundred [Roman] pounds.
19:40:So they took Jesus’ body and bound it in linen wrappings with the fragrant spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
19:41:Now there was a garden at the place where He was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb [cut out of solid rock] in which no one had yet been laid.
19:42:Therefore, because of the Jewish day of Preparation, and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
20:1:The Empty Tomb
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw the stone [already] removed from the [groove across the entrance of the] tomb.
20:2:So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple (John), whom Jesus loved (esteemed), and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him!”
20:3:So Peter and the other disciple left, and they were going to the tomb.
20:4:And the two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and arrived at the tomb first.
20:5:Stooping down and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings [neatly] lying there; but he did not go in.
20:6:Then Simon Peter came up, following him, and went into the tomb and saw the linen wrappings [neatly] lying there;
20:7:and the [burial] face-cloth which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the [other] linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.
20:8:So the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, went in too; and he saw [the wrappings and the face-cloth] and believed [without any doubt that Jesus had risen from the dead].
20:9:For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead.
20:10:Then the disciples went back again to their own homes.
20:11:But Mary [who had returned] was standing outside the tomb sobbing; and so, as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb;
20:12:and she saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
20:13:And they said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She told them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
20:14:After saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
20:15:Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? For whom are you looking?” Supposing that He was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you are the one who has carried Him away from here, tell me where you have put Him, and I will take Him away.”
20:16:Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
20:17:Jesus said to her, “Do not hold Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”
20:18:Mary Magdalene came, reporting to the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that He had said these things to her.
20:19:Jesus among His Disciples
So when it was evening on that same day, the first day of the week, though the disciples were [meeting] behind barred doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”
20:20:After He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with great joy.
20:21:Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you [as My representatives].”
20:22:And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
20:23:If you forgive the sins of anyone they are forgiven [because of their faith]; if you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained [and remain unforgiven because of their unbelief].”
20:24:But Thomas, one of the twelve [disciples], who was called Didymus (the twin), was not with them when Jesus came.
20:25:So the other disciples kept telling him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the marks of the nails, and put my finger into the nail prints, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.”
20:26:Eight days later His disciples were again inside the house, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, though the doors had been barred, and stood among them and said, “Peace to you.”
20:27:Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and put out your hand and place it in My side. Do not be unbelieving, but [stop doubting and] believe.”
20:28:Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!”
20:29:Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, do you now believe? Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, and favored by God] are they who did not see [Me] and yet believed [in Me].”
20:30:Purpose of Writing this Gospel
There are also many other signs (attesting miracles) that Jesus performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
20:31:but these have been written so that you may believe [with a deep, abiding trust] that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of God; and that by believing [and trusting in and relying on Him] you may have life in His name.
21:1:Jesus Appears at the Sea of Galilee
After this Jesus revealed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias (Galilee). And He did it in this way:
21:2:Simon Peter, and Thomas who is called Didymus (the twin), and Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, as well as [John and James] the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.
21:3:Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said, “And we are coming with you.” So they went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.
21:4:As morning was breaking, Jesus [came and] stood on the beach; however, the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
21:5:So Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish [to eat along with your bread]?” They answered, “No.”
21:6:And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat (starboard) and you will find some.” So they cast [the net], and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great catch of fish.
21:7:Then that disciple (John) whom Jesus loved (esteemed) said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer tunic (for he was stripped for work) and threw himself into the sea [and swam ashore].
21:8:But the other disciples came in the small boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.
21:9:So when they got out on the beach, they saw a charcoal fire set up and fish on it cooking, and bread.
21:10:Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”
21:11:So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three [of them]; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.
21:12:Jesus Provides
Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared to ask Him, “Who are You?” They knew [without any doubt] that it was the Lord.
21:13:Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish.
21:14:This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples, after He had risen from the dead.
21:15:The Love Motivation
So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these [others do—with total commitment and devotion]?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend].” Jesus said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
21:16:Again He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with total commitment and devotion]?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend].” Jesus said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”
21:17:He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with a deep, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]?” Peter was grieved that He asked him the third time, “Do you [really] love Me [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend]?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You [with a deep, personal affection, as for a close friend].” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.
21:18:Our Times Are in His Hand
I assure you and most solemnly say to you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and walked wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and arms, and someone else will dress you, and carry you where you do not wish to go.”
21:19:Now He said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after saying this, He said to him, “Follow Me [walk the same path of life that I have walked]!”
21:20:Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His chest at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray You?”
21:21:So when Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man [what is in his future]?”
21:22:Jesus said to him, “If I want him to stay alive until I come [again], what is that to you? You follow Me!”
21:23:So this word went out among the brothers that this disciple (John) was not going to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not going to die, but only, “If I want him to stay alive until I come [again], what is that to you?”
21:24:This is the same disciple who is testifying to these things and has recorded them; and we know [without any doubt] that his testimony is true.
21:25:And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were recorded one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
acts:1:1:Introduction
The first account I made, Theophilus, was [a continuous report] about all the things that Jesus began to do and to teach
1:2:until the day when He ascended to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given instruction to the apostles (special messengers) whom He had chosen.
1:3:To these [men] He also showed Himself alive after His suffering [in Gethsemane and on the cross], by [a series of] many infallible proofs and unquestionable demonstrations, appearing to them over a period of forty days and talking to them about the things concerning the kingdom of God.
1:4:While being together and eating with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Of which,” He said, “you have heard Me speak.
1:5:For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized and empowered and united with the Holy Spirit, not long from now.”
1:6:So when they had come together, they asked Him repeatedly, “Lord, are You at this time reestablishing the kingdom and restoring it to Israel?”
1:7:He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.
1:8:But you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses [to tell people about Me] both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.”
1:9:The Ascension
And after He said these things, He was caught up as they looked on, and a cloud took Him up out of their sight.
1:10:While they were looking intently into the sky as He was going, two men in white clothing suddenly stood beside them,
1:11:who said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This [same] Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will return in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
1:12:The Upper Room
Then the disciples returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet (Olive Grove), which is near Jerusalem, [only] a Sabbath day’s journey (less than one mile) away.
1:13:When they had entered the city, they went upstairs to the upper room where they were staying [indefinitely]; that is, Peter, and John and [his brother] James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew (Nathanael) and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas (Thaddaeus) the son of James.
1:14:All these with one mind and one purpose were continually devoting themselves to prayer, [waiting together] along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
1:15:Now on one of these days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (a gathering of about a hundred and twenty believers was there) and he said,
1:16:“Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the lips of David [king of Israel] about Judas [Iscariot], who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus.
1:17:For he (Judas) was counted among us and received his share [by divine allotment] in this ministry.”
1:18:(Now Judas Iscariot acquired a piece of land [indirectly] with the [money paid him as a] reward for his treachery, and falling headlong, his body burst open in the middle and all his intestines poured out.
1:19:All the people in Jerusalem learned about this, so in their own dialect—Aramaic—they called the piece of land Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
1:20:“For in the book of Psalms it is written,
‘Let his place of residence become desolate,
And let there be no one to live in it’;
and [again],
‘Let another take his position as overseer.’
1:21:So of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus spent with us,
1:22:beginning with the baptism by John [at the outset of Jesus’ ministry] until the day when He was taken up from us—one of these men must become a witness with us [to testify] of His resurrection.”
1:23:And they put forward two men, Joseph, the one called Barsabbas (who was surnamed Justus), and Matthias.
1:24:They prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know all hearts [their thoughts, motives, desires], show us which one of these two You have chosen
1:25:to occupy this ministry and apostleship which Judas left to go to his own place [of evil].”
1:26:And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
2:1:The Day of Pentecost
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place,
2:2:and suddenly a sound came from heaven like a rushing violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
2:3:There appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were being distributed [among them], and they rested on each one of them [as each person received the Holy Spirit].
2:4:And they were all filled [that is, diffused throughout their being] with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (different languages), as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out [clearly and appropriately].
2:5:Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout and God-fearing men from every nation under heaven.
2:6:And when this sound was heard, a crowd gathered, and they were bewildered because each one was hearing those in the upper room speaking in his own language or dialect.
2:7:They were completely astonished, saying, “Look! Are not all of these who are speaking Galileans?
2:8:Then how is it that each of us hears in our own language or native dialect?
2:9:[Among us there are] Parthians, Medes and Elamites, and people of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia [Minor],
2:10:Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and the visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes (Gentile converts to Judaism),
2:11:Cretans and Arabs—we all hear them speaking in our [native] tongues about the mighty works of God!”
2:12:And they were beside themselves with amazement and were greatly perplexed, saying one to another, “What could this mean?”
2:13:But others were laughing and joking and ridiculing them, saying, “They are full of sweet wine and are drunk!”
2:14:Peter’s Sermon
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be explained to you; listen closely and pay attention to what I have to say.
2:15:These people are not drunk, as you assume, since it is [only] the third hour of the day (9:00 a.m.);
2:16:but this is [the beginning of] what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
2:17:‘And it shall be in the last days,’ says God,
‘That I will pour out My Spirit upon all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see [divinely prompted] visions,
And your old men shall dream [divinely prompted] dreams;
2:18:Even on My bond-servants, both men and women,
I will in those days pour out My Spirit
And they shall prophesy.
2:19:‘And I will bring about wonders in the sky above
And signs (attesting miracles) on the earth below,
Blood and fire and smoking vapor.
2:20:‘The sun shall be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
2:21:‘And it shall be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invoking, adoring, and worshiping the Lord Jesus] shall be saved (rescued spiritually).’
2:22:“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man accredited and pointed out and attested to you by God with [the power to perform] miracles and wonders and signs which God worked through Him in your [very] midst, just as you yourselves know—
2:23:this Man, when handed over [to the Roman authorities] according to the predetermined decision and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross and put to death by the hands of lawless and godless men.
2:24:But God raised Him up, releasing Him and bringing an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in death’s power.
2:25:For David says of Him,
‘I saw the Lord constantly before me;
For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken [from my state of security].
2:26:‘Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue exulted exceedingly;
Moreover my flesh also will live in hope [that is, will encamp in anticipation of the resurrection];
2:27:‘For You will not forsake me and abandon my soul to Hades (the realm of the dead),
Nor let Your Holy One undergo decay [after death].
2:28:‘You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will fill me [infusing my soul] with joy with Your presence.’
2:29:“Brothers, I may confidently and freely say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
2:30:And so, being a prophet and knowing fully that God had sworn to him with an oath that He would seat one of his descendants on his throne,
2:31:he foresaw and spoke [prophetically] of the resurrection of the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), that He was not abandoned [in death] to Hades (the realm of the dead), nor did His body undergo decay.
2:32:God raised this Jesus [bodily from the dead], and of that [fact] we are all witnesses.
2:33:Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this [blessing] which you both see and hear.
2:34:For David did not ascend into the heavens, yet he himself says,
‘The Lord [the Father] said to my Lord [the Son],
“Sit at My right hand,
2:35:Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’
2:36:Therefore let all the house of Israel recognize beyond all doubt that God has made Him both Lord and Christ (Messiah, Anointed)—this Jesus whom you crucified.”
2:37:The Ingathering
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart [with remorse and anxiety], and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what are we to do?”
2:38:And Peter said to them, “Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ because of the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
2:39:For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is for you and your children and for all who are far away [including the Gentiles], as many as the Lord our God calls to Himself.”
2:40:And Peter solemnly testified and continued to admonish and urge them with many more words, saying, “Be saved from this crooked and unjust generation!”
2:41:So then, those who accepted his message were baptized; and on that day about 3,000 souls were added [to the body of believers].
2:42:They were continually and faithfully devoting themselves to the instruction of the apostles, and to fellowship, to eating meals together and to prayers.
2:43:A sense of awe was felt by everyone, and many wonders and signs (attesting miracles) were taking place through the apostles.
2:44:And all those who had believed [in Jesus as Savior] were together and had all things in common [considering their possessions to belong to the group as a whole].
2:45:And they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing the proceeds with all [the other believers], as anyone had need.
2:46:Day after day they met in the temple [area] continuing with one mind, and breaking bread in various private homes. They were eating their meals together with joy and generous hearts,
2:47:praising God continually, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord kept adding to their number daily those who were being saved.
3:1:Healing the Lame Beggar
Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.),
3:2:and a man who had been unable to walk from birth was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at that gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, so that he could beg alms from those entering the temple.
3:3:So when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking [them] for coins.
3:4:But Peter, along with John, stared at him intently and said, “Look at us!”
3:5:And the man began to pay attention to them, eagerly expecting to receive something from them.
3:6:But Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have; but what I do have I give to you: In the name (authority, power) of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—[begin now to] walk and go on walking!”
3:7:Then he seized the man’s right hand with a firm grip and raised him up. And at once his feet and ankles became strong and steady,
3:8:and with a leap he stood up and began to walk; and he went into the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
3:9:All the people saw him walking and praising God;
3:10:and they recognized him as the very man who usually sat begging for coins at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement and were mystified at what had happened to him.
3:11:Peter’s Second Sermon
Now while he was still holding on to Peter and John, all the people, utterly amazed, ran together and crowded around them at the covered porch called Solomon’s portico.
3:12:And Peter, seeing this, said to the people, “You men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
3:13:The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant and Son Jesus [doing Him this honor], the One whom you handed over and disowned and rejected before Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.
3:14:But you disowned and denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for [the pardon of] a murderer to be granted to you.
3:15:But you killed the Prince (Author, Originator, Source) of life, whom God raised [bodily] from the dead. To this [fact] we are witnesses [for we have seen the risen Christ].
3:16:And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health and complete wholeness in your presence.
3:17:“Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance [not fully aware of what you were doing], just as your rulers did also.
3:18:And so God has fulfilled what He foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ (Messiah, Anointed) would suffer.
3:19:So repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins] and return [to God—seek His purpose for your life], so that your sins may be wiped away [blotted out, completely erased], so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord [restoring you like a cool wind on a hot day];
3:20:and that He may send [to you] Jesus, the Christ, who has been appointed for you,
3:21:whom heaven must keep until the time for the [complete] restoration of all things about which God promised through the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
3:22:Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your countrymen; you shall listen to Him and obey everything He tells you.
3:23:And it will be that every person that does not listen to and heed that Prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’
3:24:Indeed, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also announced these days.
3:25:You are the sons (descendants) of the prophets and [heirs] of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed (descendant) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
3:26:It was for you first of all that God raised up His Servant and Son [Jesus], and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
4:1:Peter and John Arrested
And while Peter and John were talking to the people, the priests and the captain [who was in charge of the temple area and] of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,
4:2:being extremely disturbed and thoroughly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in [the case of] Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
4:3:So they arrested them and put them in jail until the next day, because it was evening.
4:4:But many of those who heard the message [of salvation] believed [in Jesus and accepted Him as the Christ]. And the number of the men came to be about 5,000.
4:5:On the next day, their magistrates and elders and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) were gathered together in Jerusalem;
4:6:and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all others who were of high-priestly descent.
4:7:When they had put the men in front of them, they repeatedly asked, “By what sort of power, or in what name [that is, by what kind of authority], did you do this [healing]?”
4:8:Then Peter, filled with [the power of] the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people [members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Court],
4:9:if we are being put on trial today [to interrogate us] for a good deed done to [benefit] a disabled man, as to how this man has been restored to health,
4:10:let it be known and clearly understood by all of you, and by all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you [demanded be] crucified [by the Romans and], whom God raised from the dead—in this name [that is, by the authority and power of Jesus] this man stands here before you in good health.
4:11:This Jesus is the stone which was despised and rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief Cornerstone.
4:12:And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among people by which we must be saved [for God has provided the world no alternative for salvation].”
4:13:Threat and Release
Now when the men of the Sanhedrin (Jewish High Court) saw the confidence and boldness of Peter and John, and grasped the fact that they were uneducated and untrained [ordinary] men, they were astounded, and began to recognize that they had been with Jesus.
4:14:And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in reply.
4:15:But after ordering them to step out of the Council [chamber], they began to confer among themselves,
4:16:saying, “What are we to do with these men? For the fact that an extraordinary miracle has taken place through them is public knowledge and clearly evident to all the residents of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
4:17:But to keep it from spreading further among the people and the nation, let us [sternly] warn them not to speak again to anyone in this name.”
4:18:So they sent for them, and commanded them not to speak [as His representatives] or teach at all in the name of Jesus [using Him as their authority].
4:19:But Peter and John replied to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you and obey you rather than God, you must judge [for yourselves];
4:20:for we, on our part, cannot stop telling [people] about what we have seen and heard.”
4:21:When the rulers and Council members had threatened them further, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because [of their fear] of the people, for they were all praising and glorifying and honoring God for what had happened;
4:22:for the man to whom this sign (attesting miracle) of healing had happened was more than forty years old.
4:23:After Peter and John were released, they returned to their own [people] and reported everything that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
4:24:And when they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “O Sovereign Lord [having complete power and authority], it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them,
4:25:who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said,
‘Why did the nations (Gentiles) become arrogant and rage,
And the peoples devise futile things [against the Lord]?
4:26:‘The kings of the earth took their stand [to attack],
And the rulers were assembled together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed (the Christ, the Messiah).’
4:27:For in this city there were gathered together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
4:28:to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined [before the creation of the world] to occur [and so without knowing it, they served Your own purpose].
4:29:And now, Lord, observe their threats [take them into account] and grant that Your bond-servants may declare Your message [of salvation] with great confidence,
4:30:while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders (attesting miracles) take place through the name [and the authority and power] of Your holy Servant and Son Jesus.”
4:31:And when they had prayed, the place where they were meeting together was shaken [a sign of God’s presence]; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness and courage.
4:32:Sharing among Believers
Now the company of believers was of one heart and soul, and not one [of them] claimed that anything belonging to him was [exclusively] his own, but everything was common property and for the use of all.
4:33:And with great ability and power the apostles were continuously testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace [God’s remarkable lovingkindness and favor and goodwill] rested richly upon them all.
4:34:There was not a needy person among them, because those who were owners of land or houses were selling them, and bringing the proceeds of the sales
4:35:and placing the money down at the apostles’ feet. Then it was distributed to each as anyone had need.
4:36:Now Joseph, a Levite and native of Cyprus, who was surnamed Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement),
4:37:sold a field belonging to him and brought the money and set it at the apostles’ feet.
5:1:Fate of Ananias and Sapphira
Now a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,
5:2:and with his wife’s full knowledge [and complicity] he kept back some of the proceeds, bringing only a portion of it, and set it at the apostles’ feet.
5:3:But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and [secretly] keep back for yourself some of the proceeds [from the sale] of the land?
5:4:As long as it remained [unsold], did it not remain your own [to do with as you pleased]? And after it was sold, was the money not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this act [of hypocrisy and deceit] in your heart? You have not [simply] lied to people, but to God.”
5:5:And hearing these words, Ananias fell down suddenly and died; and great fear and awe gripped those who heard of it.
5:6:And the young men [in the congregation] got up and wrapped up the body, and carried it out and buried it.
5:7:Now after an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
5:8:Peter asked her, “Tell me whether you sold your land for so much?” And she said, “Yes, for so much.”
5:9:Then Peter said to her, “How could you two have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
5:10:And at once she fell down at his feet and died; and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
5:11:And great fear and awe gripped the whole church, and all who heard about these things.
5:12:At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders (attesting miracles) were continually taking place among the people. And by common consent they all met together [at the temple] in [the covered porch called] Solomon’s portico.
5:13:But none of the rest [of the people, the non-believers] dared to associate with them; however, the people were holding them in high esteem and were speaking highly of them.
5:14:More and more believers in the Lord, crowds of men and women, were constantly being added to their number,
5:15:to such an extent that they even carried their sick out into the streets and put them on cots and sleeping pads, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on one of them [with healing power].
5:16:And the people from the towns in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.
5:17:Imprisonment and Release
But the high priest stood up, along with all his associates (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy and resentment.
5:18:They arrested the apostles and put them in a public jail.
5:19:But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, and leading them out, he said,
5:20:“Go, stand and continue to tell the people in the temple [courtyards] the whole message of this Life [the eternal life revealed by Christ and found through faith in Him].”
5:21:When they heard this, they went into the temple [courtyards] about daybreak and began teaching.
Now when the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), even all the council of elders of the sons of Israel, and sent word to the prison for the apostles to be brought [before them].
5:22:But when the officers arrived, they did not find them in the prison; and they came back and reported,
5:23:“We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened [the doors], we found no one inside.”
5:24:Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these things, they were greatly perplexed, wondering what would come of this.
5:25:But someone came and told them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing [right here] in the temple [area], teaching the people!”
5:26:Then the captain went with the officers and brought them back, without hurting them (because they were afraid of the people, worried that they might be stoned).
5:27:So they brought them and presented them before the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court). The high priest questioned them,
5:28:saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this Man’s blood on us [by accusing us as His murderers].”
5:29:Then Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men [we have no other choice].
5:30:The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross [and you are responsible].
5:31:God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior and Deliverer, in order to grant repentance to Israel, and [to grant] forgiveness of sins.
5:32:And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has bestowed on those who obey Him.”
5:33:Gamaliel’s Counsel
Now when they heard this, they were infuriated and they intended to kill the apostles.
5:34:But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law [of Moses], highly esteemed by all the people, stood up in the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) and ordered that the men be taken outside for a little while.
5:35:Then he said to the Council, “Men of Israel, be careful in regard to what you propose to do to these men.
5:36:For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody [of importance], and a group of about four hundred men allied themselves with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were scattered and came to nothing.
5:37:After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up, [and led an uprising] during the time of the census, and drew people after him; he was also killed, and all his followers were scattered.
5:38:So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men [merely human in origin], it will fail and be destroyed;
5:39:but if it is of God [and it appears that it is], you will not be able to stop them; or else you may even be found fighting against God!”
5:40:The Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) took his advice; and after summoning the apostles, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them.
5:41:So they left the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy [dignified by indignity] to suffer shame for [the sake of] His name.
5:42:And every single day, in the temple [area] and in homes, they did not stop teaching and telling the good news of Jesus as the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
6:1:Choosing of the Seven
Now about this time, when the number of disciples was increasing, a complaint was made by the Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews) against the [native] Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.
6:2:So the Twelve called the disciples together and said, “It is not appropriate for us to neglect [teaching] the word of God in order to serve tables and manage the distribution of food.
6:3:Therefore, brothers, choose from among you seven men with good reputations [men of godly character and moral integrity], full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.
6:4:But we will [continue to] devote ourselves [steadfastly] to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
6:5:The suggestion pleased the whole congregation; and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith [in Christ Jesus], and [filled with and led by] the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (Nikolaos), a proselyte (Gentile convert) from Antioch.
6:6:They brought these men before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them [to dedicate and commission them for this service].
6:7:And the message of God kept on growing and spreading, and the number of disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem; and a large number of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith [accepting Jesus as Messiah and acknowledging Him as the Source of eternal salvation].
6:8:Now Stephen, full of grace (divine blessing, favor) and power, was doing great wonders and signs (attesting miracles) among the people.
6:9:However, some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (freed Jewish slaves), both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and [the province of] Asia, rose up and questioned and argued with Stephen.
6:10:But they were not able to successfully withstand and cope with the wisdom and the intelligence [and the power and inspiration] of the Spirit by whom he was speaking.
6:11:Then [to attack him another way] they secretly instructed men to say, “We have heard this man [Stephen] speak blasphemous (slanderous, sacrilegious, abusive) words against Moses and against God.”
6:12:And they provoked and incited the people, as well as the elders and the scribes, and they came up to Stephen and seized him and brought him before the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court).
6:13:They presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the Law [of Moses];
6:14:for we have heard him say that this Jesus the Nazarene will tear down this place and will change the traditions and customs which Moses handed down to us.”
6:15:Then all those who were sitting in the Council, stared [intently] at him, and they saw that Stephen’s face was like the face of an angel.
7:1:Stephen’s Defense
Now the high priest asked [Stephen], “Are these charges true?”
7:2:And he answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory [the Shekinah, the radiance of God] appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
7:3:and He said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.’
7:4:Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God sent him to this country in which you now live.
7:5:But He did not give him inheritable property, not even enough ground to take a step on, yet He promised that He would give it to Him as a possession, and to his descendants after him.
7:6:And this is, in effect, what God spoke [to him]: That his descendants would be aliens (strangers) in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.
7:7:‘And I will judge any nation to whom they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve Me [in worship] in this place.’
7:8:And God gave Abraham a covenant [a formal agreement to be strictly observed] of [which] circumcision [was the sign]; and so [under these circumstances] Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac [became the father] of Jacob, and Jacob [became the father] of the twelve patriarchs.
7:9:“The [ten elder] patriarchs, overwhelmed with jealousy, sold [their younger brother] Joseph into [slavery in] Egypt; but God was with him,
7:10:and He rescued him from all his suffering, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made Joseph governor over Egypt and over his entire household.
7:11:“Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great distress and our fathers could not find food [for their households and livestock].
7:12:But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.
7:13:And on the second visit Joseph identified himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family and background were revealed to Pharaoh.
7:14:Then Joseph sent and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five persons in all.
7:15:And Jacob (Israel) went down into Egypt, and there he died, as did our fathers;
7:16:and [from Egypt] their bodies were taken back to Shechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
7:17:“But as the time [for the fulfillment] of the promise which God had made to Abraham was approaching, the [Hebrew] people increased and multiplied in Egypt,
7:18:until [the time when] there arose another king over egypt who did not know joseph [nor his history and the merit of his service to Egypt].
7:19:He shrewdly exploited our race and mistreated our fathers, forcing them to expose their [male] babies so that they would die.
7:20:It was at this [critical] time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and for three months he was nourished in his father’s house.
7:21:Then when he was set outside [to die], Pharaoh’s daughter rescued him and claimed him for herself, and cared for him as her own son.
7:22:So Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.
7:23:But when he reached the age of forty, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel.
7:24:And when he saw one [of them] being treated unfairly, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking and killing the Egyptian.
7:25:He expected his countrymen to understand that God was granting them freedom through him [assuming that they would accept him], but they did not understand.
7:26:Then on the next day he suddenly appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong one another?’
7:27:But the man who was injuring his neighbor pushed Moses away, saying, ‘Who appointed you ruler and judge over us?
7:28:Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
7:29:At this remark Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons.
7:30:“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush.
7:31:When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; but as he went near to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came [to him, saying]:
7:32:‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
7:33:Then the Lord said to him, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground [worthy of reverence and respect].
7:34:I have most certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come, and I will send you to Egypt [as My messenger].’
7:35:“This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the very one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer, with the [protecting and helping] hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.
7:36:This man led them out [of Egypt] after performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.
7:37:This is the Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your countrymen.’
7:38:This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles [divine words that still live] to be handed down to you.
7:39:Our fathers were unwilling to be subject to him [and refused to listen to him]. They rejected him, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
7:40:They said to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’
7:41:In those days they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced and celebrated over the works of their hands.
7:42:But God turned away [from them] and handed them over to serve the host of heaven. As it is written and forever remains written in the book of the prophets, ‘It was not [really] to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel?
7:43:You also took along the tabernacle (portable temple) of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship; and I will remove you beyond Babylon [carrying you away into exile].’
7:44:“Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as God directed Moses to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.
7:45:Our fathers also brought it in [with them into the land] with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, [and so it remained here] until the time of David,
7:46:who found favor (grace, spiritual blessing) in the sight of God and asked that he might [be allowed to] find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
7:47:But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.
7:48:However, the Most High [the One infinitely exalted above humanity] does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet [Isaiah] says,
7:49:‘Heaven is My throne,
And the earth is the footstool for My feet;
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
‘Or what place is there for My rest?
7:50:‘Was it not My hand that made all these things?’
7:51:“You stiff-necked and stubborn people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. You are doing just as your fathers did.
7:52:Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become;
7:53:you who received the law as ordained and delivered to you by angels, and yet you did not obey it!”
7:54:Stephen Put to Death
Now when they heard this [accusation and understood its implication], they were cut to the heart, and they began grinding their teeth [in rage] at him.
7:55:But he, being full of the Holy Spirit and led by Him, gazed into heaven and saw the glory [the great splendor and majesty] of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;
7:56:and he said, “Look! I see the heavens opened up [in welcome] and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
7:57:But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and together rushed at him [considering him guilty of blasphemy].
7:58:Then they drove him out of the city and began stoning him; and the witnesses placed their outer robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
7:59:They continued stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive and accept and welcome my spirit!”
7:60:Then falling on his knees [in worship], he cried out loudly, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them [do not charge them]!” When he had said this, he fell asleep [in death].
8:1:Saul Persecutes the Church
Saul wholeheartedly approved of Stephen’s death.
And on that day a great and relentless persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem; and the believers were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.
8:2:Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned greatly over him [expressing a personal sense of loss].
8:3:But Saul began ravaging the church [and assaulting believers]; entering house after house and dragging off men and women, putting them in prison.
8:4:Philip in Samaria
Now those [believers] who had been scattered went from place to place preaching the word [the good news of salvation through Christ].
8:5:Philip [the evangelist] went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) to them.
8:6:The crowds gathered and were paying close attention to everything Philip said, as they heard [the message] and saw the [miraculous] signs which he was doing [validating his message].
8:7:For unclean spirits (demons), shouting loudly, were coming out of many who were possessed; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.
8:8:So there was great rejoicing in that city.
8:9:Now there was a man named Simon, who previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great.
8:10:They all paid [a great deal of] attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God!”
8:11:They were paying attention to him because for a long time he had mystified and dazzled them with his magic.
8:12:But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, both men and women.
8:13:Even Simon believed [Philip’s message of salvation]; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he watched the attesting signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
8:14:When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that [the people of] Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
8:15:They came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit;
8:16:for He had not yet fallen on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus [as His possession].
8:17:Then Peter and John laid their hands on them [one by one], and they received the Holy Spirit.
8:18:Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,
8:19:saying, “Give me this authority and power too, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
8:20:But Peter said to him, “May your money be destroyed along with you, because you thought you could buy the [free] gift of God with money!
8:21:You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart (motive, purpose) is not right before God.
8:22:So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, this thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
8:23:For I see that you are provoked by bitterness and bound by sin.”
8:24:But Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me both of you, so that nothing of what you have said will come upon me.”
8:25:An Ethiopian Receives Christ
So, when Peter and John had given their testimony and preached the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, preaching the good news [about salvation] in many Samaritan villages [along the way].
8:26:But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the road that runs from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” (This is a desert road).
8:27:So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch [a man of great authority], a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship,
8:28:and he was returning, and sitting in his chariot he was reading [the scroll of] the prophet Isaiah.
8:29:Then the [Holy] Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”
8:30:Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah, and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
8:31:And he said, “Well, how could I [understand] unless someone guides me [correctly]?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
8:32:Now this was the passage of Scripture which he was reading:
“Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He does not open His mouth.
8:33:“In humiliation His judgment was taken away [justice was denied Him].
Who will describe His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.”
8:34:The eunuch replied to Philip, “Please tell me, about whom does the prophet say this? About himself or about someone else?”
8:35:Then Philip spoke and beginning with this Scripture he preached Jesus to him [explaining that He is the promised Messiah and the source of salvation].
8:36:As they continued along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch exclaimed, “Look! Water! What forbids me from being baptized?”
8:37:[Philip said to him, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]
8:38:And he ordered that the chariot be stopped; and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
8:39:When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord [suddenly] took Philip [and carried him] away [to a different place]; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but he went on his way rejoicing.
8:40:But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the good news [of salvation] to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea [Maritima].
9:1:The Conversion of Saul
Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord [and relentless in his search for believers], went to the high priest,
9:2:and he asked for letters [of authority] from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any men or women there belonging to the Way [believers, followers of Jesus the Messiah], men and women alike, he could arrest them and bring them bound [with chains] to Jerusalem.
9:3:As he traveled he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him [displaying the glory and majesty of Christ];
9:4:and he fell to the ground and heard a voice [from heaven] saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting and oppressing Me?”
9:5:And Saul said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He answered, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,
9:6:now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
9:7:The men who were traveling with him [were terrified and] stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
9:8:Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
9:9:And he was unable to see for three days, and he neither ate nor drank.
9:10:Now in Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he answered, “Here I am, Lord.”
9:11:And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul; for he is praying [there],
9:12:and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him, so that he may regain his sight.”
9:13:But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, especially how much suffering and evil he has brought on Your saints (God’s people) at Jerusalem;
9:14:and here [in Damascus] he has authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call on Your name [confessing You as Savior].”
9:15:But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is a [deliberately] chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;
9:16:for I will make clear to him how much he must suffer and endure for My name’s sake.”
9:17:So Ananias left and entered the house, and he laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came [to Damascus], has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit [in order to proclaim Christ to both Jews and Gentiles].”
9:18:Immediately something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized;
9:19:and he took some food and was strengthened.
Saul Begins to Preach Christ
For several days [afterward] Saul remained with the disciples who were at Damascus.
9:20:And immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “This Man is the Son of God [the promised Messiah]!”
9:21:All those who heard him continued to be amazed and said, “Is this not the man who in Jerusalem attacked those who called on this name [of Jesus], and had come here [to Damascus] for the express purpose of bringing them bound [with chains] before the chief priests?”
9:22:But Saul increased in strength more and more, and continued to perplex the Jews who lived in Damascus by examining [theological evidence] and proving [with Scripture] that this Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
9:23:After considerable time had passed [about three years or so], the Jews plotted together to kill him,
9:24:but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the city’s gates day and night so they could kill him;
9:25:but his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.
9:26:When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.
9:27:However, Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and described to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road [to Damascus], and how He had spoken to him, and how at Damascus Saul had preached openly and spoken confidently in the name of Jesus.
9:28:So he was with them, moving around freely [as one among them] in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.
9:29:He was talking and arguing with the Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews); but they were attempting to kill him.
9:30:When the brothers found out [about the plot], they brought him down to Caesarea [Maritima] and sent him off to Tarsus [his home town].
9:31:So the church throughout Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace [without persecution], being built up [in wisdom, virtue, and faith]; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort and encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it continued to grow [in numbers].
9:32:Peter’s Ministry
Now as Peter was traveling throughout the land, he went down to [visit] the saints (God’s people) who lived at Lydda.
9:33:There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years and was paralyzed.
9:34:Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed.” Immediately Aeneas got up.
9:35:Then all who lived at Lydda and the plain of Sharon saw [what had happened to] him, and they turned to the Lord.
9:36:Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, (which translated into Greek means Dorcas). She was rich in acts of kindness and charity which she continually did.
9:37:During that time it happened that she became sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upstairs room.
9:38:Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Come to us without delay.”
9:39:So Peter got up [at once] and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upstairs room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing [him] all the tunics and robes that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.
9:40:But Peter sent them all out [of the room] and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise!” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
9:41:And he gave her his hand and helped her up; and then he called in the saints (God’s people) and the widows, and he presented her [to them] alive.
9:42:This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord [that is, to adhere to and trust in and rely on Jesus as Christ and Savior].
9:43:And so it was that Peter stayed in Joppa for many days with Simon, a tanner.
10:1:Cornelius’ Vision
Now at Caesarea [Maritima] there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Regiment,
10:2:a devout man and one who, along with all his household, feared God. He made many charitable donations to the Jewish people, and prayed to God always.
10:3:About the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.) of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had come to him and said, “Cornelius!”
10:4:Cornelius was frightened and stared intently at him and said, “What is it, lord (sir)?” And the angel said to him, “Your prayers and gifts of charity have ascended as a memorial offering before God [an offering made in remembrance of His past blessings].
10:5:Now send men to Joppa and have them call for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter [and invite him here];
10:6:he is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
10:7:When the angel who was speaking to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among his own personal attendants;
10:8:and after explaining everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
10:9:The next day, as they were on their way and were approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof of the house about the sixth hour (noon) to pray,
10:10:but he became hungry and wanted something to eat. While the meal was being prepared he fell into a trance;
10:11:and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet descending, lowered by its four corners to the earth,
10:12:and it contained all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.
10:13:A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”
10:14:But Peter said, “Not at all, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common (unholy) and [ceremonially] unclean.”
10:15:And the voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed and pronounced clean, no longer consider common (unholy).”
10:16:This happened three times, and then immediately the object was taken up into heaven.
10:17:Now Peter was still perplexed and completely at a loss as to what his vision could mean when the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon’s house, arrived at the gate.
10:18:And they called out to ask whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.
10:19:While Peter was thoughtfully considering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Now listen, three men are looking for you.
10:20:Get up, go downstairs and go with them without hesitating or doubting, because I have sent them Myself.”
10:21:Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. For what reason have you come?”
10:22:They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man well spoken of by all the Jewish people, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear what you have to say.”
10:23:So Peter invited them in and gave them lodging [for the night].
Peter at Caesarea
The next day Peter got up and left with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him.
10:24:On the following day he [and the others] entered Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends.
10:25:When Peter arrived, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.
10:26:But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am only a man.”
10:27:As Peter talked with him, he entered [the house] and found a large group of people assembled.
10:28:He said to them, “You know that it is unlawful for a Jewish man to associate with or befriend a Gentile, or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I am not to call anyone common or [ceremonially] unclean.
10:29:Therefore when I was sent for, I came without raising an objection. So I ask for what reason have you sent for me?”
10:30:Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour (3:00-4:00 p.m.); and a man [dressed] in bright, dazzling clothing suddenly stood before me,
10:31:and he said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered before God [so that He is about to help you].
10:32:Therefore send word to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you. He is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’
10:33:So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to listen to everything that you have been instructed by the Lord [to say].”
10:34:Gentiles Hear Good News
Opening his mouth, Peter said:
“Most certainly I understand now that God is not one to show partiality [to people as though Gentiles were excluded from God’s blessing],
10:35:but in every nation the person who fears God and does what is right [by seeking Him] is acceptable and welcomed by Him.
10:36:You know the message which He sent to the sons of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all—
10:37:you know the things that have taken place throughout Judea, starting in Galilee after the baptism preached by John—
10:38:how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with great power; and He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.
10:39:We are [personally] eyewitnesses of everything that He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem [in particular]. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross;
10:40:God raised Him [to life] on the third day and caused Him to be plainly seen,
10:41:not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen and designated beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank together with Him after He rose from the dead.
10:42:He commanded us to preach to the people [both Jew and Gentile], and to solemnly testify that He is the One who has been appointed and ordained by God as Judge of the living and the dead.
10:43:All the prophets testify about Him, that through His name everyone who believes in Him [whoever trusts in and relies on Him, accepting Him as Savior and Messiah] receives forgiveness of sins.”
10:44:While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who were listening to the message [confirming God’s acceptance of Gentiles].
10:45:All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
10:46:For they heard them talking in [unknown] tongues (languages) and exalting and magnifying and praising God. Then Peter said,
10:47:“Can anyone refuse water for these people to be baptized, since they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?”
10:48:And he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay there for a few days.
11:1:Peter Reports at Jerusalem
Now the apostles and the believers who were throughout Judea heard [with astonishment] that the Gentiles also had received and accepted the word of God [the message concerning salvation through Christ].
11:2:So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision [certain Jewish believers who followed the Law] took issue with him [for violating Jewish customs],
11:3:saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and [even] ate with them!”
11:4:But Peter began [at the beginning] and explained [the events] to them step by step, saying,
11:5:“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision of an object coming down from heaven, like a huge sheet being lowered by the four corners; and [it descended until] it came right down to me,
11:6:and looking closely at it, I saw all kinds of the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air [both clean and unclean according to the Law],
11:7:and I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’
11:8:But I said, ‘Not at all, Lord; for nothing common (unholy) or [ceremonially] unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
11:9:But the voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansed and pronounced clean, no longer consider common (unholy).’
11:10:This happened three times, and everything was drawn up again into heaven.
11:11:And right then the three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying.
11:12:The Spirit told me to go with them without the slightest hesitation. So these six brothers also went with me and we went to the man’s house.
11:13:And Cornelius told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying, ‘Send word to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here;
11:14:he will bring a message to you by which you will be saved [and granted eternal life], you and all your household.’
11:15:When I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as He did on us at the beginning [at Pentecost].
11:16:Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
11:17:So, if God gave Gentiles the same gift [equally] as He gave us after we accepted and believed and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ [as Savior], who was I to interfere or stand in God’s way?”
11:18:When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified and praised God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance that leads to eternal life [that is, real life after earthly death].”
11:19:The Church at Antioch
So then [since they were unaware of these developments] those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with [the stoning of] Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, without telling the message [of salvation through Christ] to anyone except Jews.
11:20:But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, proclaiming [to them] the good news about the Lord Jesus.
11:21:And the hand (the power and presence) of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord [for salvation, accepting and drawing near to Jesus as Messiah and Savior].
11:22:The news of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
11:23:When he arrived and saw the grace of God [that was bestowed on them], he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with an unwavering heart to stay true and devoted to the Lord.
11:24:For Barnabas was a good man [privately and publicly—his godly character benefited both himself and others] and he was full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith [in Jesus the Messiah, through whom believers have everlasting life]. And a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
11:25:And Barnabas left for Tarsus to search for Saul;
11:26:and when he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. For an entire year they met [with others] in the church and instructed large numbers; and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
11:27:Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
11:28:One of them named Agabus stood up and prophesied through the [Holy] Spirit that a severe famine would come on the entire world. And this did happen during the reign of Claudius.
11:29:So the disciples decided to send a contribution, each according to his individual ability, to the believers who lived in Judea.
11:30:And this they did, sending the contribution to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
12:1:Peter’s Arrest and Escape
Now at that time Herod [Agrippa I] the king [of the Jews] arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to harm them.
12:2:And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword;
12:3:and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to have Peter arrested as well. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread [the Passover week].
12:4:When he had seized Peter, he put him in prison, turning him over to four squads of soldiers of four each to guard him [in rotation throughout the night], planning after the Passover to bring him out before the people [for execution].
12:5:So Peter was kept in prison, but fervent and persistent prayer for him was being made to God by the church.
12:6:The very night before Herod was to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries were in front of the door guarding the prison.
12:7:Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared [beside him] and a light shone in the cell. The angel struck Peter’s side and awakened him, saying, “Get up quickly!” And the chains fell off his hands.
12:8:The angel said to him, “Prepare yourself and strap on your sandals [to get ready for whatever may happen].” And he did so. Then the angel told him, “Put on your robe and follow me.”
12:9:And Peter went out following the angel. He did not realize that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
12:10:When they had passed the first guard and the second, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city. Of its own accord it swung open for them; and they went out and went along one street, and at once the angel left him.
12:11:When Peter came to his senses, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and has rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting [to do to me].”
12:12:When he realized what had happened, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, who was also called Mark, where many [believers] were gathered together and were praying continually [and had been praying all night].
12:13:When he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer.
12:14:Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she failed to open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gateway.
12:15:They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel!”
12:16:But [meanwhile] Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were completely amazed.
12:17:But motioning to them with his hand to be quiet and listen, he described how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to James and the brothers and sisters.” Then he left and went to another place.
12:18:Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.
12:19:When Herod had searched for him and could not find him, he interrogated the guards and commanded that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea [Maritima] and spent some time there.
12:20:Death of Herod
Now Herod [Agrippa I] was extremely angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and their delegates came to him in a united group, and after persuading Blastus, the king’s chamberlain [to support their cause], they asked for peace, because their country was fed by [imports of grain and other goods from] the king’s country.
12:21:On an appointed day Herod dressed himself in his royal robes, sat on his throne (tribunal, rostrum) and began delivering a speech to the people.
12:22:The assembled people kept shouting, “It is the voice of a god and not of a man!”
12:23:And at once an angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give God the glory [and instead permitted himself to be worshiped], and he was eaten by worms and died [five days later].
12:24:But the word of the Lord [the good news about salvation through Christ] continued to grow and spread [increasing in effectiveness].
12:25:Barnabas and Saul came back from Jerusalem when they had completed their mission, bringing with them John, who was also called Mark.
13:1:First Missionary Journey
Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets [who spoke a new message of God to the people] and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod [Antipas] the tetrarch, and Saul.
13:2:While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul (Paul) for the work to which I have called them.”
13:3:Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them [in approval and dedication] and sent them away [on their first journey].
13:4:So then, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
13:5:When Barnabas and Saul arrived at Salamis, they began to preach the word of God [proclaiming the message of eternal salvation through faith in Christ] in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John [Mark] as their assistant.
13:6:When they had traveled through the entire island [of Cyprus] as far as Paphos, they found a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus,
13:7:who was [closely associated] with the proconsul [of the province], Sergius Paulus, an intelligent and sensible man. He called for Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ].
13:8:But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is how his name is translated) opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul away from accepting the faith.
13:9:But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit and led by Him, looked steadily at Elymas,
13:10:and said, “You [Elymas] who are full of every [kind of] deceit, and every [kind of] fraud, you son of the devil, enemy of everything that is right and good, will you never stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?
13:11:Now, watch! The hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, [so blind that you will be] unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him, and he groped around, seeking people to lead him by the hand.
13:12:The proconsul believed [the message of salvation] when he saw what had happened, being astonished at the teaching concerning the Lord.
13:13:Now Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John [Mark] left them and went back to Jerusalem.
13:14:Now they went on from Perga and arrived at Antioch in Pisidia, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.
13:15:After the reading of the Law and the [writings of the] Prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers (kinsmen), if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.”
13:16:So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand, he said,
“Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen!
13:17:The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great and numerous during their stay [as foreigners] in the land of Egypt, and then with an uplifted arm He led them out of there.
13:18:For a period of about forty years He put up with their behavior in the wilderness.
13:19:When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave their land [to our ancestors] as an inheritance—this took about four hundred and fifty years.
13:20:After this, He gave them judges until the prophet Samuel.
13:21:Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
13:22:And when He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king: of him He testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart [conforming to My will and purposes], who will do all My will.’
13:23:From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel a Savior, [in the person of] Jesus, according to His promise.
13:24:Before His coming John [the Baptist] had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
13:25:And as John was finishing his course [of ministry], he kept saying, ‘What or who do you think that I am? I am not He [the Christ]; but be aware, One is coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie [even as His slave]!’
13:26:“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation [obtained through faith in Jesus Christ].
13:27:For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, who failed to recognize or understand both Jesus and the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled these [very prophecies] by condemning Him.
13:28:And though they found no cause or charge deserving death, they asked Pilate to have Him executed.
13:29:And when they had finished carrying out everything that was written [in Scripture] about Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.
13:30:But God raised Him from the dead;
13:31:and for many days (forty) He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people.
13:32:And we are bringing you the good news of the promise made to our fathers (ancestors),
13:33:that God has completely fulfilled this promise to our children by raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; today I have begotten (fathered) You.’
13:34:And [as for the fact] that He raised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay [in the grave], He has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David [those blessings and mercies that were promised to him].’
13:35:For this reason He also says in another Psalm, ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see decay.’
13:36:For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was buried among his fathers and experienced decay [in the grave];
13:37:but He whom God raised [to life] did not experience decay [in the grave].
13:38:So let it be clearly known by you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you;
13:39:and through Him everyone who believes [who acknowledges Jesus as Lord and Savior and follows Him] is justified and declared free of guilt from all things, from which you could not be justified and freed of guilt through the Law of Moses.
13:40:Therefore be careful, so that the thing spoken of in the [writings of the] Prophets does not come upon you:
13:41:‘Look, you mockers, and marvel, and perish and vanish away;
For I am doing a work in your days,
A work which you will never believe, even if someone describes it to you [telling you about it in detail].’”
13:42:As Paul and Barnabas were leaving [the synagogue], the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them on the next Sabbath.
13:43:When the congregation of the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and the devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, talking to them were urging them to continue in the grace of God.
13:44:Paul Turns to the Gentiles
On the next Sabbath almost the entire city gathered together to hear the word of the Lord [about salvation through faith in Christ].
13:45:But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things said by Paul, and were slandering him.
13:46:And [at the same time] Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and confidently, saying, “It was necessary that God’s message [of salvation through faith in Christ] be spoken to you [Jews] first. Since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, now we turn to the Gentiles.
13:47:For that is what the Lord has commanded us, saying,
‘I have placed You as a light for the Gentiles,
So that You may bring [the message of eternal] salvation to the end of the earth.’”
13:48:When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying [praising and giving thanks for] the word of the Lord; and all those who had been appointed (designated, ordained) to eternal life [by God] believed [in Jesus as the Christ and their Savior].
13:49:And so the word of the Lord [regarding salvation] was being spread through the entire region.
13:50:But the Jews incited the devout, prominent women and the leading men of the city, and instigated persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them forcibly out of their district.
13:51:But they shook its dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
13:52:And the disciples were continually filled [throughout their hearts and souls] with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
14:1:Acceptance and Opposition
Now in Iconium Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue together and spoke in such a way [with such power and boldness] that a large number of Jews as well as Greeks believed [and confidently accepted Jesus as Savior];
14:2:but the unbelieving Jews [who rejected Jesus as Messiah] stirred up and embittered the minds of the Gentiles against the believers.
14:3:So Paul and Barnabas stayed for a long time, speaking boldly and confidently for the Lord, who continued to testify to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders (attesting miracles) be done by them.
14:4:But the people of the city were divided; some were siding with the Jews, and some with the apostles.
14:5:When there was an attempt by both the Gentiles and the Jews, together with their rulers, to shamefully mistreat and to stone them,
14:6:they, aware of the situation, escaped to Lystra and Derbe, [taking refuge in the] cities of Lycaonia, and the neighboring region;
14:7:and there they continued to preach the good news.
14:8:Now at Lystra a man sat who was unable to use his feet, for he was crippled from birth and had never walked.
14:9:This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, and Paul looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed,
14:10:and said with a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet.” And he jumped up and began to walk.
14:11:And the crowds, when they saw what Paul had done, raised their voices, shouting in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
14:12:They began calling Barnabas, Zeus [chief of the Greek gods], and Paul, Hermes [messenger of the Greek gods], since he took the lead in speaking.
14:13:The priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance of the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates, and wanted to offer sacrifices with the crowds.
14:14:But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting,
14:15:“Men, why are you doing these things? We too are only men of the same nature as you, bringing the good news to you, so that you turn from these useless and meaningless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything that is in them.
14:16:In generations past He permitted all the nations to go their own ways;
14:17:yet He did not leave Himself without some witness [as evidence of Himself], in that He kept constantly doing good things and showing you kindness, and giving you rains from heaven and productive seasons, filling your hearts with food and happiness.”
14:18:Even saying these words, with difficulty they prevented the people from offering sacrifices to them.
14:19:But Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.
14:20:But the disciples formed a circle around him, and he got up and went back into the city; and the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.
14:21:They preached the good news to that city and made many disciples, then they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,
14:22:strengthening and establishing the hearts of the disciples; encouraging them to remain firm in the faith, saying, “It is through many tribulations and hardships that we must enter the kingdom of God.”
14:23:When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they believed [and joyfully accepted as the Messiah].
14:24:Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.
14:25:When they had spoken the word [of salvation through faith in Christ] in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
14:26:From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work which they had now completed.
14:27:Arriving there, they gathered the church together and began to report [in great detail] everything that God had done with them and how He had opened to the Gentiles a door of faith [in Jesus as the Messiah and Savior].
14:28:And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
15:1:The Council at Jerusalem
Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised in accordance with the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
15:2:Paul and Barnabas disagreed greatly and debated with them, so it was determined that Paul and Barnabas and some of the others from their group would go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders [and confer with them] concerning this issue.
15:3:So, after being supplied and sent on their way by the church, they went through both Phoenicia and Samaria telling in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they brought great joy to all the believers.
15:4:When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received warmly by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported to them all the things that God had accomplished through them.
15:5:But some from the sect of the Pharisees who had believed [in Jesus as the Messiah] stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise the Gentile converts and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”
15:6:The apostles and the elders came together to consider this matter.
15:7:After a long debate, Peter got up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and believe.
15:8:And God, who knows and understands the heart, testified to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;
15:9:and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith [in Jesus].
15:10:Now then, why are you testing God by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to endure?
15:11:But we believe that we are saved through the [precious, undeserved] grace of the Lord Jesus [which makes us free of the guilt of sin and grants us eternal life], in just the same way as they are.”
15:12:All the people remained silent, and they listened [attentively] to Barnabas and Paul as they described all the signs and wonders (attesting miracles) that God had done through them among the Gentiles.
15:13:James’ Judgment
When they had finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me.
15:14:Simeon (Simon Peter) has described how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name [to honor Him and be identified with Him].
15:15:The words of the Prophets agree with this, just as it is written [in Scripture],
15:16:‘After these things I will return,
And I will rebuild the tent of David which has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,
15:17:So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles upon whom My name has been invoked,’
15:18:Says the Lord,
Who has been making these things known from long ago.
15:19:Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble and make it difficult for those who are turning to God among the Gentiles [by putting obstacles in their way],
15:20:but that we write to them that they are to abstain from anything that has been contaminated by [being offered to] idols and from sexual impurity and from [eating the meat of] what has been strangled and from [the consumption of] blood.
15:21:For from ancient generations [the writing of] Moses has been preached in every city, since he is read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
15:22:Then the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, decided to select some of their men to go to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas [also called Silvanus, both], leading men among the brothers.
15:23:With them they sent the following letter: “The apostles and the brothers who are the elders, to the brothers and sisters who are from the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, Greetings.
15:24:Since we have heard that some of our men have troubled you with their teachings, causing distress and confusion—men to whom we gave no such orders or instructions—
15:25:it has been decided by us, having met together, to select men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
15:26:men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15:27:So we have sent Judas and Silas, who will report by word of mouth the same things [that we decided in our meeting].
15:28:For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place on you any greater burden than these essentials:
15:29:that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from [consuming] blood, and from [eating the meat of] things that have been strangled, and from sexual impurity. If you keep yourselves from these things, you will do well. Farewell.”
15:30:So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch; and after assembling the congregation, they delivered the letter.
15:31:And when they had read it, the people rejoiced greatly at the encouragement and comfort [it brought them].
15:32:Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets (divinely inspired spokesmen), encouraged and strengthened the believers with many words.
15:33:After spending some time there, they were sent back by the brothers with [the greeting of] peace to those who had sent them.
15:34:[However, Silas decided to stay there.]
15:35:But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, and with many others also continued teaching and proclaiming the good news, the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ].
15:36:Paul’s Second Missionary Journey
After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers and sisters (believers) in every city where we preached the message of the Lord, and see how they are doing.”
15:37:Now Barnabas wanted to take [his cousin] John, who was called Mark, along with them.
15:38:But Paul kept insisting that they should not take along with them the one who had quit and deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work.
15:39:And it became such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took [John] Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.
15:40:But Paul chose Silas [who was again in Antioch] and set out [on his second journey], commended by the brothers to the grace and favor of the Lord.
15:41:And he traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
16:1:The Macedonian Vision
Now Paul traveled to Derbe and also to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer [in Christ], however, his father was a Greek.
16:2:Timothy was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters who were in Lystra and Iconium.
16:3:Paul wanted Timothy to go with him [as a missionary]; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek.
16:4:As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decrees decided on by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for the churches to observe.
16:5:So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they continually increased in number day after day.
16:6:Now they passed through the territory of Phrygia and Galatia, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor];
16:7:and after they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them;
16:8:so passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.
16:9:Then a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man from [the Roman province of] Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”
16:10:And when he had seen the vision, we (including Luke) tried to go on into Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
16:11:So setting sail from Troas, we ran a direct course to Samothrace, and the next day [went on] to Neapolis;
16:12:and from there [we came] to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony. We stayed on in this city for several days;
16:13:and on the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the bank of the [Gangites] river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had come there.
16:14:First Convert in Europe
A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple fabrics who was [already] a worshiper of God, listened to us; and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention and to respond to the things said by Paul.
16:15:And when she was baptized, along with her household, she pleaded with us, saying, “If you have judged me and decided that I am faithful to the Lord [a true believer], come to my house and stay.” And she persuaded us.
16:16:It happened that as we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination [that is, a demonic spirit claiming to foretell the future and discover hidden knowledge], and she brought her owners a good profit by fortune-telling.
16:17:She followed after Paul and us and kept screaming and shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God! They are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!”
16:18:She continued doing this for several days. Then Paul, being greatly annoyed and worn out, turned and said to the spirit [inside her], “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ [as His representative] to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.
16:19:But when her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the market place [where trials were held],
16:20:and when they had brought them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, who are Jews, are throwing our city into confusion and causing trouble.
16:21:They are publicly teaching customs which are unlawful for us, as Romans, to accept or observe.”
16:22:Paul and Silas Imprisoned
The crowd also joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and ordered that Paul and Silas be beaten with rods.
16:23:After striking them many times [with the rods], they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely.
16:24:He, having received such a [strict] command, threw them into the inner prison (dungeon) and fastened their feet in the stocks [in an agonizing position].
16:25:But about midnight when Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;
16:26:suddenly there was a great earthquake, so [powerful] that the very foundations of the prison were shaken and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.
16:27:When the jailer, shaken out of sleep, saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.
16:28:But Paul shouted, saying, “Do not hurt yourself, we are all here!”
16:29:Then the jailer called for torches and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas,
16:30:and after he brought them out [of the inner prison], he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
16:31:The Jailer Converted
And they answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus [as your personal Savior and entrust yourself to Him] and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believe].”
16:32:And they spoke the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] to him and to all who were in his house.
16:33:And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their bloody wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.
16:34:Then he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, since he had believed in God with his entire family [accepting with joy what had been made known to them about the Christ].
16:35:Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.”
16:36:And the jailer repeated the words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word to release you; so come out now and go in peace.”
16:37:But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without a trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now they are sending us out secretly? No! Let them come here themselves and bring us out!”
16:38:The officers reported this message to the chief magistrates, and when they heard that the prisoners were Romans, they were frightened;
16:39:so they came [to the prison] and appealed to them [with apologies], and when they brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city.
16:40:So they left the prison and went to Lydia’s house; and when they had seen the brothers and sisters, they encouraged and comforted them, and left.
17:1:Paul at Thessalonica
Now after Paul and Silas had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
17:2:And Paul entered the synagogue, as was his custom, and for three Sabbaths he engaged in discussion and friendly debate with them from the Scriptures,
17:3:explaining and pointing out [scriptural evidence] that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I am proclaiming to you, is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).”
17:4:And some of them were persuaded to believe and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and many of the leading women.
17:5:But the [unbelieving] Jews became jealous, and taking along some thugs from [the lowlifes in] the market place, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and then attacking Jason’s house tried to bring Paul and Silas out to the people.
17:6:But when they failed to find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too;
17:7:and Jason has welcomed them [into his house and protected them]! And they all are saying things contrary to the decrees of Caesar, [actually] claiming that there is another king, Jesus.”
17:8:They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.
17:9:And when they had taken security (bail) from Jason and the others, they let them go.
17:10:Paul at Berea
The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea; and when they arrived, they entered the Jewish synagogue.
17:11:Now these people were more noble and open-minded than those in Thessalonica, so they received the message [of salvation through faith in the Christ] with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
17:12:As a result many of them became believers, together with a number of prominent Greek women and men.
17:13:But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] had also been preached by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and disturbing the crowds.
17:14:So at that time the brothers immediately sent Paul away to go as far as the sea; but Silas and Timothy remained there [at Berea].
17:15:Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens; and [after] receiving instructions [from Paul] for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible, they left.
17:16:Paul at Athens
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was greatly angered when he saw that the city was full of idols.
17:17:So he had discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place day after day with any who happened to be there.
17:18:And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to engage in conversation with him. And some said, “What could this idle babbler [with his eclectic, scrap-heap learning] have in mind to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities”—because he was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
17:19:They took him and brought him to the Areopagus (Hill of Ares, the Greek god of war), saying, “May we know what this [strange] new teaching is which you are proclaiming?
17:20:For you are bringing some startling and strange things to our ears; so we want to know what they mean.”
17:21:(Now all the Athenians and the foreigners visiting there used to spend their [leisure] time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
17:22:Sermon on Mars Hill
So Paul, standing in the center of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I observe [with every turn I make throughout the city] that you are very religious and devout in all respects.
17:23:Now as I was going along and carefully looking at your objects of worship, I came to an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you already worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
17:24:The God who created the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
17:25:nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, because it is He who gives to all [people] life and breath and all things.
17:26:And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands and territories.
17:27:This was so that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grasp for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.
17:28:For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being], as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’
17:29:So then, being God’s children, we should not think that the Divine Nature (deity) is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination or skill of man.
17:30:Therefore God overlooked and disregarded the former ages of ignorance; but now He commands all people everywhere to repent [that is, to change their old way of thinking, to regret their past sins, and to seek God’s purpose for their lives],
17:31:because He has set a day when He will judge the inhabited world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed and destined for that task, and He has provided credible proof to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
17:32:Now when they heard [the term] resurrection from the dead, some mocked and sneered; but others said, “We will hear from you again about this matter.”
17:33:So Paul left them.
17:34:But some men joined him and believed; among them were Dionysius, [a judge] of the Council of Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
18:1:Paul at Corinth
After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
18:2:There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife, Priscilla, because [the Roman Emperor] Claudius had issued an edict that all the Jews were to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,
18:3:and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them; and they worked together for they were tent-makers.
18:4:And he reasoned and debated in the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks;
18:5:but when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia (northern Greece), Paul began devoting himself completely to [preaching] the word, and solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
18:6:But since the Jews kept resisting and opposing him, and blaspheming [God], he shook out his robe and said to them, “Your blood (damnation) be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
18:7:Then he moved on from there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, who worshiped God and whose house was next door to the synagogue.
18:8:Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household [joyfully acknowledging Him as Messiah and Savior]; and many of the Corinthians who heard [Paul’s message] were believing and being baptized.
18:9:One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid anymore, but go on speaking and do not be silent;
18:10:for I am with you, and no one will attack you in order to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”
18:11:So he settled there for a year and six months, teaching them the word of God [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ].
18:12:But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia (southern Greece), the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,
18:13:declaring, “This man is persuading people to worship God in violation of the law [of Moses].”
18:14:But when Paul was about to reply, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some misdemeanor or serious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to put up with you;
18:15:but since it is merely a question [of doctrine within your religion] about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am unwilling to judge these matters.”
18:16:And he drove them away from the judgment seat.
18:17:Then the Greeks all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him right in front of the judgment seat; but Gallio paid no attention to any of this.
18:18:Paul stayed for a while longer, and then told the brothers and sisters goodbye and sailed for Syria; and he was accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchrea [the southeastern port of Corinth] he had his hair cut, because he was keeping a [Nazirite] vow [of abstention].
18:19:Then they arrived in Ephesus, and he left the others there; but he entered the synagogue and reasoned and debated with the Jews.
18:20:When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he refused;
18:21:but after telling them goodbye and saying, “I will return again if God is willing,” he set sail from Ephesus.
18:22:When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church [at Jerusalem], and then went down to Antioch.
18:23:Paul’s Third Missionary Journey
After spending some time there, he left and traveled through the territory of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening and encouraging all the disciples.
18:24:Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent and cultured man, and well versed in the [Hebrew] Scriptures.
18:25:This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being spiritually impassioned, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John;
18:26:and he began to speak boldly and fearlessly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained more accurately to him the way of God [and the full story of the life of Christ].
18:27:And when Apollos wanted to go across to Achaia (southern Greece), the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples, [urging them] to welcome him gladly. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who, through grace, had believed and had followed Jesus as Lord and Savior,
18:28:for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public discussions, proving by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
19:1:Paul at Ephesus
It happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul went through the upper [inland] districts and came down to Ephesus, and found some disciples.
19:2:He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed [in Jesus as the Christ]?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
19:3:And he asked, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.”
19:4:Paul said, “John performed a baptism of repentance, continually telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, [to confidently accept and joyfully believe] in Jesus [the Messiah and Savior].”
19:5:After hearing this, they were baptized [again, this time] in the name of the Lord Jesus.
19:6:And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in [unknown] tongues (languages) and prophesying.
19:7:There were about twelve men in all.
19:8:And he went into the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
19:9:But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient [to the word of God], discrediting and speaking evil of the Way (Jesus, Christianity) before the congregation, Paul left them, taking the disciples with him, and went on holding daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus [instead of in the synagogue].
19:10:This continued for two years, so that all the inhabitants of [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor], Jews as well as Greeks, heard the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ].
19:11:Miracles at Ephesus
God was doing extraordinary and unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,
19:12:so that even handkerchiefs or face-towels or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out [of them].
19:13:Then some of the traveling Jewish exorcists also attempted to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I implore you and solemnly command you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches!”
19:14:Seven sons of one [named] Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
19:15:But the evil spirit retorted, “I know and recognize and acknowledge Jesus, and I know about Paul, but as for you, who are you?”
19:16:Then the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they ran out of that house [in terror, stripped] naked and wounded.
19:17:This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified and exalted.
19:18:Many of those who had become believers were coming, confessing and disclosing their [former sinful] practices.
19:19:And many of those who had practiced magical arts collected their books and [throwing book after book on the pile] began burning them in front of everyone. They calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver.
19:20:So the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] was growing greatly and prevailing.
19:21:Now after these events, Paul determined in the Spirit that he would travel through Macedonia and Achaia (most of the Greek mainland), and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome [and preach the good news of salvation].”
19:22:And after sending two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia [ahead of him], he stayed on in [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor] for a while.
19:23:About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way (Jesus, Christianity).
19:24:Now a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of [the goddess] Artemis (Diana), was bringing no small profit to the craftsmen.
19:25:These [craftsmen] he called together, along with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you are well aware that we make a good living from this business.
19:26:You see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but almost all over [the province of] Asia, this Paul has persuaded [people to believe his teaching] and has misled a large number of people, claiming that gods made by [human] hands are not really gods at all.
19:27:Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will be discredited, but also that the [magnificent] temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and that she whom all Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned and lose her glorious magnificence.”
19:28:When they heard this, they were filled with rage, and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
19:29:Then the city was filled with confusion; and people rushed together [as a group] into the amphitheater, dragging along with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.
19:30:Paul wanted to go into the [pagan] assembly, but the disciples would not let him.
19:31:Even some of the Asiarchs (officials) who were his friends sent word to him and repeatedly warned him not to venture into the amphitheater.
19:32:Now some shouted one thing and some another, for the gathering was in confusion and most of the people did not know why they had come together.
19:33:Some of the crowd advised Alexander [to speak], since the Jews had pushed him forward; and Alexander motioned with his hand [for attention] and intended to make a defense to the people.
19:34:But when they realized that he was a Jew, a single outcry went up from the crowd as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
19:35:After the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what person is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of that [sacred stone image of her] which fell from the sky?
19:36:So, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and stay calm and not do anything rash.
19:37:For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess.
19:38:So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another there.
19:39:But if you want anything beyond this, it will be settled in the lawful assembly.
19:40:For we are running the risk of being accused of rioting in regard to today’s events, and since there is no reason for it, we will be unable to give an account and justify this disorderly gathering.”
19:41:And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.
20:1:Paul in Macedonia and Greece
After the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had encouraged them he told them goodbye, and set off to go to Macedonia.
20:2:After he had gone through those districts and had encouraged the believers, he came to Greece.
20:3:And he stayed three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia (northern Greece).
20:4:He was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and by Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.
20:5:These men went on ahead and were waiting for us (including Luke) at Troas.
20:6:We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread (Passover week), and within five days we reached them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.
20:7:Now on the first day of the week (Sunday), when we were gathered together to break bread (share communion), Paul began talking with them, intending to leave the next day; and he kept on with his message until midnight.
20:8:Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were assembled,
20:9:and there was a young man named Eutychus (“Lucky”) sitting on the window sill. He was sinking into a deep sleep, and as Paul kept on talking longer and longer, he was completely overcome by sleep and fell down from the third story; and he was picked up dead.
20:10:But Paul went down and threw himself on him and embraced him, and said [to those standing around him], “Do not be troubled, because he is alive.”
20:11:When Paul had gone back upstairs and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked [informally and confidentially] with them for a long time—until daybreak [in fact]—and then he left.
20:12:They took the boy [Eutychus] home alive, and were greatly comforted and encouraged.
20:13:Troas to Miletus
But we went on ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there; for that was what he had arranged, intending himself to go [a shorter route] by land.
20:14:So when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and sailed on to Mitylene.
20:15:Sailing from there, we arrived the next day [at a point] opposite Chios; the following day we crossed over to Samos, and the next day we arrived at Miletus [about 30 miles south of Ephesus].
20:16:Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus so that he would not end up spending time [unnecessarily] in [the province of] Asia (modern Turkey); for he was in a hurry to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.
20:17:Farewell to Ephesus
However, from Miletus he sent word to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church [to meet him there].
20:18:And when they arrived he said to them:
“You know well how I [lived when I] was with you, from the first day that I set foot in Asia [until now],
20:19:serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came on me because of the plots of the Jews [against me];
20:20:[you know] how I did not shrink back in fear from telling you anything that was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public meetings, and from house to house,
20:21:solemnly [and wholeheartedly] testifying to both Jews and Greeks, urging them to turn in repentance to God and [to have] faith in our Lord Jesus Christ [for salvation].
20:22:And now, compelled by the Spirit and obligated by my convictions, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,
20:23:except that the Holy Spirit solemnly [and emphatically] affirms to me in city after city that imprisonment and suffering await me.
20:24:But I do not consider my life as something of value or dear to me, so that I may [with joy] finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify faithfully of the good news of God’s [precious, undeserved] grace [which makes us free of the guilt of sin and grants us eternal life].
20:25:“And now, listen carefully: I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will see me again.
20:26:For that reason I testify to you on this [our parting] day that I am innocent of the blood of all people.
20:27:For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose and plan of God.
20:28:Take care and be on guard for yourselves and for the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd (tend, feed, guide) the church of God which He bought with His own blood.
20:29:I know that after I am gone, [false teachers like] ferocious wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
20:30:even from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse and distorted things, to draw away the disciples after themselves [as their followers].
20:31:Therefore be continually alert, remembering that for three years, night or day, I did not stop admonishing and advising each one [of you] with tears.
20:32:And now I commend you to God [placing you in His protective, loving care] and [I commend you] to the word of His grace [the counsel and promises of His unmerited favor]. His grace is able to build you up and to give you the [rightful] inheritance among all those who are sanctified [that is, among those who are set apart for God’s purpose—all believers].
20:33:I had no desire for anyone’s silver or gold or [expensive] clothes.
20:34:You know personally that these hands ministered to my own needs [working in manual labor] and to [those of] the people who were with me.
20:35:In everything I showed you [by example] that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed [and brings greater joy] to give than to receive.’”
20:36:When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
20:37:And they began to weep openly and threw their arms around Paul’s neck, and repeatedly kissed him,
20:38:grieving and distressed especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see him again. And they accompanied him to the ship.
21:1:Paul Sails from Miletus
When we had torn ourselves away from them and set sail, we ran a straight course and came to Cos, and on the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara;
21:2:and after finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went on board and set sail.
21:3:After we came in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on our left (port side), we sailed on to Syria and put in at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo.
21:4:After looking up the disciples [in Tyre], we stayed there [with them] seven days; and they kept telling Paul through the [Holy] Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.
21:5:When our days there came to an end, we left and proceeded on our journey, while all of the disciples, with their wives and children, escorted us on our way until we were outside the city. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, we told one another goodbye.
21:6:Then we boarded the ship, and they returned to their homes.
21:7:When we had completed the voyage from Tyre, we landed [twenty miles to the south] at Ptolemais, and after greeting the believers, we stayed with them for one day.
21:8:On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and we went to the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven [deacons], and stayed with him.
21:9:He had four virgin daughters who had the gift of prophecy.
21:10:As we were staying there for some time, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
21:11:And coming to [see] us, he took Paul’s [wide] band (belt, sash) and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this same way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this band, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles (pagans).’”
21:12:Now when we had heard this, both we and the local residents began pleading with Paul trying to persuade him not to go up to Jerusalem.
21:13:Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart [like this]? For I am ready not only to be bound and imprisoned, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
21:14:And since he would not be dissuaded, we stopped pleading and fell silent, saying, “The Lord’s will be done!”
21:15:Paul at Jerusalem
After this we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem.
21:16:Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to [the house of] Mnason, a man from Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom we were to lodge.
21:17:When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us gladly.
21:18:On the next day Paul went with us to [see] James, and all the elders of the church were present.
21:19:After greeting them, Paul began to give a detailed account of the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
21:20:And when they heard it, they began glorifying and praising God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all enthusiastic supporters of the Law [of Moses].
21:21:Now they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are living among the Gentiles to turn away from [the Law of] Moses, advising them not to circumcise their children or to live according to the [Mosaic] customs.
21:22:What then should be done? They will certainly hear that you have arrived.
21:23:Therefore do just what we tell you. We have four men who have taken a vow;
21:24:take these men and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses [for the temple offerings] so that they may shave their heads. Then everyone will know that there is nothing to the things they have been told about you, but that you yourself also follow and keep the Law.
21:25:But with regard to the Gentiles who have believed [in Christ], we have sent them a letter with our decision that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from [consuming] blood and from [the meat of] what has been strangled and from sexual immorality.”
21:26:Then Paul took the [four] men, and the next day he purified himself along with them [by submitting to the ritual]. He went into the temple to give notice of [the time] when the days of purification [ending each vow] would be fulfilled and the usual offering could be presented on behalf of each one.
21:27:Paul Seized in the Temple
When the seven days [required to complete the ritual] were almost over, [some] Jews from [the province of] Asia [Minor], caught sight of him in the temple, and began to stir up the crowd, and they seized him,
21:28:shouting, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”
21:29:For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul, and they assumed that he had brought the man into the temple [beyond the court of the Gentiles].
21:30:Then the whole city was provoked and confused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the gates were closed.
21:31:Now while they were trying to kill him, word came to the commander of the [Roman] garrison that all Jerusalem was in a state of upheaval.
21:32:So he immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down among them. When the people saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
21:33:Then the commander came up and arrested Paul, and ordered that he be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.
21:34:But some in the crowd were shouting one thing and others something else; and since he could not determine the facts because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken to the barracks [in the tower of Antonia].
21:35:When Paul got to the steps, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob;
21:36:for the majority of the people kept following them, shouting, “Away with him! [Kill him!]”
21:37:Just as Paul was about to be taken into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” And the man replied, “Do you know Greek?
21:38:Then you are not [as I assumed] the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led those 4,000 men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?”
21:39:Paul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia (Mersin Province, Turkey), a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”
21:40:When the commander had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, gestured with his hand to the people; and when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect (Jewish Aramaic), saying,
22:1:Paul’s Defense before the Jews
“Brethren and fathers (kinsmen), hear my defense which I now offer to you.”
22:2:When they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet. And he continued,
22:3:“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strictness of the law of our fathers, being ardent and passionate for God just as all of you are today.
22:4:I persecuted and pursued the followers of this Way to the death, binding them with chains and putting [followers of Jesus] both men and women into prisons,
22:5:as the high priest and all the Council of the elders (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) can testify; because from them I received letters to the brothers, and I was on my way to Damascus in order to bring those [believers] who were there to Jerusalem in chains to be punished.
22:6:“But as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a great blaze of light suddenly flashed from heaven and shone around me.
22:7:And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’
22:8:And I replied, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’
22:9:Now those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.
22:10:And I asked, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that is appointed and destined for you to do.’
22:11:But since I could not see because of the [glorious intensity and dazzling] brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.
22:12:“And one Ananias, a devout man according to the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
22:13:came to [see] me, and standing near, he said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I [recovered my sight and] looked up at him.
22:14:And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, [and to progressively understand His plan with clarity and power] and to see the Righteous One [Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and to hear a message from His [own] mouth.
22:15:For you will be His witness to all men testifying of what you have seen and heard.
22:16:Now, why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins by calling on His name [for salvation].’
22:17:“Then it happened when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple [enclosure], that I fell into a trance (vision);
22:18:and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’
22:19:And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know [without any doubt] that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You [and Your message of salvation].
22:20:And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby approving and consenting [to his death], and guarding the coats of those who were killing him.’
22:21:And the Lord said to me, ‘Go, I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22:22:They listened to Paul until [he made] this [last] statement, but now they raised their voices and shouted, “Away with such a man from the earth! He is not fit to live!”
22:23:And as they were shouting and throwing off their coats [getting ready to stone Paul] and tossing dust into the air [expressing their anger],
22:24:the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, stating that he was to be interrogated with a whip in order to learn why the people were shouting against him that way.
22:25:But when they had stretched him out with the leather straps [in preparation for the whip], Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it legal for you to whip a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned [without a trial]?”
22:26:When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and said to him, “What are you about to do? This man is a Roman!”
22:27:So the commander came and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.”
22:28:The commander replied, “I purchased this citizenship [of mine] for a large sum of money [so how did you acquire yours?].” Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.”
22:29:So those who were about to interrogate him by torture immediately let him go; and the commander was also afraid when he realized that Paul was a Roman and he had put him in chains.
22:30:But on the next day, wanting to know the real reason why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) to assemble; and brought Paul down and presented him before them.
23:1:Paul before the Council
Then Paul, looking intently at the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), said, “Kinsmen, I have lived my life before God with a perfectly good conscience until this very day.”
23:2:[At this] the high priest Ananias ordered those who stood beside him to strike Paul on the mouth.
23:3:Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you actually sit to judge me according to the Law, and yet in violation of the Law order me to be struck?”
23:4:But those who stood near Paul said, “Are you insulting the high priest of God?”
23:5:Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
23:6:But recognizing that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began affirming loudly in the Council chamber, “Kinsmen, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!”
23:7:When he said this, an angry dispute erupted between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the [whole crowded] assembly was divided [into two factions].
23:8:For the Sadducees say that there is no [such thing as a] resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees [speak out freely and] acknowledge [their belief in] them all.
23:9:Then a great uproar occurred, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and began to argue heatedly [in Paul’s favor], saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has [really] spoken to him?”
23:10:And as the dissension became even greater, the commander, fearing that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, ordered the troops to go down and forcibly take him from them, and bring him to the barracks.
23:11:On the following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Be brave; for as you have solemnly and faithfully witnessed about Me at Jerusalem, so you must also testify at Rome.”
23:12:A Conspiracy to Kill Paul
Now when day came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under an oath (curse), saying that they would not eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
23:13:There were more than forty [men] who formed this plot [and swore this oath].
23:14:They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn oath not to taste anything [neither food nor drink] until we have killed Paul.
23:15:So now you, along with the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), notify the commander to bring Paul down to you, as if you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly. But we are ready to kill him before he comes near [the place].”
23:16:But the son of Paul’s sister heard of their [planned] ambush, and he went to the barracks and told Paul.
23:17:Then Paul, calling in one of the centurions, said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him.”
23:18:So he took him and led him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner called for me and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you.”
23:19:The commander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to ask him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?”
23:20:And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) tomorrow, as if they were going to interrogate him more thoroughly.
23:21:But do not listen to them, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him, and they have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Even now they are ready, just waiting for your promise.”
23:22:So the commander let the young man leave, instructing him, “Do not tell anyone that you have given me this information.”
23:23:Paul Moved to Caesarea Maritima
Then summoning two of the centurions, he said, “Have two hundred soldiers ready by the third hour of the night (9:00 p.m.) to go as far as Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen;
23:24:also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”
23:25:And [after instructing the centurions] he wrote a letter to this effect:
23:26:“Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor Felix, greetings.
23:27:“This man was seized [as a prisoner] by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, when I came upon him with the troops and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen.
23:28:And wanting to know the exact charge which they were making against him, I brought him down to their Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court);
23:29:and I discovered that he was accused in regard to questions and issues in their Law, but [he was] under no accusation that would call for the penalty of death or [even] for imprisonment.
23:30:“When I was told that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you immediately, also directing his accusers to bring their charges against him before you.”
23:31:So the soldiers, in compliance with their orders, took Paul and brought him to Antipatris during the night.
23:32:And the next day, leaving the horsemen to go on with him, they returned to the barracks.
23:33:When these [horsemen] reached Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor, and also presented Paul to him.
23:34:After reading the letter, he asked which province Paul was from, and when he learned that he was from Cilicia [an imperial province],
23:35:he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers have arrived,” giving orders that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s Praetorium (the governor’s official residence).
24:1:Paul before Felix
Five days later, the high priest Ananias came down [from Jerusalem to Caesarea] with some elders and an attorney named Tertullus [acting as spokesman and counsel]. They presented to the governor their [formal] charges against Paul.
24:2:After Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began the complaint [against him], saying to the governor:
“Since through you we have attained great peace, and since by your foresight reforms are being carried out for this nation,
24:3:in every way and in every place, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with all gratitude.
24:4:But so that I do not weary you further, I beg you to grant us, by your kindness, a brief hearing.
24:5:For we have found this man to be a public menace and one who instigates dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the [heretical] sect of the Nazarenes.
24:6:He even tried to desecrate the temple, but we took him into custody [and we intended to judge him by our Law,
24:7:but Lysias the commander came, and with great force took him out of our hands,
24:8:and ordered his accusers to come before you.] By interrogating him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to determine [the truth about] these things with which we charge him.”
24:9:The Jews also joined in the attack, declaring and insisting that these things were so.
24:10:When the governor nodded for him to speak, Paul answered,
“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I make my defense cheerfully and with good courage.
24:11:As you can easily verify, it has been no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship.
24:12:Neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor elsewhere in the city did they find me carrying on a discussion or disputing with anybody or causing a crowd to gather.
24:13:Nor can they present evidence to you to prove what they now bring against me.
24:14:But I confess this to you, that according to the Way, which they call a [divisive and heretical] sect, I do worship and serve the God of our fathers, [confidently] believing everything that is in accordance with the Law [of Moses] and that is written in the Prophets;
24:15:having [the same] hope in God which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of [the dead], both of the righteous and of the wicked.
24:16:In view of this, I also do my best and strive always to have a clear conscience before God and before men.
24:17:Now after several years I came [to Jerusalem] to bring to my people charitable contributions and offerings.
24:18:They found me in the temple presenting these offerings, after I had undergone [the rites of] purification, without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor],
24:19:who ought to have been here before you to present their charges, if they have anything against me.
24:20:Or else let these men tell what crime they found [me guilty of] when I stood before the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court),
24:21:other than for this one statement which I had shouted out as I stood among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.’”
24:22:But Felix, having a rather accurate understanding about the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.”
24:23:Then he ordered the centurion to keep Paul in custody, but to let him have some freedom, and [he told the centurion] not to stop any of his friends from providing for his needs.
24:24:Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him talk about faith in Christ Jesus.
24:25:But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control [honorable behavior, personal integrity], and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, “Go away for now, and when I find [a convenient] time I will send for you.”
24:26:At the same time he was also hoping to get money from Paul [as a bribe]; so he continued to send for him quite often and talked with him.
24:27:But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded [in office] by Porcius Festus; and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul imprisoned.
25:1:Paul before Festus
Now Festus arrived in the province, and three days later he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea [Maritima].
25:2:And [there in Jerusalem] the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul [before Festus], and they repeatedly pleaded with him,
25:3:asking as a concession against Paul, that he would have him brought to Jerusalem; (meanwhile planning an ambush to kill him on the way).
25:4:Festus answered that Paul was being held in custody in Caesarea [Maritima] and that he himself was about to leave shortly.
25:5:“So,” he said, “let those who are in a position of authority among you go there with me, and if there is anything criminal about the man, let them bring charges against him.”
25:6:Now after Festus had spent no more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal (the judicial bench), and ordered Paul to be brought [before him].
25:7:After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him which they were not able to prove,
25:8:while Paul declared in his own defense, “I have done no wrong and committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”
25:9:But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial there in my presence [before the Jewish Sanhedrin] on these charges?”
25:10:Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know.
25:11:Therefore, if I am guilty and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not try to escape death; but if there is nothing to the accusations which these men are bringing against me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar (Emperor Nero).”
25:12:Then Festus, after conferring with [the men who formed] his council, answered, “You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.”
25:13:Now several days later, Agrippa [II] the king and Bernice [his sister] arrived at Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus [the new governor].
25:14:While they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man here who was left as a prisoner by Felix.
25:15:When I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews [told me about him and] brought charges against him, petitioning for a sentence of condemnation against him.
25:16:I told them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man [for punishment] before the accused meets his accusers face to face and has the opportunity to defend himself against the charges.
25:17:So after they arrived together here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my place on the tribunal and ordered that the man be brought before me.
25:18:When his accusers stood up, they brought no charges against him of crimes that I was expecting [neither civil nor criminal actions],
25:19:instead they had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about one Jesus, a man who had died, but whom Paul kept asserting and insisting [over and over] to be alive.
25:20:And I, being at a loss as to how to investigate these things, asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding these matters.
25:21:But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for a decision by the Emperor [Nero], I ordered him to be kept in custody until I could send him to Caesar.”
25:22:Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” Festus replied, “you will hear him.”
25:23:Paul before Agrippa
So the next day Agrippa and [his sister] Bernice came with great pageantry, and they went into the auditorium accompanied by the military commanders and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.
25:24:Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all you gentlemen present with us, you see this man [Paul] about whom all the Jewish people appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly insisting that he ought not to live any longer.
25:25:But I found that he had done nothing worthy of death; however, since he appealed to the Emperor [Nero], I decided to send him [to Rome].
25:26:But I have nothing specific about him to write to my lord. So I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I will have something to put in writing.
25:27:For it seems absurd and unreasonable to me to send a prisoner [to Rome] without indicating the charges against him.”
26:1:Paul’s Defense before Agrippa
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are [now] permitted to speak on your own behalf.” At that, Paul stretched out his hand [as an orator] and made his defense [as follows]:
26:2:“I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, since it is before you that I am to make my defense today regarding all the charges brought against me by the Jews,
26:3:especially because you are an expert [fully knowledgeable, experienced and unusually conversant] in all the Jewish customs and controversial issues; therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
26:4:“So then, all the Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation [the Jewish people], and in Jerusalem.
26:5:They have known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify to it, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I have lived as a Pharisee.
26:6:And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.
26:7:Which hope [of the Messiah and the resurrection] our twelve tribes [confidently] expect to realize as they serve and worship God in earnest night and day. And for this hope, O King, I am being accused by Jews!
26:8:Why is it thought incredible by [any of] you that God raises the dead?
26:9:“So then, I [once] thought to myself that it was my duty to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
26:10:And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; I not only locked up many of the saints (God’s people) in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.
26:11:And I often punished them [making them suffer] in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme; and in my extreme rage at them, I kept hunting them even to foreign cities [harassing and persecuting them].
26:12:“While so engaged, as I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission and full power of the chief priests,
26:13:at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven surpassing the brightness of the sun, shining all around me and those who were traveling with me.
26:14:And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice in the Hebrew dialect (Jewish Aramaic) saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick [repeatedly] against the goads [offering pointless resistance].’
26:15:And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
26:16:Get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you [to serve] as a minister and as a witness [to testify, with authority,] not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you,
26:17:[choosing you for Myself and] rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,
26:18:to open their [spiritual] eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness and release from their sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified (set apart, made holy) by faith in Me.’
26:19:“So, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
26:20:but I openly proclaimed first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent [change their inner self—their old way of thinking] and turn to God, doing deeds and living lives which are consistent with repentance.
26:21:Because of this some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
26:22:But I have had help from God to this day, and I stand [before people] testifying to small and great alike, stating nothing except what the Prophets and Moses said would come to pass—
26:23:that the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) was to suffer, and that He by being the first to rise from the dead [with an incorruptible body] would proclaim light (salvation) both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
26:24:While Paul was making this defense, Festus said loudly, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great education is turning you toward madness.”
26:25:But Paul replied, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent and noble Festus, but [with a sound mind] I am uttering rational words of truth and reason.
26:26:For [your majesty] the king understands these things, and [therefore] I am also speaking to him with confidence and boldness, since I am convinced that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner [hidden from view, in secret].
26:27:King Agrippa, do you believe the [writings of the] Prophets [their messages and words]? I know that you do.”
26:28:Then Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time [and with so little effort] you [almost] persuade me to become a Christian.”
26:29:And Paul replied, “Whether in a short time or long, I wish to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become such as I am, except for these chains.”
26:30:Then the king stood up, and [with him] the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them;
26:31:and after they had gone out, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything worthy of death or [even] of imprisonment.”
26:32:And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar (Emperor Nero).”
27:1:Paul Is Sent to Rome
Now when it was determined that we (including Luke) would sail for Italy, they turned Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion of the Augustan Regiment named Julius.
27:2:And going aboard a ship from Adramyttian which was about to sail for the ports along the [west] coast [province] of Asia [Minor], we put out to sea; and Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, accompanied us.
27:3:The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, treating Paul with [thoughtful] consideration, allowed him to go to his friends there and be cared for and refreshed.
27:4:From there we put out to sea and sailed to the leeward (sheltered) side of Cyprus [for protection from weather] because the winds were against us.
27:5:When we had sailed across the sea along the coasts of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia [on the south coast of Asia Minor].
27:6:There the centurion [Julius] found an Alexandrian ship [a grain ship of the Roman fleet] sailing for Italy, and he put us aboard it.
27:7:For a number of days we sailed slowly and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus; then, because the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the leeward (sheltered) side of Crete, off Salmone;
27:8:and hugging the shore with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea [on the south side of Crete].
27:9:Now much time had been lost, and navigation was dangerous, because even [the time for] the fast (Day of Atonement) was already over, so Paul began to strongly warn them,
27:10:saying, “Men, I sense [after careful thought and observation] that this voyage will certainly be a disaster and with great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
27:11:However, the centurion [Julius, ranking officer on board] was persuaded by the pilot and the owner of the ship rather than by what Paul said.
27:12:Because the harbor was not well situated for wintering, the majority [of the sailors] decided to put to sea from there, hoping somehow to reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.
27:13:So when the south wind blew softly, thinking that they had obtained their goal, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, hugging the coast.
27:14:Shipwreck
But soon afterward a violent wind, called Euraquilo [a northeaster, a tempestuous windstorm like a typhoon], came rushing down from the island;
27:15:and when the ship was caught in it and could not head against the wind [to gain stability], we gave up and [letting her drift] were driven along.
27:16:We ran under the shelter of a small island [twenty-five miles south of Crete] called Clauda, and with great difficulty we were able to get the ship’s skiff on the deck and secure it.
27:17:After hoisting the skiff [on board], they used support lines [for frapping] to undergird and brace the ship’s hull; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis [off the north coast of Africa], they let down the sea anchor and lowered the sails and were driven along [backwards with the bow into the wind].
27:18:On the next day, as we were being violently tossed about by the storm [and taking on water], they began to jettison the cargo;
27:19:and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle (spare lines, blocks, miscellaneous equipment) overboard with their own hands [to further reduce the weight].
27:20:Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm kept raging about us, from then on all hope of our being saved was [growing worse and worse and] gradually abandoned.
27:21:After they had gone a long time without food [because of seasickness and stress], Paul stood up before them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice and should not have set sail from Crete, and brought on this damage and loss.
27:22:But even now I urge you to keep up your courage and be in good spirits, because there will be no loss of life among you, but only loss of the ship.
27:23:For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me,
27:24:and said, ‘Stop being afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has given you [the lives of] all those who are sailing with you.’
27:25:So keep up your courage, men, for I believe God and have complete confidence in Him that it will turn out exactly as I have been told;
27:26:but we must run [the ship] aground on some island.”
27:27:The fourteenth night had come and we were drifting and being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors began to suspect that they were approaching some land.
27:28:So they took soundings [using a weighted line] and found [the depth to be] twenty fathoms (120 feet); and a little farther on they sounded again and found [the depth to be] fifteen fathoms (90 feet).
27:29:Then fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern [to slow the ship] and kept wishing for daybreak to come.
27:30:But as the sailors were trying to escape [secretly] from the ship and had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow,
27:31:Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain on the ship, you cannot be saved.”
27:32:Then the soldiers cut away the ropes that held the skiff and let it fall and drift away.
27:33:While they waited for the day to dawn, Paul encouraged them all [and told them] to have some food, saying, “This is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly on watch and going without food, having eaten nothing.
27:34:So I urge you to eat some food, for this is for your survival; for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.”
27:35:Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all, and he broke it and began to eat.
27:36:Then all of them were encouraged and their spirits improved, and they also ate some food.
27:37:All told there were two hundred and seventy-six of us aboard the ship.
27:38:After they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing the wheat [from Egypt] overboard into the sea.
27:39:When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, and they decided to run the ship ashore there if they could.
27:40:So they cut the cables and severed the anchors and left them in the sea while at the same time unlashing the ropes of the rudders; and after hoisting the foresail to the wind, they headed steadily for the beach.
27:41:But striking a reef with waves breaking in on either side, they ran the ship aground. The prow (forward point) stuck fast and remained immovable, while the stern began to break up under the [violent] force of the waves.
27:42:The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would dive overboard and swim [to land] and escape;
27:43:but the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from [carrying out] their plan. He commanded those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to the shore;
27:44:and [he commanded] the rest to follow, some on [floating] planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it was that all of them were brought safely to land.
28:1:Safe at Malta
After we were safe [on land], we found out that the island was called Malta.
28:2:And the natives showed us extraordinary kindness and hospitality; for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, since it had begun to rain and was cold.
28:3:But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper crawled out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.
28:4:When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, Justice [the avenging goddess] has not permitted him to live.”
28:5:Then Paul [simply] shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.
28:6:But they stood watching and expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began saying that he was a god.
28:7:In the vicinity of that place there were estates belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed and entertained us hospitably for three days.
28:8:And it happened that the father of Publius was sick [in bed] with recurring attacks of fever and dysentery; and Paul went to him, and after he had prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him.
28:9:After this occurred, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being healed.
28:10:They also gave us many honors [gifts and courtesies expressing respect]; and when we were setting sail, they supplied us with all the things we needed.
28:11:Paul Arrives at Rome
At the end of three months we set sail on a ship which had wintered at the island, an Alexandrian ship with the Twin Brothers [Castor and Pollux] as its figurehead.
28:12:We landed at Syracuse [on Sicily] and stayed there three days.
28:13:From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium [on Italy’s southern tip]; and a day later a south wind came up, and on the second day we arrived at Puteoli.
28:14:There we found some believers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.
28:15:And the brothers and sisters, having heard news about us, came from as far away as the Forum of Appius and Three Inns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and was encouraged.
28:16:When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself [in rented quarters] with the soldier who was guarding him.
28:17:Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews; and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Kinsmen, though I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our fathers, yet I was turned over as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.
28:18:After they had interrogated me, they were ready to release me because I was not guilty of any offense deserving death.
28:19:But when the Jews objected [to my release], I was forced to appeal to Caesar (Emperor Nero), not because I had any charge to make against my nation.
28:20:For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you, since it is for the sake of the hope of Israel (the Messiah, the resurrection) that I am bound with this chain.”
28:21:They said to him, “We have not received [any] letters about you from Judea, nor have any of the [Jewish] brothers come here and reported or said anything bad about you.
28:22:But we would like to hear from you what your views are [that is, exactly what you believe]; for in regard to this sect (Christianity), we are fully aware that it is denounced everywhere.”
28:23:When they had set a day for Paul, they came to his lodging in large numbers. And he carefully explained [Christianity] to them from morning until evening, solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, both from the Law of Moses and from the [writings of the] Prophets.
28:24:Some were persuaded by what he said, but others would not believe.
28:25:They disagreed among themselves and they began to leave after Paul had made one last statement: “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying,
28:26:‘Go to this people and say,
“You will keep on hearing, but will not understand,
You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
28:27:“For the heart (the understanding, the soul) of this people has become dull (calloused),
And with their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have shut their eyes [to the truth];
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return [to Me],
And I would heal them.”’
28:28:Therefore let it be known to you that [this message of] the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they indeed will listen!”
28:29:[And when he had said these things, the Jews left, arguing among themselves.]
28:30:And Paul lived there for two full years [at his own expense] in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him,
28:31:preaching and proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness and boldness, unhindered and unrestrained.
romans:1:1:The Gospel Exalted
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative), set apart for [preaching] the gospel of God [the good news of salvation],
1:2:which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the sacred Scriptures—
1:3:[the good news] regarding His Son, who, as to the flesh [His human nature], was born a descendant of David [to fulfill the covenant promises],
1:4:and [as to His divine nature] according to the Spirit of holiness was openly designated to be the Son of God with power [in a triumphant and miraculous way] by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
1:5:It is through Him that we have received grace and [our] apostleship to promote obedience to the faith and make disciples for His name’s sake among all the Gentiles,
1:6:and you also are among those who are called of Jesus Christ to belong to Him;
1:7:[I am writing] to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called to be saints (God’s people) and set apart for a sanctified life, [that is, set apart for God and His purpose]: Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:8:First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith [your trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness] is being proclaimed in all the world.
1:9:For God, whom I serve with my spirit by preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how continuously I mention you
1:10:in my prayers; always pleading that somehow, by God’s will, I may now at last come to you.
1:11:For I long to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift, to strengthen and establish you;
1:12:that is, that we may be mutually encouraged and comforted by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
1:13:I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that many times I have planned to come to you, (and have been prevented so far) so that I may have some fruit [of my labors] among you, even as I have among the rest of the Gentiles.
1:14:I have a duty to perform and a debt to pay both to Greeks and to barbarians [the cultured and the uncultured], both to the wise and to the foolish.
1:15:So, for my part, I am ready and eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
1:16:I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation [from His wrath and punishment] to everyone who believes [in Christ as Savior], to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
1:17:For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed in a way that awakens more faith]. As it is written and forever remains written, “The just and upright shall live by faith.”
1:18:Unbelief and Its Consequences
For [God does not overlook sin and] the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who in their wickedness suppress and stifle the truth,
1:19:because that which is known about God is evident within them [in their inner consciousness], for God made it evident to them.
1:20:For ever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made], so that they [who fail to believe and trust in Him] are without excuse and without defense.
1:21:For even though they knew God [as the Creator], they did not honor Him as God or give thanks [for His wondrous creation]. On the contrary, they became worthless in their thinking [godless, with pointless reasonings, and silly speculations], and their foolish heart was darkened.
1:22:Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
1:23:and exchanged the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God for an image [worthless idols] in the shape of mortal man and birds and four-footed animals and reptiles.
1:24:Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their own hearts to [sexual] impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin],
1:25:because [by choice] they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
1:26:For this reason God gave them over to degrading and vile passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural [a function contrary to nature],
1:27:and in the same way also the men turned away from the natural function of the woman and were consumed with their desire toward one another, men with men committing shameful acts and in return receiving in their own bodies the inevitable and appropriate penalty for their wrongdoing.
1:28:And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or consider Him worth knowing [as their Creator], God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do things which are improper and repulsive,
1:29:until they were filled (permeated, saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice and mean-spiritedness. They are gossips [spreading rumors],
1:30:slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors [of new forms] of evil, disobedient and disrespectful to parents,
1:31:without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful [without pity].
1:32:Although they know God’s righteous decree and His judgment, that those who do such things deserve death, yet they not only do them, but they even [enthusiastically] approve and tolerate others who practice them.
2:1:The Impartiality of God
Therefore you have no excuse or justification, everyone of you who [hypocritically] judges and condemns others; for in passing judgment on another person, you condemn yourself, because you who judge [from a position of arrogance or self-righteousness] are habitually practicing the very same things [which you denounce].
2:2:And we know that the judgment of God falls justly and in accordance with truth on those who practice such things.
2:3:But do you think this, O man, when you judge and condemn those who practice such things, and yet do the same yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment and elude His verdict?
2:4:Or do you have no regard for the wealth of His kindness and tolerance and patience [in withholding His wrath]? Are you [actually] unaware or ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking—seek His purpose for your life]?
2:5:But because of your callous stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are [deliberately] storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
2:6:He will pay back to each person according to his deeds [justly, as his deeds deserve]:
2:7:to those who by persistence in doing good seek [unseen but certain heavenly] glory, honor, and immortality, [He will give the gift of] eternal life.
2:8:But for those who are selfishly ambitious and self-seeking and disobedient to the truth but responsive to wickedness, [there will be] wrath and indignation.
2:9:There will be tribulation and anguish [torturing confinement] for every human soul who does [or permits] evil, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,
2:10:but glory and honor and inner peace [will be given] to everyone who habitually does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
2:11:For God shows no partiality [no arbitrary favoritism; with Him one person is not more important than another].
2:12:For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without [regard to] the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged and condemned by the Law.
2:13:For it is not those who merely hear the Law [as it is read aloud] who are just or righteous before God, but it is those who [actually] obey the Law who will be justified [pronounced free of the guilt of sin and declared acceptable to Him].
2:14:When Gentiles, who do not have the Law [since it was given only to Jews], do instinctively the things the Law requires [guided only by their conscience], they are a law to themselves, though they do not have the Law.
2:15:They show that the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts; and their conscience [their sense of right and wrong, their moral choices] bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or perhaps defending them
2:16:on that day when, as my gospel proclaims, God will judge the secrets [all the hidden thoughts and concealed sins] of men through Christ Jesus.
2:17:The Jew Is Condemned by the Law
But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely on the Law [for your salvation] and boast in [your special relationship to] God,
2:18:and [if you claim to] know His will and approve the things that are essential or have a sense of what is excellent, based on your instruction from the Law,
2:19:and [if you] are confident that you are a [qualified] guide to the blind [those untaught in theology], a light to those who are in darkness,
2:20:and [that you are] a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the [spiritually] childish, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth—
2:21:well then, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal [in ways that are discrete, but just as sinful]?
2:22:You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob [pagan] temples [of valuable idols and offerings]?
2:23:You who boast in the Law, do you [repeatedly] dishonor God by breaking the Law?
2:24:For, “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written [in Scripture].
2:25:Circumcision [the sign of the covenant of Abraham] is indeed of value if you practice the Law; but if you habitually break the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision [it is meaningless in God’s sight].
2:26:So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded [by God] as circumcision?
2:27:Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps [the spirit of] the Law will judge you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, break the Law.
2:28:For he is not a [real] Jew who is only one outwardly, nor is [true] circumcision something external and physical.
2:29:But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and [true] circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by [the fulfillment of] the letter [of the Law]. His praise is not from men, but from God.
3:1:All the World Guilty
Then what is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?
3:2:Great in every respect. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God [His very words].
3:3:What then? If some did not believe or were unfaithful [to God], their lack of belief will not nullify and make invalid the faithfulness of God and His word, will it?
3:4:Certainly not! Let God be found true [as He will be], though every person be found a liar, just as it is written [in Scripture],
“That You may be justified in Your words,
And prevail when You are judged [by sinful men].”
3:5:But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? God is not wrong to inflict His wrath [on us], is He? (I am speaking in purely human terms.)
3:6:Certainly not! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?
3:7:But [as you might say] if through my lie God’s truth was magnified and abounded to His glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner?
3:8:And why not say, (as some slanderously report and claim that we teach) “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”? Their condemnation [by God] is just.
3:9:Well then, are we [Jews] better off than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) are under the control of sin and subject to its power.
3:10:As it is written and forever remains written,
“There is none righteous [none that meets God’s standard], not even one.
3:11:“There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God.
3:12:“All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
3:13:“Their throat is an open grave;
They [habitually] deceive with their tongues.”
“The venom of asps is beneath their lips.”
3:14:“Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
3:15:“Their feet are swift to shed blood,
3:16:Destruction and misery are in their paths,
3:17:And they have not known the path of peace.”
3:18:“There is no fear of God [and His awesome power] before their eyes.”
3:19:Now we know that whatever the Law [of Moses] says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that [the excuses of] every mouth may be silenced [from protesting] and that all the world may be held accountable to God [and subject to His judgment].
3:20:For no person will be justified [freed of guilt and declared righteous] in His sight by [trying to do] the works of the Law. For through the Law we become conscious of sin [and the recognition of sin directs us toward repentance, but provides no remedy for sin].
3:21:Justification by Faith
But now the righteousness of God has been clearly revealed [independently and completely] apart from the Law, though it is [actually] confirmed by the Law and the [words and writings of the] Prophets.
3:22:This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all those [Jew or Gentile] who believe [and trust in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s Son]. There is no distinction,
3:23:since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God,
3:24:and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,
3:25:whom God displayed publicly [before the eyes of the world] as a [life-giving] sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation (propitiation) by His blood [to be received] through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness [which demands punishment for sin], because in His forbearance [His deliberate restraint] He passed over the sins previously committed [before Jesus’ crucifixion].
3:26:It was to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus [and rely confidently on Him as Savior].
3:27:Then what becomes of [our] boasting? It is excluded [entirely ruled out, banished]. On what principle? On [the principle of good] works? No, but on the principle of faith.
3:28:For we maintain that an individual is justified by faith distinctly apart from works of the Law [the observance of which has nothing to do with justification, that is, being declared free of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God].
3:29:Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not also the God of Gentiles [who were not given the Law]? Yes, of Gentiles also,
3:30:since indeed it is one [and the same] God who will justify the circumcised by faith [which began with Abraham] and the uncircumcised through [their newly acquired] faith.
3:31:Do we then nullify the Law by this faith [making the Law of no effect, overthrowing it]? Certainly not! On the contrary, we confirm and establish and uphold the Law [since it convicts us all of sin, pointing to the need for salvation].
4:1:Justification by Faith Evidenced in Old Testament
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather humanly speaking, has found? [Has he obtained a favored standing?]
4:2:For if Abraham was justified [that is, acquitted from the guilt of his sins] by works [those things he did that were good], he has something to boast about, but not before God.
4:3:For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed in (trusted, relied on) God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness (right living, right standing with God).”
4:4:Now to a laborer, his wages are not credited as a favor or a gift, but as an obligation [something owed to him].
4:5:But to the one who does not work [that is, the one who does not try to earn his salvation by doing good], but believes and completely trusts in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God).
4:6:And in this same way David speaks of the blessing on the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
4:7:“Blessed and happy and favored are those whose lawless acts have been forgiven,
And whose sins have been covered up and completely buried.
4:8:“Blessed and happy and favored is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account nor charge against him.”
4:9:Is this blessing only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say, “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”
4:10:How then was it credited [to him]? Was it after he had been circumcised, or before? Not after, but while [he was] uncircumcised.
4:11:He received the sign of circumcision, a seal or confirmation of the righteousness which he had by faith while [he was still] uncircumcised—this was so that he would be the [spiritual] father of all who believe without being circumcised—so that righteousness would be credited to them,
4:12:and [that he would be] the [spiritual] father of those circumcised who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had before he was circumcised.
4:13:For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through [observing the requirements of] the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
4:14:If those who are [followers] of the Law are [the true] heirs [of Abraham], then faith [leading to salvation] is of no effect and void, and the promise [of God] is nullified.
4:15:For the Law results in [God’s] wrath [against sin], but where there is no law, there is no violation [of it either].
4:16:Therefore, [inheriting] the promise depends entirely on faith [that is, confident trust in the unseen God], in order that it may be given as an act of grace [His unmerited favor and mercy], so that the promise will be [legally] guaranteed to all the descendants [of Abraham]—not only for those [Jewish believers] who keep the Law, but also for those [Gentile believers] who share the faith of Abraham, who is the [spiritual] father of us all—
4:17:(as it is written [in Scripture], “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the sight of Him in whom he believed, that is, God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.
4:18:In hope against hope Abraham believed that he would become a father of many nations, as he had been promised [by God]: “So [numberless] shall your descendants be.”
4:19:Without becoming weak in faith he considered his own body, now as good as dead [for producing children] since he was about a hundred years old, and [he considered] the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
4:20:But he did not doubt or waver in unbelief concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and empowered by faith, giving glory to God,
4:21:being fully convinced that God had the power to do what He had promised.
4:22:Therefore his faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God).
4:23:Now not for his sake alone was it written that it was credited to him,
4:24:but for our sake also—to whom righteousness will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead—
4:25:who was betrayed and crucified because of our sins, and was raised [from the dead] because of our justification [our acquittal—absolving us of all sin before God].
5:1:Results of Justification
Therefore, since we have been justified [that is, acquitted of sin, declared blameless before God] by faith, [let us grasp the fact that] we have peace with God [and the joy of reconciliation with Him] through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
5:2:Through Him we also have access by faith into this [remarkable state of] grace in which we [firmly and safely and securely] stand. Let us rejoice in our hope and the confident assurance of [experiencing and enjoying] the glory of [our great] God [the manifestation of His excellence and power].
5:3:And not only this, but [with joy] let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress, pressure, trouble) produces patient endurance;
5:4:and endurance, proven character (spiritual maturity); and proven character, hope and confident assurance [of eternal salvation].
5:5:Such hope [in God’s promises] never disappoints us, because God’s love has been abundantly poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
5:6:While we were still helpless [powerless to provide for our salvation], at the right time Christ died [as a substitute] for the ungodly.
5:7:Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to willingly give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a good man [one who is noble and selfless and worthy] someone might even dare to die.
5:8:But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
5:9:Therefore, since we have now been justified [declared free of the guilt of sin] by His blood, [how much more certain is it that] we will be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
5:10:For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain, having been reconciled, that we will be saved [from the consequences of sin] by His life [that is, we will be saved because Christ lives today].
5:11:Not only that, but we also rejoice in God [rejoicing in His love and perfection] through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received and enjoy our reconciliation [with God].
5:12:Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all people [no one being able to stop it or escape its power], because they all sinned.
5:13:Sin was [committed] in the world before the Law [was given], but sin is not charged [against anyone] when there is no law [against it].
5:14:Yet death ruled [over mankind] from Adam to Moses [the Lawgiver], even over those who had not sinned as Adam did. Adam is a type of Him (Christ) who was to come [but in reverse—Adam brought destruction, Christ brought salvation].
5:15:But the free gift [of God] is not like the trespass [because the gift of grace overwhelms the fall of man]. For if many died by one man’s trespass [Adam’s sin], much more [abundantly] did God’s grace and the gift [that comes] by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to [benefit] the many.
5:16:Nor is the gift [of grace] like that which came through the one who sinned. For on the one hand the judgment [following the sin] resulted from one trespass and brought condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift resulted from many trespasses and brought justification [the release from sin’s penalty for those who believe].
5:17:For if by the trespass of the one (Adam), death reigned through the one (Adam), much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in [eternal] life through the One, Jesus Christ.
5:18:So then as through one trespass [Adam’s sin] there resulted condemnation for all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.
5:19:For just as through one man’s disobedience [his failure to hear, his carelessness] the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of the one Man the many will be made righteous and acceptable to God and brought into right standing with Him.
5:20:But the Law came to increase and expand [the awareness of] the trespass [by defining and unmasking sin]. But where sin increased, [God’s remarkable, gracious gift of] grace [His unmerited favor] has surpassed it and increased all the more,
5:21:so that, as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness which brings eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
6:1:Believers Are Dead to Sin, Alive to God
What shall we say [to all this]? Should we continue in sin and practice sin as a habit so that [God’s gift of] grace may increase and overflow?
6:2:Certainly not! How can we, the very ones who died to sin, continue to live in it any longer?
6:3:Or are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
6:4:We have therefore been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory and power of the Father, we too might walk habitually in newness of life [abandoning our old ways].
6:5:For if we have become one with Him [permanently united] in the likeness of His death, we will also certainly be [one with Him and share fully] in the likeness of His resurrection.
6:6:We know that our old self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.
6:7:For the person who has died [with Christ] has been freed from [the power of] sin.
6:8:Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live [together] with Him,
6:9:because we know [the self-evident truth] that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him.
6:10:For the death that He died, He died to sin [ending its power and paying the sinner’s debt] once and for all; and the life that He lives, He lives to [glorify] God [in unbroken fellowship with Him].
6:11:Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin [and your relationship to it broken], but alive to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.
6:12:Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts and passions.
6:13:Do not go on offering members of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness. But offer yourselves to God [in a decisive act] as those alive [raised] from the dead [to a new life], and your members [all of your abilities—sanctified, set apart] as instruments of righteousness [yielded] to God.
6:14:For sin will no longer be a master over you, since you are not under Law [as slaves], but under [unmerited] grace [as recipients of God’s favor and mercy].
6:15:What then [are we to conclude]? Shall we sin because we are not under Law, but under [God’s] grace? Certainly not!
6:16:Do you not know that when you continually offer yourselves to someone to do his will, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey, either [slaves] of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness (right standing with God)?
6:17:But thank God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed and to which you were committed.
6:18:And having been set free from sin, you have become the slaves of righteousness [of conformity to God’s will and purpose].
6:19:I am speaking in [familiar] human terms because of your natural limitations [your spiritual immaturity]. For just as you presented your bodily members as slaves to impurity and to [moral] lawlessness, leading to further lawlessness, so now offer your members [your abilities, your talents] as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification [that is, being set apart for God’s purpose].
6:20:When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness [you had no desire to conform to God’s will].
6:21:So what benefit did you get at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? [None!] For the outcome of those things is death!
6:22:But now since you have been set free from sin and have become [willing] slaves to God, you have your benefit, resulting in sanctification [being made holy and set apart for God’s purpose], and the outcome [of this] is eternal life.
6:23:For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
7:1:Believers United to Christ
Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has jurisdiction [to rule] over a person as long as he lives?
7:2:For the married woman [as an example] is bound and remains bound by law to her husband while he lives; but if her husband dies, she is released and exempt from the law concerning her husband.
7:3:Accordingly, she will be designated as an adulteress if she unites herself to another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law [regarding marriage], so that she is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
7:4:Therefore, my fellow believers, you too died to the Law through the [crucified] body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.
7:5:When we were living in the flesh [trapped by sin], the sinful passions, which were awakened by [that which] the Law [identifies as sin], were at work in our body to bear fruit for death [since the willingness to sin led to death and separation from God].
7:6:But now we have been released from the Law and its penalty, having died [through Christ] to that by which we were held captive, so that we serve [God] in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter [of the Law].
7:7:What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, if it had not been for the Law, I would not have recognized sin. For I would not have known [for example] about coveting [what belongs to another, and would have had no sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, “You shall not covet.”
7:8:But sin, finding an opportunity through the commandment [to express itself] produced in me every kind of coveting and selfish desire. For without the Law sin is dead [the recognition of sin is inactive].
7:9:I was once alive without [knowledge of] the Law; but when the commandment came [and I understood its meaning], sin became alive and I died [since the Law sentenced me to death].
7:10:And the very commandment which was intended to bring life, actually proved to bring death for me.
7:11:For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, beguiled and completely deceived me, and using it as a weapon killed me [separating me from God].
7:12:So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
7:13:Did that which is good [the Law], then become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, in order that it might be revealed as sin, was producing death in me by [using] this good thing [as a weapon], so that through the commandment sin would become exceedingly sinful.
7:14:The Conflict of Two Natures
We know that the Law is spiritual, but I am a creature of the flesh [worldly, self-reliant—carnal and unspiritual], sold into slavery to sin [and serving under its control].
7:15:For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled and bewildered by them]. I do not practice what I want to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate [and yielding to my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity].
7:16:Now if I habitually do what I do not want to do, [that means] I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good (morally excellent).
7:17:So now [if that is the case, then] it is no longer I who do it [the disobedient thing which I despise], but the sin [nature] which lives in me.
7:18:For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. For the willingness [to do good] is present in me, but the doing of good is not.
7:19:For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
7:20:But if I am doing the very thing I do not want to do, I am no longer the one doing it [that is, it is not me that acts], but the sin [nature] which lives in me.
7:21:So I find it to be the law [of my inner self], that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
7:22:For I joyfully delight in the law of God in my inner self [with my new nature],
7:23:but I see a different law and rule of action in the members of my body [in its appetites and desires], waging war against the law of my mind and subduing me and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is within my members.
7:24:Wretched and miserable man that I am! Who will [rescue me and] set me free from this body of death [this corrupt, mortal existence]?
7:25:Thanks be to God [for my deliverance] through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind serve the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness, my sinful capacity—I serve] the law of sin.
8:1:Escape from Bondage
Therefore there is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict, no punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus [who believe in Him as personal Lord and Savior].
8:2:For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
8:3:For what the Law could not do [that is, overcome sin and remove its penalty, its power] being weakened by the flesh [man’s nature without the Holy Spirit], God did: He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful man as an offering for sin. And He condemned sin in the flesh [subdued it and overcame it in the person of His own Son],
8:4:so that the [righteous and just] requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not live our lives in the ways of the flesh [guided by worldliness and our sinful nature], but [live our lives] in the ways of the Spirit [guided by His power].
8:5:For those who are living according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh [which gratify the body], but those who are living according to the Spirit, [set their minds on] the things of the Spirit [His will and purpose].
8:6:Now the mind of the flesh is death [both now and forever—because it pursues sin]; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace [the spiritual well-being that comes from walking with God—both now and forever];
8:7:the mind of the flesh [with its sinful pursuits] is actively hostile to God. It does not submit itself to God’s law, since it cannot,
8:8:and those who are in the flesh [living a life that caters to sinful appetites and impulses] cannot please God.
8:9:However, you are not [living] in the flesh [controlled by the sinful nature] but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God lives in you [directing and guiding you]. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him [and is not a child of God].
8:10:If Christ lives in you, though your [natural] body is dead because of sin, your spirit is alive because of righteousness [which He provides].
8:11:And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
8:12:So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but not to our flesh [our human nature, our worldliness, our sinful capacity], to live according to the [impulses of the] flesh [our nature without the Holy Spirit]—
8:13:for if you are living according to the [impulses of the] flesh, you are going to die. But if [you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever.
8:14:For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
8:15:For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear [of God’s judgment], but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [the Spirit producing sonship] by which we [joyfully] cry, “Abba! Father!”
8:16:The Spirit Himself testifies and confirms together with our spirit [assuring us] that we [believers] are children of God.
8:17:And if [we are His] children, [then we are His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His spiritual blessing and inheritance], if indeed we share in His suffering so that we may also share in His glory.
8:18:For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us!
8:19:For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed.
8:20:For the creation was subjected to frustration and futility, not willingly [because of some intentional fault on its part], but by the will of Him who subjected it, in hope
8:21:that the creation itself will also be freed from its bondage to decay [and gain entrance] into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
8:22:For we know that the whole creation has been moaning together as in the pains of childbirth until now.
8:23:And not only this, but we too, who have the first fruits of the Spirit [a joyful indication of the blessings to come], even we groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for [the sign of] our adoption as sons—the redemption and transformation of our body [at the resurrection].
8:24:For in this hope we were saved [by faith]. But hope [the object of] which is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees?
8:25:But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait eagerly for it with patience and composure.
8:26:Our Victory in Christ
In the same way the Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words.
8:27:And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes [before God] on behalf of God’s people in accordance with God’s will.
8:28:And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.
8:29:For those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers.
8:30:And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified [declared free of the guilt of sin]; and those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity].
8:31:What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be [successful] against us?
8:32:He who did not spare [even] His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?
8:33:Who will bring any charge against God’s elect (His chosen ones)? It is God who justifies us [declaring us blameless and putting us in a right relationship with Himself].
8:34:Who is the one who condemns us? Christ Jesus is the One who died [to pay our penalty], and more than that, who was raised [from the dead], and who is at the right hand of God interceding [with the Father] for us.
8:35:Who shall ever separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
8:36:Just as it is written and forever remains written,
“For Your sake we are put to death all day long;
We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.”
8:37:Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us].
8:38:For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers,
8:39:nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
9:1:Concern for Israel
I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me [enlightened and prompted] by the Holy Spirit,
9:2:that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
9:3:For [if it were possible] I would wish that I myself were accursed, [separated, banished] from Christ for the sake [of the salvation] of my brothers, my natural kinsmen,
9:4:who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, the glory (Shekinah), the [special] covenants [with Abraham, Moses, and David], the giving of the Law, the [system of temple] worship, and the [original] promises.
9:5:To them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to His natural descent, came the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), He who is exalted and supreme over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
9:6:However, it is not as though God’s word has failed [coming to nothing]. For not all who are descended from Israel (Jacob) are [the true] Israel;
9:7:and they are not all the children of Abraham because they are his descendants [by blood], but [the promise was]: “Your descendants will be named through Isaac” [though Abraham had other sons].
9:8:That is, it is not the children of the body [Abraham’s natural descendants] who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are counted as [Abraham’s true] descendants.
9:9:For this is what the promise said: “About this time [next year] I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.”
9:10:And not only that, but this too: Rebekah conceived twin sons by one man [under the same circumstances], by our father Isaac;
9:11:and though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything either good or bad, so that God’s purpose [His choice, His election] would stand, not because of works [done by either child], but because of [the plan of] Him who calls them,
9:12:it was said to her, “The older (Esau) will serve the younger (Jacob).”
9:13:As it is written and forever remains written, “Jacob I loved (chose, protected, blessed), but Esau I hated (held in disregard compared to Jacob).”
9:14:What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Certainly not!
9:15:For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion.”
9:16:So then God’s choice is not dependent on human will, nor on human effort [the totality of human striving], but on God who shows mercy [to whomever He chooses—it is His sovereign gift].
9:17:For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “I raised you up for this very purpose, to display My power in [dealing with] you, and so that My name would be proclaimed in all the earth.”
9:18:So then, He has mercy on whom He wills (chooses), and He hardens [the heart of] whom He wills.
9:19:You will say to me then, “Why does He still blame me [for sinning]? For who [including myself] has [ever] resisted His will and purpose?”
9:20:On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers [arrogantly] back to God and dares to defy Him? Will the thing which is formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”
9:21:Does the potter not have the right over the clay, to make from the same lump [of clay] one object for honorable use [something beautiful or distinctive] and another for common use [something ordinary or menial]?
9:22:What if God, although willing to show His [terrible] wrath and to make His power known, has tolerated with great patience the objects of His wrath [which are] prepared for destruction?
9:23:And what if He has done so to make known the riches of His glory to the objects of His mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory,
9:24:including us, whom He also called, not only from among the Jews, but also from among the Gentiles?
9:25:Just as He says in [the writings of the prophet] Hosea:
“I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’
And [I will call] her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’”
9:26:“And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”
9:27:And Isaiah calls out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is only the remnant [a small believing minority] that will be saved [from God’s judgment];
9:28:For the Lord will execute His word upon the earth [He will conclude His dealings with mankind] completely and without delay.”
9:29:It is as Isaiah foretold,
“If the Lord of Hosts had not left us seed [future generations from which a believing remnant of Israelites came],
We would have become like Sodom, and would have resembled Gomorrah [totally rejected and destroyed]!”
9:30:What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness [who did not seek salvation and a right relationship with God, nevertheless] obtained righteousness, that is, the righteousness which is produced by faith;
9:31:whereas Israel, [though always] pursuing the law of righteousness, did not succeed in fulfilling the law.
9:32:And why not? Because it was not by faith [that they pursued it], but as though it were by works [relying on the merit of their works instead of their faith]. They stumbled over the stumbling Stone [Jesus Christ].
9:33:As it is written and forever remains written,
“Behold I am laying in Zion a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense;
And he who believes in Him [whoever adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] will not be disappointed [in his expectations].”
10:1:The Word of Faith Brings Salvation
Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation.
10:2:For I testify about them that they have a certain enthusiasm for God, but not in accordance with [correct and vital] knowledge [about Him and His purposes].
10:3:For not knowing about God’s righteousness [which is based on faith], and seeking to establish their own [righteousness based on works], they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
10:4:For Christ is the end of the law [it leads to Him and its purpose is fulfilled in Him], for [granting] righteousness to everyone who believes [in Him as Savior].
10:5:For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law [with all its intricate demands] shall live by it.
10:6:But the righteousness based on faith [which produces a right relationship with Him] says the following: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into Heaven?’ that is, to bring Christ down;
10:7:or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ that is, to bring Christ up from the dead [as if we had to be saved by our own efforts, doing the impossible].”
10:8:But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word [the message, the basis] of faith which we preach—
10:9:because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10:10:For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges and confesses [his faith openly], resulting in and confirming [his] salvation.
10:11:For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him [whoever adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] will not be disappointed [in his expectations].”
10:12:For there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile; for the same Lord is Lord over all [of us], and [He is] abounding in riches (blessings) for all who call on Him [in faith and prayer].
10:13:For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord [in prayer] will be saved.”
10:14:But how will people call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher (messenger)?
10:15:And how will they preach unless they are commissioned and sent [for that purpose]? Just as it is written and forever remains written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”
10:16:But they did not all pay attention to the good news [of salvation]; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
10:17:So faith comes from hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the [preaching of the] message concerning Christ.
10:18:But I say, did they not hear? Indeed they have;
“Their voice [that of creation bearing God’s message] has gone out to all the earth,
And their words to the [farthest] ends of the world.”
10:19:But I say, did Israel fail to understand [that the gospel was to go also to the Gentiles]? First Moses says,
“I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation (Gentiles);
With a nation that lacks understanding I will make you angry.”
10:20:Then Isaiah is very bold and says,
“I have been found by those who did not seek Me;
I have shown Myself to those who did not [consciously] ask for Me.”
10:21:But of Israel he says, “All day long I have stretched out My hands [in compassion] to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
11:1:Israel Is Not Cast Away
I say then, has God rejected and disowned His people? Certainly not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
11:2:God has not rejected His [chosen] people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
11:3:“Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left [of the prophets], and they are seeking my life.”
11:4:But what is God’s response to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
11:5:So too then, at the present time there has come to be a remnant [a small believing minority] according to God’s gracious choice.
11:6:But if it is by grace [God’s unmerited favor], it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace [it would not be a gift but a reward for works].
11:7:What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking [that is, God’s favor by obedience to the Law], but the elect [those chosen few] obtained it, while the rest of them became hardened and callously indifferent;
11:8:just as it is written [in Scripture],
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
Eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear,
[a spiritual apathy that has continued] to this very day.”
11:9:And David says,
“Let their table (abundance) become a snare and a trap,
A stumbling block and a retribution to them.
11:10:“Let their eyes be darkened so that they do not see,
And make their backs bend [under their burden] forever.”
11:11:So I say, have they stumbled so as to fall [to spiritual ruin]? Certainly not! But by their transgression [their rejection of the Messiah] salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous [when they realize what they have forfeited].
11:12:Now if Israel’s transgression means riches for the world [at large] and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment and reinstatement be!
11:13:But now I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
11:14:in the hope of somehow making my fellow countrymen jealous [by stirring them up so that they will seek the truth] and perhaps save some of them.
11:15:For if their [present] rejection [of salvation] is for the reconciliation of the world [to God], what will their acceptance [of salvation] be but [nothing less than] life from the dead?
11:16:If the first portion [of dough offered as the first fruits] is holy, so is the whole batch; and if the root (Abraham, the patriarchs) is holy, so are the branches (the Israelites).
11:17:But if some of the branches were broken off, and you [Gentiles], being like a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them to share with them the rich root of the olive tree,
11:18:do not boast over the [broken] branches and exalt yourself at their expense. If you do boast and feel superior, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root that supports you.
11:19:You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
11:20:That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by your faith [as believers understanding the truth of Christ’s deity]. Do not be conceited, but [rather stand in great awe of God and] fear [Him];
11:21:for if God did not spare the natural branches [because of unbelief], He will not spare you either.
11:22:Then appreciate the gracious kindness and the severity of God: to those who fell [into spiritual ruin], severity, but to you, God’s gracious kindness—if you continue in His kindness [by faith and obedience to Him]; otherwise you too will be cut off.
11:23:And even they [the unbelieving Jews], if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God has the power to graft them in again.
11:24:For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier will it be to graft these who are the natural branches back into [the original parent stock of] their own olive tree?
11:25:I do not want you, believers, to be unaware of this mystery [God’s previously hidden plan]—so that you will not be wise in your own opinion—that a partial hardening has [temporarily] happened to Israel [to last] until the full number of the Gentiles has come in;
11:26:and so [at that time] all Israel [that is, all Jews who have a personal faith in Jesus as Messiah] will be saved; just as it is written [in Scripture],
“The Deliverer (Messiah) will come from Zion,
He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.”
11:27:“This is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
11:28:From the standpoint of the gospel, the Jews [at present] are enemies [of God] for your sake [which is for your benefit], but from the standpoint of God’s choice [of the Jews as His people], they are still loved by Him for the sake of the fathers.
11:29:For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable [for He does not withdraw what He has given, nor does He change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call].
11:30:Just as you once were disobedient and failed to listen to God, but have now obtained mercy because of their disobedience,
11:31:so they too have now become disobedient so that they too may one day receive mercy because of the mercy shown to you.
11:32:For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all [Jew and Gentile alike].
11:33:Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and decisions and how unfathomable and untraceable are His ways!
11:34:For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?
11:35:Or who has first given to Him that it would be paid back to him?
11:36:For from Him [all things originate] and through Him [all things live and exist] and to Him are all things [directed]. To Him be glory and honor forever! Amen.
12:1:Dedicated Service
Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.
12:2:And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].
12:3:For by the grace [of God] given to me I say to everyone of you not to think more highly of himself [and of his importance and ability] than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has apportioned to each a degree of faith [and a purpose designed for service].
12:4:For just as in one [physical] body we have many parts, and these parts do not all have the same function or special use,
12:5:so we, who are many, are [nevertheless just] one body in Christ, and individually [we are] parts one of another [mutually dependent on each other].
12:6:Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them accordingly: if [someone has the gift of] prophecy, [let him speak a new message from God to His people] in proportion to the faith possessed;
12:7:if service, in the act of serving; or he who teaches, in the act of teaching;
12:8:or he who encourages, in the act of encouragement; he who gives, with generosity; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy [in caring for others], with cheerfulness.
12:9:Love is to be sincere and active [the real thing—without guile and hypocrisy]. Hate what is evil [detest all ungodliness, do not tolerate wickedness]; hold on tightly to what is good.
12:10:Be devoted to one another with [authentic] brotherly affection [as members of one family], give preference to one another in honor;
12:11:never lagging behind in diligence; aglow in the Spirit, enthusiastically serving the Lord;
12:12:constantly rejoicing in hope [because of our confidence in Christ], steadfast and patient in distress, devoted to prayer [continually seeking wisdom, guidance, and strength],
12:13:contributing to the needs of God’s people, pursuing [the practice of] hospitality.
12:14:Bless those who persecute you [who cause you harm or hardship]; bless and do not curse [them].
12:15:Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others’ joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others’ grief].
12:16:Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty [conceited, self-important, exclusive], but associate with humble people [those with a realistic self-view]. Do not overestimate yourself.
12:17:Never repay anyone evil for evil. Take thought for what is right and gracious and proper in the sight of everyone.
12:18:If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
12:19:Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for God’s wrath [and His judicial righteousness]; for it is written [in Scripture], “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
12:20:But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on his head.”
12:21:Do not be overcome and conquered by evil, but overcome evil with good.
13:1:Be Subject to Government
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God [granted by His permission and sanction], and those which exist have been put in place by God.
13:2:Therefore whoever resists [governmental] authority resists the ordinance of God. And those who have resisted it will bring judgment (civil penalty) on themselves.
13:3:For [civil] authorities are not a source of fear for [people of] good behavior, but for [those who do] evil. Do you want to be unafraid of authority? Do what is good and you will receive approval and commendation.
13:4:For he is God’s servant to you for good. But if you do wrong, [you should] be afraid; for he does not carry the [executioner’s] sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an avenger who brings punishment on the wrongdoer.
13:5:Therefore one must be subject [to civil authorities], not only to escape the punishment [that comes with wrongdoing], but also as a matter of principle [knowing what is right before God].
13:6:For this same reason you pay taxes, for civil authorities are God’s servants, devoting themselves to governance.
13:7:Pay to all what is due: tax to whom tax is due, customs to whom customs, respect to whom respect, honor to whom honor.
13:8:Owe nothing to anyone except to love and seek the best for one another; for he who [unselfishly] loves his neighbor has fulfilled the [essence of the] law [relating to one’s fellowman].
13:9:The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,” and any other commandment are summed up in this statement: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
13:10:Love does no wrong to a neighbor [it never hurts anyone]. Therefore [unselfish] love is the fulfillment of the Law.
13:11:Do this, knowing that this is a critical time. It is already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep [of spiritual complacency]; for our salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed [in Christ].
13:12:The night [this present evil age] is almost gone and the day [of Christ’s return] is almost here. So let us fling away the works of darkness and put on the [full] armor of light.
13:13:Let us conduct ourselves properly and honorably as in the [light of] day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and irresponsibility, not in quarreling and jealousy.
13:14:But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for [nor even think about gratifying] the flesh in regard to its improper desires.
14:1:Principles of Conscience
As for the one whose faith is weak, accept him [into your fellowship], but not for [the purpose of] quarreling over his opinions.
14:2:One man’s faith permits him to eat everything, while the weak believer eats only vegetables [to avoid eating ritually unclean meat or something previously considered unclean].
14:3:The one who eats [everything] is not to look down on the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat must not criticize or pass judgment on the one who eats [everything], for God has accepted him.
14:4:Who are you to judge the servant of another? Before his own master he stands [approved] or falls [out of favor]. And he [who serves the Master—the Lord] will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
14:5:One person regards one day as better [or more important] than another, while another regards every day [the same as any other]. Let everyone be fully convinced (assured, satisfied) in his own mind.
14:6:He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord. He who eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while he who abstains, abstains for the Lord and gives thanks to God.
14:7:None of us lives for himself [for his own benefit, but for the Lord], and none of us dies for himself [but for the Lord].
14:8:If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. So then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
14:9:For Christ died and lived again for this reason, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
14:10:But you, why do you criticize your brother? Or you again, why do you look down on your [believing] brother or regard him with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God [who alone is judge].
14:11:For it is written [in Scripture],
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall give praise to God.”
14:12:So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
14:13:Then let us not criticize one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block or a source of temptation in another believer’s way.
14:14:I know and am convinced [as one] in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean [ritually defiled, and unholy] in itself; but [nonetheless] it is unclean to anyone who thinks it is unclean.
14:15:If your brother is being hurt or offended because of food [that you insist on eating], you are no longer walking in love [toward him]. Do not let what you eat destroy and spiritually harm one for whom Christ died.
14:16:Therefore do not let what is a good thing for you [because of your freedom to choose] be spoken of as evil [by someone else];
14:17:for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking [what one likes], but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
14:18:For the one who serves Christ in this way [recognizing that food choice is secondary] is acceptable to God and is approved by men.
14:19:So then, let us pursue [with enthusiasm] the things which make for peace and the building up of one another [things which lead to spiritual growth].
14:20:Do not, for the sake of food, tear down the work of God. All things indeed are [ceremonially] clean, but they are wrong for the person who eats and offends [another’s conscience in the process].
14:21:It is good [to do the right thing and] not eat meat or drink wine, or do anything that offends your brother and weakens him spiritually.
14:22:The faith which you have [that gives you freedom of choice], have as your own conviction before God [just keep it between yourself and God, seeking His will]. Happy is he who has no reason to condemn himself for what he approves.
14:23:But he who is uncertain [about eating a particular thing] is condemned if he eats, because he is not acting from faith. Whatever is not from faith is sin [whatever is done with doubt is sinful].
15:1:Self-denial on Behalf of Others
Now we who are strong [in our convictions and faith] ought to [patiently] put up with the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not just please ourselves.
15:2:Let each one of us [make it a practice to] please his neighbor for his good, to build him up spiritually.
15:3:For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written [in Scripture], “The reproaches of those who reproached You (the Father) fell on Me (the Son).”
15:4:For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.
15:5:Now may the God who gives endurance and who supplies encouragement grant that you be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,
15:6:so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify and praise and honor the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15:7:Therefore, [continue to] accept and welcome one another, just as Christ has accepted and welcomed us to the glory of [our great] God.
15:8:For I tell you that Christ has become a servant and a minister to the circumcision (Jews) on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm and verify the promises made to the fathers,
15:9:and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy [to them, since God had no covenant with them]. As it is written and forever remains written,
“Therefore I praise You among the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.”
15:10:Again it says,
“Rejoice and celebrate, O Gentiles, along with His people.”
15:11:And again,
“Praise the Lord all you Gentiles,
And let all the peoples praise Him!”
15:12:Again Isaiah says,
“There shall be a root of Jesse,
He who arises to rule [as King] over the Gentiles,
In Him shall the Gentiles hope.”
15:13:May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.
15:14:Personally I am convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, amply filled with all [spiritual] knowledge, and competent to admonish and counsel and instruct one another.
15:15:Still, on some points I have written to you very boldly and without reservation to remind you [about them] again, because of the grace that was given to me from God,
15:16:to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I minister as a priest the gospel of God, in order that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable [to Him], sanctified [made holy and set apart for His purpose] by the Holy Spirit.
15:17:In Christ Jesus, then, I have found [legitimate] reason for boasting in things related [to my service] to God.
15:18:For I will not [even] presume to speak of anything except what Christ has done through me [as an instrument in His hands], resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles [to the gospel], by word and deed,
15:19:with the power of signs and wonders, [and all of it] in the power of the Spirit. So [starting] from Jerusalem and as far away as Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel [faithfully preaching the good news] of Christ [where it had not before been preached].
15:20:Accordingly I set a goal to preach the gospel, not where Christ’s name was already known, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation;
15:21:but [instead I would act on this goal] as it is written [in Scripture],
“They who had no news of Him shall see,
And they who have not heard [of Him] shall understand.”
15:22:This [goal—my commitment to this principle] is the reason why I have often been prevented from coming to you [in Rome].
15:23:But now, with no further place for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you—
15:24:whenever I go [on my trip] to Spain—I hope to see you as I pass through [Rome], and to be helped on my journey there by you, after I have first enjoyed your company for a little while.
15:25:But for now, I am going to Jerusalem to serve the saints (Jewish believers).
15:26:For [Gentile believers in] Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints (Jewish believers) in Jerusalem.
15:27:They were pleased to do it, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual things, then they are indebted to serve them also in [tangible] material things.
15:28:Therefore, when I have finished this [mission] and have safely given to them what has been raised, I will go on by way of you to Spain.
15:29:I know that when I do come to you, I will come in the abundant blessing of Christ.
15:30:I urge you, believers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join together with me in your prayers to God in my behalf,
15:31:[and pray] that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints (Jewish believers) there;
15:32:so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and find rest in your company.
15:33:May the God of peace be with you all! Amen.
16:1:Greetings and Love Expressed
Now I introduce and commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess (servant) of the church at Cenchrea,
16:2:that you may receive her in the Lord [with love and hospitality], as God’s people ought to receive one another. And that you may help her in whatever matter she may require assistance from you, for she has been a helper of many, including myself.
16:3:Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,
16:4:who risked their own necks [endangering their very lives] for my life. To them not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
16:5:Also greet the church that meets in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the first convert to Christ from [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor].
16:6:Greet Mary, who has worked so hard for you.
16:7:Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and [once] my fellow prisoners, who are held in high esteem in the estimation of the apostles, and who were [believers] in Christ before me.
16:8:Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.
16:9:Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys.
16:10:Greet Apelles, the one tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
16:11:Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.
16:12:Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet my beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.
16:13:Greet Rufus, an eminent and choice man in the Lord, also his mother [who has been] a mother to me as well.
16:14:Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them.
16:15:Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all God’s people who are with them.
16:16:Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
16:17:I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep your eyes on those who cause dissensions and create obstacles or introduce temptations [for others] to commit sin, [acting in ways] contrary to the doctrine which you have learned. Turn away from them.
16:18:For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites and base desires. By smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting [the innocent and the naive].
16:19:For the report of your obedience has reached everyone, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.
16:20:The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
The [wonderful] grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
16:21:Timothy, my fellow worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
16:22:I, Tertius, the writer (scribe) of this letter, greet you in the Lord.
16:23:Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church here, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.
16:24:[The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.]
16:25:Now to Him who is able to establish and strengthen you [in the faith] according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery [of the plan of salvation] which has been kept secret for long ages past,
16:26:but now has been disclosed and through the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all the nations, according to the commandment of the eternal God, leading them to obedience to the faith,
16:27:to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forevermore! Amen.
1_corinthians:1:1:Appeal to Unity
Paul, called as an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
1:2:To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified (set apart, made holy) in Christ Jesus, who are selected and called as saints (God’s people), together with all those who in every place call on and honor the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
1:3:Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:4:I thank my God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,
1:5:so that in everything you were [exceedingly] enriched in Him, in all speech [empowered by the spiritual gifts] and in all knowledge [with insight into the faith].
1:6:In this way our testimony about Christ was confirmed and established in you,
1:7:so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift [which comes from the Holy Spirit], as you eagerly wait [with confident trust] for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ [when He returns].
1:8:And He will also confirm you to the end [keeping you strong and free of any accusation, so that you will be] blameless and beyond reproach in the day [of the return] of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:9:God is faithful [He is reliable, trustworthy and ever true to His promise—He can be depended on], and through Him you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1:10:But I urge you, believers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in full agreement in what you say, and that there be no divisions or factions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your way of thinking and in your judgment [about matters of the faith].
1:11:For I have been informed about you, my brothers and sisters, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are quarrels and factions among you.
1:12:Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I am [a disciple] of Paul,” or “I am [a disciple] of Apollos,” or “I am [a disciple] of Cephas (Peter),” or “I am [a disciple] of Christ.”
1:13:Has Christ been divided [into different parts]? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? [Certainly not!]
1:14:I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
1:15:so that no one would say that you were baptized into my name.
1:16:Now I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else.
1:17:For Christ did not send me [as an apostle] to baptize, but [commissioned and empowered me] to preach the good news [of salvation]—not with clever and eloquent speech [as an orator], so that the cross of Christ would not be made ineffective [deprived of its saving power].
1:18:The Wisdom of God
For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God.
1:19:For it is written and forever remains written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise [the philosophy of the philosophers],
And the cleverness of the clever [who do not know Me] I will nullify.”
1:20:Where is the wise man (philosopher)? Where is the scribe (scholar)? Where is the debater (logician, orator) of this age? Has God not exposed the foolishness of this world’s wisdom?
1:21:For since the world through all its [earthly] wisdom failed to recognize God, God in His wisdom was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached [regarding salvation] to save those who believe [in Christ and welcome Him as Savior].
1:22:For Jews demand signs (attesting miracles), and Greeks pursue [worldly] wisdom and philosophy,
1:23:but we preach Christ crucified, [a message which is] to Jews a stumbling block [that provokes their opposition], and to Gentiles foolishness [just utter nonsense],
1:24:but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1:25:[This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort].
1:26:Just look at your own calling, believers; not many [of you were considered] wise according to human standards, not many powerful or influential, not many of high and noble birth.
1:27:But God has selected [for His purpose] the foolish things of the world to shame the wise [revealing their ignorance], and God has selected [for His purpose] the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong [revealing their frailty].
1:28:God has selected [for His purpose] the insignificant (base) things of the world, and the things that are despised and treated with contempt, [even] the things that are nothing, so that He might reduce to nothing the things that are,
1:29:so that no one may [be able to] boast in the presence of God.
1:30:But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God [revealing His plan of salvation], and righteousness [making us acceptable to God], and sanctification [making us holy and setting us apart for God], and redemption [providing our ransom from the penalty for sin],
1:31:so then, as it is written [in Scripture], “He who boasts and glories, let him boast and glory in the Lord.”
2:1:Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit
And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming to you the testimony of God [concerning salvation through Christ], I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom [no lofty words of eloquence or of philosophy as a Greek orator might do];
2:2:for I made the decision to know nothing [that is, to forego philosophical or theological discussions regarding inconsequential things and opinions while] among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified [and the meaning of His redemptive, substitutionary death and His resurrection].
2:3:I came to you in [a state of] weakness and fear and great trembling.
2:4:And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom [using clever rhetoric], but [they were delivered] in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit [operating through me] and of [His] power [stirring the minds of the listeners and persuading them],
2:5:so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom and rhetoric of men, but on the power of God.
2:6:Yet we do speak wisdom among those spiritually mature [believers who have teachable hearts and a greater understanding]; but [it is a higher] wisdom not [the wisdom] of this present age nor of the rulers and leaders of this age, who are passing away;
2:7:but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom once hidden [from man, but now revealed to us by God, that wisdom] which God predestined before the ages to our glory [to lift us into the glory of His presence].
2:8:None of the rulers of this age recognized and understood this wisdom; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;
2:9:but just as it is written [in Scripture],
“Things which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, who obey Him, and who gratefully recognize the benefits that He has bestowed].”
2:10:For God has unveiled them and revealed them to us through the [Holy] Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things [diligently], even [sounding and measuring] the [profound] depths of God [the divine counsels and things far beyond human understanding].
2:11:For what person knows the thoughts and motives of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So also no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
2:12:Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the [Holy] Spirit who is from God, so that we may know and understand the [wonderful] things freely given to us by God.
2:13:We also speak of these things, not in words taught or supplied by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual thoughts with spiritual words [for those being guided by the Holy Spirit].
2:14:But the natural [unbelieving] man does not accept the things [the teachings and revelations] of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness [absurd and illogical] to him; and he is incapable of understanding them, because they are spiritually discerned and appreciated, [and he is unqualified to judge spiritual matters].
2:15:But the spiritual man [the spiritually mature Christian] judges all things [questions, examines and applies what the Holy Spirit reveals], yet is himself judged by no one [the unbeliever cannot judge and understand the believer’s spiritual nature].
2:16:For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ [to be guided by His thoughts and purposes].
3:1:Foundations for Living
However, brothers and sisters, I could not talk to you as to spiritual people, but [only] as to worldly people [dominated by human nature], mere infants [in the new life] in Christ!
3:2:I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Even now you are still not ready.
3:3:You are still worldly [controlled by ordinary impulses, the sinful capacity]. For as long as there is jealousy and strife and discord among you, are you not unspiritual, and are you not walking like ordinary men [unchanged by faith]?
3:4:For when one of you says, “I am [a disciple] of Paul,” and another, “I am [a disciple] of Apollos,” are you not [proving yourselves unchanged, just] ordinary people?
3:5:What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Just servants through whom you believed [in Christ], even as the Lord appointed to each his task.
3:6:I planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was causing the growth.
3:7:So neither is the one who plants nor the one who waters anything, but [only] God who causes the growth.
3:8:He who plants and he who waters are one [in importance and esteem, working toward the same purpose]; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
3:9:For we are God’s fellow workers [His servants working together]; you are God’s cultivated field [His garden, His vineyard], God’s building.
3:10:According to the [remarkable] grace of God which was given to me [to prepare me for my task], like a skillful master builder I laid a foundation, and now another is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it,
3:11:for no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ.
3:12:But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
3:13:each one’s work will be clearly shown [for what it is]; for the day [of judgment] will disclose it, because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality and character and worth of each person’s work.
3:14:If any person’s work which he has built [on this foundation, that is, any outcome of his effort] remains [and survives this test], he will receive a reward.
3:15:But if any person’s work is burned up [by the test], he will suffer the loss [of his reward]; yet he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has barely escaped] through fire.
3:16:Do you not know and understand that you [the church] are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells [permanently] in you [collectively and individually]?
3:17:If anyone destroys the temple of God [corrupting it with false doctrine], God will destroy the destroyer; for the temple of God is holy (sacred), and that is what you are.
3:18:Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool [discarding his worldly pretensions and acknowledging his lack of wisdom], so that he may become [truly] wise.
3:19:For the wisdom of this world is foolishness (absurdity, stupidity) before God; for it is written [in Scripture], “[He is] The one who catches the wise and clever in their craftiness;”
3:20:and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the [humanly] wise, that they are useless.”
3:21:So let no one boast in men [about their wisdom, or of having this or that one as a leader]. For all things are yours,
3:22:whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas (Peter) or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things are yours,
3:23:and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.
4:1:Servants of Christ
So then, let us [who minister] be regarded as servants of Christ and stewards (trustees, administrators) of the mysteries of God [that He chooses to reveal].
4:2:In this case, moreover, it is required [as essential and demanded] of stewards that one be found faithful and trustworthy.
4:3:But [as for me personally] it matters very little to me that I may be judged by you or any human court [on this point]; in fact, I do not even judge myself.
4:4:I am aware of nothing against myself and I feel blameless, but I am not by this acquitted [before God]. It is the Lord who judges me.
4:5:So do not go on passing judgment before the appointed time, but wait until the Lord comes, for He will both bring to light the [secret] things that are hidden in darkness and disclose the motives of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.
4:6:Now I have applied these things [that is, the analogies about factions] to myself and Apollos for your benefit, believers, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written [in Scripture], so that none of you will become arrogant and boast in favor of one [minister or teacher] against the other.
4:7:For who regards you as superior or what sets you apart as special? What do you have that you did not receive [from another]? And if in fact you received it [from God or someone else], why do you boast as if you had not received it [but had gained it by yourself]?
4:8:[You behave as if] you are already filled [with spiritual wisdom and in need of nothing more]. Already you have become rich [in spiritual gifts]! You [in your conceit] have ascended your thrones and become kings without us; and how I wish [that it were true and] that you did reign as kings, so that we might reign with you.
4:9:For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles at the end of the line, like men sentenced to death [and paraded as prisoners in a procession], because we have become a spectacle to the world [a show in the world’s amphitheater], both to angels and to men.
4:10:We are [regarded as] fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are highly esteemed, but we are dishonored.
4:11:To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty; we are continually poorly dressed, and we are roughly treated, and wander homeless.
4:12:We work [for our living], working hard with our own hands. When we are reviled and verbally abused, we bless. When we are persecuted, we take it patiently and endure.
4:13:When we are slandered, we try to be conciliatory and answer softly. We have become like the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.
4:14:I do not write these things to shame you, but to warn and advise you as my beloved children.
4:15:For even if you were to have ten thousand teachers [to guide you] in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers [who led you to Christ and assumed responsibility for you], for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the good news [of salvation].
4:16:So I urge you, be imitators of me [just as a child imitates his father].
4:17:For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my way of life in Christ [my conduct and my precepts for godly living], just as I teach everywhere in every church.
4:18:Now some of you have become arrogant and pretentious, as though I were not coming to see you.
4:19:But I will come to you soon, if the Lord is willing, and I will find out not just the talk of these arrogant people, but [evaluate] their [spiritual] power [whether they live up to their own claims].
4:20:For the kingdom of God is not based on talk but on power.
4:21:Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod [of discipline and correction], or with love and a gentle spirit?
5:1:Immorality Rebuked
It is actually reported [everywhere] that there is sexual immorality among you, a kind of immorality that is condemned even among the [unbelieving] Gentiles: that someone has [an intimate relationship with] his father’s wife.
5:2:And you are proud and arrogant! You should have mourned in shame so that the man who has done this [disgraceful] thing would be removed from your fellowship!
5:3:For I, though absent [from you] in body but present in spirit, have already passed judgment on him who has committed this [act], as if I were present.
5:4:In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I am with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5:5:you are to hand over this man to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
5:6:Your boasting [over the supposed spirituality of your church] is not good [indeed, it is vulgar and inappropriate]. Do you not know that [just] a little leaven ferments the whole batch [of dough, just as a little sin corrupts a person or an entire church]?
5:7:Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new batch, just as you are, still unleavened. For Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed.
5:8:Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of vice and malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and [untainted] truth.
5:9:I wrote you in my [previous] letter not to associate with [sexually] immoral people—
5:10:not meaning the immoral people of this world, or the greedy ones and swindlers, or idolaters, for then you would have to get out of the world and human society altogether!
5:11:But actually, I have written to you not to associate with any so-called [Christian] brother if he is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater [devoted to anything that takes the place of God], or is a reviler [who insults or slanders or otherwise verbally abuses others], or is a drunkard or a swindler—you must not so much as eat with such a person.
5:12:For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders (non-believers)? Do you not judge those who are within the church [to protect the church as the situation requires]?
5:13:God alone sits in judgment on those who are outside [the faith]. Remove the wicked one from among you [expel him from your church].
6:1:Lawsuits Discouraged
Does any one of you, when he has a complaint (civil dispute) with another [believer], dare to go to law before unrighteous men (non-believers) instead of [placing the issue] before the saints (God’s people)?
6:2:Do you not know that the saints (God’s people) will [one day] judge the world? If the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to try trivial (insignificant, petty) cases?
6:3:Do you not know that we [believers] will judge angels? How much more then [as to] matters of this life?
6:4:So if you have lawsuits dealing with matters of this life, are you appointing those as judges [to hear disputes] who are of no account in the church?
6:5:I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is not one wise man among you who [is governed by integrity and] will be able and competent to decide [private disputes] between his fellow believers,
6:6:but instead, brother goes to law against brother, and that before [judges who are] unbelievers?
6:7:Why, the very fact that you have lawsuits with one another is already a defeat. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?
6:8:On the contrary, it is you who wrong and defraud, and you do this even to your brothers and sisters.
6:9:Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [by perversion], nor those who participate in homosexuality,
6:10:nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers [whose words are used as weapons to abuse, insult, humiliate, intimidate, or slander], nor swindlers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God.
6:11:And such were some of you [before you believed]. But you were washed [by the atoning sacrifice of Christ], you were sanctified [set apart for God, and made holy], you were justified [declared free of guilt] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God [the source of the believer’s new life and changed behavior].
6:12:The Body Is the Lord’s
Everything is permissible for me, but not all things are beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything [and brought under its power, allowing it to control me].
6:13:Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will do away with both of them. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body [to save, sanctify, and raise it again because of the sacrifice of the cross].
6:14:And God has not only raised the Lord [to life], but will also raise us up by His power.
6:15:Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Am I therefore to take the members of Christ and make them part of a prostitute? Certainly not!
6:16:Do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “The two shall be one flesh.”
6:17:But the one who is united and joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
6:18:Run away from sexual immorality [in any form, whether thought or behavior, whether visual or written]. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the one who is sexually immoral sins against his own body.
6:19:Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]?
6:20:You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.
7:1:Teaching on Marriage
Now as to the matters of which you wrote: It is good (beneficial, advantageous) for a man not to touch a woman [outside marriage].
7:2:But because of [the temptation to participate in] sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
7:3:The husband must fulfill his [marital] duty to his wife [with good will and kindness], and likewise the wife to her husband.
7:4:The wife does not have [exclusive] authority over her own body, but the husband shares with her; and likewise the husband does not have [exclusive] authority over his body, but the wife shares with him.
7:5:Do not deprive each other [of marital rights], except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves [unhindered] to prayer, but come together again so that Satan will not tempt you [to sin] because of your lack of self-control.
7:6:But I am saying this as a concession, not as a command.
7:7:I wish that all the people were as I am; but each person has his own gift from God, one of this kind and one of that.
7:8:But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, [that as a practical matter] it is good if they remain [single and entirely devoted to the Lord] as I am.
7:9:But if they do not have [sufficient] self-control, they should marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
7:10:But to the married [believers] I give instructions—not I, but the Lord—that the wife is not to separate from her husband,
7:11:(but even if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to her husband) and that the husband should not leave his wife.
7:12:To the rest I declare—I, not the Lord [since Jesus did not discuss this]—that if any [believing] brother has a wife who does not believe [in Christ], and she consents to live with him, he must not leave her.
7:13:And if any [believing] woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not leave him.
7:14:For the unbelieving husband is sanctified [that is, he receives the blessings granted] through his [Christian] wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be [ceremonially] unclean, but as it is they are holy.
7:15:But if the unbelieving partner leaves, let him leave. In such cases the [remaining] brother or sister is not [spiritually or morally] bound. But God has called us to peace.
7:16:For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband [by leading him to Christ]? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife [by leading her to Christ]?
7:17:Only, let each one live the life which the Lord has assigned him, and to which God has called him [for each person is unique and is accountable for his choices and conduct, let him walk in this way]. This is the rule I make in all the churches.
7:18:Was anyone at the time of his calling [from God already] circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called while uncircumcised? He is not to be circumcised.
7:19:Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is keeping the commandments of God.
7:20:Each one should remain in the condition in which he was [when he was] called.
7:21:Were you a slave when you were called? Do not worry about that [since your status as a believer is equal to that of a freeborn believer]; but if you are able to gain your freedom, do that.
7:22:For he who was a slave when he was called in the Lord is a freedman of the Lord, likewise he who was free when he was called is a slave of Christ.
7:23:You were bought with a price [a precious price paid by Christ]; do not become slaves to men [but to Christ].
7:24:Brothers, let each one remain with God in that condition in which he was [when he was] called.
7:25:Now concerning the virgins [of marriageable age] I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
7:26:I think then that because of the impending distress [that is, the pressure of the current trouble], it is good for a man to remain as he is.
7:27:Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you unmarried? Do not seek a wife.
7:28:But if you do marry, you have not sinned [in doing so]; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned [in doing so]. Yet those [who marry] will have troubles (special challenges) in this life, and I am trying to spare you that.
7:29:But I say this, believers: the time has been shortened, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they did not;
7:30:and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess [anything];
7:31:and those who use the world [taking advantage of its opportunities], as though they did not make full use of it. For the outward form of this world [its present social and material nature] is passing away.
7:32:But I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
7:33:but the married man is concerned about worldly things, how he may please his wife,
7:34:and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or the virgin is concerned about the matters of the Lord, how to be holy and set apart both in body and in spirit; but a married woman is concerned about worldly things, how she may please her husband.
7:35:Now I say this for your own benefit; not to restrict you, but to promote what is appropriate and secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.
7:36:But if any man thinks that he is not acting properly and honorably toward his virgin daughter, [by not permitting her to marry], if she is past her youth, and it must be so, let him do as he wishes, he does not sin; let her marry.
7:37:But the man who stands firmly committed in his heart, having no compulsion [to yield to his daughter’s request], and has authority over his own will, and has decided in his own heart to keep his own virgin [daughter from being married], he will do well.
7:38:So then both the father who gives his virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.
7:39:A wife is bound [to her husband by law] as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she wishes, only [provided that he too is] in the Lord.
7:40:But in my opinion a widow is happier if she stays as she is. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God [in this matter].
8:1:Take Care with Your Liberty
Now about food sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge [concerning this]. Knowledge [alone] makes [people self-righteously] arrogant, but love [that unselfishly seeks the best for others] builds up and encourages others to grow [in wisdom].
8:2:If anyone imagines that he knows and understands anything [of divine matters, without love], he has not yet known as he ought to know.
8:3:But if anyone loves God [with awe-filled reverence, obedience and gratitude], he is known by Him [as His very own and is greatly loved].
8:4:In this matter, then, of eating food offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world [it has no real existence], and that there is no God but one.
8:5:For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,
8:6:yet for us there is but one God, the Father, who is the source of all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things [that have been created], and we [believers exist and have life and have been redeemed] through Him.
8:7:However, not all [believers] have this knowledge. But some, being accustomed [throughout their lives] to [thinking of] the idol until now [as real and living], still eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and because their conscience is weak, it is defiled (guilty, ashamed).
8:8:Now food will not commend us to God nor bring us close to Him; we are no worse off if we do not eat, nor are we better if we do eat.
8:9:Only be careful that this liberty of yours [this power to choose] does not somehow become a stumbling block [that is, a temptation to sin] to the weak [in conscience].
8:10:For if someone sees you, a person having knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, then if he is weak, will he not be encouraged to eat things sacrificed to idols [and violate his own convictions]?
8:11:For through your knowledge (spiritual maturity) this weak man is ruined [that is, he suffers in his spiritual life], the brother for whom Christ died.
8:12:And when you sin against the brothers and sisters in this way and wound their weak conscience [by confusing them], you sin against Christ.
8:13:Therefore, if [my eating a certain] food causes my brother to stumble (sin), I will not eat [such] meat ever again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.
9:1:Paul’s Use of Liberty
Am I not free [unrestrained and exempt from any obligation]? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our [risen] Lord [in person]? Are you not [the result and proof of] my work in the Lord?
9:2:If I am not [considered] an apostle to others, at least I am one to you; for you are the seal and the certificate and the living evidence of my apostleship in the Lord [confirming and authenticating it].
9:3:This is my defense to those who would put me on trial and interrogate me [concerning my authority as an apostle]:
9:4:Have we not the right to our food and drink [at the expense of the churches]?
9:5:Have we not the right to take along with us a believing wife, as do the rest of the apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas (Peter)?
9:6:Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to stop doing manual labor [in order to support our ministry]?
9:7:[Consider this:] Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?
9:8:Do I say these things only from a man’s perspective? Does the Law not endorse the same principles?
9:9:For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain [to keep it from eating the grain].” Is it [only] for oxen that God cares?
9:10:Or does He speak entirely for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake: The plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the harvest.
9:11:If we have sown [the good seed of] spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?
9:12:If others share in this rightful claim over you, do not we even more? However, we did not exercise this right, but we put up with everything so that we will not hinder [the spread of] the good news of Christ.
9:13:Do you not know that those who officiate in the sacred services of the temple eat from the temple [offerings of meat and bread] and those who regularly attend the altar have their share from the [offerings brought to the] altar?
9:14:So also [on the same principle] the Lord directed those who preach the gospel to get their living from the gospel.
9:15:But I have used none of these privileges, nor am I writing this [to suggest] that any such provision be made for me now. For it would be better for me to die than to have anyone deprive me of my boast [in this matter of financial support].
9:16:For if I [merely] preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for I am compelled [that is, absolutely obligated to do it]. Woe to me if I do not preach the good news [of salvation]!
9:17:For if I do this work of my own free will, then I have a reward; but if it is not of my will [but by God’s choosing], I have been entrusted with a [sacred] stewardship.
9:18:What then is my reward? [Just this:] that, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge [to everyone], so as not to take advantage of my rights [as a preacher and apostle] in [preaching] the gospel.
9:19:For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to everyone, so that I may win more [for Christ].
9:20:To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews [for Christ]; to men under the Law, [I became] as one under the Law, though not being under the Law myself, so that I might win those who are under the Law.
9:21:To those who are without (outside) the Law, [I became] as one without the Law, though [I am] not without the law of God, but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.
9:22:To the weak I became [as the] weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means [in any and every way] save some [by leading them to faith in Jesus Christ].
9:23:And I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings along with you.
9:24:Do you not know that in a race all the runners run [their very best to win], but only one receives the prize? Run [your race] in such a way that you may seize the prize and make it yours!
9:25:Now every athlete who [goes into training and] competes in the games is disciplined and exercises self-control in all things. They do it to win a crown that withers, but we [do it to receive] an imperishable [crown that cannot wither].
9:26:Therefore I do not run without a definite goal; I do not flail around like one beating the air [just shadow boxing].
9:27:But [like a boxer] I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached [the gospel] to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified [as unfit for service].
10:1:Avoid Israel’s Mistakes
For I do not want you to be unaware, believers, that our fathers were all under the cloud [in which God’s presence went before them] and they all passed [miraculously and safely] through the [Red] Sea;
10:2:And all [of them] were baptized into Moses [into his safekeeping as their leader] in the cloud and in the sea;
10:3:and all [of them] ate the same spiritual food;
10:4:and all [of them] drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
10:5:Nevertheless, God was not well-pleased with most of them, for they were scattered along the ground in the wilderness [because their lack of self-control led to disobedience which led to death].
10:6:Now these things [the warnings and admonitions] took place as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did.
10:7:Do not be worshipers of handmade gods, as some of them were; just as it is written [in Scripture], “The people sat down to eat and drink [after sacrificing to the golden calf at Horeb], and stood up to play [indulging in immoral activities].”
10:8:We must not indulge in [nor tolerate] sexual immorality, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand [suddenly] fell [dead] in a single day!
10:9:We must not tempt the Lord [that is, test His patience, question His purpose or exploit His goodness], as some of them did—and they were killed by serpents.
10:10:And do not murmur [in unwarranted discontent], as some of them did—and were destroyed by the destroyer.
10:11:Now these things happened to them as an example and warning [to us]; they were written for our instruction [to admonish and equip us], upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
10:12:Therefore let the one who thinks he stands firm [immune to temptation, being overconfident and self-righteous], take care that he does not fall [into sin and condemnation].
10:13:No temptation [regardless of its source] has overtaken or enticed you that is not common to human experience [nor is any temptation unusual or beyond human resistance]; but God is faithful [to His word—He is compassionate and trustworthy], and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability [to resist], but along with the temptation He [has in the past and is now and] will [always] provide the way out as well, so that you will be able to endure it [without yielding, and will overcome temptation with joy].
10:14:Therefore, my beloved, run [keep far, far away] from [any sort of] idolatry [and that includes loving anything more than God, or participating in anything that leads to sin and enslaves the soul].
10:15:I am speaking as to wise and sensible people; judge [carefully and thoughtfully consider] for yourselves what I say.
10:16:Is the cup of blessing which we bless [at the Lord’s Supper] not a sharing in the blood of Christ? [Indeed it is.] Is the bread which we break not a sharing in the body of Christ? [Indeed it is.]
10:17:Since there is one bread, we [believers] who are many are [united into] one body; for we all partake of the one bread [which represents the body of Christ].
10:18:Consider the people of Israel; are those who eat the sacrifices not partners of the altar [united in their worship of the same God]? [Indeed they are.]
10:19:What do I mean then? That a thing offered to idols is anything [special or changed simply because it is offered], or that an idol is anything?
10:20:On the contrary, the things which the Gentiles (pagans) sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons [in effect], and not to God; and I do not want you to become partners with demons [by eating at feasts in pagan temples].
10:21:You cannot drink [both] the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot share in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons [thereby becoming partners with them].
10:22:Do we [really] provoke the Lord to jealousy [when we eat food sacrificed to handmade “gods” at pagan feasts]? Are we [spiritually] stronger than He? [Certainly not! He knows that the idols are nothing. But we deeply offend Him.]
10:23:All things are lawful [that is, morally legitimate, permissible], but not all things are beneficial or advantageous. All things are lawful, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life].
10:24:Let no one seek [only] his own good, but [also] that of the other person.
10:25:[Regarding meat offered to idols:] Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking any questions for the sake of your conscience,
10:26:For the [whole] earth is the Lord’s, and everything that is in it.
10:27:If one of the unbelievers invites you [to a meal at his home] and you want to go, eat whatever is served to you without asking questions [about its source] for the sake of your conscience.
10:28:But if anyone says to you, “This meat has been offered in sacrifice to an idol,” do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who told you, and for conscience’s sake—
10:29:and by conscience I mean for the sake of the other man’s, not yours. For why is my freedom [of choice] judged by another’s conscience [another’s ethics—another’s sense of right and wrong]?
10:30:If I take my share [of food] with thankfulness, why am I accused because of something for which I give thanks?
10:31:So then, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of [our great] God.
10:32:Do not offend Jews or Greeks or even the church of God [but live to honor Him];
10:33:just as I please everyone in all things [as much as possible adapting myself to the interests of others], not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, so that they [will be open to the message of salvation and] may be saved.
11:1:Christian Order
Imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
11:2:I praise and appreciate you because you remember me in everything and you firmly hold to the traditions [the substance of my instructions], just as I have passed them on to you.
11:3:But I want you to understand that Christ is the head (authority over) of every man, and man is the head of woman, and God is the head of Christ.
11:4:Every man who prays or prophesies with something on his head dishonors his head [and the One who is his head].
11:5:And every woman who prays or prophesies when she has her head uncovered disgraces her head; for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved [in disgrace].
11:6:If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head.
11:7:A man ought not have his head covered [during worship], since he is the image and [reflected] glory of God; but the woman is [the expression of] man’s glory.
11:8:For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man;
11:9:for indeed man was not created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man.
11:10:Therefore the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, for the sake of the angels [so as not to offend them].
11:11:Nevertheless, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
11:12:For as the woman originates from the man, so also man is born through the woman; and all things [whether male or female] originate from God [as their Creator].
11:13:Judge for yourselves; is it proper for a woman to offer prayer to God [publicly] with her head uncovered?
11:14:Does not common sense itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him,
11:15:but if a woman has long hair, it is her ornament and glory? For her long hair is given to her as a covering.
11:16:Now if anyone is inclined to be contentious [about this], we have no other practice [in worship than this], nor do the churches of God [in general].
11:17:But in giving this next instruction, I do not praise you, because when you meet together it is not for the better but for the worse.
11:18:For, in the first place, when you meet together in church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and in part I believe it,
11:19:for [doubtless] there have to be factions among you, so that those who are of approved character may be clearly recognized among you.
11:20:So when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper,
11:21:for when you eat, each one hurries to get his own supper first [not waiting for others or the poor]. So one goes hungry while another gets drunk.
11:22:What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those [impoverished believers] who have nothing? What will I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? In this I will not praise you!
11:23:The Lord’s Supper
For I received from the Lord Himself that [instruction] which I passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
11:24:and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is (represents) My body, which is [offered as a sacrifice] for you. Do this in [affectionate] remembrance of Me.”
11:25:In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant [ratified and established] in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in [affectionate] remembrance of Me.”
11:26:For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are [symbolically] proclaiming [the fact of] the Lord’s death until He comes [again].
11:27:So then whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is unworthy [of Him] will be guilty of [profaning and sinning against] the body and blood of the Lord.
11:28:But a person must [prayerfully] examine himself [and his relationship to Christ], and only when he has done so should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
11:29:For anyone who eats and drinks [without solemn reverence and heartfelt gratitude for the sacrifice of Christ], eats and drinks a judgment on himself if he does not recognize the body [of Christ].
11:30:That [careless and unworthy participation] is the reason why many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep [in death].
11:31:But if we evaluated and judged ourselves honestly [recognizing our shortcomings and correcting our behavior], we would not be judged.
11:32:But when we [fall short and] are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined [by undergoing His correction] so that we will not be condemned [to eternal punishment] along with the world.
11:33:So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat [the Lord’s Supper], wait for one another [and see to it that no one is left out].
11:34:If anyone is too hungry [to wait], let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment [on yourselves]. About the remaining matters [of which I was informed], I will take care of them when I come.
12:1:The Use of Spiritual Gifts
Now about the spiritual gifts [the special endowments given by the Holy Spirit], brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.
12:2:You know that when you were pagans, you were led off after speechless idols; however you were led off [whether by impulse or habit].
12:3:Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the [power and influence of the] Spirit of God can say, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is [my] Lord,” except by [the power and influence of] the Holy Spirit.
12:4:Now there are [distinctive] varieties of spiritual gifts [special abilities given by the grace and extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit operating in believers], but it is the same Spirit [who grants them and empowers believers].
12:5:And there are [distinctive] varieties of ministries and service, but it is the same Lord [who is served].
12:6:And there are [distinctive] ways of working [to accomplish things], but it is the same God who produces all things in all believers [inspiring, energizing, and empowering them].
12:7:But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit [the spiritual illumination and the enabling of the Holy Spirit] for the common good.
12:8:To one is given through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] the message of wisdom, and to another [the power to express] the word of knowledge and understanding according to the same Spirit;
12:9:to another [wonder-working] faith [is given] by the same [Holy] Spirit, and to another the [extraordinary] gifts of healings by the one Spirit;
12:10:and to another the working of miracles, and to another prophecy [foretelling the future, speaking a new message from God to the people], and to another discernment of spirits [the ability to distinguish sound, godly doctrine from the deceptive doctrine of man-made religions and cults], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues.
12:11:All these things [the gifts, the achievements, the abilities, the empowering] are brought about by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, distributing to each one individually just as He chooses.
12:12:For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts, though many, form [only] one body, so it is with Christ.
12:13:For by one [Holy] Spirit we were all baptized into one body, [spiritually transformed—united together] whether Jews or Greeks (Gentiles), slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one [Holy] Spirit [since the same Holy Spirit fills each life].
12:14:For the [human] body does not consist of one part, but of many [limbs and organs].
12:15:If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” is it not on the contrary still a part of the body?
12:16:If the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” is it not on the contrary still a part of the body?
12:17:If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole [body] were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
12:18:But now [as things really are], God has placed and arranged the parts in the body, each one of them, just as He willed and saw fit [with the best balance of function].
12:19:If they all were a single organ, where would [the rest of] the body be?
12:20:But now [as things really are] there are many parts [different limbs and organs], but a single body.
12:21:The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
12:22:But quite the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are [absolutely] necessary;
12:23:and as for those parts of the body which we consider less honorable, these we treat with greater honor; and our less presentable parts are treated with greater modesty,
12:24:while our more presentable parts do not require it. But God has combined the [whole] body, giving greater honor to that part which lacks it,
12:25:so that there would be no division or discord in the body [that is, lack of adaptation of the parts to each other], but that the parts may have the same concern for one another.
12:26:And if one member suffers, all the parts share the suffering; if one member is honored, all rejoice with it.
12:27:Now you [collectively] are Christ’s body, and individually [you are] members of it [each with his own special purpose and function].
12:28:So God has appointed and placed in the church [for His own use]: first apostles [chosen by Christ], second prophets [those who foretell the future, those who speak a new message from God to the people], third teachers, then those who work miracles, then those with the gifts of healings, the helpers, the administrators, and speakers in various kinds of [unknown] tongues.
12:29:Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?
12:30:Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
12:31:But earnestly desire and strive for the greater gifts [if acquiring them is going to be your goal].
And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one of the choicest graces and the highest of them all: unselfish love].
13:1:The Excellence of Love
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love [for others growing out of God’s love for me], then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying distraction].
13:2:And if I have the gift of prophecy [and speak a new message from God to the people], and understand all mysteries, and [possess] all knowledge; and if I have all [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love [reaching out to others], I am nothing.
13:3:If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good at all.
13:4:Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant.
13:5:It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured.
13:6:It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail].
13:7:Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].
13:8:Love never fails [it never fades nor ends]. But as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for the gift of special knowledge, it will pass away.
13:9:For we know in part, and we prophesy in part [for our knowledge is fragmentary and incomplete].
13:10:But when that which is complete and perfect comes, that which is incomplete and partial will pass away.
13:11:When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
13:12:For now [in this time of imperfection] we see in a mirror dimly [a blurred reflection, a riddle, an enigma], but then [when the time of perfection comes we will see reality] face to face. Now I know in part [just in fragments], but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known [by God].
13:13:And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God’s love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love.
14:1:Prophecy a Superior Gift
Pursue [this] love [with eagerness, make it your goal], yet earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual gifts [to be used by believers for the benefit of the church], but especially that you may prophesy [to foretell the future, to speak a new message from God to the people].
14:2:For one who speaks in an unknown tongue does not speak to people but to God; for no one understands him or catches his meaning, but by the Spirit he speaks mysteries [secret truths, hidden things].
14:3:But [on the other hand] the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification [to promote their spiritual growth] and [speaks words of] encouragement [to uphold and advise them concerning the matters of God] and [speaks words of] consolation [to compassionately comfort them].
14:4:One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church [promotes growth in spiritual wisdom, devotion, holiness, and joy].
14:5:Now I wish that all of you spoke in unknown tongues, but even more [I wish] that you would prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater [and more useful] than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he translates or explains [what he says], so that the church may be edified [instructed, improved, strengthened].
14:6:Now, believers, if I come to you speaking in unknown tongues, how will I benefit you unless I also speak to you [clearly] either by revelation [revealing God’s mystery], or by knowledge [teaching about God], or by prophecy [foretelling the future, speaking a new message from God to the people], or by instruction [teaching precepts that develop spiritual maturity]?
14:7:Yet even lifeless things, whether flute or harp, when producing a sound, if they do not produce distinct [musical] tones, how will anyone [listening] know what is piped or played?
14:8:And if the [war] bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle?
14:9:So it is with you, if you speak words [in an unknown tongue] that are not intelligible and clear, how will anyone understand what you are saying? You will be talking into the air [wasting your breath]!
14:10:There are, I suppose, a great many kinds of languages in the world [unknown to us], and none is lacking in meaning.
14:11:But if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will [appear to] be a foreigner to the one who is speaking [since he knows exactly what he is saying], and the one who is speaking will [appear to] be a foreigner to me.
14:12:So it is with you, since you are so very eager to have spiritual gifts and manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in ways that will build up the church [spiritually].
14:13:Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may [be gifted to] translate or explain [what he says].
14:14:For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unproductive [because it does not understand what my spirit is praying].
14:15:Then what am I to do? I will pray with the spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me] and I will pray with the mind [using words I understand]; I will sing with the spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me] and I will sing with the mind [using words I understand].
14:16:Otherwise if you bless [and give thanks to God] in the spirit only, how will any outsider or someone who is not gifted [in spiritual matters] say the “Amen” [of agreement] to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?
14:17:You are giving thanks well enough [in a way that God is glorified], but the other person [who does not understand you] is not edified [and spiritually strengthened since he cannot join in your thanksgiving].
14:18:I thank God that I speak in [unknown] tongues more than all of you;
14:19:nevertheless, in public worship I would rather say five understandable words in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue [which others cannot understand].
14:20:Instruction for the Church
Brothers and sisters, do not be children [immature, childlike] in your thinking; be infants in [matters of] evil [completely innocent and inexperienced], but in your minds be mature [adults].
14:21:It is written in the Law, “By men of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, and not even then will they listen to Me,” says the Lord.
14:22:Therefore, [unknown] tongues are [meant] for a [supernatural] sign, not to believers but to unbelievers [who might be receptive]; while prophecy [foretelling the future, speaking a new message from God to the people] is not for unbelievers but for believers.
14:23:So then, if the whole church gathers together and all of you speak in [unknown] tongues, and outsiders or those who are not gifted [in spiritual matters] or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
14:24:But if all prophesy [foretelling the future, speaking a new message from God to the people], and an unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is convicted [of his sins] by all, and he is called to account by all [because he can understand what is being said];
14:25:the secrets of his heart are laid bare. And so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that God is really among you.
14:26:What then is the right course, believers? When you meet together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation (disclosure of special knowledge), a tongue, or an interpretation. Let everything be constructive and edifying and done for the good of all the church.
14:27:If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be limited to two or at the most three, and each one speaking in turn, and one must interpret [what is said].
14:28:But if there is no one to interpret, the one [who wishes to speak in a tongue] must keep silent in church; let him speak to himself and to God.
14:29:Let two or three prophets speak [as inspired by the Holy Spirit], while the rest pay attention and weigh carefully what is said.
14:30:But if an inspired revelation is made to another who is seated, then the first one must be silent.
14:31:For [in this way] you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may be instructed and everyone may be encouraged;
14:32:for the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets [the prophecy is under the speaker’s control, and he can stop speaking];
14:33:for God [who is the source of their prophesying] is not a God of confusion and disorder but of peace and order.
As [is the practice] in all the churches of the saints (God’s people),
14:34:the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not authorized to speak, but are to take a subordinate place, as the Law says.
14:35:If there is anything they want to learn [that is, if they have questions about anything being said or taught], they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to talk in church.
14:36:Did the word of the Lord originate from you [Corinthians], or has it come to you only [so that you know best what God requires]?
14:37:If anyone thinks and claims that he is a prophet [a true spokesman for God] or spiritually astute [filled with and energized by the Holy Spirit], let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment.
14:38:If anyone does not recognize this [that it is a command of the Lord], he is not recognized [by God].
14:39:Therefore, believers, desire earnestly to prophesy [to foretell the future, to speak a new message from God to the people], and do not forbid speaking in unknown tongues.
14:40:But all things must be done appropriately and in an orderly manner.
15:1:The Fact of Christ’s Resurrection
Now brothers and sisters, let me remind you [once again] of the good news [of salvation] which I preached to you, which you welcomed and accepted and on which you stand [by faith].
15:2:By this faith you are saved [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain [just superficially and without complete commitment].
15:3:For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold],
15:4:and that He was buried, and that He was [bodily] raised on the third day according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold],
15:5:and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the Twelve.
15:6:After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep [in death].
15:7:Then He was seen by James, then by all the apostles,
15:8:and last of all, as to one untimely (prematurely, traumatically) born, He appeared to me also.
15:9:For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I [at one time] fiercely oppressed and violently persecuted the church of God.
15:10:But by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect. In fact, I worked harder than all of the apostles, though it was not I, but the grace of God [His unmerited favor and blessing which was] with me.
15:11:So whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed and trusted in and relied on with confidence.
15:12:Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
15:13:But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;
15:14:and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain [useless, amounting to nothing], and your faith is also vain [imaginary, unfounded, devoid of value and benefit—not based on truth].
15:15:We are even discovered to be false witnesses [misrepresenting] God, because we testified concerning Him that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.
15:16:For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised, either;
15:17:and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless and powerless [mere delusion]; you are still in your sins [and under the control and penalty of sin].
15:18:Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
15:19:If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hoped only in this life [and this is all there is], then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied.
15:20:The Order of Resurrection
But now [as things really are] Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, [and He became] the first fruits [that is, the first to be resurrected with an incorruptible, immortal body, foreshadowing the resurrection] of those who have fallen asleep [in death].
15:21:For since [it was] by a man that death came [into the world], it is also by a Man that the resurrection of the dead has come.
15:22:For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
15:23:But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s [own will be resurrected with incorruptible, immortal bodies] at His coming.
15:24:After that comes the end (completion), when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after He has made inoperative and abolished every ruler and every authority and power.
15:25:For Christ must reign [as King] until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
15:26:The last enemy to be abolished and put to an end is death.
15:27:For He (the Father) has put all things in subjection under His (Christ’s) feet. But when He says, “All things have been put in subjection [under Christ],” it is clear that He (the Father) who put all things in subjection to Him (Christ) is excepted [since the Father is not in subjection to His own Son].
15:28:However, when all things are subjected to Him (Christ), then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One (the Father) who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all [manifesting His glory without any opposition, the supreme indwelling and controlling factor of life].
15:29:Otherwise, what will those do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people even baptized for them?
15:30:[For that matter] why are we [running such risks and putting ourselves] in danger [nearly] every hour [if there is no resurrection]?
15:31:I assure you, believers, by the pride which I have in you in [your union with] Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily [I face death and die to self].
15:32:What good has it done me if, [merely] from a human point of view, I fought with wild animals at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised [at all], let us eat and drink [enjoying ourselves now], for tomorrow we die.
15:33:Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
15:34:Be sober-minded [be sensible, wake up from your spiritual stupor] as you ought, and stop sinning; for some [of you] have no knowledge of God [you are disgracefully ignorant of Him, and ignore His truths]. I say this to your shame.
15:35:But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body will they come?”
15:36:You fool! Every time you plant seed you sow something that does not come to life [germinating, springing up and growing] unless it first dies.
15:37:The seed you sow is not the body (the plant) which it is going to become, but it is a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain.
15:38:But God gives it a body just as He planned, and to each kind of seed a body of its own [is given].
15:39:All flesh is not the same. There is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
15:40:There are also heavenly bodies [sun, moon and stars] and earthly bodies [humans, animals, and plants], but the glory and beauty of the heavenly is one kind, and the glory of the earthly is another.
15:41:There is a glory and beauty of the sun, another glory of the moon, and yet another [distinctive] glory of the stars; and one star differs from another in glory and brilliance.
15:42:So it is with the resurrection of the dead. The [human] body that is sown is perishable and mortal, it is raised imperishable and immortal.
15:43:It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength;
15:44:it is sown a natural body [mortal, suited to earth], it is raised a spiritual body [immortal, suited to heaven]. As surely as there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.
15:45:So it is written [in Scripture], “The first man, Adam, became a living soul (an individual);” the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving spirit [restoring the dead to life].
15:46:However, the spiritual [the immortal life] is not first, but the physical [the mortal life]; then the spiritual.
15:47:The first man [Adam] is from the earth, earthy [made of dust]; the second Man [Christ, the Lord] is from heaven.
15:48:As is the earthly man [the man of dust], so are those who are of earth; and as is the heavenly [Man], so are those who are of heaven.
15:49:Just as we have borne the image of the earthly [the man of dust], we will also bear the image of the heavenly [the Man of heaven].
15:50:The Mystery of Resurrection
Now I say this, believers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit nor be part of the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable (mortal) inherit the imperishable (immortal).
15:51:Listen very carefully, I tell you a mystery [a secret truth decreed by God and previously hidden, but now revealed]; we will not all sleep [in death], but we will all be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed],
15:52:in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at [the sound of] the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [who believed in Christ] will be raised imperishable, and we will be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed].
15:53:For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us that is capable of dying] must put on immortality [which is freedom from death].
15:54:And when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says, “Death is swallowed up in victory (vanquished forever).
15:55:O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
15:56:The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin [by which it brings death] is the law;
15:57:but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory [as conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.
15:58:Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose].
16:1:Instructions and Greetings
Now concerning the money collected for [the relief of] the saints [in Jerusalem], you are to do the same as I directed the churches of Galatia to do.
16:2:On the first day of every week each one of you is to put something aside, in proportion to his prosperity, and save it so that no collections [will need to] be made when I come.
16:3:When I arrive, I will send whomever you approve with letters [of authorization] to take your gift [of charity and love] to Jerusalem;
16:4:and if it is fitting for me to go too, they will accompany me.
16:5:I will visit you after I go through Macedonia, for I am only passing through Macedonia;
16:6:but it may be that I will stay with you [for a while], or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way to wherever I may go afterward.
16:7:For I do not wish to see you right now just in passing, but I hope to remain with you for some time [later on], if the Lord permits.
16:8:But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,
16:9:because a wide door for effective service has opened to me [in Ephesus, a very promising opportunity], and there are many adversaries.
16:10:If Timothy comes, see to it that [you put him at ease, so that] he has nothing to fear in regard to you, for he is [devotedly] doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.
16:11:So allow no one to treat him with disdain [as if he were inconsequential]. But send him off [cordially, and speed him on his way] in peace, so that he may come to me, for I am expecting him [to come along] with the other brothers.
16:12:As for our brother Apollos, I have strongly encouraged him to visit you with the other brothers. It was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has the opportunity.
16:13:Be on guard; stand firm in your faith [in God, respecting His precepts and keeping your doctrine sound]. Act like [mature] men and be courageous; be strong.
16:14:Let everything you do be done in love [motivated and inspired by God’s love for us].
16:15:Brothers and sisters, you know that those of the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to God’s people—now I urge you
16:16:to be subject to such leaders [treating them with courtesy and respect], and to everyone who helps in the work and labors [for the benefit of yourselves and the church].
16:17:I rejoice because Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus have arrived, for they have made up for your absence.
16:18:They have refreshed my spirit as well as yours. So fully acknowledge such men and deeply appreciate them.
16:19:The churches of Asia send you their greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church [that meets] in their house, send you their warm greetings in the Lord.
16:20:All the believers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
16:21:This greeting is in my own hand—Paul.
16:22:If anyone does not love the Lord [does not obey and respect and believe in Jesus Christ and His message], he is to be accursed. Maranatha (O our Lord, come)!
16:23:The grace of our Lord Jesus [His unmerited favor, His spiritual blessing, His profound mercy] be with you.
16:24:My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.
2_corinthians:1:1:Introduction
Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah) by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God which is at Corinth, and to all the saints (God’s people) throughout Achaia (southern Greece):
1:2:Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:3:Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort,
1:4:who comforts and encourages us in every trouble so that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
1:5:For just as Christ’s sufferings are ours in abundance [as they overflow to His followers], so also our comfort [our reassurance, our encouragement, our consolation] is abundant through Christ [it is truly more than enough to endure what we must].
1:6:But if we are troubled and distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted and encouraged, it is for your comfort, which works [in you] when you patiently endure the same sufferings which we experience.
1:7:And our hope for you [our confident expectation of good for you] is firmly grounded [assured and unshaken], since we know that just as you share as partners in our sufferings, so also you share as partners in our comfort.
1:8:For we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about our trouble in [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor], how we were utterly weighed down, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life [itself].
1:9:Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the sentence of death [and were convinced that we would die, but this happened] so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.
1:10:He rescued us from so great a threat of death, and will continue to rescue us. On Him we have set our hope. And He will again rescue us [from danger and draw us near],
1:11:while you join in helping us by your prayers. Then thanks will be given by many persons on our behalf for the gracious gift [of deliverance] granted to us through the prayers of many [believers].
1:12:Paul’s Integrity
This is our [reason for] proud confidence: our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world [in general], and especially toward you, with pure motives and godly sincerity, not in human wisdom, but in the grace of God [that is, His gracious lovingkindness that leads people to Christ and spiritual maturity].
1:13:For we write you nothing other than what you read and understand [there is no double meaning in what we say]. And I hope you will [accurately] understand [divine things] until the end;
1:14:just as you have [already] partially understood us, [and one day will recognize] that you can be proud of us just as we are of you, in the day of our Lord Jesus.
1:15:It was with this confidence that I planned at first to visit you, so that you might receive twice a token of grace;
1:16:that is, [I wanted] to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and [then] to come back to you [on my return] from Macedonia, and have you send me on my way to Judea.
1:17:So then, was I indecisive or capricious when I was [originally] planning this? Or the things I plan, do I plan in a self-serving way like a worldly man, ready to say, “Yes, yes” and “No, no” [at the same time]?
1:18:But [as surely as] God is faithful and means what He says, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No” [at the same time].
1:19:For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but has proved to be “Yes” in Him [true and faithful, the divine “Yes” affirming God’s promises].
1:20:For as many as are the promises of God, in Christ they are [all answered] “Yes.” So through Him we say our “Amen” to the glory of God.
1:21:Now it is God who establishes and confirms us [in joint fellowship] with you in Christ, and who has anointed us [empowering us with the gifts of the Spirit];
1:22:it is He who has also put His seal on us [that is, He has appropriated us and certified us as His] and has given us the [Holy] Spirit in our hearts as a pledge [like a security deposit to guarantee the fulfillment of His promise of eternal life].
1:23:But I call on God as my soul’s witness, that it was to spare you [pain and discouragement] that I did not come again to Corinth—
1:24:not that we rule [like dictators] over your faith, but rather we work with you for [the increase of] your joy; for in your faith you stand firm [in your strong conviction that Jesus of Nazareth—the Messiah—is the Son of God, through whom we obtain eternal salvation].
2:1:Reaffirm Your Love
But I made up my mind not to grieve you with another painful visit.
2:2:For if I cause you grief [by a well-deserved rebuke], who then provides me enjoyment but the very one whom I have made sad?
2:3:And I wrote this same thing to you, so that when I came, I would not be filled with sorrow by those who ought to make me glad, for I trusted in you and felt confident that my joy would be shared by all of you.
2:4:For I wrote to you out of great distress and with an anguished heart, and with many tears, not to cause you sorrow but to make you realize the [overflowing] love which I have especially for you.
2:5:But if someone has caused [all this] sorrow, he has caused it not to me, but in some degree—not to put it too severely—[he has distressed and grieved] all of you.
2:6:For such a one this punishment by the majority is sufficient,
2:7:so instead [of further rebuke, now] you should rather [graciously] forgive and comfort and encourage him, to keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
2:8:Therefore I urge you to reinstate him in your affections and reaffirm your love for him.
2:9:For this was my purpose in writing, to see if you would stand the test, whether you are obedient and committed to following my instruction in all things.
2:10:If you forgive anyone anything, I too forgive [that one]; and what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of [and with the approval of] Christ,
2:11:to keep Satan from taking advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
2:12:Now when I arrived at Troas to preach the good news of Christ, even though a door [of opportunity] opened for me in the Lord,
2:13:my spirit could not rest because I did not find my brother Titus there; so saying goodbye to them, I left for Macedonia.
2:14:But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us spreads and makes evident everywhere the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Him.
2:15:For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which ascends] to God, [discernible both] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;
2:16:to the latter one an aroma from death to death [a fatal, offensive odor], but to the other an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is adequate and sufficiently qualified for these things?
2:17:For we are not like many, [acting like merchants] peddling God’s word [shortchanging and adulterating God’s message]; but from pure [uncompromised] motives, as [commissioned and sent] from God, we speak [His message] in Christ in the sight of God.
3:1:Ministers of a New Covenant
Are we starting to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some [false teachers], letters of recommendation to you or from you? [No!]
3:2:You are our letter [of recommendation], written in our hearts, recognized and read by everyone.
3:3:You show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
3:4:Such is the confidence and steadfast reliance and absolute trust that we have through Christ toward God.
3:5:Not that we are sufficiently qualified in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency and qualifications come from God.
3:6:He has qualified us [making us sufficient] as ministers of a new covenant [of salvation through Christ], not of the letter [of a written code] but of the Spirit; for the letter [of the Law] kills [by revealing sin and demanding obedience], but the Spirit gives life.
3:7:Now if the ministry of death, engraved in letters on stones [the covenant of the Law which led to death because of sin], came with such glory and splendor that the Israelites were not able to look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, [a brilliance] that was fading,
3:8:how will the ministry of the Spirit [the new covenant which allows us to be Spirit-filled] fail to be even more glorious and splendid?
3:9:For if the ministry that brings condemnation [the old covenant, the Law] has glory, how much more does glory overflow in the ministry that brings righteousness [the new covenant which declares believers free of guilt and sets them apart for God’s special purpose]!
3:10:Indeed, what had glory [the Law], in this case no longer has glory because of the glory that surpasses it [the gospel].
3:11:For if that [Law] which fades away came with glory, how much more must that [gospel] which remains and is permanent abide in glory and splendor!
3:12:Since we have such a [glorious] hope and confident expectation, we speak with great courage,
3:13:and we are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites would not gaze at the end of the glory which was fading away.
3:14:But [in fact] their minds were hardened [for they had lost the ability to understand]; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed [only] in Christ.
3:15:But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil [of blindness] lies over their heart;
3:16:but whenever a person turns [in repentance and faith] to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
3:17:Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [emancipation from bondage, true freedom].
3:18:And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.
4:1:Paul’s Apostolic Ministry
Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as we received mercy [from God, granting us salvation, opportunities, and blessings], we do not get discouraged nor lose our motivation.
4:2:But we have renounced the disgraceful things hidden because of shame; not walking in trickery or adulterating the word of God, but by stating the truth [openly and plainly], we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
4:3:But even if our gospel is [in some sense] hidden [behind a veil], it is hidden [only] to those who are perishing;
4:4:among them the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving to prevent them from seeing the illuminating light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
4:5:For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves [merely] as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.
4:6:For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give us the Light of the knowledge of the glory and majesty of God [clearly revealed] in the face of Christ.
4:7:But we have this precious treasure [the good news about salvation] in [unworthy] earthen vessels [of human frailty], so that the grandeur and surpassing greatness of the power will be [shown to be] from God [His sufficiency] and not from ourselves.
4:8:We are pressured in every way [hedged in], but not crushed; perplexed [unsure of finding a way out], but not driven to despair;
4:9:hunted down and persecuted, but not deserted [to stand alone]; struck down, but never destroyed;
4:10:always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the [resurrection] life of Jesus also may be shown in our body.
4:11:For we who live are constantly [experiencing the threat of] being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the [resurrection] life of Jesus also may be evidenced in our mortal body [which is subject to death].
4:12:So physical death is [actively] at work in us, but [spiritual] life [is actively at work] in you.
4:13:Yet we have the same spirit of faith as he had, who wrote in Scripture, “I believed, therefore I spoke.” We also believe, therefore we also speak,
4:14:knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and will present us [along] with you in His presence.
4:15:For all [these] things are for your sake, so that as [God’s remarkable, undeserved] grace reaches to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of [our great] God.
4:16:Therefore we do not become discouraged [spiritless, disappointed, or afraid]. Though our outer self is [progressively] wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day by day.
4:17:For our momentary, light distress [this passing trouble] is producing for us an eternal weight of glory [a fullness] beyond all measure [surpassing all comparisons, a transcendent splendor and an endless blessedness]!
4:18:So we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen; for the things which are visible are temporal [just brief and fleeting], but the things which are invisible are everlasting and imperishable.
5:1:The Temporal and Eternal
For we know that if the earthly tent [our physical body] which is our house is torn down [through death], we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
5:2:For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our [immortal, eternal] celestial dwelling,
5:3:so that by putting it on we will not be found naked.
5:4:For while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened [often weighed down, oppressed], not that we want to be unclothed [separated by death from the body], but to be clothed, so that what is mortal [the body] will be swallowed up by life [after the resurrection].
5:5:Now He who has made us and prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the [Holy] Spirit as a pledge [a guarantee, a down payment on the fulfillment of His promise].
5:6:So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—
5:7:for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]—
5:8:we are [as I was saying] of good courage and confident hope, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
5:9:Therefore, whether we are at home [on earth] or away from home [and with Him], it is our [constant] ambition to be pleasing to Him.
5:10:For we [believers will be called to account and] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be repaid for what has been done in the body, whether good or bad [that is, each will be held responsible for his actions, purposes, goals, motives—the use or misuse of his time, opportunities and abilities].
5:11:Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord [and understand the importance of obedience and worship], we persuade people [to be reconciled to Him]. But we are plainly known to God [He knows everything about us]; and I hope that we are plainly known also in your consciences [your God-given discernment].
5:12:We are not commending ourselves to you again, but are giving you an occasion to be [rightfully] proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in [outward] appearances [the virtues they pretend to have] rather than what is [actually] in heart.
5:13:If we are out of our mind [just unstable fanatics as some critics say], it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for your benefit.
5:14:For the love of Christ controls and compels us, because we have concluded this, that One died for all, therefore all died;
5:15:and He died for all, so that all those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for their sake.
5:16:So from now on we regard no one from a human point of view [according to worldly standards and values]. Though we have known Christ from a human point of view, now we no longer know Him in this way.
5:17:Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].
5:18:But all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ [making us acceptable to Him] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [so that by our example we might bring others to Him],
5:19:that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them [but canceling them]. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation [that is, restoration to favor with God].
5:20:So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us; we [as Christ’s representatives] plead with you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God.
5:21:He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness].
6:1:Their Ministry Commended
Working together with Him, we strongly urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain [by turning away from sound doctrine and His merciful kindness].
6:2:For He says,
“At the acceptable time (the time of grace) I listened to you,
And I helped you on the day of salvation.”
Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—
6:3:we put no obstruction in anyone’s path, so that the ministry will not be discredited,
6:4:but we commend ourselves in every way as servants of God: in great endurance, in sufferings, in hardships, in distresses,
6:5:in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in sleepless nights, in hunger,
6:6:in purity and sincerity, in knowledge and spiritual insight, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,
6:7:in [speaking] the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand [like holding the sword to attack] and for the left [like holding the shield to defend],
6:8:amid glory and dishonor; by evil report and good report; branded as deceivers and yet [vindicated as] truthful;
6:9:as unknown [to the world], yet well-known [by God and His people]; as dying, yet we live; as punished, yet not killed;
6:10:as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet bestowing riches on many; as having nothing, yet possessing all things.
6:11:We are speaking freely to you, Corinthians [we are keeping nothing back], and our heart is opened wide.
6:12:There is no limit to our affection for you, but you are limited in your own affection [for us].
6:13:Now in the same way as a fair exchange [for our love toward you]—I am speaking as [I would] to children—open wide [your hearts] to us also.
6:14:Do not be unequally bound together with unbelievers [do not make mismatched alliances with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
6:15:What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial (Satan)? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
6:16:What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said:
“I will dwell among them and walk among them;
And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
6:17:“So come out from among unbelievers and be separate,” says the Lord,
“And do not touch what is unclean;
And I will graciously receive you and welcome you [with favor],
6:18:And I will be a Father to you,
And you will be My sons and daughters,”
Says the Lord Almighty.
7:1:Paul Reveals His Heart
Therefore, since we have these [great and wonderful] promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, completing holiness [living a consecrated life—a life set apart for God’s purpose] in the fear of God.
7:2:Make room for us in your hearts; we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one.
7:3:I do not say this to condemn you, for I have said before that you are [nested] in our hearts [and you will remain there] to die together and to live together [with us].
7:4:Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride and boasting on your behalf. I am filled [to the brim] with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in spite of all our trouble.
7:5:For even when we arrived in Macedonia our bodies had no rest, but we were oppressed at every turn—conflicts and disputes without, fears and dread within.
7:6:But God, who comforts and encourages the depressed and the disquieted, comforted us by the arrival of Titus.
7:7:And not only by his arrival, but also by [his account of] the encouragement which he received in regard to you. He told us about your longing [for us], your mourning [over sin], and how eagerly you took my part and supported me, so that I rejoiced even more.
7:8:For even though I did grieve you with my letter, I do not regret it [now]; though I did regret it —for I see that the letter hurt you, though only for a little while—
7:9:yet I am glad now, not because you were hurt and made sorry, but because your sorrow led to repentance [and you turned back to God]; for you felt a grief such as God meant you to feel, so that you might not suffer loss in anything on our account.
7:10:For [godly] sorrow that is in accord with the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but worldly sorrow [the hopeless sorrow of those who do not believe] produces death.
7:11:For [you can look back and] see what an earnestness and authentic concern this godly sorrow has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves [against charges that you tolerate sin], what indignation [at sin], what fear [of offending God], what longing [for righteousness and justice], what passion [to do what is right], what readiness to punish [those who sin and those who tolerate sin]! At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in the matter.
7:12:So even though I wrote to you [as I did], it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but in order to make evident to you before God how earnestly you do care for us [and your willingness to accept our authority].
7:13:It is for this reason that we are comforted and encouraged.
And in addition to our comfort, we were especially delighted at the joy of Titus, because you have refreshed his spirit.
7:14:For if I have boasted to him at all concerning you, I was not disappointed. But just as everything we ever said to you was true, so our boasting [about you] to Titus has proved true also.
7:15:His affection is greater than ever as he remembers the obedience [to his guidance] that all of you exhibited, and how you received him with the greatest respect.
7:16:I rejoice that in everything I have [perfect] confidence in you.
8:1:Great Generosity
Now, brothers and sisters, we want to tell you about the grace of God which has been evident in the churches of Macedonia [awakening in them a longing to contribute];
8:2:for during an ordeal of severe distress, their abundant joy and their deep poverty [together] overflowed in the wealth of their lavish generosity.
8:3:For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave voluntarily,
8:4:begging us insistently for the privilege of participating in the service for [the support of] the saints [in Jerusalem].
8:5:Not only [did they give materially] as we had hoped, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us [as His representatives] by the will of God [disregarding their personal interests and giving as much as they possibly could].
8:6:So we urged Titus that, as he began it, he should also complete this gracious work among you as well.
8:7:But just as you excel in everything, [and lead the way] in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in genuine concern, and in your love for us, see that you excel in this gracious work [of giving] also.
8:8:I am not saying this as a command [to dictate to you], but to prove, by [pointing out] the enthusiasm of others, the sincerity of your love as well.
8:9:For you are recognizing [more clearly] the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [His astonishing kindness, His generosity, His gracious favor], that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich (abundantly blessed).
8:10:I give you my opinion in this matter: this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to take action [to help the believers in Jerusalem], but also [the first] to desire to do it.
8:11:So now finish this, so that your eagerness in desiring it may be equaled by your completion of it, according to your ability.
8:12:For if the eagerness [to give] is there, it is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
8:13:For it is not [intended] that others be relieved [of their responsibility] and that you be burdened [unfairly], but that there be equality [in sharing the burden]—
8:14:at this present time your surplus [over necessities] is going to supply their need, so that [at some other time] their surplus may be given to supply your need, that there may be equality;
8:15:as it is written [in Scripture], “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not lack.”
8:16:But thanks be to God who puts the same genuine concern for you in the heart of Titus.
8:17:For Titus not only accepted our appeal, but was so very interested in you that he has gone to visit you of his own accord.
8:18:And we have sent along with him the brother who is praised in the gospel [ministry] throughout all the churches;
8:19:and not only this, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in regard to this gracious offering which we are administering for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our eagerness [as believers to help one another].
8:20:We are taking precaution so that no one will [find anything with which to] discredit us in our administration of this generous gift.
8:21:For we have regard for what is honorable [and above suspicion], not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
8:22:We have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found to be diligent in many things, but who is now even more diligent [than ever] because of his great confidence in you.
8:23:As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker in your service; and as for the [other two] brothers, they are [special] messengers of the churches, a glory and credit to Christ.
8:24:Therefore, show these men, in the sight of the churches, the proof of your love and our reason for being proud of you.
9:1:God Gives Most
Now it is unnecessary for me to write to you about the offering [that is to be made] for the saints [in Jerusalem];
9:2:for I know your eagerness [to promote this cause], and I have [proudly] boasted to the people of Macedonia about it, telling them that Achaia has been prepared since last year [for this contribution], and your enthusiasm has inspired the majority of them [to respond].
9:3:Still, I am sending the brothers [on to you], so that our pride in you may not be an empty boast in this case, and so that you may be prepared, just as I told them you would be;
9:4:otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—to say nothing of yourselves—will be humiliated for being so confident.
9:5:That is why I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go to you [before I come] and make arrangements in advance for this generous, previously promised gift of yours, so that it would be ready, not as something extorted [or wrung out of you], but as a [voluntary and] generous gift.
9:6:Now [remember] this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to others] will also reap generously [and be blessed].
9:7:Let each one give [thoughtfully and with purpose] just as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver [and delights in the one whose heart is in his gift].
9:8:And God is able to make all grace [every favor and earthly blessing] come in abundance to you, so that you may always [under all circumstances, regardless of the need] have complete sufficiency in everything [being completely self-sufficient in Him], and have an abundance for every good work and act of charity.
9:9:As it is written and forever remains written,
“He [the benevolent and generous person] scattered abroad, he gave to the poor,
His righteousness endures forever!”
9:10:Now He who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed for sowing [that is, your resources] and increase the harvest of your righteousness [which shows itself in active goodness, kindness, and love].
9:11:You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous, and this [generosity, administered] through us is producing thanksgiving to God [from those who benefit].
9:12:For the ministry of this service (offering) is not only supplying the needs of the saints (God’s people), but is also overflowing through many expressions of thanksgiving to God.
9:13:Because of this act of ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to the gospel of Christ which you confess, as well as for your generous participation [in this gift] for them and for all [the other believers in need],
9:14:and they also long for you while they pray on your behalf, because of the surpassing measure of God’s grace [His undeserved favor, mercy, and blessing which is revealed] in you.
9:15:Now thanks be to God for His indescribable gift [which is precious beyond words]!
10:1:Paul Describes Himself
Now I, Paul, urge you by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ—I who am meek [so they say] when with you face to face, but bold [outspoken and fearless] toward you when absent!
10:2:I ask that when I do come I will not be driven to the boldness that I intend to show toward those few who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh [like men without the Spirit].
10:3:For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man.
10:4:The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
10:5:We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ,
10:6:being ready to punish every act of disobedience, when your own obedience [as a church] is complete.
10:7:You are looking [only] at the outward appearance of things. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, he should reflect and consider this, that just as he is Christ’s, so too are we.
10:8:For even though I boast rather freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed [of the truth],
10:9:nor do I want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters;
10:10:for they say, “His letters are weighty and forceful and impressive, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible [of no account].”
10:11:Let such people realize that what we say by word in letters when we are absent, is the same as what we are in action when present.
10:12:We do not have the audacity to put ourselves in the same class or compare ourselves with some who [supply testimonials to] commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they lack wisdom and behave like fools.
10:13:We, on the other hand, will not boast beyond our proper limit, but [will keep] within the limits of our commission (territory, authority) which God has granted to us as a measure, which reaches and includes even you.
10:14:We are not overstepping the limits of our province, as if we did not [legitimately] reach to you, for we were the [very] first to come even as far as you with the good news of Christ.
10:15:We do not go beyond our proper limit, boasting in the work of other men, but we have the hope that as your faith [in Christ and His divine power] continues to grow, our field among you may be greatly expanded [but still within the limits of our commission],
10:16:so that we may preach the gospel even in the lands beyond you, but not to boast in work already accomplished in another one’s field of activity.
10:17:However, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
10:18:For it is not he who commends and praises himself who is approved [by God], but it is the one whom the Lord commends and praises.
11:1:Paul Defends His Apostleship
I wish you would bear with me [while I indulge] in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me [as you read this].
11:2:I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy because I have promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
11:3:But I am afraid that, even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted and led away from the simplicity of [your sincere and] pure devotion to Christ.
11:4:For [you seem willing to allow it] if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted. You tolerate all this beautifully [welcoming the deception].
11:5:Yet I consider myself in no way inferior to the [so-called] super-apostles.
11:6:But even if I am unskilled in speaking, yet I am not [untrained] in knowledge [I know what I am talking about]; but we have made this evident to you in every way, in all things.
11:7:Or did I [perhaps] sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted and honored, because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge?
11:8:I robbed other churches by accepting [more than their share of] financial support for my ministry to you.
11:9:And when I was with you and ran short [financially], I did not burden any of you; for what I needed was fully supplied by the brothers (Silas and Timothy) who came from Macedonia (the church at Philippi). So I kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.
11:10:As the truth of Christ is in me, my boast [of independence] will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia (southern Greece).
11:11:Why? Because I do not love you [or wish you well, or have regard for your welfare]? God knows [that I do]!
11:12:But what I am doing I will keep doing, [for I am determined to keep this independence] in order to cut off the claim of those who want an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things they brag about.
11:13:For such men are counterfeit apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
11:14:And no wonder, since Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
11:15:So it is no great surprise if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, but their end will correspond with their deeds.
11:16:I repeat then, let no one think that I am foolish; but even if you do, at least accept me as foolish, so that I too may boast a little.
11:17:What I say in this confident boasting, I say not as the Lord would [with His authority], but foolishly.
11:18:Since many boast [of worldly things and brag] about human accomplishments, I will boast too.
11:19:For you, being so wise, gladly tolerate and accept the foolish [like me]!
11:20:For you tolerate it if anyone makes you his slave; or devours you and your possessions; or takes advantage of you; or acts presumptuously; or hits you in the face.
11:21:To my shame, I must say, we have been too weak [in comparison to those pseudo-apostles who take advantage of you].
But in whatever anyone else dares to boast—I am speaking foolishly—I also dare to boast.
11:22:Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
11:23:Are they [self-proclaimed] servants of Christ?—I am speaking as if I were out of my mind—I am more so [for I exceed them]; with far more labors, with far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, and often in danger of death.
11:24:Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.
11:25:Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent adrift on the sea;
11:26:many times on journeys, [exposed to] danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own countrymen, danger from the Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger on the sea, danger among those posing as believers;
11:27:in labor and hardship, often unable to sleep, in hunger and thirst, often [driven to] fasting [for lack of food], in cold and exposure [without adequate clothing].
11:28:Besides those external things, there is the daily [inescapable] pressure of my concern for all the churches.
11:29:Who is weak, and I do not feel [his] weakness? Who is made to sin, and I am not on fire [with sorrow and concern]?
11:30:If I must boast, I will boast of the things that reveal my weakness [the things by which I am made weak in the eyes of my opponents].
11:31:The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed and to be praised forevermore, knows that I am not lying.
11:32:In Damascus the governor (ethnarch) under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to arrest me,
11:33:and I was [actually] let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and slipped through his fingers.
12:1:Paul’s Vision
It is necessary to boast, though nothing is gained by it; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
12:2:I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, [only] God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven.
12:3:And I know that such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, [only] God knows—
12:4:was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words which man is not permitted to speak [words too sacred to tell].
12:5:On behalf of such a man [and his experiences] I will boast; but in my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses.
12:6:If I wish to boast, I will not be foolish, because I will be speaking the truth. But I abstain [from it], so that no one will credit me with more than [is justified by what] he sees in me or hears from me.
12:7:A Thorn in the Flesh
Because of the surpassing greatness and extraordinary nature of the revelations [which I received from God], for this reason, to keep me from thinking of myself as important, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to torment and harass me—to keep me from exalting myself!
12:8:Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me;
12:9:but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me.
12:10:So I am well pleased with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength].
12:11:Now I have become foolish; you have forced me [by questioning my apostleship]. Actually I should have been commended by you [instead of being treated disdainfully], for I was not inferior to those super-apostles, even if I am nobody.
12:12:The signs that indicate a genuine apostle were performed among you fully and most patiently—signs and wonders and miracles.
12:13:For in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except [for the fact] that I did not burden you [with my financial support]? Forgive me [for doing you] this injustice!
12:14:Now for the third time I am ready to visit you. I will not burden you [financially], because I do not want what is yours [not your money or your possessions], but you. For children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.
12:15:But I will very gladly spend [my own resources] and be utterly spent for your souls. If I love you greatly, am I to be loved less [by you]?
12:16:But be that as it may, I did not burden you [with my support]. But [some say that] I was sly and took you by trickery.
12:17:Did I take advantage of you or make any money off you through any of the messengers I sent you? [Certainly not!]
12:18:I urged Titus to go, and I sent the brother with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did he? [No!] Did we not conduct ourselves in the same spirit and walk in the same steps? [Of course!]
12:19:All this time you have been thinking that we are [merely] defending ourselves to you. It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking [as one] in Christ; and everything, dearly beloved, is to strengthen you [spiritually].
12:20:For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you not to be as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder;
12:21:I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality and decadence which they formerly practiced.
13:1:Examine Yourselves
This is the third time that I am visiting you. Every fact shall be sustained and confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
13:2:I have already warned those who have sinned in the past and all the rest as well, and I warn them now even though I am absent [from you] as I did when I was with you the second time, that if I come back I will not spare anyone,
13:3:since you seek [forensic] proof that Christ is speaking in and through me. He is not weak or ineffective in dealing with you, but powerful within you.
13:4:For even though He was crucified in weakness [yielding Himself], yet He lives [resurrected] by the power of God [His Father]. For we too are weak in Him [as He was humanly weak], yet we are alive and well [in fellowship] with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.
13:5:Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as [committed] believers. Examine yourselves [not me]! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves [by an ongoing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit?
13:6:But I hope you will acknowledge that we do not fail the test nor are we to be rejected.
13:7:But I pray to God that you may do nothing wrong. Not so that we [and our teaching] may appear to be approved, but that you may continue doing what is right, even though we [by comparison] may seem to have failed.
13:8:For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth [and the gospel—the good news of salvation].
13:9:We are glad when we are weak [since God’s power comes freely through us], but you [by comparison] are strong. We also pray for this, that you be made complete [fully restored, growing and maturing in godly character and spirit—pleasing your heavenly Father by the life you live].
13:10:For this reason I am writing these things while absent from you, so that when I come, I will not need to deal severely [with you], in my use of the authority which the Lord has given me [to be used] for building you up and not for tearing you down.
13:11:Finally, believers, rejoice! Be made complete [be what you should be], be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace [enjoy the spiritual well-being experienced by believers who walk closely with God]; and the God of love and peace [the source of lovingkindness] will be with you.
13:12:Greet one another with a holy kiss.
13:13:All God’s people greet you.
13:14:The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
galatians:1:1:Introduction
Paul, an apostle (not commissioned and sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ—the Messiah—and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),
1:2:and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
1:3:Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
1:4:who gave Himself [as a sacrifice to atone] for our sins [to save and sanctify us] so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, in accordance with the will and purpose and plan of our God and Father—
1:5:to Him be [ascribed all] the glory through the ages of the ages. Amen.
1:6:Perversion of the Gospel
I am astonished and extremely irritated that you are so quickly shifting your allegiance and deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different [even contrary] gospel;
1:7:which is really not another [gospel]; but there are [obviously] some [people masquerading as teachers] who are disturbing and confusing you [with a misleading, counterfeit teaching] and want to distort the gospel of Christ [twisting it into something which it absolutely is not].
1:8:But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we [originally] preached to you, let him be condemned to destruction!
1:9:As we have said before, so I now say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel different from that which you received [from us], let him be condemned to destruction!
1:10:Am I now trying to win the favor and approval of men, or of God? Or am I seeking to please someone? If I were still trying to be popular with men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
1:11:Paul Defends His Ministry
For I want you to know, believers, that the gospel which was preached by me is not man’s gospel [it is not a human invention, patterned after any human concept].
1:12:For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a [direct] revelation of Jesus Christ.
1:13:You have heard of my career and former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to hunt down and persecute the church of God extensively and [with fanatical zeal] tried [my best] to destroy it.
1:14:And [you have heard how] I surpassed many of my contemporaries among my countrymen in [my advanced study of the laws of] Judaism, as I was extremely loyal to the traditions of my ancestors.
1:15:But when God, who had chosen me and set me apart before I was born, and called me through His grace, was pleased
1:16:to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles [as the good news—the way of salvation], I did not immediately consult with anyone [for guidance regarding God’s call and His revelation to me].
1:17:Nor did I [even] go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia and stayed awhile, and afterward returned once more to Damascus.
1:18:Then three years later I did go up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas (Peter), and I stayed with him fifteen days.
1:19:But I did not see any other apostle except James, the [half] brother of the Lord.
1:20:(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you as if I were standing before God that I am not lying.)
1:21:Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
1:22:And I was still unknown by sight to the churches which were in Christ in Judea (Jerusalem and the surrounding region);
1:23:they only kept hearing, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the [good news of the] faith which he once was trying to destroy.”
1:24:And they were glorifying God [as the Author and Source of what had taken place and all that had been accomplished] in me.
2:1:The Council at Jerusalem
Then after a period of fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem, [this time] with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.
2:2:I went up [to Jerusalem] because of a [divine] revelation, and I put before them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so in private before those of reputation, for fear that I might be running or had run [the course of my ministry] in vain.
2:3:But [all went well, for] not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled [as some had anticipated] to be circumcised, despite the fact that he was a Greek.
2:4:My concern was because of the false brothers [those people masquerading as Christians] who had been secretly smuggled in [to the community of believers]. They had slipped in to spy on the freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us back into bondage [under the Law of Moses].
2:5:But we did not yield to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would continue to remain with you [in its purity].
2:6:But from those who were of high reputation (whatever they were—in terms of individual importance—makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality—He is not impressed with the positions that people hold nor does He recognize distinctions such as fame or power)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me [that is, they had nothing to add to my gospel message nor did they impose any new requirements on me].
2:7:But on the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised (Gentiles), just as Peter had been [entrusted to proclaim the gospel] to the circumcised (Jews);
2:8:(for He who worked effectively for Peter and empowered him in his ministry to the Jews also worked effectively for me and empowered me in my ministry to the Gentiles).
2:9:And recognizing the grace [that God had] bestowed on me, James and Cephas (Peter) and John, who were reputed to be pillars [of the Jerusalem church], gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we could go to the Gentiles [with their blessing] and they to the circumcised (Jews).
2:10:They asked only [one thing], that we remember the poor, the very thing I was also eager to do.
2:11:Peter (Cephas) Opposed by Paul
Now when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him face to face [about his conduct there], because he stood condemned [by his own actions].
2:12:Before certain men came from James, he used to eat [his meals] with the Gentiles; but when the men [from Jerusalem] arrived, he began to withdraw and separate himself [from the Gentile believers], because he was afraid of those from the circumcision.
2:13:The rest of the Jews joined him in this hypocrisy [ignoring their knowledge that Jewish and Gentile Christians were united, under the new covenant, into one faith], with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.
2:14:But when I saw that they were not being straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas (Peter) in front of everyone, “If you, being a Jew, live [as you have been living] like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how is it that you are [now virtually] forcing the Gentiles to live like Jews [if they want to eat with you]?”
2:15:[I went on to say] “We are Jews by birth and not sinners from among the Gentiles;
2:16:yet we know that a man is not justified [and placed in right standing with God] by works of the Law, but [only] through faith in [God’s beloved Son,] Christ Jesus. And even we [as Jews] have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law. By observing the Law no one will ever be justified [declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty].
2:17:But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ [by faith], we ourselves are found to be sinners, does that make Christ an advocate or promoter of our sin? Certainly not!
2:18:For if I [or anyone else should] rebuild [through word or by practice] what I once tore down [the belief that observing the Law is essential for salvation], I prove myself to be a transgressor.
2:19:For through the Law I died to the Law and its demands on me [because salvation is provided through the death and resurrection of Christ], so that I might [from now on] live to God.
2:20:I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
2:21:I do not ignore or nullify the [gracious gift of the] grace of God [His amazing, unmerited favor], for if righteousness comes through [observing] the Law, then Christ died needlessly. [His suffering and death would have had no purpose whatsoever.]”
3:1:Faith Brings Righteousness
O you foolish and thoughtless and superficial Galatians, who has bewitched you [that you would act like this], to whom—right before your very eyes—Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified [in the gospel message]?
3:2:This is all I want to ask of you: did you receive the [Holy] Spirit as the result of obeying [the requirements of] the Law, or was it the result of hearing [the message of salvation and] with faith [believing it]?
3:3:Are you so foolish and senseless? Having begun [your new life by faith] with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh [that is, by your own works and efforts to keep the Law]?
3:4:Have you suffered so many things and experienced so much all for nothing—if indeed it was all for nothing?
3:5:So then, does He who supplies you with His [marvelous Holy] Spirit and works miracles among you, do it as a result of the works of the Law [which you perform], or because you [believe confidently in the message which you] heard with faith?
3:6:Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, [as conformity to God’s will and purpose—so it is with you also].
3:7:So understand that it is the people who live by faith [with confidence in the power and goodness of God] who are [the true] sons of Abraham.
3:8:The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the good news [of the Savior] to Abraham in advance [with this promise], saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
3:9:So then those who are people of faith [whether Jew or Gentile] are blessed and favored by God [and declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing with Him] along with Abraham, the believer.
3:10:For all who depend on the Law [seeking justification and salvation by obedience to the Law and the observance of rituals] are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed (condemned to destruction) is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, so as to practice them.”
3:11:Now it is clear that no one is justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing] before God by the Law, for “The righteous (the just, the upright) shall live by faith.”
3:12:But the Law does not rest on or require faith [it has nothing to do with faith], but [instead, the Law] says, “He who practices them [the things prescribed by the Law] shall live by them [instead of faith].”
3:13:Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us from the curse of the Law and its condemnation by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs [crucified] on a tree (cross)”—
3:14:in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might also come to the Gentiles, so that we would all receive [the realization of] the promise of the [Holy] Spirit through faith.
3:15:Intent of the Law
Brothers and sisters, I speak in terms of human relations: even though a last will and testament is just a human covenant, yet when it has been signed and made legally binding, no one sets it aside or adds to it [modifying it in some way].
3:16:Now the promises [in the covenants] were decreed to Abraham and to his seed. God does not say, “And to seeds (descendants, heirs),” as if [referring] to many [persons], but as to one, “And to your Seed,” who is [none other than] Christ.
3:17:This is what I mean: the Law, which came into existence four hundred and thirty years later [after the covenant concerning the coming Messiah], does not and cannot invalidate the covenant previously established by God, so as to abolish the promise.
3:18:For if the inheritance [of what was promised] is based on [observing] the Law [as these false teachers claim], it is no longer based on a promise; however, God granted it to Abraham [as a gift] by virtue of His promise.
3:19:Why, then, the Law [what was its purpose]? It was added [after the promise to Abraham, to reveal to people their guilt] because of transgressions [that is, to make people conscious of the sinfulness of sin], and [the Law] was ordained through angels and delivered to Israel by the hand of a mediator [Moses, the mediator between God and Israel, to be in effect] until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made.
3:20:Now the mediator or go-between [in a transaction] is not [needed] for just one party; whereas God is only one [and was the only One giving the promise to Abraham, but the Law was a contract between two, God and Israel; its validity depended on both].
3:21:Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a system of law had been given which could impart life, then righteousness (right standing with God) would actually have been based on law.
3:22:But the Scripture has imprisoned everyone [everything—the entire world] under sin, so that [the inheritance, the blessing of salvation] which was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe [in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s precious Son].
3:23:Now before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, [perpetually] imprisoned [in preparation] for the faith that was destined to be revealed,
3:24:with the result that the Law has become our tutor and our disciplinarian to guide us to Christ, so that we may be justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing with God] by faith.
3:25:But now that faith has come, we are no longer under [the control and authority of] a tutor and disciplinarian.
3:26:For you [who are born-again have been reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified and] are all children of God [set apart for His purpose with full rights and privileges] through faith in Christ Jesus.
3:27:For all of you who were baptized into Christ [into a spiritual union with the Christ, the Anointed] have clothed yourselves with Christ [that is, you have taken on His characteristics and values].
3:28:There is [now no distinction in regard to salvation] neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you [who believe] are all one in Christ Jesus [no one can claim a spiritual superiority].
3:29:And if you belong to Christ [if you are in Him], then you are Abraham’s descendants, and [spiritual] heirs according to [God’s] promise.
4:1:Sonship in Christ
Now what I mean [when I talk about children and their guardians] is this: as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave even though he is the [future owner and] master of all [the estate];
4:2:but he is under [the authority of] guardians and household administrators or managers until the date set by his father [when he is of legal age].
4:3:So also we [whether Jews or Gentiles], when we were children (spiritually immature), were kept like slaves under the elementary [man-made religious or philosophical] teachings of the world.
4:4:But when [in God’s plan] the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the [regulations of the] Law,
4:5:so that He might redeem and liberate those who were under the Law, that we [who believe] might be adopted as sons [as God’s children with all rights as fully grown members of a family].
4:6:And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!”
4:7:Therefore you are no longer a slave (bond-servant), but a son; and if a son, then also an heir through [the gracious act of] God [through Christ].
4:8:But at that time, when you did not know [the true] God and were unacquainted with Him, you [Gentiles] were slaves to those [pagan] things which by [their very] nature were not and could not be gods at all.
4:9:Now, however, since you have come to know [the true] God [through personal experience], or rather to be known by God, how is it that you are turning back again to the weak and worthless elemental principles [of religions and philosophies], to which you want to be enslaved all over again?
4:10:[For example,] you observe [particular] days and months and seasons and years.
4:11:I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored [to the point of exhaustion] over you in vain.
4:12:Believers, I beg of you, become as I am [free from the bondage of Jewish ritualism and ordinances], for I have become as you are [a Gentile]. You did me no wrong [when I first came to you; do not do it now].
4:13:On the contrary, you know that it was because of a physical illness that I [remained and] preached the gospel to you the first time;
4:14:and even though my physical condition was a trial to you, you did not regard it with contempt, or scorn and reject me; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus Himself.
4:15:What then has become of that sense of blessing and the joy that you once had [from your salvation and your relationship with Christ]? For I testify of you that, if possible, you would have torn out your own eyes and given them to me [to replace mine].
4:16:So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
4:17:These men [the Judaizers] eagerly seek you [to entrap you with honeyed words and attention, to win you over to their philosophy], not honorably [for their purpose is not honorable or worthy of consideration]. They want to isolate you [from us who oppose them] so that you will seek them.
4:18:Now it is always pleasant to be eagerly sought after [provided that it is] for a good purpose, and not just when I am with you [seeking you myself—but beware of the others doing it].
4:19:My little children, for whom I am again in [the pains of] labor until Christ is [completely and permanently] formed within you—
4:20:how I wish that I were with you now and could change my tone, because I am perplexed in regard to you.
4:21:Bond and Free
Tell me, you who are bent on being under the Law, do you not listen to [what] the Law [really says]?
4:22:For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman [Hagar] and one by the free woman [Sarah].
4:23:But the child of the slave woman was born according to the flesh and had an ordinary birth, while the son of the free woman was born in fulfillment of the promise.
4:24:Now these facts are about to be used [by me] as an allegory [that is, I will illustrate by using them]: for these women can represent two covenants: one [covenant originated] from Mount Sinai [where the Law was given] that bears children [destined] for slavery; she is Hagar.
4:25:Now Hagar is (represents) Mount Sinai in Arabia and she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
4:26:But the Jerusalem above [that is, the way of faith, represented by Sarah] is free; she is our mother.
4:27:For it is written [in the Scriptures],
“Rejoice, o barren woman who has not given birth;
Break forth into a [joyful] shout, you who are not in labor;
For the desolate woman has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”
4:28:And we, [believing] brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children [not merely of physical descent, like Ishmael, but are children born] of promise [born miraculously].
4:29:But as at that time the child [of ordinary birth] born according to the flesh persecuted the son who was born according to [the promise and working of] the Spirit, so it is now also.
4:30:But what does the Scripture say?
“Cast out the bondwoman [Hagar] and her son [Ishmael],
For never shall the son of the bondwoman be heir and share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.”
4:31:So then, believers, we [who are born again—reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] are not children of a slave woman [the natural], but of the free woman [the supernatural].
5:1:Walk by the Spirit
It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which you once removed].
5:2:Notice, it is I, Paul, who tells you that if you receive circumcision [as a supposed requirement of salvation], Christ will be of no benefit to you [for you will lack the faith in Christ that is necessary for salvation].
5:3:Once more I solemnly affirm to every man who receives circumcision [as a supposed requirement of salvation], that he is under obligation and required to keep the whole Law.
5:4:You have been severed from Christ, if you seek to be justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing with God] through the Law; you have fallen from grace [for you have lost your grasp on God’s unmerited favor and blessing].
5:5:For we [not relying on the Law but] through the [strength and power of the Holy] Spirit, by faith, are waiting [confidently] for the hope of righteousness [the completion of our salvation].
5:6:For [if we are] in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but only faith activated and expressed and working through love.
5:7:You were running [the race] well; who has interfered and prevented you from obeying the truth?
5:8:This [deceptive] persuasion is not from Him who called you [to freedom in Christ].
5:9:A little leaven [a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers] leavens the whole batch [it perverts the concept of faith and misleads the church].
5:10:I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view [contrary to mine on the matter]; but the one who is disturbing you, whoever he is, will have to bear the penalty.
5:11:But as for me, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision [as I had done before I met Christ; and as some accuse me of doing now, as necessary for salvation], why am I still being persecuted [by Jews]? In that case the stumbling block of the cross [to unbelieving Jews] has been abolished.
5:12:I wish that those who are troubling you [by teaching that circumcision is necessary for salvation] would even [go all the way and] castrate themselves!
5:13:For you, my brothers, were called to freedom; only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the sinful nature (worldliness, selfishness), but through love serve and seek the best for one another.
5:14:For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is fulfilled in one precept, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, you shall have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit].”
5:15:But if you bite and devour one another [in bickering and strife], watch out that you [along with your entire fellowship] are not consumed by one another.
5:16:But I say, walk habitually in the [Holy] Spirit [seek Him and be responsive to His guidance], and then you will certainly not carry out the desire of the sinful nature [which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts].
5:17:For the sinful nature has its desire which is opposed to the Spirit, and the [desire of the] Spirit opposes the sinful nature; for these [two, the sinful nature and the Spirit] are in direct opposition to each other [continually in conflict], so that you [as believers] do not [always] do whatever [good things] you want to do.
5:18:But if you are guided and led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the Law.
5:19:Now the practices of the sinful nature are clearly evident: they are sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality (total irresponsibility, lack of self-control),
5:20:idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions [that promote heresies],
5:21:envy, drunkenness, riotous behavior, and other things like these. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
5:22:But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
5:23:gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
5:24:And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature together with its passions and appetites.
5:25:If we [claim to] live by the [Holy] Spirit, we must also walk by the Spirit [with personal integrity, godly character, and moral courage—our conduct empowered by the Holy Spirit].
5:26:We must not become conceited, challenging or provoking one another, envying one another.
6:1:Bear One Another’s Burdens
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well.
6:2:Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love].
6:3:For if anyone thinks he is something [special] when [in fact] he is nothing [special except in his own eyes], he deceives himself.
6:4:But each one must carefully scrutinize his own work [examining his actions, attitudes, and behavior], and then he can have the personal satisfaction and inner joy of doing something commendable without comparing himself to another.
6:5:For every person will have to bear [with patience] his own burden [of faults and shortcomings for which he alone is responsible].
6:6:The one who is taught the word [of God] is to share all good things with his teacher [contributing to his spiritual and material support].
6:7:Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap.
6:8:For the one who sows to his flesh [his sinful capacity, his worldliness, his disgraceful impulses] will reap from the flesh ruin and destruction, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
6:9:Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in.
6:10:So then, while we [as individual believers] have the opportunity, let us do good to all people [not only being helpful, but also doing that which promotes their spiritual well-being], and especially [be a blessing] to those of the household of faith (born-again believers).
6:11:See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.
6:12:Those who want to make a good impression in public [before the Jews] try to compel you to be circumcised, just so they will escape being persecuted for [faithfulness to] the cross of Christ.
6:13:For even the circumcised [Jews] themselves do not [really] keep the Law, but they want to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh [that is, in the fact that they convinced you to be circumcised].
6:14:But far be it from me to boast [in anything or anyone], except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
6:15:For neither is circumcision anything [of any importance], nor uncircumcision, but [only] a new creation [which is the result of a new birth—a spiritual transformation—a new nature in Christ Jesus].
6:16:Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule [who discipline themselves and conduct their lives by this principle], and upon the [true] Israel of God (Jewish believers).
6:17:From now on let no one trouble me [by making it necessary for me to justify my authority as an apostle, and the absolute truth of the gospel], for I bear on my body the branding-marks of Jesus [the wounds, scars, and other outward evidence of persecutions—these testify to His ownership of me].
6:18:The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, my brothers and sisters. Amen.
ephesians:1:1:The Blessings of Redemption
Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed), by the will of God [that is, by His purpose and choice],
To the saints (God’s people) who are at Ephesus and are faithful and loyal and steadfast in Christ Jesus:
1:2:Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:3:Blessed and worthy of praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ,
1:4:just as [in His love] He chose us in Christ [actually selected us for Himself as His own] before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy [that is, consecrated, set apart for Him, purpose-driven] and blameless in His sight. In love
1:5:He predestined and lovingly planned for us to be adopted to Himself as [His own] children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the kind intention and good pleasure of His will—
1:6:to the praise of His glorious grace and favor, which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved [His Son, Jesus Christ].
1:7:In Him we have redemption [that is, our deliverance and salvation] through His blood, [which paid the penalty for our sin and resulted in] the forgiveness and complete pardon of our sin, in accordance with the riches of His grace
1:8:which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and understanding [with practical insight]
1:9:He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ,
1:10:with regard to the fulfillment of the times [that is, the end of history, the climax of the ages]—to bring all things together in Christ, [both] things in the heavens and things on the earth.
1:11:In Him also we have received an inheritance [a destiny—we were claimed by God as His own], having been predestined (chosen, appointed beforehand) according to the purpose of Him who works everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His will,
1:12:so that we who were the first to hope in Christ [who first put our confidence in Him as our Lord and Savior] would exist to the praise of His glory.
1:13:In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation, and [as a result] believed in Him, were stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit [the One promised by Christ] as owned and protected [by God].
1:14:The Spirit is the guarantee [the first installment, the pledge, a foretaste] of our inheritance until the redemption of God’s own [purchased] possession [His believers], to the praise of His glory.
1:15:For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people,
1:16:I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers;
1:17:[I always pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him [for we know the Father through the Son].
1:18:And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your being] may be enlightened [flooded with light by the Holy Spirit], so that you will know and cherish the hope [the divine guarantee, the confident expectation] to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (God’s people),
1:19:and [so that you will begin to know] what the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His [active, spiritual] power is in us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength
1:20:which He produced in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places,
1:21:far above all rule and authority and power and dominion [whether angelic or human], and [far above] every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and world but also in the one to come.
1:22:And He put all things [in every realm] in subjection under Christ’s feet, and appointed Him as [supreme and authoritative] head over all things in the church,
1:23:which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills and completes all things in all [believers].
2:1:Made Alive in Christ
And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins,
2:2:in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God].
2:3:Among these [unbelievers] we all once lived in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by the sinful self], indulging the desires of human nature [without the Holy Spirit] and [the impulses] of the [sinful] mind. We were, by nature, children [under the sentence] of [God’s] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind].
2:4:But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us,
2:5:even when we were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of our sins, He made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment).
2:6:And He raised us up together with Him [when we believed], and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, [because we are] in Christ Jesus,
2:7:[and He did this] so that in the ages to come He might [clearly] show the immeasurable and unsurpassed riches of His grace in [His] kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [by providing for our redemption].
2:8:For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God;
2:9:not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].
2:10:For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].
2:11:Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, who are called “Uncircumcision” by those who called themselves “Circumcision,” [itself a mere mark] which is made in the flesh by human hands—
2:12:remember that at that time you were separated from Christ [excluded from any relationship with Him], alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise [with no share in the sacred Messianic promise and without knowledge of God’s agreements], having no hope [in His promise] and [living] in the world without God.
2:13:But now [at this very moment] in Christ Jesus you who once were [so very] far away [from God] have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
2:14:For He Himself is our peace and our bond of unity. He who made both groups—[Jews and Gentiles]—into one body and broke down the barrier, the dividing wall [of spiritual antagonism between us],
2:15:by abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the hostility caused by the Law with its commandments contained in ordinances [which He satisfied]; so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thereby establishing peace.
2:16:And [that He] might reconcile them both [Jew and Gentile, united] in one body to God through the cross, thereby putting to death the hostility.
2:17:And He came and preached the good news of peace to you [Gentiles] who were far away, and peace to those [Jews] who were near.
2:18:For it is through Him that we both have a [direct] way of approach in one Spirit to the Father.
2:19:So then you are no longer strangers and aliens [outsiders without rights of citizenship], but you are fellow citizens with the saints (God’s people), and are [members] of God’s household,
2:20:having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the [chief] Cornerstone,
2:21:in whom the whole structure is joined together, and it continues [to increase] growing into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, set apart, and sacred to the presence of the Lord].
2:22:In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
3:1:Paul’s Stewardship
For this reason [because I preach that you and believing Jews are joint heirs] I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—
3:2:assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was entrusted to me [to share with you] for your benefit;
3:3:and that by [divine] revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I have already written in brief.
3:4:By referring to this, when you read it you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
3:5:which in other generations was not disclosed to mankind, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the [Holy] Spirit;
3:6:[it is this:] that the Gentiles are now joint heirs [with the Jews] and members of the same body, and joint partakers [sharing] in the [same divine] promise in Christ Jesus through [their faith in] the good news [of salvation].
3:7:Of this [gospel] I was made a minister by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of His power.
3:8:To me, [though I am] the very least of all the saints (God’s people), this grace [which is undeserved] was graciously given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the incomprehensible riches of Christ [that spiritual wealth which no one can fully understand],
3:9:and to make plain [to everyone] the plan of the mystery [regarding the uniting of believing Jews and Gentiles into one body] which [until now] was kept hidden through the ages in [the mind of] God who created all things.
3:10:So now through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God [in all its countless aspects] might now be made known [revealing the mystery] to the [angelic] rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
3:11:This is in accordance with [the terms of] the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
3:12:in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him [that is, our faith gives us sufficient courage to freely and openly approach God through Christ].
3:13:So I ask you not to lose heart at my sufferings on your behalf, for they are your glory and honor.
3:14:For this reason [grasping the greatness of this plan by which Jews and Gentiles are joined together in Christ] I bow my knees [in reverence] before the Father [of our Lord Jesus Christ],
3:15:from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name [God—the first and ultimate Father].
3:16:May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality],
3:17:so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love,
3:18:be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love];
3:19:and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].
3:20:Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us,
3:21:to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.
4:1:Unity of the Spirit
So I, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to you to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called [that is, to live a life that exhibits godly character, moral courage, personal integrity, and mature behavior—a life that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation],
4:2:with all humility [forsaking self-righteousness], and gentleness [maintaining self-control], with patience, bearing with one another in [unselfish] love.
4:3:Make every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace [each individual working together to make the whole successful].
4:4:There is one body [of believers] and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when called [to salvation]—
4:5:one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
4:6:one God and Father of us all who is [sovereign] over all and [working] through all and [living] in all.
4:7:Yet grace [God’s undeserved favor] was given to each one of us [not indiscriminately, but in different ways] in proportion to the measure of Christ’s [rich and abundant] gift.
4:8:Therefore it says,
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And He bestowed gifts on men.”
4:9:(Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had previously descended [from the heights of heaven] into the lower parts of the earth?
4:10:He who descended is the very same as He who also has ascended high above all the heavens, that He [His presence] might fill all things [that is, the whole universe]).
4:11:And [His gifts to the church were varied and] He Himself appointed some as apostles [special messengers, representatives], some as prophets [who speak a new message from God to the people], some as evangelists [who spread the good news of salvation], and some as pastors and teachers [to shepherd and guide and instruct],
4:12:[and He did this] to fully equip and perfect the saints (God’s people) for works of service, to build up the body of Christ [the church];
4:13:until we all reach oneness in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, [growing spiritually] to become a mature believer, reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ [manifesting His spiritual completeness and exercising our spiritual gifts in unity].
4:14:So that we are no longer children [spiritually immature], tossed back and forth [like ships on a stormy sea] and carried about by every wind of [shifting] doctrine, by the cunning and trickery of [unscrupulous] men, by the deceitful scheming of people ready to do anything [for personal profit].
4:15:But speaking the truth in love [in all things—both our speech and our lives expressing His truth], let us grow up in all things into Him [following His example] who is the Head—Christ.
4:16:From Him the whole body [the church, in all its various parts], joined and knitted firmly together by what every joint supplies, when each part is working properly, causes the body to grow and mature, building itself up in [unselfish] love.
4:17:The Christian’s Walk
So this I say, and solemnly affirm together with the Lord [as in His presence], that you must no longer live as the [unbelieving] Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds [and in the foolishness and emptiness of their souls],
4:18:for their [moral] understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; [they are] alienated and self-banished from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the [willful] ignorance and spiritual blindness that is [deep-seated] within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their heart.
4:19:And they, [the ungodly in their spiritual apathy], having become callous and unfeeling, have given themselves over [as prey] to unbridled sensuality, eagerly craving the practice of every kind of impurity [that their desires may demand].
4:20:But you did not learn Christ in this way!
4:21:If in fact you have [really] heard Him and have been taught by Him, just as truth is in Jesus [revealed in His life and personified in Him],
4:22:that, regarding your previous way of life, you put off your old self [completely discard your former nature], which is being corrupted through deceitful desires,
4:23:and be continually renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude],
4:24:and put on the new self [the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God’s image, [godlike] in the righteousness and holiness of the truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation].
4:25:Therefore, rejecting all falsehood [whether lying, defrauding, telling half-truths, spreading rumors, any such as these], speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one another [and we are all parts of the body of Christ].
4:26:Be angry [at sin—at immorality, at injustice, at ungodly behavior], yet do not sin; do not let your anger [cause you shame, nor allow it to] last until the sun goes down.
4:27:And do not give the devil an opportunity [to lead you into sin by holding a grudge, or nurturing anger, or harboring resentment, or cultivating bitterness].
4:28:The thief [who has become a believer] must no longer steal, but instead he must work hard [making an honest living], producing that which is good with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with those in need.
4:29:Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].
4:30:And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [but seek to please Him], by whom you were sealed and marked [branded as God’s own] for the day of redemption [the final deliverance from the consequences of sin].
4:31:Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor [perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding] and slander be put away from you, along with every kind of malice [all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence].
4:32:Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave you.
5:1:Be Imitators of God
Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father];
5:2:and walk continually in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God [slain for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.
5:3:But sexual immorality and all [moral] impurity [indecent, offensive behavior] or greed must not even be hinted at among you, as is proper among saints [for as believers our way of life, whether in public or in private, reflects the validity of our faith].
5:4:Let there be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse [obscene or vulgar] joking, because such things are not appropriate [for believers]; but instead speak of your thankfulness [to God].
5:5:For be sure of this: no immoral, impure, or greedy person—for that one is [in effect] an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God [for such a person places a higher value on something other than God].
5:6:Let no one deceive you with empty arguments [that encourage you to sin], for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience [those who habitually sin].
5:7:So do not participate or even associate with them [in the rebelliousness of sin].
5:8:For once you were darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light [live as those who are native-born to the Light]
5:9:(for the fruit [the effect, the result] of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
5:10:trying to learn [by experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [and letting your lifestyles be examples of what is most acceptable to Him—your behavior expressing gratitude to God for your salvation].
5:11:Do not participate in the worthless and unproductive deeds of darkness, but instead expose them [by exemplifying personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character];
5:12:for it is disgraceful even to mention the things that such people practice in secret.
5:13:But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light [of God’s precepts], for it is light that makes everything visible.
5:14:For this reason He says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine [as dawn] upon you and give you light.”
5:15:Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people],
5:16:making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil.
5:17:Therefore do not be foolish and thoughtless, but understand and firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is.
5:18:Do not get drunk with wine, for that is wickedness (corruption, stupidity), but be filled with the [Holy] Spirit and constantly guided by Him.
5:19:Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, [offering praise by] singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
5:20:always giving thanks to God the Father for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
5:21:being subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.
5:22:Marriage Like Christ and the Church
Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as [a service] to the Lord.
5:23:For the husband is head of the wife, as Christ is head of the church, Himself being the Savior of the body.
5:24:But as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives should be subject to their husbands in everything [respecting both their position as protector and their responsibility to God as head of the house].
5:25:Husbands, love your wives [seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
5:26:so that He might sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word [of God],
5:27:so that [in turn] He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy [set apart for God] and blameless.
5:28:Even so husbands should and are morally obligated to love their own wives as [being in a sense] their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.
5:29:For no one ever hated his own body, but [instead] he nourishes and protects and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,
5:30:because we are members (parts) of His body.
5:31:For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined [and be faithfully devoted] to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
5:32:This mystery [of two becoming one] is great; but I am speaking with reference to [the relationship of] Christ and the church.
5:33:However, each man among you [without exception] is to love his wife as his very own self [with behavior worthy of respect and esteem, always seeking the best for her with an attitude of lovingkindness], and the wife [must see to it] that she respects and delights in her husband [that she notices him and prefers him and treats him with loving concern, treasuring him, honoring him, and holding him dear].
6:1:Family Relationships
Children, obey your parents in the Lord [that is, accept their guidance and discipline as His representatives], for this is right [for obedience teaches wisdom and self-discipline].
6:2:Honor [esteem, value as precious] your father and your mother [and be respectful to them]—this is the first commandment with a promise—
6:3:so that it may be well with you, and that you may have a long life on the earth.
6:4:Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with lovingkindness] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
6:5:Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with respect for authority, and with a sincere heart [seeking to please them], as [service] to Christ—
6:6:not in the way of eye-service [working only when someone is watching you and only] to please men, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart;
6:7:rendering service with goodwill, as to the Lord, and not [only] to men,
6:8:knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive this back from the Lord, whether [he is] slave or free.
6:9:You masters, do the same [showing goodwill] toward them, and give up threatening and abusive words, knowing that [He who is] both their true Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with Him [regardless of one’s earthly status].
6:10:The Armor of God
In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might.
6:11:Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
6:12:For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.
6:13:Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious].
6:14:So stand firm and hold your ground, having tightened the wide band of truth (personal integrity, moral courage) around your waist and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (an upright heart),
6:15:and having strapped on your feet the gospel of peace in preparation [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability and the readiness produced by the good news].
6:16:Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
6:17:And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
6:18:With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people.
6:19:And pray for me, that words may be given to me when I open my mouth, to proclaim boldly the mystery of the good news [of salvation],
6:20:for which I am an ambassador in chains. And pray that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly and courageously, as I should.
6:21:Now, so that you may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything.
6:22:I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are, and that he may comfort and encourage and strengthen your hearts.
6:23:Peace be to the brothers and sisters, and love joined with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
6:24:Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying and incorruptible love.
philippians:1:1:Thanksgiving
Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed),
To all the saints (God’s people) in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, including the overseers and deacons:
1:2:Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:3:I thank my God in every remembrance of you,
1:4:always offering every prayer of mine with joy [and with specific requests] for all of you,
1:5:[thanking God] for your participation and partnership [both your comforting fellowship and gracious contributions] in [advancing] the good news [regarding salvation] from the first day [you heard it] until now.
1:6:I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].
1:7:It is right for me to feel this way about you, because [you have me in your heart as] I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the good news [regarding salvation], all of you share in [His matchless] grace with me.
1:8:For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus [whose great love fills me].
1:9:And this I pray, that your love may abound more and more [displaying itself in greater depth] in real knowledge and in practical insight,
1:10:so that you may learn to recognize and treasure what is excellent [identifying the best, and distinguishing moral differences], and that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ [actually living lives that lead others away from sin];
1:11:filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God [so that His glory may be both revealed and recognized].
1:12:The Gospel Is Preached
Now I want you to know, believers, that what has happened to me [this imprisonment that was meant to stop me] has actually served to advance [the spread of] the good news [regarding salvation].
1:13:My imprisonment in [the cause of] Christ has become common knowledge throughout the whole praetorian (imperial) guard and to everyone else.
1:14:Because of my chains [seeing that I am doing well and that God is accomplishing great things], most of the brothers have renewed confidence in the Lord, and have far more courage to speak the word of God [concerning salvation] without fear [of the consequences, seeing that God can work His good in all circumstances].
1:15:Some, it is true, are [actually] preaching Christ out of envy and rivalry [toward me—for no better reason than a competitive spirit or misguided ambition], but others out of goodwill and a loyal spirit [toward me].
1:16:The latter [preach Christ] out of love, because they know that I have been put here [by God on purpose] for the defense of the gospel;
1:17:but the former preach Christ [insincerely] out of selfish ambition [just self-promotion], thinking that they are causing me distress in my imprisonment.
1:18:What then [does it matter]? So long as in every way, whether in pretense [for self-promotion] or in all honesty [to spread the truth], Christ is being preached; and in this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice [later as well],
1:19:for I know [with confidence] that this will turn out for my deliverance and spiritual well-being, through your prayers and the [superabundant] supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ [which upholds me].
1:20:It is my own eager expectation and hope, that [looking toward the future] I will not disgrace myself nor be ashamed in anything, but that with courage and the utmost freedom of speech, even now as always, Christ will be magnified and exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
1:21:To Live Is Christ
For to me, to live is Christ [He is my source of joy, my reason to live] and to die is gain [for I will be with Him in eternity].
1:22:If, however, it is to be life here and I am to go on living, this will mean useful and productive service for me; so I do not know which to choose [if I am given that choice].
1:23:But I am hard-pressed between the two. I have the desire to leave [this world] and be with Christ, for that is far, far better;
1:24:yet to remain in my body is more necessary and essential for your sake.
1:25:Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,
1:26:so that your rejoicing for me may overflow in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.
1:27:Only [be sure to] lead your lives in a manner [that will be] worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I do come and see you or remain absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit [and one purpose], with one mind striving side by side [as if in combat] for the faith of the gospel.
1:28:And in no way be alarmed or intimidated [in anything] by your opponents, for such [constancy and fearlessness on your part] is a [clear] sign [a proof and a seal] for them of [their impending] destruction, but [a clear sign] for you of deliverance and salvation, and that too, from God.
1:29:For you have been granted [the privilege] for Christ’s sake, not only to believe and confidently trust in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,
1:30:[and so you are] experiencing the same [kind of] conflict which you saw me endure, and which you hear to be mine now.
2:1:Be Like Christ
Therefore if there is any encouragement and comfort in Christ [as there certainly is in abundance], if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship [that we share] in the Spirit, if [there is] any [great depth of] affection and compassion,
2:2:make my joy complete by being of the same mind, having the same love [toward one another], knit together in spirit, intent on one purpose [and living a life that reflects your faith and spreads the gospel—the good news regarding salvation through faith in Christ].
2:3:Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit [through factional motives, or strife], but with [an attitude of] humility [being neither arrogant nor self-righteous], regard others as more important than yourselves.
2:4:Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
2:5:Have this same attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus [look to Him as your example in selfless humility],
2:6:who, although He existed in the form and unchanging essence of God [as One with Him, possessing the fullness of all the divine attributes—the entire nature of deity], did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped or asserted [as if He did not already possess it, or was afraid of losing it];
2:7:but emptied Himself [without renouncing or diminishing His deity, but only temporarily giving up the outward expression of divine equality and His rightful dignity] by assuming the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men [He became completely human but was without sin, being fully God and fully man].
2:8:After He was found in [terms of His] outward appearance as a man [for a divinely-appointed time], He humbled Himself [still further] by becoming obedient [to the Father] to the point of death, even death on a cross.
2:9:For this reason also [because He obeyed and so completely humbled Himself], God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
2:10:so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow [in submission], of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
2:11:and that every tongue will confess and openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord (sovereign God), to the glory of God the Father.
2:12:So then, my dear ones, just as you have always obeyed [my instructions with enthusiasm], not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ].
2:13:For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.
2:14:Do everything without murmuring or questioning [the providence of God],
2:15:so that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish in the midst of a [morally] crooked and [spiritually] perverted generation, among whom you are seen as bright lights [beacons shining out clearly] in the world [of darkness],
2:16:holding out and offering to everyone the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to rejoice greatly because I did not run [my race] in vain nor labor without result.
2:17:But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith [for preaching the message of salvation], still I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
2:18:You too, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
2:19:Timothy and Epaphroditus
But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may also be encouraged by learning news about you.
2:20:For I have no one else [like him who is] so kindred a spirit who will be genuinely concerned for your [spiritual] welfare.
2:21:For the others [who deserted me after my arrest] all seek [to advance] their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
2:22:But you know of Timothy’s tested worth and his proven character, that he has served with me to advance the gospel like a son serving with his father.
2:23:Therefore, I hope [that it is His will] to send him immediately, just as soon as I see how my case turns out;
2:24:and I trust [confidently] in the Lord that soon I also will be coming to you.
2:25:However, I thought it necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, [who has been] my brother and companion and fellow soldier, who was also sent as your messenger to take care of my needs.
2:26:For he has been longing for all of you and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.
2:27:He certainly was sick and close to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.
2:28:So I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you.
2:29:Welcome him home in the Lord with great joy, and appreciate and honor men like him;
2:30:because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me [which distance prevented you from rendering personally].
3:1:The Goal of Life
Finally, my fellow believers, continue to rejoice and delight in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble for me, and it is a safeguard for you.
3:2:Look out for the dogs [the Judaizers, the legalists], look out for the troublemakers, look out for the false circumcision [those who claim circumcision is necessary for salvation];
3:3:for we [who are born-again have been reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, set apart for His purpose and] are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory and take pride and exult in Christ Jesus and place no confidence [in what we have or who we are] in the flesh—
3:4:though I myself might have [some grounds for] confidence in the flesh [if I were pursuing salvation by works]. If anyone else thinks that he has reason to be confident in the flesh [that is, in his own efforts to achieve salvation], I have far more:
3:5:circumcised when I was eight days old, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews [an exemplary Hebrew]; as to the [observance of the] Law, a Pharisee;
3:6:as to my zeal [for Jewish tradition], a persecutor of the church; and as to righteousness [supposed right living] which [my fellow Jews believe] is in the Law, I proved myself blameless.
3:7:But whatever former things were gains to me [as I thought then], these things [once regarded as advancements in merit] I have come to consider as loss [absolutely worthless] for the sake of Christ [and the purpose which He has given my life].
3:8:But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him—a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ,
3:9:and may be found in Him [believing and relying on Him], not having any righteousness of my own derived from [my obedience to] the Law and its rituals, but [possessing] that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.
3:10:And this, so that I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did];
3:11:so that I may attain to the resurrection [that will raise me] from the dead.
3:12:Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own.
3:13:Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
3:14:I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
3:15:All of us who are mature [pursuing spiritual perfection] should have this attitude. And if in any respect you have a different attitude, that too God will make clear to you.
3:16:Only let us stay true to what we have already attained.
3:17:Brothers and sisters, together follow my example and observe those who live by the pattern we gave you.
3:18:For there are many, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, who live as enemies of the cross of Christ [rejecting and opposing His way of salvation],
3:19:whose fate is destruction, whose god is their belly [their worldly appetite, their sensuality, their vanity], and whose glory is in their shame—who focus their mind on earthly and temporal things.
3:20:But [we are different, because] our citizenship is in heaven. And from there we eagerly await [the coming of] the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
3:21:who, by exerting that power which enables Him even to subject everything to Himself, will [not only] transform [but completely refashion] our earthly bodies so that they will be like His glorious resurrected body.
4:1:Think of Excellence
Therefore, my fellow believers, whom I love and long for, my delight and crown [my wreath of victory], in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
4:2:I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree and to work in harmony in the Lord.
4:3:Indeed, I ask you too, my true companion, to help these women [to keep on cooperating], for they have shared my struggle in the [cause of the] gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
4:4:Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him]; again I will say, rejoice!
4:5:Let your gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people. The Lord is near.
4:6:Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God.
4:7:And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].
4:8:Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].
4:9:The things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things [in daily life], and the God [who is the source] of peace and well-being will be with you.
4:10:God’s Provisions
I rejoiced greatly in the Lord, that now at last you have renewed your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned about me before, but you had no opportunity to show it.
4:11:Not that I speak from [any personal] need, for I have learned to be content [and self-sufficient through Christ, satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or uneasy] regardless of my circumstances.
4:12:I know how to get along and live humbly [in difficult times], and I also know how to enjoy abundance and live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret [of facing life], whether well-fed or going hungry, whether having an abundance or being in need.
4:13:I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]
4:14:Nevertheless, it was right of you to share [with me] in my difficulties.
4:15:And you Philippians know that in the early days of preaching the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone;
4:16:for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs.
4:17:Not that I seek the gift itself, but I do seek the profit which increases to your [heavenly] account [the blessing which is accumulating for you].
4:18:But I have received everything in full and more; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent me. They are the fragrant aroma of an offering, an acceptable sacrifice which God welcomes and in which He delights.
4:19:And my God will liberally supply (fill until full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
4:20:To our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
4:21:Remember me to every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you.
4:22:All God’s people wish to be remembered to you, especially those of Caesar’s household.
4:23:The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
colossians:1:1:Thankfulness for Spiritual Attainments
Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed) by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
1:2:To the saints and faithful believers in Christ [who are] at Colossae: Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father.
1:3:We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we pray always for you,
1:4:for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [how you lean on Him with absolute confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness], and of the [unselfish] love which you have for all the saints (God’s people);
1:5:because of the [confident] hope [of experiencing that] which is reserved and waiting for you in heaven. You previously heard of this hope in the message of truth, the gospel [regarding salvation]
1:6:which has come to you. Indeed, just as in the whole world the gospel is constantly bearing fruit and spreading [by God’s power], just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you first heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth [becoming thoroughly and deeply acquainted with it].
1:7:You learned it from [our representative] Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf
1:8:and he also has told us of your love [well-grounded and nurtured] in the [Holy] Spirit.
1:9:For this reason, since the day we heard about it, we have not stopped praying for you, asking [specifically] that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [with insight into His purposes], and in understanding [of spiritual things],
1:10:so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord [displaying admirable character, moral courage, and personal integrity], to [fully] please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing in the knowledge of God [with deeper faith, clearer insight and fervent love for His precepts];
1:11:[we pray that you may be] strengthened and invigorated with all power, according to His glorious might, to attain every kind of endurance and patience with joy;
1:12:giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints (God’s people) in the Light.
1:13:The Incomparable Christ
For He has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself from the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
1:14:in whom we have redemption [because of His sacrifice, resulting in] the forgiveness of our sins [and the cancellation of sins’ penalty].
1:15:He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator] of all creation.
1:16:For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him.
1:17:And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.]
1:18:He is also the head [the life-source and leader] of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will occupy the first place [He will stand supreme and be preeminent] in everything.
1:19:For it pleased the Father for all the fullness [of deity—the sum total of His essence, all His perfection, powers, and attributes] to dwell [permanently] in Him (the Son),
1:20:and through [the intervention of] the Son to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace [with believers] through the blood of His cross; through Him, [I say,] whether things on earth or things in heaven.
1:21:And although you were at one time estranged and alienated and hostile-minded [toward Him], participating in evil things,
1:22:yet Christ has now reconciled you [to God] in His physical body through death, in order to present you before the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach—
1:23:[and He will do this] if you continue in the faith, well-grounded and steadfast, and not shifting away from the [confident] hope [that is a result] of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which [gospel] I, Paul, was made a minister.
1:24:Now I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf. And with my own body I supplement whatever is lacking [on our part] of Christ’s afflictions, on behalf of His body, which is the church.
1:25:In this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship which God entrusted to me for your sake, so that I might make the word of God fully known [among you]—
1:26:that is, the mystery which was hidden [from angels and mankind] for ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His saints (God’s people).
1:27:God [in His eternal plan] chose to make known to them how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in and among you, the hope and guarantee of [realizing the] glory.
1:28:We proclaim Him, warning and instructing everyone in all wisdom [that is, with comprehensive insight into the word and purposes of God], so that we may present every person complete in Christ [mature, fully trained, and perfect in Him—the Anointed].
1:29:For this I labor [often to the point of exhaustion], striving with His power and energy, which so greatly works within me.
2:1:You Are Built Up in Christ
For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those [believers] at Laodicea, and for all who [like yourselves] have never seen me face to face.
2:2:[For my hope is] that their hearts may be encouraged as they are knit together in [unselfish] love, so that they may have all the riches that come from the full assurance of understanding [the joy of salvation], resulting in a true [and more intimate] knowledge of the mystery of God, that is, Christ,
2:3:in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge [regarding the word and purposes of God].
2:4:I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive [but thoroughly deceptive] arguments.
2:5:For even though I am absent [from you] in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, delighted to see your good discipline [as you stand shoulder to shoulder and form a solid front] and to see the stability of your faith in Christ [your steadfast reliance on Him and your unwavering confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].
2:6:Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in [union with] Him [reflecting His character in the things you do and say—living lives that lead others away from sin],
2:7:having been deeply rooted [in Him] and now being continually built up in Him and [becoming increasingly more] established in your faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing in it with gratitude.
2:8:See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception [pseudo-intellectual babble], according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the elementary principles of this world, rather than following [the truth—the teachings of] Christ.
2:9:For in Him all the fullness of Deity (the Godhead) dwells in bodily form [completely expressing the divine essence of God].
2:10:And in Him you have been made complete [achieving spiritual stature through Christ], and He is the head over all rule and authority [of every angelic and earthly power].
2:11:In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but by the [spiritual] circumcision of Christ in the stripping off of the body of the flesh [the sinful carnal nature],
2:12:having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him [to a new life] through [your] faith in the working of God, [as displayed] when He raised Christ from the dead.
2:13:When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (worldliness, manner of life), God made you alive together with Christ, having [freely] forgiven us all our sins,
2:14:having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of legal demands [which were in force] against us and which were hostile to us. And this certificate He has set aside and completely removed by nailing it to the cross.
2:15:When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities [those supernatural forces of evil operating against us], He made a public example of them [exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession], having triumphed over them through the cross.
2:16:Therefore let no one judge you in regard to food and drink or in regard to [the observance of] a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.
2:17:Such things are only a shadow of what is to come and they have only symbolic value; but the substance [the reality of what is foreshadowed] belongs to Christ.
2:18:Let no one defraud you of your prize [your freedom in Christ and your salvation] by insisting on mock humility and the worship of angels, going into detail about visions [he claims] he has seen [to justify his authority], puffed up [in conceit] by his unspiritual mind,
2:19:and not holding fast to the head [of the body, Jesus Christ], from whom the entire body, supplied and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows with the growth [that can come only] from God.
2:20:If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were still living in the world, do you submit to rules and regulations, such as,
2:21:“Do not handle [this], do not taste [that], do not [even] touch!”?
2:22:(these things all perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men.
2:23:These practices indeed have the appearance [that popularly passes as that] of wisdom in self-made religion and mock humility and severe treatment of the body (asceticism), but are of no value against sinful indulgence [because they do not honor God].
3:1:Put On the New Self
Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
3:2:Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].
3:3:For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.
3:4:When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
3:5:So put to death and deprive of power the evil longings of your earthly body [with its sensual, self-centered instincts] immorality, impurity, sinful passion, evil desire, and greed, which is [a kind of] idolatry [because it replaces your devotion to God].
3:6:Because of these [sinful] things the [divine] wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience [those who fail to listen and who routinely and obstinately disregard God’s precepts],
3:7:and in these [sinful things] you also once walked, when you were habitually living in them [without the knowledge of Christ].
3:8:But now rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, malice, slander, and obscene (abusive, filthy, vulgar) language from your mouth.
3:9:Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old self with its evil practices,
3:10:and have put on the new [spiritual] self who is being continually renewed in true knowledge in the image of Him who created the new self—
3:11:a renewal in which there is no [distinction between] Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, [nor between nations whether] barbarian or Scythian, [nor in status whether] slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all [so believers are equal in Christ, without distinction].
3:12:So, as God’s own chosen people, who are holy [set apart, sanctified for His purpose] and well-beloved [by God Himself], put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience [which has the power to endure whatever injustice or unpleasantness comes, with good temper];
3:13:bearing graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive.
3:14:Beyond all these things put on and wrap yourselves in [unselfish] love, which is the perfect bond of unity [for everything is bound together in agreement when each one seeks the best for others].
3:15:Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always].
3:16:Let the [spoken] word of Christ have its home within you [dwelling in your heart and mind—permeating every aspect of your being] as you teach [spiritual things] and admonish and train one another with all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
3:17:Whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus [and in dependence on Him], giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
3:18:Family Relations
Wives, be subject to your husbands [out of respect for their position as protector, and their accountability to God], as is proper and fitting in the Lord.
3:19:Husbands, love your wives [with an affectionate, sympathetic, selfless love that always seeks the best for them] and do not be embittered or resentful toward them [because of the responsibilities of marriage].
3:20:Children, obey your parents [as God’s representatives] in all things, for this [attitude of respect and obedience] is well-pleasing to the Lord [and will bring you God’s promised blessings].
3:21:Fathers, do not provoke or irritate or exasperate your children [with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by favoritism or indifference; treat them tenderly with lovingkindness], so they will not lose heart and become discouraged or unmotivated [with their spirits broken].
3:22:Servants, in everything obey those who are your masters on earth, not only with external service, as those who merely please people, but with sincerity of heart because of your fear of the Lord.
3:23:Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men,
3:24:knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [greatest] reward. It is the Lord Christ whom you [actually] serve.
3:25:For he who does wrong will be punished for his wrongdoing, and [with God] there is no partiality [no special treatment based on a person’s position in life].
4:1:Fellow Workers
Masters, [on your part] deal with your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
4:2:Be persistent and devoted to prayer, being alert and focused in your prayer life with an attitude of thanksgiving.
4:3:At the same time pray for us, too, that God will open a door [of opportunity] to us for the word, to proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I have been imprisoned;
4:4:that I may make it clear [and speak boldly and unfold the mystery] in the way I should.
4:5:Conduct yourself with wisdom in your interactions with outsiders (non-believers), make the most of each opportunity [treating it as something precious].
4:6:Let your speech at all times be gracious and pleasant, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to answer each one [who questions you].
4:7:As to all my affairs, Tychicus, who is a much-loved brother and faithful assistant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will give you all the information.
4:8:I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are doing and that he may encourage your hearts;
4:9:and with him is Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will let you know everything about the situation here [in Rome].
4:10:Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, wishes to be remembered to you; as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him);
4:11:and from Jesus, who is called Justus. These are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision (Jewish Christians), and they have proved to be an encouragement and a comfort to me.
4:12:Epaphras, who is one of you and a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. [He is] always striving for you in his prayers, praying with genuine concern, [pleading] that you may [as people of character and courage] stand firm, [spiritually mature] and fully assured in all the will of God.
4:13:For I testify for him that he has worked strenuously for you and for the believers in Laodicea and those in Hierapolis.
4:14:Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.
4:15:Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.
4:16:When this letter has been read among you, see that it is read in the church of the Laodiceans; and also that you in turn read my letter [that is coming to you] from Laodicea.
4:17:And say to Archippus, “See to it that you fulfill [carefully the duties of] the ministry which you have received in the Lord.”
4:18:I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. May grace (God’s unmerited favor and blessing) be with you.
1_thessalonians:1:1:Thanksgiving for These Believers
Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being from God].
1:2:We give thanks to God always for all of you, continually mentioning you in our prayers;
1:3:recalling unceasingly before our God and Father your work energized by faith, and your service motivated by love and unwavering hope in [the return of] our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:4:Brothers and sisters beloved by God, we know that He has chosen you;
1:5:for our good news [regarding salvation] came to you not only in word, but also in [its inherent] power and in the Holy Spirit and with great conviction [on our part]. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your benefit.
1:6:You became imitators of us and [through us] of the Lord, after you welcomed our message in [a time of] great trouble with the joy supplied by the Holy Spirit;
1:7:so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
1:8:For the word of the Lord has resounded from you and has echoed [like thunder], not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place [the news of] your [great] faith in God has spread, so that we never need to say anything about it.
1:9:For they themselves report about us, telling what kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
1:10:and to [look forward and confidently] wait for [the coming of] His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who [personally] rescues us from the coming wrath [and draws us to Himself, granting us all the privileges and rewards of a new life with Him].
2:1:Paul’s Ministry
For you know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you has not been ineffective (fruitless, in vain),
2:2:but after we had already suffered and been outrageously treated in Philippi, as you know, yet in [the strength of] our God we summoned the courage to proclaim boldly to you the good news of God [regarding salvation] amid great opposition.
2:3:For our appeal does not come from delusion or impure motives, nor [is it motivated] by deceit [our message is complete, accurate, and based on the truth—it does not change].
2:4:But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel [that tells the good news of salvation through faith in Christ], so we speak, not as [if we were trying] to please people [to gain power and popularity], but to please God who examines our hearts [expecting our best].
2:5:For as you well know, we never came with words of flattery nor with a pretext for greed—God is our witness—
2:6:nor did we seek glory and honor from people, neither from you nor from anyone else, though as apostles of Christ we had the power to assert our authority.
2:7:But we behaved gently when we were among you, like a devoted mother tenderly caring for her own children.
2:8:Having such a deep affection for you, we were delighted to share with you not only God’s good news but also our own lives, because you had become so very dear to us.
2:9:For you remember, believers, our labor and hardship. We worked night and day [practicing our trade] in order not to be a [financial] burden to any of you while we proclaimed the gospel of God to you.
2:10:You are witnesses, and so is God, how unworldly and just and blameless was our behavior toward you who believe [in our Lord Jesus Christ].
2:11:For you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you just as a father does [in dealing with] his own children, [guiding you]
2:12:to live lives [of honor, moral courage, and personal integrity] worthy of the God who [saves you and] calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
2:13:And we also thank God continually for this, that when you received the word of God [concerning salvation] which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of [mere] men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe [exercising its inherent, supernatural power in those of faith].
2:14:For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same [kind of] persecution from your own countrymen, as they did from the Jews,
2:15:who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and harassed and drove us out; and [they] continue to be highly displeasing to God and [to show themselves] hostile to all people,
2:16:forbidding us from speaking to the Gentiles (non-Jews) so that they may be saved. So, as always, they fill up [to the brim] the measure of their sins [allotted to them by God]. But [God’s] wrath has come upon them at last [completely and forever].
2:17:But since we were taken away from you, believers, for a little while—in person, but not in heart—we endeavored, with great longing to see you face to face.
2:18:For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again [wanted to come], but Satan hindered us.
2:19:For who is [the object of] our hope or joy or our victor’s wreath of triumphant celebration [when we stand] in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? Is it not you?
2:20:For you are [indeed] our glory and our joy!
3:1:Encouragement of Timothy’s Visit
Therefore, when we could no longer endure our separation [from you], we thought it best to be left behind, alone at Athens,
3:2:and so we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in [spreading] the good news of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you [exhorting, comforting, and establishing you] in regard to your faith,
3:3:so that no one would be unsettled by these difficulties [to which I have referred]. For you know that we have been destined for this [as something unavoidable in our position].
3:4:For even when we were with you, we warned you plainly in advance that we were going to experience persecution; and so, as you know, it has come to pass.
3:5:For this reason, when I could no longer endure the suspense, I sent someone to find out about your faith [how you were holding up under pressure], for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our work [among you] would prove to be ineffective.
3:6:But now that Timothy has come back to us from [his visit with] you, and has brought us good news of your [steadfast] faith and [the warmth of your] love, and [reported] that you always think kindly of us and treasure your memories of us, longing to see us just as we long to see you,
3:7:for this reason, brothers and sisters, during all our distress and suffering we have been comforted and greatly encouraged about you because of your faith [your unwavering trust in God—placing yourselves completely in His loving hands];
3:8:because now we really live [in spite of everything], if you stand firm in the Lord.
3:9:For what [adequate] thanks can we offer to God for you in return for all the joy and delight we have before our God on your account?
3:10:We continue to pray night and day most earnestly that we may see you face to face, and may complete whatever may be imperfect and lacking in your faith.
3:11:Now may our God and Father Himself, and Jesus our Lord guide our steps to you [by removing the obstacles that stand in our way].
3:12:And may the Lord cause you to increase and excel and overflow in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you;
3:13:so that He may strengthen and establish your hearts without blame in holiness in the sight of our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints (God’s people).
4:1:Sanctification and Love
Finally, believers, we ask and admonish you in the Lord Jesus, that you follow the instruction that you received from us about how you ought to walk and please God (just as you are actually doing) and that you excel even more and more [pursuing a life of purpose and living in a way that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation].
4:2:For you know what commandments and precepts we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
4:3:For this is the will of God, that you be sanctified [separated and set apart from sin]: that you abstain and back away from sexual immorality;
4:4:that each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor [being available for God’s purpose and separated from things profane],
4:5:not [to be used] in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God and are ignorant of His will;
4:6:and that [in this matter of sexual misconduct] no man shall transgress and defraud his brother because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we have told you before and solemnly warned you.
4:7:For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness [to be dedicated, and set apart by behavior that pleases Him, whether in public or in private].
4:8:So whoever rejects and disregards this is not [merely] rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you [to dwell in you and empower you to overcome temptation].
4:9:Now concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write you, for you have been [personally] taught by God to love one another [that is, to have an unselfish concern for others and to do things for their benefit].
4:10:For indeed you already do practice it toward all the believers throughout Macedonia [by actively displaying your love and concern for them]. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, that you excel [in this matter] more and more,
4:11:and to make it your ambition to live quietly and peacefully, and to mind your own affairs and work with your hands, just as we directed you,
4:12:so that you will behave properly toward outsiders [exhibiting good character, personal integrity, and moral courage worthy of the respect of the outside world], and be dependent on no one and in need of nothing [be self-supporting].
4:13:Those Who Died in Christ
Now we do not want you to be uninformed, believers, about those who are asleep [in death], so that you will not grieve [for them] as the others do who have no hope [beyond this present life].
4:14:For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again [as in fact He did], even so God [in this same way—by raising them from the dead] will bring with Him those [believers] who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
4:15:For we say this to you by the Lord’s [own] word, that we who are still alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede [into His presence] those [believers] who have fallen asleep [in death].
4:16:For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the [blast of the] trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
4:17:Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord!
4:18:Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words [concerning our reunion with believers who have died].
5:1:The Day of the Lord
Now as to the times and dates, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you.
5:2:For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the [return of the] Lord is coming just as a thief [comes unexpectedly and suddenly] in the night.
5:3:While they are saying, “Peace and safety [all is well and secure!]” then [in a moment unforeseen] destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains on a woman with child, and they will absolutely not escape [for there will be no way to escape the judgment of the Lord].
5:4:But you, believers, [all you who believe in Christ as Savior and acknowledge Him as God’s Son] are not in spiritual darkness [nor held by its power], that the day [of judgment] would overtake you [by surprise] like a thief;
5:5:for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We do not belong to the night nor to darkness.
5:6:So then let us not sleep [in spiritual indifference] as the rest [of the world does], but let us keep wide awake [alert and cautious] and let us be sober [self-controlled, calm, and wise].
5:7:For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.
5:8:But since we [believers] belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope and confident assurance of salvation.
5:9:For God has not destined us to [incur His] wrath [that is, He did not select us to condemn us], but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
5:10:who died [willingly] for us, so that whether we are awake (alive) or asleep (dead) [at Christ’s appearing], we will live together with Him [sharing eternal life].
5:11:Therefore encourage and comfort one another and build up one another, just as you are doing.
5:12:Christian Conduct
Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to appreciate those who diligently work among you [recognize, acknowledge, and respect your leaders], who are in charge over you in the Lord and who give you instruction,
5:13:and [we ask that you appreciate them and] hold them in the highest esteem in love because of their work [on your behalf]. Live in peace with one another.
5:14:We [earnestly] urge you, believers, admonish those who are out of line [the undisciplined, the unruly, the disorderly], encourage the timid [who lack spiritual courage], help the [spiritually] weak, be very patient with everyone [always controlling your temper].
5:15:See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek that which is good for one another and for all people.
5:16:Rejoice always and delight in your faith;
5:17:be unceasing and persistent in prayer;
5:18:in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
5:19:Do not quench [subdue, or be unresponsive to the working and guidance of] the [Holy] Spirit.
5:20:Do not scorn or reject gifts of prophecy or prophecies [spoken revelations—words of instruction or exhortation or warning].
5:21:But test all things carefully [so you can recognize what is good]. Hold firmly to that which is good.
5:22:Abstain from every form of evil [withdraw and keep away from it].
5:23:Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
5:24:Faithful and absolutely trustworthy is He who is calling you [to Himself for your salvation], and He will do it [He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and protecting you as His own].
5:25:Brothers and sisters, pray for us.
5:26:Greet all the believers with a holy kiss [as brothers and sisters in God’s family].
5:27:I solemnly charge you by the Lord to have this letter read before all the congregation.
5:28:The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
2_thessalonians:1:1:Thanksgiving for Faith and Perseverance
Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
1:2:Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:3:We ought always and indeed are morally obligated [as those in debt] to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is fitting, because your faith is growing ever greater, and the [unselfish] love of each one of you toward one another is continually increasing.
1:4:Therefore, we speak of you with pride among the churches of God for your steadfastness [your unflinching endurance, and patience] and your firm faith in the midst of all the persecution and [crushing] distress which you endure.
1:5:This is a positive proof of the righteous judgment of God [a sign of His fair verdict], so that you will be considered worthy of His kingdom, for which indeed you are suffering.
1:6:For after all it is only just for God to repay with distress those who distress you,
1:7:and to give relief to you who are so distressed and to us as well when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in a flame of fire,
1:8:dealing out [full and complete] vengeance to those who do not [seek to] know God and to those who ignore and refuse to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus [by choosing not to respond to Him].
1:9:These people will pay the penalty and endure the punishment of everlasting destruction, banished from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
1:10:when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day [that is, glorified through the changed lives of those who have accepted Him as Savior and have been set apart for His purpose], and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed and trusted [and confirmed in your lives].
1:11:With this in view, we constantly pray for you, that our God will count you worthy of your calling [to faith] and with [His] power fulfill every desire for goodness, and complete [your] every work of faith,
1:12:so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you [by what you do], and you in Him, according to the [precious] grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2:1:Man of Lawlessness
Now in regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to meet Him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,
2:2:not to be quickly unsettled or alarmed either by a [so-called prophetic revelation of a] spirit or a message or a letter [alleged to be] from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has [already] come.
2:3:Let no one in any way deceive or entrap you, for that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first [that is, the great rebellion, the abandonment of the faith by professed Christians], and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction [the Antichrist, the one who is destined to be destroyed],
2:4:who opposes and exalts himself [so proudly and so insolently] above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he [actually enters and] takes his seat in the temple of God, publicly proclaiming that he himself is God.
2:5:Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
2:6:And you know what restrains him now [from being revealed]; it is so that he will be revealed at his own [appointed] time.
2:7:For the mystery of lawlessness [rebellion against divine authority and the coming reign of lawlessness] is already at work; [but it is restrained] only until he who now restrains it is taken out of the way.
2:8:Then the lawless one [the Antichrist] will be revealed and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by the appearance of His coming.
2:9:The coming of the [Antichrist, the lawless] one is through the activity of Satan, [attended] with great power [all kinds of counterfeit miracles] and [deceptive] signs and false wonders [all of them lies],
2:10:and by unlimited seduction to evil and with all the deception of wickedness for those who are perishing, because they did not welcome the love of the truth [of the gospel] so as to be saved [they were spiritually blind, and rejected the truth that would have saved them].
2:11:Because of this God will send upon them a misleading influence, [an activity of error and deception] so they will believe the lie,
2:12:in order that all may be judged and condemned who did not believe the truth [about their sin, and the need for salvation through Christ], but instead took pleasure in unrighteousness.
2:13:But we should and are [morally] obligated [as debtors] always to give thanks to God for you, believers beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through the sanctifying work of the Spirit [that sets you apart for God’s purpose] and by your faith in the truth [of God’s word that leads you to spiritual maturity].
2:14:It was to this end that He called you through our gospel [the good news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection], so that you may obtain and share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2:15:So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold [tightly] to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.
2:16:Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting comfort and encouragement and the good [well-founded] hope [of salvation] by His grace,
2:17:comfort and encourage and strengthen your hearts [keeping them steadfast and on course] in every good work and word.
3:1:Exhortation
Finally, brothers and sisters, pray continually for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be honored [triumphantly celebrated and glorified], just as it was with you;
3:2:and [pray] that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not everyone has the faith.
3:3:But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you [setting you on a firm foundation] and will protect and guard you from the evil one.
3:4:We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do the things [which] we command.
3:5:May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness and patience of Christ.
3:6:Now we command you, believers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by His authority, that you withdraw and keep away from every brother or sister who leads an undisciplined life and does not live in accordance with the tradition and teaching that you have received from us.
3:7:For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined or inappropriate manner when we were with you [we were never idle or lazy, nor did we avoid our duties],
3:8:nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we worked night and day [to pay our own way] so that we would not be a financial burden on any of you [for our support];
3:9:not because we do not have a right to such support, but [we provided our own financial support] to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example.
3:10:For even while we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.
3:11:Indeed, we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined and inappropriate life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies [meddling in other people’s business].
3:12:Now such people we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work quietly and earn their own food and other necessities [supporting themselves instead of depending on the hospitality of others].
3:13:And as for [the rest of] you, believers, do not grow tired or lose heart in doing good [but continue doing what is right without weakening].
3:14:Now if anyone [in the church] does not obey what we say in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be ashamed and repent.
3:15:Do not regard him as an enemy, but keep admonishing him as a [believing] brother.
3:16:Now may the Lord of peace Himself grant you His peace at all times and in every way [that peace and spiritual well-being that comes to those who walk with Him, regardless of life’s circumstances]. The Lord be with you all.
3:17:I, Paul, write you this final greeting with my own hand. This is the distinguishing mark in every letter [of mine, that shows it is genuine]. It is the way I write [my handwriting and signature].
3:18:The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.
1_timothy:1:1:Misleadings in Doctrine and Living
Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus by the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed) our Hope [the fulfillment of our salvation],
1:2:to Timothy, my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
1:3:As I urged you when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain individuals not to teach any different doctrines,
1:4:nor to pay attention to legends (fables, myths) and endless genealogies, which give rise to useless speculation and meaningless arguments rather than advancing God’s program of instruction which is grounded in faith [and requires surrendering the entire self to God in absolute trust and confidence].
1:5:But the goal of our instruction is love [which springs] from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
1:6:Some individuals have wandered away from these things into empty arguments and useless discussions,
1:7:wanting to be teachers of the Law [of Moses], even though they do not understand the terms they use or the subjects about which they make [such] confident declarations.
1:8:Now we know [without any doubt] that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully and appropriately,
1:9:understanding the fact that law is not enacted for the righteous person [the one in right standing with God], but for lawless and rebellious people, for the ungodly and sinful, for the irreverent and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,
1:10:for sexually immoral persons, for homosexuals, for kidnappers and slave traders, for liars, for perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,
1:11:according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
1:12:I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has granted me [the needed] strength and made me able for this, because He considered me faithful and trustworthy, putting me into service [for this ministry],
1:13:even though I was formerly a blasphemer [of our Lord] and a persecutor [of His church] and a shameful and outrageous and violent aggressor [toward believers]. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief.
1:14:The grace of our Lord [His amazing, unmerited favor and blessing] flowed out in superabundance [for me, together] with the faith and love which are [realized] in Christ Jesus.
1:15:This is a faithful and trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance and approval, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost.
1:16:Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost [of sinners], Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example or pattern for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.
1:17:Now to the King of the ages [eternal], immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
1:18:This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, so that [inspired and aided] by them you may fight the good fight [in contending with false teachers],
1:19:keeping your faith [leaning completely on God with absolute trust and confidence in His guidance] and having a good conscience; for some [people] have rejected [their moral compass] and have made a shipwreck of their faith.
1:20:Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be disciplined and taught not to blaspheme.
2:1:A Call to Prayer
First of all, then, I urge that petitions (specific requests), prayers, intercessions (prayers for others) and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all people,
2:2:for kings and all who are in [positions of] high authority, so that we may live a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
2:3:This [kind of praying] is good and acceptable and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
2:4:who wishes all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge and recognition of the [divine] truth.
2:5:For there is [only] one God, and [only] one Mediator between God and mankind, the Man Christ Jesus,
2:6:who gave Himself as a ransom [a substitutionary sacrifice to atone] for all, the testimony given at the right and proper time.
2:7:And for this matter I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying [when I say this]—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
2:8:Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger and disputing or quarreling or doubt [in their mind].
2:9:Women Instructed
Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves modestly and appropriately and discreetly in proper clothing, not with [elaborately] braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
2:10:but instead adorned by good deeds [helping others], as is proper for women who profess to worship God.
2:11:A woman must quietly receive instruction with all submissiveness.
2:12:I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet [in the congregation].
2:13:For Adam was formed first [by God from the earth], then Eve;
2:14:and it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was led astray and fell into sin.
2:15:But women will be preserved (saved) through [the pain and dangers of] the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control and discretion.
3:1:Overseers and Deacons
This is a faithful and trustworthy saying: if any man [eagerly] seeks the office of overseer (bishop, superintendent), he desires an excellent task.
3:2:Now an overseer must be blameless and beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
3:3:not addicted to wine, not a bully nor quick-tempered and hot-headed, but gentle and considerate, free from the love of money [not greedy for wealth and its inherent power—financially ethical].
3:4:He must manage his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity [keeping them respectful and well-behaved]
3:5:(for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?).
3:6:and He must not be a new convert, so that he will not [behave stupidly and] become conceited [by appointment to this high office] and fall into the [same] condemnation incurred by the devil [for his arrogance and pride].
3:7:And he must have a good reputation and be well thought of by those outside the church, so that he will not be discredited and fall into the devil’s trap.
3:8:Deacons likewise must be men worthy of respect [honorable, financially ethical, of good character], not double-tongued [speakers of half-truths], not addicted to wine, not greedy for dishonest gain,
3:9:but upholding and fully understanding the mystery [that is, the true doctrine] of the [Christian] faith with a clear conscience [resulting from behavior consistent with spiritual maturity].
3:10:These men must first be tested; then if they are found to be blameless and beyond reproach [in their Christian lives], let them serve as deacons.
3:11:Women must likewise be worthy of respect, not malicious gossips, but self-controlled, [thoroughly] trustworthy in all things.
3:12:Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households.
3:13:For those who have served well as deacons gain a high standing [having a good reputation among the congregation], and great confidence in the faith which is [founded on and centered] in Christ Jesus.
3:14:I hope to come to you before long, but I am writing these instructions to you
3:15:in case I am delayed, so that you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
3:16:And great, we confess, is the mystery [the hidden truth] of godliness:
He (Jesus Christ) who was revealed in human flesh,
Was justified and vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory.
4:1:Apostasy
But the [Holy] Spirit explicitly and unmistakably declares that in later times some will turn away from the faith, paying attention instead to deceitful and seductive spirits and doctrines of demons,
4:2:[misled] by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared as with a branding iron [leaving them incapable of ethical functioning],
4:3:who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from [certain kinds of] foods which God has created to be gratefully shared by those who believe and have [a clear] knowledge of the truth.
4:4:For everything God has created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
4:5:for it is sanctified [set apart, dedicated to God] by means of the word of God and prayer.
4:6:A Good Minister’s Discipline
If you point out these instructions to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished [through study] on the words of the faith and of the good [Christian] doctrine which you have closely followed.
4:7:But have nothing to do with irreverent folklore and silly myths. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness [keeping yourself spiritually fit].
4:8:For physical training is of some value, but godliness (spiritual training) is of value in everything and in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.
4:9:This is a faithful and trustworthy saying worthy of full acceptance and approval.
4:10:It is for this that we labor and strive [often called to account], because we have fixed our [confident] hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe [in Him, recognize Him as the Son of God, and accept Him as Savior and Lord].
4:11:Keep commanding and teaching these things.
4:12:Let no one look down on [you because of] your youth, but be an example and set a pattern for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in [moral] purity.
4:13:Until I come, devote yourself to public reading [of Scripture], to preaching and to teaching [the sound doctrine of God’s word].
4:14:Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, [that special endowment] which was intentionally bestowed on you [by the Holy Spirit] through prophetic utterance when the elders laid their hands on you [at your ordination].
4:15:Practice and work hard on these things; be absorbed in them [completely occupied in your ministry], so that your progress will be evident to all.
4:16:Pay close attention to yourself [concentrate on your personal development] and to your teaching; persevere in these things [hold to them], for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.
5:1:Honor Widows
Do not sharply reprimand an older man, but appeal to him as [you would to] a father, to younger men as brothers,
5:2:to older women as mothers, to younger women as sisters, in all purity [being careful to maintain appropriate relationships].
5:3:Honor and help those widows who are truly widowed [alone, and without support].
5:4:But if a widow has children or grandchildren [who are adults], see to it that these first learn to show great respect to their own family [as their religious duty and natural obligation], and to compensate their parents or grandparents [for their upbringing]; for this is acceptable and pleasing in the sight of God.
5:5:Now a woman who is really a widow and has been left [entirely] alone [without adequate income] trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.
5:6:Whereas she who lives for pleasure and self-indulgence is spiritually dead even while she still lives.
5:7:Keep instructing [the people to do] these things as well, so that they may be blameless and beyond reproach.
5:8:If anyone fails to provide for his own, and especially for those of his own family, he has denied the faith [by disregarding its precepts] and is worse than an unbeliever [who fulfills his obligation in these matters].
5:9:A widow is to be put on the list [to receive regular assistance] only if she is over sixty years of age, [having been] the wife of one man,
5:10:and has a reputation for good deeds; [she is eligible] if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the feet of the saints (God’s people), if she has assisted the distressed, and has devoted herself to doing good in every way.
5:11:But refuse [to enroll the] younger widows, for when they feel their natural desires in disregard of Christ, they wish to marry again,
5:12:and so they incur condemnation for having set aside their previous pledge.
5:13:Now at the same time, they also learn to be idle as they go from house to house; and not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies [meddlers in things that do not concern them], talking about things they should not mention.
5:14:So I want younger widows to get married, have children, manage their households, and not give opponents of the faith any occasion for slander.
5:15:Some [widows] have already turned away [from the faith] to follow Satan.
5:16:If any believing woman has [dependent] widows [in her household], she must assist them [according to her ability]; and the church must not be burdened [with them], so that it may assist those who are truly widows [those who are all alone and are dependent].
5:17:Concerning Elders
The elders who perform their leadership duties well are to be considered worthy of double honor (financial support), especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching [the word of God concerning eternal salvation through Christ].
5:18:For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain [to keep it from eating],” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages [he deserves fair compensation].”
5:19:Do not accept an accusation against an elder unless it is based on [the testimony of at least] two or three witnesses.
5:20:As for those [elders] who continue in sin, reprimand them in the presence of all [the congregation], so that the rest will be warned.
5:21:I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels that you guard and keep these rules without bias, doing nothing out of favoritism.
5:22:Do not hurry to lay hands on anyone [ordaining and approving someone for ministry or an office in the church, or in reinstating expelled offenders], and thereby share in the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.
5:23:No longer continue drinking [only] water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
5:24:The sins of some people are conspicuous, leading the way for them into judgment [so that they are clearly not qualified for ministry]; but the sins of others appear later [for they are hidden and follow behind them].
5:25:Likewise, good deeds are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be hidden [indefinitely].
6:1:Instructions to Those Who Minister
All who are under the yoke as bond-servants (slaves) are to regard their own masters as worthy of honor and respect so that the name of God and the teaching [about Him] will not be spoken against.
6:2:Those who have believing masters are not to be disrespectful toward them because they are brothers [in Christ], but they should serve them even better, because those who benefit from their kindly service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these [duties and principles].
6:3:If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine and teaching which is in agreement with godliness (personal integrity, upright behavior),
6:4:he is conceited and woefully ignorant [understanding nothing]. He has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, which produces envy, quarrels, verbal abuse, evil suspicions,
6:5:and perpetual friction between men who are corrupted in mind and deprived of the truth, who think that godliness is a source of profit [a lucrative, money-making business—withdraw from them].
6:6:But godliness actually is a source of great gain when accompanied by contentment [that contentment which comes from a sense of inner confidence based on the sufficiency of God].
6:7:For we have brought nothing into the world, so [it is clear that] we cannot take anything out of it, either.
6:8:But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
6:9:But those who [are not financially ethical and] crave to get rich [with a compulsive, greedy longing for wealth] fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction [leading to personal misery].
6:10:For the love of money [that is, the greedy desire for it and the willingness to gain it unethically] is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves [through and through] with many sorrows.
6:11:But as for you, O man of God, flee from these things; aim at and pursue righteousness [true goodness, moral conformity to the character of God], godliness [the fear of God], faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.
6:12:Fight the good fight of the faith [in the conflict with evil]; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and [for which] you made the good confession [of faith] in the presence of many witnesses.
6:13:I solemnly charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and [in the presence] of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession [in His testimony] before Pontius Pilate,
6:14:to keep all His precepts without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
6:15:which He will bring about in His own time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign [the absolute Ruler], the King of those who reign as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords,
6:16:He alone possesses immortality [absolute exemption from death] and lives in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal power and dominion! Amen.
6:17:As for the rich in this present world, instruct them not to be conceited and arrogant, nor to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly and ceaselessly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
6:18:Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, willing to share [with others].
6:19:In this way storing up for themselves the enduring riches of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
6:20:O Timothy, guard and keep safe the deposit [of godly truth] entrusted to you, turn away from worldly and godless chatter [with its profane, empty words], and the contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge”—
6:21:which some have professed and by doing so have erred (missed the mark) and strayed from the faith.
Grace be with you.
2_timothy:1:1:Timothy Charged to Guard His Trust
Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed) by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
1:2:to Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
1:3:I thank God, whom I worship and serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day,
1:4:and as I recall your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.
1:5:I remember your sincere and unqualified faith [the surrendering of your entire self to God in Christ with confident trust in His power, wisdom and goodness, a faith] which first lived in [the heart of] your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am confident that it is in you as well.
1:6:That is why I remind you to fan into flame the gracious gift of God, [that inner fire—the special endowment] which is in you through the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination].
1:7:For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].
1:8:So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord or about me His prisoner, but with me take your share of suffering for the gospel [continue to preach regardless of the circumstances], in accordance with the power of God [for His power is invincible],
1:9:for He delivered us and saved us and called us with a holy calling [a calling that leads to a consecrated life—a life set apart—a life of purpose], not because of our works [or because of any personal merit—we could do nothing to earn this], but because of His own purpose and grace [His amazing, undeserved favor] which was granted to us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago],
1:10:but now [that extraordinary purpose and grace] has been fully disclosed and realized by us through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus who [through His incarnation and earthly ministry] abolished death [making it null and void] and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
1:11:for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher [of this good news regarding salvation].
1:12:This is why I suffer as I do. Still, I am not ashamed; for I know Him [and I am personally acquainted with Him] whom I have believed [with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in the truth of His deity], and I am persuaded [beyond any doubt] that He is able to guard that which I have entrusted to Him until that day [when I stand before Him].
1:13:Keep and follow the pattern of sound teaching (doctrine) which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
1:14:Guard [with greatest care] and keep unchanged, the treasure [that precious truth] which has been entrusted to you [that is, the good news about salvation through personal faith in Christ Jesus], through [the help of] the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
1:15:You are aware of the fact that all who are in [the province of] Asia turned away and deserted me, Phygelus and Hermogenes among them.
1:16:The Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and showed me kindness [comforting and reviving me like fresh air] and he was not ashamed of my chains [for Christ’s sake];
1:17:but [instead] when he reached Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me—
1:18:the Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord on that [great] day. You know very well how many things he did for me and what a help he was at Ephesus [you know better than I can tell you].
2:1:Be Strong
So you, my son, be strong [constantly strengthened] and empowered in the grace that is [to be found only] in Christ Jesus.
2:2:The things [the doctrine, the precepts, the admonitions, the sum of my ministry] which you have heard me teach in the presence of many witnesses, entrust [as a treasure] to reliable and faithful men who will also be capable and qualified to teach others.
2:3:Take with me your share of hardship [passing through the difficulties which you are called to endure], like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
2:4:No soldier in active service gets entangled in the [ordinary business] affairs of civilian life; [he avoids them] so that he may please the one who enlisted him to serve.
2:5:And if anyone competes as an athlete [in competitive games], he is not crowned [with the wreath of victory] unless he competes according to the rules.
2:6:The hard-working farmer [who labors to produce crops] ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.
2:7:Think over the things I am saying [grasp their application], for the Lord will grant you insight and understanding in everything.
2:8:Remember Jesus Christ [the ever-living Lord who has] risen from the dead, [as the prophesied King] descended from David [king of Israel], according to my gospel [the good news that I preach],
2:9:for that [gospel] I am suffering even to [the point of] wearing chains like a criminal; but the word of God is not chained or imprisoned!
2:10:For this reason I [am ready to] patiently endure all things for the sake of those who are the elect (God’s chosen ones), so that they too may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it the reward of eternal glory.
2:11:This is a faithful and trustworthy saying:
If we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
2:12:If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He will also deny us;
2:13:If we are faithless, He remains faithful [true to His word and His righteous character], for He cannot deny Himself.
2:14:An Unashamed Workman
Remind the people of these facts, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God to avoid petty controversy over words, which does no good, and [upsets and undermines and] ruins [the faith of] those who listen.
2:15:Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.
2:16:But avoid all irreverent babble and godless chatter [with its profane, empty words], for it will lead to further ungodliness,
2:17:and their teaching will spread like gangrene. So it is with Hymenaeus and Philetus,
2:18:who have deviated from the truth. They claim that the resurrection has already taken place, and they undermine the faith of some.
2:19:Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God [which He has laid] stands [sure and unshaken despite attacks], bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord stand apart from wickedness and withdraw from wrongdoing.”
2:20:Now in a large house there are not only vessels and objects of gold and silver, but also vessels and objects of wood and of earthenware, and some are for honorable (noble, good) use and some for dishonorable (ignoble, common).
2:21:Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things [which are dishonorable—disobedient, sinful], he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified [set apart for a special purpose and], useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
2:22:Run away from youthful lusts—pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those [believers] who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
2:23:But have nothing to do with foolish and ignorant speculations [useless disputes over unedifying, stupid controversies], since you know that they produce strife and give birth to quarrels.
2:24:The servant of the Lord must not participate in quarrels, but must be kind to everyone [even-tempered, preserving peace, and he must be], skilled in teaching, patient and tolerant when wronged.
2:25:He must correct those who are in opposition with courtesy and gentleness in the hope that God may grant that they will repent and be led to the knowledge of the truth [accurately understanding and welcoming it],
2:26:and that they may come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
3:1:“Difficult Times Will Come”
But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear].
3:2:For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane,
3:3:[and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good,
3:4:traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God,
3:5:holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them.
3:6:For among them are those who worm their way into homes and captivate morally weak and spiritually-dwarfed women weighed down by [the burden of their] sins, easily swayed by various impulses,
3:7:always learning and listening to anybody who will teach them, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
3:8:Just as Jannes and Jambres [the court magicians of Egypt] opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, unqualified and worthless [as teachers] in regard to the faith.
3:9:But they will not get very far, for their meaningless nonsense and ignorance will become obvious to everyone, as was that of Jannes and Jambres.
3:10:Now you have diligently followed [my example, that is] my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, steadfastness,
3:11:persecutions, and sufferings—such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, but the Lord rescued me from them all!
3:12:Indeed, all who delight in pursuing righteousness and are determined to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be hunted and persecuted [because of their faith].
3:13:But evil men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
3:14:But as for you, continue in the things that you have learned and of which you are convinced [holding tightly to the truths], knowing from whom you learned them,
3:15:and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings (Hebrew Scriptures) which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus [surrendering your entire self to Him and having absolute confidence in His wisdom, power and goodness].
3:16:All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage];
3:17:so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
4:1:“Preach the Word”
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
4:2:preach the word [as an official messenger]; be ready when the time is right and even when it is not [keep your sense of urgency, whether the opportunity seems favorable or unfavorable, whether convenient or inconvenient, whether welcome or unwelcome]; correct [those who err in doctrine or behavior], warn [those who sin], exhort and encourage [those who are growing toward spiritual maturity], with inexhaustible patience and [faithful] teaching.
4:3:For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God’s truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold,
4:4:and will turn their ears away from the truth and will wander off into myths and man-made fictions [and will accept the unacceptable].
4:5:But as for you, be clear-headed in every situation [stay calm and cool and steady], endure every hardship [without flinching], do the work of an evangelist, fulfill [the duties of] your ministry.
4:6:For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure [from this world] is at hand and I will soon go free.
4:7:I have fought the good and worthy and noble fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith [firmly guarding the gospel against error].
4:8:In the future there is reserved for me the [victor’s] crown of righteousness [for being right with God and doing right], which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that [great] day—and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved and longed for and welcomed His appearing.
4:9:Personal Concerns
Make every effort to come to me soon;
4:10:for Demas, having loved [the pleasures of] this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.
4:11:Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very helpful to me for the ministry.
4:12:But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.
4:13:When you come bring the coat that I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments.
4:14:Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; [but that is no concern of mine, for] the Lord will repay him according to his actions.
4:15:Be on guard against him yourself, because he vigorously opposed our message.
4:16:At my first trial no one supported me [as an advocate] or stood with me, but they all deserted me. May it not be counted against them [by God].
4:17:But the Lord stood by me and strengthened and empowered me, so that through me the [gospel] message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear it; and I was rescued from the mouth of the lion.
4:18:The Lord will rescue me from every evil assault, and He will bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
4:19:Give my greetings to Prisca and Aquila, and to the household of Onesiphorus.
4:20:Erastus stayed on at Corinth, but I left Trophimus sick at Miletus.
4:21:Try your best to come [to me] before winter. Eubulus wishes to be remembered to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers and sisters.
4:22:The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
titus:1:1:Salutation
Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God’s chosen ones and [to lead and encourage them to recognize and pursue] the knowledge of the truth which leads to godliness,
1:2:based on the hope and divine guarantee of eternal life, [the life] which God, who is ever truthful and without deceit, promised before the ages of time began,
1:3:and at the appointed time has made known His word and revealed it as His message, through preaching, which was entrusted to me according to the command of God our Savior—
1:4:To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
1:5:Qualifications of Elders
For this reason I left you behind in Crete, so that you would set right what remains unfinished, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,
1:6:namely, a man of unquestionable integrity, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of being immoral or rebellious.
1:7:For the overseer, as God’s steward, must be blameless, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain [but financially ethical].
1:8:And he must be hospitable [to believers, as well as strangers], a lover of what is good, sensible (upright), fair, devout, self-disciplined [above reproach—whether in public or in private].
1:9:He must hold firmly to the trustworthy word [of God] as it was taught to him, so that he will be able both to give accurate instruction in sound [reliable, error-free] doctrine and to refute those who contradict [it by explaining their error].
1:10:For there are many rebellious men who are empty talkers [just windbags] and deceivers; especially those of the circumcision [those Jews who insist that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the Law in order to be saved].
1:11:They must be silenced, because they are upsetting whole families by teaching things they should not teach for the purpose of dishonest financial gain.
1:12:One of them [Epimenides, a Cretan], a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
1:13:This description is true. So rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith and free from doctrinal error,
1:14:not paying attention to Jewish myths and the commandments and rules of men who turn their backs on the truth.
1:15:To the pure, all things are pure; but to the corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure; both their mind and their conscience are corrupted.
1:16:They profess to know God [to recognize and be acquainted with Him], but by their actions they deny and disown Him. They are detestable and disobedient and worthless for good work of any kind.
2:1:Duties of the Older and Younger
But as for you, teach the things which are in agreement with sound doctrine [which produces men and women of good character whose lifestyle identifies them as true Christians].
2:2:Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in steadfastness [Christlike in character].
2:3:Older women similarly are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor addicted to much wine, teaching what is right and good,
2:4:so that they may encourage the young women to tenderly love their husbands and their children,
2:5:to be sensible, pure, makers of a home [where God is honored], good-natured, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
2:6:In a similar way urge the young men to be sensible and self-controlled and to behave wisely [taking life seriously].
2:7:And in all things show yourself to be an example of good works, with purity in doctrine [having the strictest regard for integrity and truth], dignified,
2:8:sound and beyond reproach in instruction, so that the opponent [of the faith] will be shamed, having nothing bad to say about us.
2:9:Urge bond-servants to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be pleasing and not talk back,
2:10:not stealing [things, regardless of value], but proving themselves trustworthy, so that in every respect they will adorn and do credit to the teaching of God our Savior.
2:11:For the [remarkable, undeserved] grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
2:12:It teaches us to reject ungodliness and worldly (immoral) desires, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives [lives with a purpose that reflect spiritual maturity] in this present age,
2:13:awaiting and confidently expecting the [fulfillment of our] blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
2:14:who [willingly] gave Himself [to be crucified] on our behalf to redeem us and purchase our freedom from all wickedness, and to purify for Himself a chosen and very special people to be His own possession, who are enthusiastic for doing what is good.
2:15:Tell them these things. Encourage and rebuke with full authority. Let no one disregard or despise you [conduct yourself and your teaching so as to command respect].
3:1:Godly Living
Remind people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready and willing to do good,
3:2:to slander or abuse no one, to be kind and conciliatory and gentle, showing unqualified consideration and courtesy toward everyone.
3:3:For we too once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various sinful desires and pleasures, spending and wasting our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
3:4:But when the goodness and kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared [in human form as the Man, Jesus Christ],
3:5:He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we have done, but because of His own compassion and mercy, by the cleansing of the new birth (spiritual transformation, regeneration) and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
3:6:whom He poured out richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior,
3:7:so that we would be justified [made free of the guilt of sin] by His [compassionate, undeserved] grace, and that we would be [acknowledged as acceptable to Him and] made heirs of eternal life [actually experiencing it] according to our hope (His guarantee).
3:8:This is a faithful and trustworthy saying; and concerning these things I want you to speak with great confidence, so that those who have believed God [that is, those who have trusted in, relied on, and accepted Christ Jesus as Savior,] will be careful to participate in doing good and honorable things. These things are excellent [in themselves] and profitable for the people.
3:9:But avoid foolish and ill-informed and stupid controversies and genealogies and dissensions and quarrels about the Law, for they are unprofitable and useless.
3:10:After a first and second warning reject a divisive man [who promotes heresy and causes dissension—ban him from your fellowship and have nothing more to do with him],
3:11:well aware that such a person is twisted and is sinning; he is convicted and self-condemned [and is gratified by causing confusion among believers].
3:12:Personal Concerns
When I send Artemas or [perhaps] Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.
3:13:Do your best to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they are supplied and lack nothing.
3:14:Our people must learn to do good deeds to meet necessary demands [whatever the occasion may require], so that they will not be unproductive.
3:15:All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with all of you.
philemon:1:1:Salutation
Paul, a prisoner [for the sake] of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed), and our brother Timothy,
To Philemon our dearly beloved friend and fellow worker,
1:2:and to [your wife] Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier [in ministry], and to the church that meets in your house:
1:3:Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:4:Philemon’s Love and Faith
I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers,
1:5:because I hear of your love and of your faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints (God’s people).
1:6:I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective and powerful because of your accurate knowledge of every good thing which is ours in Christ.
1:7:For I have had great joy and comfort and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints (God’s people) have been refreshed through you, my brother.
1:8:Therefore [on the basis of these facts], though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is appropriate,
1:9:yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner [for the sake] of Christ Jesus—
1:10:A Plea for Onesimus to be Freed
I appeal to you for my [own spiritual] child Onesimus, whom I have fathered [in the faith] while a captive in these chains.
1:11:Once he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you as well as to me.
1:12:I have sent him back to you in person, that is, like sending my very heart.
1:13:I would have chosen to keep him with me, so that he might minister to me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel;
1:14:but I did not want to do anything without first getting your consent, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will.
1:15:Perhaps it was for this reason that he was separated from you for a while, so that you would have him back forever,
1:16:no longer as a slave, but [as someone] more than a slave, as a brother [in Christ], especially dear to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh [as a servant] and in the Lord [as a fellow believer].
1:17:So if you consider me a partner, welcome and accept him as you would me.
1:18:But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account;
1:19:I, Paul, write this with my own hand, I will repay it in full (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well).
1:20:Yes, brother, let me have some benefit and joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.
1:21:I write to you [perfectly] confident of your obedient compliance, since I know that you will do even more than I ask.
1:22:At the same time also prepare a guest room for me [in expectation of a visit], for I hope that through your prayers I will be [granted the gracious privilege of] coming to you [at Colossae].
1:23:Greetings to you from Epaphras, my fellow prisoner here in [the cause of] Christ Jesus,
1:24:and from Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
1:25:The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
hebrews:1:1:God’s Final Word in His Son
God, having spoken to the fathers long ago in [the voices and writings of] the prophets in many separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the truth], and in many ways,
1:2:has in these last days spoken [with finality] to us in [the person of One who is by His character and nature] His Son [namely Jesus], whom He appointed heir and lawful owner of all things, through whom also He created the universe [that is, the universe as a space-time-matter continuum].
1:3:The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal]. When He [Himself and no other] had [by offering Himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin] accomplished purification from sins and established our freedom from guilt, He sat down [revealing His completed work] at the right hand of the Majesty on high [revealing His Divine authority],
1:4:having become as much superior to angels, since He has inherited a more excellent and glorious name than they [that is, Son—the name above all names].
1:5:For to which of the angels did the Father ever say,
“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten (fathered) You [established You as a Son, with kingly dignity]”?
And again [did He ever say to the angels],
“I shall be a Father to Him
And He shall be a Son to Me”?
1:6:And when He again brings the firstborn [highest-ranking Son] into the world, He says,
“And all the angels of God are to worship Him.”
1:7:And concerning the angels He says,
“Who makes His angels winds,
And His ministering servants flames of fire [to do His bidding].”
1:8:But about the Son [the Father says to Him],
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
And the scepter of [absolute] righteousness is the scepter of His kingdom.
1:9:“You have loved righteousness [integrity, virtue, uprightness in purpose] and have hated lawlessness [injustice, sin].
Therefore God, Your God, Has anointed You
With the oil of gladness above Your companions.”
1:10:And,
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
And the heavens are the works of Your hands;
1:11:They will perish, but You remain [forever and ever];
And they will all wear out like a garment,
1:12:And like a robe You will roll them up;
Like a garment they will be changed.
But You are the same [forever],
And Your years will never end.”
1:13:But to which of the angels has the Father ever said,
“Sit at My right hand [together with me in royal dignity],
Until I make your enemies
A footstool for your feet [in triumphant conquest]”?
1:14:Are not all the angels ministering spirits sent out [by God] to serve (accompany, protect) those who will inherit salvation? [Of course they are!]
2:1:Give Heed
For this reason [that is, because of God’s final revelation in His Son Jesus and because of Jesus’ superiority to the angels] we must pay much closer attention than ever to the things that we have heard, so that we do not [in any way] drift away from truth.
2:2:For if the message given through angels [the Law given to Moses] was authentic and unalterable, and every violation and disobedient act received an appropriate penalty,
2:3:how will we escape [the penalty] if we ignore such a great salvation [the gospel, the new covenant]? For it was spoken at first by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us and proved authentic by those who personally heard [Him speak],
2:4:[and besides this evidence] God also testifying with them [confirming the message of salvation], both by signs and wonders and by various miracles [carried out by Jesus and the apostles] and by [granting to believers the] gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
2:5:Earth Subject to Man
It was not to angels that God subjected the [inhabited] world of the future [when Christ reigns], about which we are speaking.
2:6:But one has [solemnly] testified somewhere [in Scripture], saying,
“What is man, that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man, that You graciously care for him?
2:7:“You have made him for a little while lower [in status] than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
And set him over the works of Your hands;
2:8:You have put all things in subjection under his feet [confirming his supremacy].”
Now in putting all things in subjection to man, He left nothing outside his control. But at present we do not yet see all things subjected to him.
2:9:Jesus Briefly Humbled
But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while [by taking on the limitations of humanity], crowned with glory and honor because of His suffering of death, so that by the grace of God [extended to sinners] He might experience death for [the sins of] everyone.
2:10:For it was fitting for God [that is, an act worthy of His divine nature] that He, for whose sake are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the author and founder of their salvation perfect through suffering [bringing to maturity the human experience necessary for Him to be perfectly equipped for His office as High Priest].
2:11:Both Jesus who sanctifies and those who are sanctified [that is, spiritually transformed, made holy, and set apart for God’s purpose] are all from one Father; for this reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,
2:12:saying,
“I will declare Your (the Father’s) name to My brethren (believers),
In the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.”
2:13:And again [He says],
“My trust and confident hope will be placed in Him.”
And again,
“Here I am, I and the children whom God has given Me.”
2:14:Therefore, since [these His] children share in flesh and blood [the physical nature of mankind], He Himself in a similar manner also shared in the same [physical nature, but without sin], so that through [experiencing] death He might make powerless (ineffective, impotent) him who had the power of death—that is, the devil—
2:15:and [that He] might free all those who through [the haunting] fear of death were held in slavery throughout their lives.
2:16:For, as we all know, He (Christ) does not take hold of [the fallen] angels [to give them a helping hand], but He does take hold of [the fallen] descendants of Abraham [extending to them His hand of deliverance].
2:17:Therefore, it was essential that He had to be made like His brothers (mankind) in every respect, so that He might [by experience] become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things related to God, to make atonement (propitiation) for the people’s sins [thereby wiping away the sin, satisfying divine justice, and providing a way of reconciliation between God and mankind].
2:18:Because He Himself [in His humanity] has suffered in being tempted, He is able to help and provide immediate assistance to those who are being tempted and exposed to suffering.
3:1:Jesus Our High Priest
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, [thoughtfully and attentively] consider the Apostle and High Priest whom we confessed [as ours when we accepted Him as Savior], namely, Jesus;
3:2:He was faithful to Him who appointed Him [Apostle and High Priest], as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house.
3:3:Yet Jesus has been considered worthy of much greater glory and honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house.
3:4:For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
3:5:Now Moses was faithful in [the administration of] all God’s house, [but only] as a ministering servant, [his ministry serving] as a testimony of the things which were to be spoken afterward [the revelation to come in Christ];
3:6:but Christ is faithful as a Son over His [Father’s] house. And we are His house if we hold fast our confidence and sense of triumph in our hope [in Christ].
3:7:Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today if you hear His voice,
3:8:Do not harden your hearts as [your fathers did] in the rebellion [of Israel at Meribah],
On the day of testing in the wilderness,
3:9:Where your fathers tried Me by testing [My forbearance and tolerance],
And saw My works for forty years
[And found I stood their test].
3:10:“Therefore I was angered with this generation,
And I said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they did not know My ways [nor become progressively better and more intimately acquainted with them]’;
3:11:So I swore [an oath] in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest [the promised land].’”
3:12:The Peril of Unbelief
Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God.
3:13:But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today” [and there is an opportunity], so that none of you will be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [its cleverness, delusive glamour, and sophistication].
3:14:For we [believers] have become partakers of Christ [sharing in all that the Messiah has for us], if only we hold firm our newborn confidence [which originally led us to Him] until the end,
3:15:while it is said,
“Today [while there is still opportunity] if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your heart, as when they provoked Me [in the rebellion in the desert at Meribah].”
3:16:For who were they who heard and yet provoked Him [with rebellious acts]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?
3:17:And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies were scattered in the desert?
3:18:And to whom did He swear [an oath] that they would not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed [those who would not listen to His word]?
3:19:So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest—the promised land] because of unbelief and an unwillingness to trust in God.
4:1:The Believer’s Rest
Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still remains and is freely offered today, let us fear, in case any one of you may seem to come short of reaching it or think he has come too late.
4:2:For indeed we have had the good news [of salvation] preached to us, just as the Israelites also [when the good news of the promised land came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not united with faith [in God] by those who heard.
4:3:For we who believe [that is, we who personally trust and confidently rely on God] enter that rest [so we have His inner peace now because we are confident in our salvation, and assured of His power], just as He has said,
“As I swore [an oath] in My wrath,
They shall not enter My rest,”
[this He said] although His works were completed from the foundation of the world [waiting for all who would believe].
4:4:For somewhere [in Scripture] He has said this about the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”;
4:5:and again in this, “They shall not enter My rest.”
4:6:Therefore, since the promise remains for some to enter His rest, and those who formerly had the good news preached to them failed to [grasp it and did not] enter because of [their unbelief evidenced by] disobedience,
4:7:He again sets a definite day, [a new] “Today,” [providing another opportunity to enter that rest by] saying through David after so long a time, just as has been said before [in the words already quoted],
“Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”
4:8:[This mention of a rest was not a reference to their entering into Canaan.] For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not speak about another day [of opportunity] after that.
4:9:So there remains a [full and complete] Sabbath rest for the people of God.
4:10:For the one who has once entered His rest has also rested from [the weariness and pain of] his [human] labors, just as God rested from [those labors uniquely] His own.
4:11:Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience [as those who died in the wilderness].
4:12:For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.
4:13:And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, and revealed to the eyes of Him with whom we have to give account.
4:14:Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior].
4:15:For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin.
4:16:Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].
5:1:The Perfect High Priest
For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed [to act] on behalf of men in things relating to God, so that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
5:2:He is able to deal gently with the spiritually ignorant and misguided, since he is also subject to human weakness;
5:3:and because of this [human weakness] he is required to offer sacrifices for sins, for himself as well as for the people.
5:4:And besides, one does not appropriate for himself the honor [of being high priest], but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.
5:5:So too Christ did not glorify Himself so as to be made a high priest, but He [was exalted and appointed by the One] who said to Him,
“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten (fathered) You [declared Your authority and rule over the nations]”;
5:6:just as He also says in another place,
“You are a priest [appointed] forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
5:7:In the days of His earthly life, Jesus offered up both [specific] petitions and [urgent] supplications [for that which He needed] with fervent crying and tears to the One who was [always] able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission toward God [His sinlessness and His unfailing determination to do the Father’s will].
5:8:Although He was a Son [who had never been disobedient to the Father], He learned [active, special] obedience through what He suffered.
5:9:And having been made perfect [uniquely equipped and prepared as Savior and retaining His integrity amid opposition], He became the source of eternal salvation [an eternal inheritance] to all those who obey Him,
5:10:being designated by God as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
5:11:Concerning this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull and sluggish in [your spiritual] hearing and disinclined to listen.
5:12:For though by this time you ought to be teachers [because of the time you have had to learn these truths], you actually need someone to teach you again the elementary principles of God’s word [from the beginning], and you have come to be continually in need of milk, not solid food.
5:13:For everyone who lives on milk is [doctrinally inexperienced and] unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a spiritual infant.
5:14:But solid food is for the [spiritually] mature, whose senses are trained by practice to distinguish between what is morally good and what is evil.
6:1:The Peril of Falling Away
Therefore let us get past the elementary stage in the teachings about the Christ, advancing on to maturity and perfection and spiritual completeness, [doing this] without laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
6:2:of teaching about washings (ritual purifications), the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. [These are all important matters in which you should have been proficient long ago.]
6:3:And we will do this [that is, proceed to maturity], if God permits.
6:4:For [it is impossible to restore to repentance] those who have once been enlightened [spiritually] and who have tasted and consciously experienced the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
6:5:and have tasted and consciously experienced the good word of God and the powers of the age (world) to come,
6:6:and then have fallen away—it is impossible to bring them back again to repentance, since they again nail the Son of God on the cross [for as far as they are concerned, they are treating the death of Christ as if they were not saved by it], and are holding Him up again to public disgrace.
6:7:For soil that drinks the rain which often falls on it and produces crops useful to those for whose benefit it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God;
6:8:but if it persistently produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
6:9:Better Things for You
But, beloved, even though we speak to you in this way, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and of things that accompany salvation.
6:10:For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown for His name in ministering to [the needs of] the saints (God’s people), as you do.
6:11:And we desire for each one of you to show the same diligence [all the way through] so as to realize and enjoy the full assurance of hope until the end,
6:12:so that you will not be [spiritually] sluggish, but [will instead be] imitators of those who through faith [lean on God with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in His power] and by patient endurance [even when suffering] are [now] inheriting the promises.
6:13:For when God made the promise to Abraham, He swore [an oath] by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom to swear,
6:14:saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”
6:15:And so, having patiently waited, he realized the promise [in the miraculous birth of Isaac, as a pledge of what was to come from God].
6:16:Indeed men swear [an oath] by one greater than themselves, and with them [in all disputes] the oath serves as confirmation [of what has been said] and is an end of the dispute.
6:17:In the same way God, in His desire to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable nature of His purpose, intervened and guaranteed it with an oath,
6:18:so that by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge would have strong encouragement and indwelling strength to hold tightly to the hope set before us.
6:19:This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells],
6:20:where Jesus has entered [in advance] as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
7:1:Melchizedek’s Priesthood Like Christ’s
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he returned from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
7:2:and Abraham gave him a tenth of all [the spoil]. He is, first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, which means king of peace.
7:3:Without [any record of] father or mother, nor ancestral line, without [any record of] beginning of days (birth) nor ending of life (death), but having been made like the Son of God, he remains a priest without interruption and without successor.
7:4:Now pause and consider how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the spoils.
7:5:It is true that those descendants of Levi who are charged with the priestly office are commanded in the Law to collect tithes from the people—which means, from their kinsmen—though these have descended from Abraham.
7:6:But this person [Melchizedek] who is not from their Levitical ancestry received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who possessed the promises [of God].
7:7:Yet it is beyond all dispute that the lesser person is always blessed by the greater one.
7:8:Furthermore, here [in the Levitical priesthood] tithes are received by men who are subject to death; but in that case [concerning Melchizedek], they are received by one of whom it is testified that he lives on [perpetually].
7:9:A person might even say that Levi [the father of the priestly tribe] himself, who received tithes, paid tithes through Abraham [the father of all Israel and of all who believe],
7:10:for Levi was still in the loins (unborn) of his forefather [Abraham] when Melchizedek met him (Abraham).
7:11:Now if perfection [a perfect fellowship between God and the worshiper] had been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people were given the Law) what further need was there for another and different kind of priest to arise, one in the manner of Melchizedek, rather than one appointed to the order of Aaron?
7:12:For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is of necessity a change of the law [concerning the priesthood] as well.
7:13:For the One of whom these things are said belonged [not to the priestly line of Levi but] to another tribe, from which no one has officiated or served at the altar.
7:14:For it is evident that our Lord descended from [the tribe of] Judah, and Moses mentioned nothing about priests in connection with that tribe.
7:15:And this becomes even more evident if another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek,
7:16:who has become a priest, not on the basis of a physical and legal requirement in the Law [concerning his ancestry as a descendant of Levi], but on the basis of the power of an indestructible and endless life.
7:17:For it is attested [by God] of Him,
“You (Christ) are a Priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
7:18:For, on the one hand, a former commandment is cancelled because of its weakness and uselessness [because of its inability to justify the sinner before God]
7:19:(for the Law never made anything perfect); while on the other hand a better hope is introduced through which we now continually draw near to God.
7:20:And indeed it was not without the taking of an oath [that Christ was made priest]
7:21:(for those Levites who formerly became priests [received their office] without [its being confirmed by the taking of] an oath, but this One [was designated] with an oath through the One who said to Him,
“The Lord has sworn
And will not change His mind or regret it,
‘You (Christ) are a Priest forever’”).
7:22:And so [because of the oath’s greater strength and force] Jesus has become the certain guarantee of a better covenant [a more excellent and more advantageous agreement; one that will never be replaced or annulled].
7:23:The [former successive line of] priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were each prevented by death from continuing [perpetually in office];
7:24:but, on the other hand, Jesus holds His priesthood permanently and without change, because He lives on forever.
7:25:Therefore He is able also to save forever (completely, perfectly, for eternity) those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede and intervene on their behalf [with God].
7:26:It was fitting for us to have such a High Priest [perfectly adapted to our needs], holy, blameless, unstained [by sin], separated from sinners and exalted higher than the heavens;
7:27:who has no day by day need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices, first of all for his own [personal] sins and then for those of the people, because He [met all the requirements and] did this once for all when He offered up Himself [as a willing sacrifice].
7:28:For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak [frail, sinful, dying men], but the word of the oath [of God], which came after [the institution of] the Law, permanently appoints [as priest] a Son who has been made perfect forever.
8:1:A Better Ministry
Now the main point of what we have to say is this: we have such a High Priest, [the Christ] who is seated [in the place of honor] at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty (God) in heaven,
8:2:a Minister (Officiating Priest) in the holy places and in the true tabernacle, which is erected not by man, but by the Lord.
8:3:For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is essential for this One also to have something to offer.
8:4:Now if He were [still living] on earth, He would not be a priest at all, for there are priests who offer the gifts [to God] in accordance with the Law.
8:5:They serve as a pattern and foreshadowing of [what has its true existence and reality in] the heavenly things (sanctuary). For when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned by God, saying, “See that you make it all [exactly] according to the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.”
8:6:But as it is, Christ has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is more excellent [than the old Levitical priestly ministry], for He is the Mediator (Arbiter) of a better covenant [uniting God and man], which has been enacted and rests on better promises.
8:7:A New Covenant
For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one or an attempt to institute another one [the new covenant].
8:8:However, God finds fault with them [showing its inadequacy] when He says,
“Behold, the days will come, says the Lord,
When I will make and ratify a new covenant
With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
8:9:Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
On the day when I took them by the hand
To lead them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not abide in My covenant,
And so I withdrew My favor and disregarded them, says the Lord.
8:10:“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, says the Lord:
I will imprint My laws upon their minds [even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding],
And engrave them upon their hearts [effecting their regeneration].
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
8:11:“And it will not be [necessary] for each one to teach his fellow citizen,
Or each one his brother, saying, ‘Know [by experience, have knowledge of] the Lord,’
For all will know [Me by experience and have knowledge of] Me,
From the least to the greatest of them.
8:12:“For I will be merciful and gracious toward their wickedness,
And I will remember their sins no more.”
8:13:When God speaks of “A new covenant,” He makes the first one obsolete. And whatever is becoming obsolete (out of use, annulled) and growing old is ready to disappear.
9:1:The Old and the New
Now even the first covenant had regulations for divine worship and for the earthly sanctuary.
9:2:A tabernacle (sacred tent) was put up, the outer one or first section, in which were the lampstand and the table with [its loaves of] the sacred showbread; this is called the Holy Place.
9:3:Behind the second veil there was another tabernacle [the inner one or second section] known as the Holy of Holies,
9:4:having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered entirely with gold. This contained a golden jar which held the manna, and the rod of Aaron that sprouted, and the [two stone] tablets of the covenant [inscribed with the Ten Commandments];
9:5:and above the ark were the [golden] cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but we cannot now go into detail about these things.
9:6:Now when these things have been prepared in this way, the priests continually enter the outer [or first section of the] tabernacle [that is, the Holy Place] performing [their ritual acts of] the divine worship,
9:7:but into the second [inner tabernacle, the Holy of Holies], only the high priest enters [and then only] once a year, and never without [bringing a sacrifice of] blood, which he offers [as a substitutionary atonement] for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.
9:8:By this the Holy Spirit signifies that the way into the Holy Place [the true Holy of Holies and the presence of God] has not yet been disclosed as long as the first or outer tabernacle is still standing [that is, as long as the Levitical system of worship remains a recognized institution],
9:9:for this [first or outer tabernacle] is a symbol [that is, an archetype or paradigm] for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which are incapable of perfecting the conscience and renewing the [inner self of the] worshiper.
9:10:For they [the gifts, sacrifices, and ceremonies] deal only with [clean and unclean] food and drink and various ritual washings, [mere] external regulations for the body imposed [to help the worshipers] until the time of reformation [that is, the time of the new order when Christ will establish the reality of what these things foreshadow—a better covenant].
9:11:But when Christ appeared as a High Priest of the good things to come [that is, true spiritual worship], He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not a part of this [material] creation.
9:12:He went once for all into the Holy Place [the Holy of Holies of heaven, into the presence of God], and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, having obtained and secured eternal redemption [that is, the salvation of all who personally believe in Him as Savior].
9:13:For if the sprinkling of [ceremonially] defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a [burnt] heifer is sufficient for the cleansing of the body,
9:14:how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal [Holy] Spirit willingly offered Himself unblemished [that is, without moral or spiritual imperfection as a sacrifice] to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the ever living God?
9:15:For this reason He is the Mediator and Negotiator of a new covenant [that is, an entirely new agreement uniting God and man], so that those who have been called [by God] may receive [the fulfillment of] the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has taken place [as the payment] which redeems them from the sins committed under the obsolete first covenant.
9:16:For where there is a will and testament involved, the death of the one who made it must be established,
9:17:for a will and testament takes effect [only] at death, since it is never in force as long as the one who made it is alive.
9:18:So even the first covenant was not put in force without [the shedding of] blood.
9:19:For when every commandment in the Law had been read by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of the calves and goats [which had been sacrificed], together with water and scarlet wool and with a bunch of hyssop, and he sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people,
9:20:saying, “This is the blood of the covenant [that seals and ratifies the agreement] which God ordained and commanded [me to deliver to] you.”
9:21:And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the containers and sacred utensils of worship with the blood.
9:22:In fact under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness [neither release from sin and its guilt, nor cancellation of the merited punishment].
9:23:Therefore it was necessary for the [earthly] copies of the heavenly things to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves required far better sacrifices than these.
9:24:For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but [He entered] into heaven itself, now to appear in the very presence of God on our behalf;
9:25:nor did He [enter into the heavenly sanctuary to] offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.
9:26:Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer over and over since the foundation of the world; but now once for all at the consummation of the ages He has appeared and been publicly manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
9:27:And just as it is appointed and destined for all men to die once and after this [comes certain] judgment,
9:28:so Christ, having been offered once and once for all to bear [as a burden] the sins of many, will appear a second time [when he returns to earth], not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly and confidently waiting for Him.
10:1:One Sacrifice of Christ Is Sufficient
For since the Law has only a shadow [just a pale representation] of the good things to come—not the very image of those things—it can never, by offering the same sacrifices continually year after year, make perfect those who approach [its altars].
10:2:For if it were otherwise, would not these sacrifices have stopped being offered? For the worshipers, having once [for all time] been cleansed, would no longer have a consciousness of sin.
10:3:But [as it is] these [continual] sacrifices bring a fresh reminder of sins [to be atoned for] year after year,
10:4:for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
10:5:Therefore, when Christ enters into the world, He says,
“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,
But [instead] You have prepared a body for Me [to offer];
10:6:In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no delight.
10:7:“Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come
To do Your will, O God—
[To fulfill] what is written of Me in the scroll of the book.’”
10:8:After saying [in the citation] above, “You have neither desired, nor have You taken delight in sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin” (which are offered according to the Law)
10:9:then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” [And so] He does away with the first [covenant as a means of atoning for sin based on animal sacrifices] so that He may inaugurate and establish the second [covenant by means of obedience].
10:10:And in accordance with this will [of God] we [who believe in the message of salvation] have been sanctified [that is, set apart as holy for God and His purposes] through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) once for all.
10:11:Every priest stands [at his altar of service] ministering daily, offering the same sacrifices over and over, which are never able to strip away sins [that envelop and cover us];
10:12:whereas Christ, having offered the one sacrifice [the all-sufficient sacrifice of Himself] for sins for all time, sat down [signifying the completion of atonement for sin] at the right hand of God [the position of honor],
10:13:waiting from that time onward until his enemies are made a footstool for His feet.
10:14:For by the one offering He has perfected forever and completely cleansed those who are being sanctified [bringing each believer to spiritual completion and maturity].
10:15:And the Holy Spirit also adds His testimony to us [in confirmation of this]; for after having said,
10:16:“This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will imprint My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will inscribe them [producing an inward change],”
He then says,
10:17:“And their sins and their lawless acts
I will remember no more [no longer holding their sins against them].”
10:18:Now where there is [absolute] forgiveness and complete cancellation of the penalty of these things, there is no longer any offering [to be made to atone] for sin.
10:19:A New and Living Way
Therefore, believers, since we have confidence and full freedom to enter the Holy Place [the place where God dwells] by [means of] the blood of Jesus,
10:20:by this new and living way which He initiated and opened for us through the veil [as in the Holy of Holies], that is, through His flesh,
10:21:and since we have a great and wonderful Priest [Who rules] over the house of God,
10:22:let us approach [God] with a true and sincere heart in unqualified assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
10:23:Let us seize and hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word];
10:24:and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds,
10:25:not forsaking our meeting together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more [faithfully] as you see the day [of Christ’s return] approaching.
10:26:Christ or Judgment
For if we go on willfully and deliberately sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice [to atone] for our sins [that is, no further offering to anticipate],
10:27:but a kind of awful and terrifying expectation of [divine] judgment and the fury of a fire and burning wrath which will consume the adversaries [those who put themselves in opposition to God].
10:28:Anyone who has ignored and set aside the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
10:29:How much greater punishment do you think he will deserve who has rejected and trampled under foot the Son of God, and has considered unclean and common the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and has insulted the Spirit of grace [who imparts the unmerited favor and blessing of God]?
10:30:For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine [retribution and the deliverance of justice rest with Me], I will repay [the wrongdoer].” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
10:31:It is a fearful and terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God [incurring His judgment and wrath].
10:32:But remember the earlier days, when, after being [spiritually] enlightened, you [patiently] endured a great conflict of sufferings,
10:33:sometimes by being made a spectacle, publicly exposed to insults and distress, and sometimes by becoming companions with those who were so treated.
10:34:For you showed sympathy and deep concern for those who were imprisoned, and you joyfully accepted the [unjust] seizure of your belongings and the confiscation of your property, conscious of the fact that you have a better possession and a lasting one [prepared for you in heaven].
10:35:Do not, therefore, fling away your [fearless] confidence, for it has a glorious and great reward.
10:36:For you have need of patient endurance [to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising], so that when you have carried out the will of God, you may receive and enjoy to the full what is promised.
10:37:For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
10:38:But My righteous one [the one justified by faith] shall live by faith [respecting man’s relationship to God and trusting Him];
And if he draws back [shrinking in fear], My soul has no delight in him.
10:39:But our way is not that of those who shrink back to destruction, but [we are] of those who believe [relying on God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by this confident faith preserve the soul.
11:1:The Triumphs of Faith
Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].
11:2:For by this [kind of] faith the men of old gained [divine] approval.
11:3:By faith [that is, with an inherent trust and enduring confidence in the power, wisdom and goodness of God] we understand that the worlds (universe, ages) were framed and created [formed, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose] by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
11:4:By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which it was testified of him that he was righteous (upright, in right standing with God), and God testified by accepting his gifts. And though he died, yet through [this act of] faith he still speaks.
11:5:By faith [that pleased God] Enoch was caught up and taken to heaven so that he would not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found because God had taken him; for even before he was taken [to heaven], he received the testimony [still on record] that he had walked with God and pleased Him.
11:6:But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.
11:7:By faith [with confidence in God and His word] Noah, being warned by God about events not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his family. By this [act of obedience] he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which comes by faith.
11:8:By faith Abraham, when he was called [by God], obeyed by going to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went, not knowing where he was going.
11:9:By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land, as in a strange land, living in tents [as nomads] with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.
11:10:For he was [waiting expectantly and confidently] looking forward to the city which has foundations, [an eternal, heavenly city] whose architect and builder is God.
11:11:By faith even Sarah herself received the ability to conceive [a child], even [when she was long] past the normal age for it, because she considered Him who had given her the promise to be reliable and true [to His word].
11:12:So from one man, though he was [physically] as good as dead, were born as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand on the seashore.
11:13:All these died in faith [guided and sustained by it], without receiving the [tangible fulfillment of God’s] promises, only having seen (anticipated) them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
11:14:Now those who say such things make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own.
11:15:And if they had been thinking of that country from which they departed [as their true home], they would have had [a continuing] opportunity to return.
11:16:But the truth is that they were longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. For that reason God is not ashamed [of them or] to be called their God [even to be surnamed their God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob]; for He has prepared a city for them.
11:17:By faith Abraham, when he was tested [that is, as the testing of his faith was still in progress], offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises [of God] was ready to sacrifice his only son [of promise];
11:18:to whom it was said, “Through Isaac your descendants shall be called.”
11:19:For he considered [it reasonable to believe] that God was able to raise Isaac even from among the dead. [Indeed, in the sense that he was prepared to sacrifice Isaac in obedience to God] Abraham did receive him back [from the dead] figuratively speaking.
11:20:By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau [believing what God revealed to him], even regarding things to come.
11:21:By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and bowed in worship, leaning on the top of his staff.
11:22:By faith Joseph, when he was dying, referred to [the promise of God for] the exodus of the sons of Israel [from Egypt], and gave instructions concerning [the burial of] his bones [in the land of the promise].
11:23:By faith Moses, after his birth, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful and divinely favored child; and they were not afraid of the king’s (Pharaoh’s) decree.
11:24:By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
11:25:because he preferred to endure the hardship of the people of God rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.
11:26:He considered the reproach of the Christ [that is, the rebuke he would suffer for his faithful obedience to God] to be greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt; for he looked ahead to the reward [promised by God].
11:27:By faith he left Egypt, being unafraid of the wrath of the king; for he endured [steadfastly], as seeing Him who is unseen.
11:28:By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood [on the doorposts], so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch them (the firstborn of Israel).
11:29:By faith the people [of Israel] crossed the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land; but when the Egyptians attempted it they were drowned.
11:30:By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days [by Joshua and the sons of Israel].
11:31:By faith Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed along with those who were disobedient, because she had welcomed the spies [sent by the sons of Israel] in peace.
11:32:And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,
11:33:who by faith [that is, with an enduring trust in God and His promises] subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions,
11:34:extinguished the power of [raging] fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became mighty and unbeatable in battle, putting enemy forces to flight.
11:35:Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured [to death], refusing to accept release [offered on the condition of denying their faith], so that they would be resurrected to a better life;
11:36:and others experienced the trial of mocking and scourging [amid torture], and even chains and imprisonment.
11:37:They were stoned [to death], they were sawn in two, they were lured with tempting offers [to renounce their faith], they were put to death by the sword; they went about wrapped in the skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, cruelly treated
11:38:(people of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and [living in] caves and holes in the ground.
11:39:And all of these, though they gained [divine] approval through their faith, did not receive [the fulfillment of] what was promised,
11:40:because God had us in mind and had something better for us, so that they [these men and women of authentic faith] would not be made perfect [that is, completed in Him] apart from us.
12:1:Jesus, the Example
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us,
12:2:[looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].
12:3:Just consider and meditate on Him who endured from sinners such bitter hostility against Himself [consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
12:4:A Father’s Discipline
You have not yet struggled to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
12:5:and you have forgotten the divine word of encouragement which is addressed to you as sons,
“My son, do not make light of the discipline of the Lord,
And do not lose heart and give up when you are corrected by Him;
12:6:For the Lord disciplines and corrects those whom He loves,
And He punishes every son whom He receives and welcomes [to His heart].”
12:7:You must submit to [correction for the purpose of] discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
12:8:Now if you are exempt from correction and without discipline, in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate children and not sons [at all].
12:9:Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we submitted and respected them [for training us]; shall we not much more willingly submit to the Father of spirits, and live [by learning from His discipline]?
12:10:For our earthly fathers disciplined us for only a short time as seemed best to them; but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.
12:11:For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems sad and painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness [right standing with God and a lifestyle and attitude that seeks conformity to God’s will and purpose].
12:12:So then, strengthen hands that are weak and knees that tremble.
12:13:Cut through and make smooth, straight paths for your feet [that are safe and go in the right direction], so that the leg which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather may be healed.
12:14:Continually pursue peace with everyone, and the sanctification without which no one will [ever] see the Lord.
12:15:See to it that no one falls short of God’s grace; that no root of resentment springs up and causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
12:16:and [see to it] that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.
12:17:For you know that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance [there was no way to repair what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], even though he sought for it with [bitter] tears.
12:18:Contrast of Sinai and Zion
For you have not come [as did the Israelites in the wilderness] to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to gloom and darkness and a raging windstorm,
12:19:and to the blast of a trumpet and a sound of words [such that] those who heard it begged that nothing more be said to them.
12:20:For they could not bear the command, “If even a wild animal touches the mountain, it will be stoned [to death].”
12:21:In fact, so terrifying was the sight, that Moses said, “I am filled with fear and trembling.”
12:22:But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels [in festive gathering],
12:23:and to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to God, who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect [bringing them to their final glory],
12:24:and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant [uniting God and man], and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance].
12:25:The Unshaken Kingdom
See to it that you do not refuse [to listen to] Him who is speaking [to you now]. For if those [sons of Israel] did not escape when they refused [to listen to] him who warned them on earth [revealing God’s will], how much less will we escape if we turn our backs on Him who warns from heaven?
12:26:His voice shook the earth [at Mount Sinai] then, but now He has given a promise, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the [starry] heaven.”
12:27:Now this [expression], “Yet once more,” indicates the removal and final transformation of all those things which can be shaken—that is, of that which has been created—so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
12:28:Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, and offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship with reverence and awe;
12:29:for our God is [indeed] a consuming fire.
13:1:The Changeless Christ
Let love of your fellow believers continue.
13:2:Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
13:3:Remember those who are in prison, as if you were their fellow prisoner, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body [and subject to physical suffering].
13:4:Marriage is to be held in honor among all [that is, regarded as something of great value], and the marriage bed undefiled [by immorality or by any sexual sin]; for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
13:5:Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed—be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!”
13:6:So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently say,
“The Lord is my Helper [in time of need], I will not be afraid.
What will man do to me?”
13:7:Remember your leaders [for it was they] who brought you the word of God; and consider the result of their conduct [the outcome of their godly lives], and imitate their faith [their conviction that God exists and is the Creator and Ruler of all things, the Provider of eternal salvation through Christ, and imitate their reliance on God with absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].
13:8:Jesus Christ is [eternally changeless, always] the same yesterday and today and forever.
13:9:Do not be carried away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established and strengthened by grace and not by foods [rules of diet and ritualistic meals], which bring no benefit or spiritual growth to those who observe them.
13:10:We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle (sacred tent) have no right to eat.
13:11:For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp.
13:12:Therefore Jesus also suffered and died outside the [city] gate so that He might sanctify and set apart for God as holy the people [who believe] through [the shedding of] His own blood.
13:13:So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His contempt [the disgrace and shame that He had to suffer].
13:14:For here we have no lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.
13:15:God-pleasing Sacrifices
Through Him, therefore, let us at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.
13:16:Do not neglect to do good, to contribute [to the needy of the church as an expression of fellowship], for such sacrifices are always pleasing to God.
13:17:Obey your [spiritual] leaders and submit to them [recognizing their authority over you], for they are keeping watch over your souls and continually guarding your spiritual welfare as those who will give an account [of their stewardship of you]. Let them do this with joy and not with grief and groans, for this would be of no benefit to you.
13:18:Keep praying for us, for we are convinced that we have a good conscience, seeking to conduct ourselves honorably [that is, with moral courage and personal integrity] in all things.
13:19:And I urge all of you to pray earnestly, so that I may be restored to you soon.
13:20:Benediction
Now may the God of peace [the source of serenity and spiritual well-being] who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood that sealed and ratified the eternal covenant,
13:21:equip you with every good thing to carry out His will and strengthen you [making you complete and perfect as you ought to be], accomplishing in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
13:22:I call on you, brothers and sisters, listen [patiently] to this message of exhortation and encouragement, for I have written to you briefly.
13:23:Notice that our brother Timothy has been released [from prison]. If he comes soon, I will see you [along with him].
13:24:Give our greetings to all of your [spiritual] leaders and to all of the saints (God’s people). Those [Christians] from Italy send you their greetings.
13:25:Grace be with you all.
james:1:1:Testing Your Faith
James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve [Hebrew] tribes [scattered abroad among the Gentiles] in the dispersion: Greetings (rejoice)!
1:2:Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials.
1:3:Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace].
1:4:And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.
1:5:If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him.
1:6:But he must ask [for wisdom] in faith, without doubting [God’s willingness to help], for the one who doubts is like a billowing surge of the sea that is blown about and tossed by the wind.
1:7:For such a person ought not to think or expect that he will receive anything [at all] from the Lord,
1:8:being a double-minded man, unstable and restless in all his ways [in everything he thinks, feels, or decides].
1:9:Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position [as a born-again believer, called to the true riches and to be an heir of God];
1:10:and the rich man is to glory in being humbled [by trials revealing human frailty, knowing true riches are found in the grace of God], for like the flower of the grass he will pass away.
1:11:For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; its flower falls off and its beauty fades away; so too will the rich man, in the midst of his pursuits, fade away.
1:12:Blessed [happy, spiritually prosperous, favored by God] is the man who is steadfast under trial and perseveres when tempted; for when he has passed the test and been approved, he will receive the [victor’s] crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
1:13:Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God” [for temptation does not originate from God, but from our own flaws]; for God cannot be tempted by [what is] evil, and He Himself tempts no one.
1:14:But each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed and baited [to commit sin] by his own [worldly] desire (lust, passion).
1:15:Then when the illicit desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin has run its course, it gives birth to death.
1:16:Do not be misled, my beloved brothers and sisters.
1:17:Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes].
1:18:It was of His own will that He gave us birth [as His children] by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of His creatures [a prime example of what He created to be set apart to Himself—sanctified, made holy for His divine purposes].
1:19:Understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear [be a careful, thoughtful listener], slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words and], slow to anger [patient, reflective, forgiving];
1:20:for the [resentful, deep-seated] anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God [that standard of behavior which He requires from us].
1:21:So get rid of all uncleanness and all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive the word [of God] which is implanted [actually rooted in your heart], which is able to save your souls.
1:22:But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth].
1:23:For if anyone only listens to the word without obeying it, he is like a man who looks very carefully at his natural face in a mirror;
1:24:for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he immediately forgets what he looked like.
1:25:But he who looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and faithfully abides by it, not having become a [careless] listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he will be blessed and favored by God in what he does [in his life of obedience].
1:26:If anyone thinks himself to be religious [scrupulously observant of the rituals of his faith], and does not control his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless (futile, barren).
1:27:Pure and unblemished religion [as it is expressed in outward acts] in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit and look after the fatherless and the widows in their distress, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the [secular] world.
2:1:The Sin of Partiality
My fellow believers, do not practice your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of partiality [toward people—show no favoritism, no prejudice, no snobbery].
2:2:For if a man comes into your meeting place wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in,
2:3:and you pay special attention to the one who wears the fine clothes, and say to him, “You sit here in this good seat,” and you tell the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down [on the floor] by my footstool,”
2:4:have you not discriminated among yourselves, and become judges with wrong motives?
2:5:Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and [as believers to be] heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
2:6:But you [in contrast] have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress and exploit you, and personally drag you into the courts of law?
2:7:Do they not blaspheme the precious name [of Christ] by which you are called?
2:8:If, however, you are [really] fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, if you have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit]” you are doing well.
2:9:But if you show partiality [prejudice, favoritism], you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as offenders.
2:10:For whoever keeps the whole Law but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of [breaking] all of it.
2:11:For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you have become guilty of transgressing the [entire] Law.
2:12:Speak and act [consistently] as people who are going to be judged by the law of liberty [that moral law that frees obedient Christians from the bondage of sin].
2:13:For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; but [to the one who has shown mercy] mercy triumphs [victoriously] over judgment.
2:14:Faith and Works
What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith save him? [No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient—genuine faith produces good works.]
2:15:If a brother or sister is without [adequate] clothing and lacks [enough] food for each day,
2:16:and one of you says to them, “Go in peace [with my blessing], [keep] warm and feed yourselves,” but he does not give them the necessities for the body, what good does that do?
2:17:So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective].
2:18:But someone may say, “You [claim to] have faith and I have [good] works; show me your [alleged] faith without the works [if you can], and I will show you my faith by my works [that is, by what I do].”
2:19:You believe that God is one; you do well [to believe that]. The demons also believe [that], and shudder and bristle [in awe-filled terror—they have seen His wrath]!
2:20:But are you willing to recognize, you foolish [spiritually shallow] person, that faith without [good] works is useless?
2:21:Was our father Abraham not [shown to be] justified by works [of obedience which expressed his faith] when he offered Isaac his son on the altar [as a sacrifice to God]?
2:22:You see that [his] faith was working together with his works, and as a result of the works, his faith was completed [reaching its maturity when he expressed his faith through obedience].
2:23:And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and this [faith] was credited to him [by God] as righteousness and as conformity to His will,” and he was called the friend of God.
2:24:You see that a man (believer) is justified by works and not by faith alone [that is, by acts of obedience a born-again believer reveals his faith].
2:25:In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works too, when she received the [Hebrew] spies as guests and protected them, and sent them away [to escape] by a different route?
2:26:For just as the [human] body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works [of obedience] is also dead.
3:1:The Tongue Is a Fire
Not many [of you] should become teachers [serving in an official teaching capacity], my brothers and sisters, for you know that we [who are teachers] will be judged by a higher standard [because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly].
3:2:For we all stumble and sin in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says [never saying the wrong thing], he is a perfect man [fully developed in character, without serious flaws], able to bridle his whole body and rein in his entire nature [taming his human faults and weaknesses].
3:3:Now if we put bits into the horses’ mouths to make them obey us, we guide their whole body as well.
3:4:And look at the ships. Even though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman determines.
3:5:In the same sense, the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.
See [by comparison] how great a forest is set on fire by a small spark!
3:6:And the tongue is [in a sense] a fire, the very world of injustice and unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our members as that which contaminates the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life [the cycle of man’s existence], and is itself set on fire by hell (Gehenna).
3:7:For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.
3:8:But no one can tame the human tongue; it is a restless evil [undisciplined, unstable], full of deadly poison.
3:9:With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God.
3:10:Out of the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. These things, my brothers, should not be this way [for we have a moral obligation to speak in a manner that reflects our fear of God and profound respect for His precepts].
3:11:Does a spring send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?
3:12:Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.
3:13:Wisdom from Above
Who among you is wise and intelligent? Let him by his good conduct show his [good] deeds with the gentleness and humility of true wisdom.
3:14:But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be arrogant, and [as a result] be in defiance of the truth.
3:15:This [superficial] wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly (secular), natural (unspiritual), even demonic.
3:16:For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder [unrest, rebellion] and every evil thing and morally degrading practice.
3:17:But the wisdom from above is first pure [morally and spiritually undefiled], then peace-loving [courteous, considerate], gentle, reasonable [and willing to listen], full of compassion and good fruits. It is unwavering, without [self-righteous] hypocrisy [and self-serving guile].
3:18:And the seed whose fruit is righteousness (spiritual maturity) is sown in peace by those who make peace [by actively encouraging goodwill between individuals].
4:1:Things to Avoid
What leads to [the unending] quarrels and conflicts among you? Do they not come from your [hedonistic] desires that wage war in your [bodily] members [fighting for control over you]?
4:2:You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your lust goes unfulfilled; so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain [the object of your envy]; so you fight and battle. You do not have because you do not ask [it of God].
4:3:You ask [God for something] and do not receive it, because you ask with wrong motives [out of selfishness or with an unrighteous agenda], so that [when you get what you want] you may spend it on your [hedonistic] desires.
4:4:You adulteresses [disloyal sinners—flirting with the world and breaking your vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend [that is, loving the things of the world] is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
4:5:Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose that the [human] spirit which He has made to dwell in us lusts with envy?
4:6:But He gives us more and more grace [through the power of the Holy Spirit to defy sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our faith and our gratitude for our salvation]. Therefore, it says, “God is opposed to the proud and haughty, but [continually] gives [the gift of] grace to the humble [who turn away from self-righteousness].”
4:7:So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.
4:8:Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded [people].
4:9:Be miserable and grieve and weep [over your sin]. Let your [foolish] laughter be turned to mourning and your [reckless] joy to gloom.
4:10:Humble yourselves [with an attitude of repentance and insignificance] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up, He will give you purpose].
4:11:Believers, do not speak against or slander one another. He who speaks [self-righteously] against a brother or judges his brother [hypocritically], speaks against the Law and judges the Law. If you judge the Law, you are not a doer of the Law but a judge of it.
4:12:There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy [the one God who has the absolute power of life and death]; but who are you to [hypocritically or self-righteously] pass judgment on your neighbor?
4:13:Come now [and pay attention to this], you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and carry on our business and make a profit.”
4:14:Yet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen in your life tomorrow. [What is secure in your life?] You are merely a vapor [like a puff of smoke or a wisp of steam from a cooking pot] that is visible for a little while and then vanishes [into thin air].
4:15:Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and we will do this or that.”
4:16:But as it is, you boast [vainly] in your pretension and arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
4:17:So any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to him it is sin.
5:1:Misuse of Riches
Come [quickly] now, you rich [who lack true faith and hoard and misuse your resources], weep and howl over the miseries [the woes, the judgments] that are coming upon you.
5:2:Your wealth has rotted and is ruined and your [fine] clothes have become moth-eaten.
5:3:Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up your treasure in the last days [when it will do you no good].
5:4:Look! The wages that you have [fraudulently] withheld from the laborers who have mowed your fields are crying out [against you for vengeance]; and the cries of the harvesters have come to the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
5:5:On the earth you have lived luxuriously and abandoned yourselves to soft living and led a life of wanton pleasure [self-indulgence, self-gratification]; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
5:6:You have condemned and have put to death the righteous man; he offers you no resistance.
5:7:Exhortation
So wait patiently, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits [expectantly] for the precious harvest from the land, being patient about it, until it receives the early and late rains.
5:8:You too, be patient; strengthen your hearts [keep them energized and firmly committed to God], because the coming of the Lord is near.
5:9:Do not complain against one another, believers, so that you will not be judged [for it]. Look! The Judge is standing right at the door.
5:10:As an example, brothers and sisters, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord [as His messengers and representatives].
5:11:You know we call those blessed [happy, spiritually prosperous, favored by God] who were steadfast and endured [difficult circumstances]. You have heard of the patient endurance of Job and you have seen the Lord’s outcome [how He richly blessed Job]. The Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
5:12:But above all, my fellow believers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but let your yes be [a truthful] yes, and your no be [a truthful] no, so that you may not fall under judgment.
5:13:Is anyone among you suffering? He must pray. Is anyone joyful? He is to sing praises [to God].
5:14:Is anyone among you sick? He must call for the elders (spiritual leaders) of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
5:15:and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
5:16:Therefore, confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].
5:17:Elijah was a man with a nature like ours [with the same physical, mental, and spiritual limitations and shortcomings], and he prayed intensely for it not to rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
5:18:Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its crops [as usual].
5:19:My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you strays from the truth and falls into error and [another] one turns him back [to God],
5:20:let the [latter] one know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will save that one’s soul from death and cover a multitude of sins [that is, obtain the pardon of the many sins committed by the one who has been restored].
1_peter:1:1:A Living Hope, and a Sure Salvation
Peter, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ,
To those [elect—both Jewish and Gentile believers] who live as exiles, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia [Minor], and Bithynia, who are chosen
1:2:according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace [that special sense of spiritual well-being] be yours in increasing abundance [as you walk closely with God].
1:3:Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant and boundless mercy has caused us to be born again [that is, to be reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] to an ever-living hope and confident assurance through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1:4:[born anew] into an inheritance which is imperishable [beyond the reach of change] and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,
1:5:who are being protected and shielded by the power of God through your faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you] in the last time.
1:6:In this you rejoice greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
1:7:so that the genuineness of your faith, which is much more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested and purified by fire, may be found to result in [your] praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1:8:Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not even see Him now, you believe and trust in Him and you greatly rejoice and delight with inexpressible and glorious joy,
1:9:receiving as the result [the outcome, the consummation] of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1:10:Regarding this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace [of God] that was intended for you, searched carefully and inquired [about this future way of salvation],
1:11:seeking to find out what person or what time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He foretold the sufferings of Christ and the glories [destined] to follow.
1:12:It was revealed to them that their services [their prophecies regarding grace] were not [meant] for themselves and their time, but for you, in these things [the death, resurrection, and glorification of Jesus Christ] which have now been told to you by those who preached the gospel to you by the [power of the] Holy Spirit [who was] sent from heaven. Into these things even the angels long to look.
1:13:So prepare your minds for action, be completely sober [in spirit—steadfast, self-disciplined, spiritually and morally alert], fix your hope completely on the grace [of God] that is coming to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1:14:[Live] as obedient children [of God]; do not be conformed to the evil desires which governed you in your ignorance [before you knew the requirements and transforming power of the good news regarding salvation].
1:15:But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your conduct [be set apart from the world by your godly character and moral courage];
1:16:because it is written, “You shall be holy (set apart), for I am holy.”
1:17:If you address as Father, the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in [reverent] fear [of Him] and with profound respect for Him throughout the time of your stay on earth.
1:18:For you know that you were not redeemed from your useless [spiritually unproductive] way of life inherited [by tradition] from your forefathers with perishable things like silver and gold,
1:19:but [you were actually purchased] with precious blood, like that of a [sacrificial] lamb unblemished and spotless, the priceless blood of Christ.
1:20:For He was foreordained (foreknown) before the foundation of the world, but has appeared [publicly] in these last times for your sake
1:21:and through Him you believe [confidently] in God [the heavenly Father], who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are [centered and rest] in God.
1:22:Since by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves for a sincere love of the believers, [see that you] love one another from the heart [always unselfishly seeking the best for one another],
1:23:for you have been born again [that is, reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] not of seed which is perishable but [from that which is] imperishable and immortal, that is, through the living and everlasting word of God.
1:24:For,
“All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers
And the flower falls off,
1:25:But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word [the good news of salvation] which was preached to you.
2:1:As Newborn Babes
So put aside every trace of malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander and hateful speech;
2:2:like newborn babies [you should] long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may be nurtured and grow in respect to salvation [its ultimate fulfillment],
2:3:if in fact you have [already] tasted the goodness and gracious kindness of the Lord.
2:4:As Living Stones
Come to Him [the risen Lord] as to a living Stone which men rejected and threw away, but which is choice and precious in the sight of God.
2:5:You [believers], like living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house for a holy and dedicated priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.
2:6:For this is contained in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a chosen stone, a precious (honored) Cornerstone,
And he who believes in Him [whoever adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] will never be disappointed [in his expectations].”
2:7:This precious value, then, is for you who believe [in Him as God’s only Son—the Source of salvation]; but for those who disbelieve,
“The [very] stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief Cornerstone,”
2:8:and,
“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;
for they stumble because they disobey the word [of God], and to this they [who reject Him as Savior] were also appointed.
2:9:But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
2:10:Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
2:11:Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges [those dishonorable desires] that wage war against the soul.
2:12:Keep your behavior excellent among the [unsaved] Gentiles [conduct yourself honorably, with graciousness and integrity], so that for whatever reason they may slander you as evildoers, yet by observing your good deeds they may [instead come to] glorify God in the day of visitation [when He looks upon them with mercy].
2:13:Honor Authority
Submit yourselves to [the authority of] every human institution for the sake of the Lord [to honor His name], whether it is to a king as one in a position of power,
2:14:or to governors as sent by him to bring punishment to those who do wrong, and to praise and encourage those who do right.
2:15:For it is the will of God that by doing right you may silence (muzzle, gag) the [culpable] ignorance and irresponsible criticisms of foolish people.
2:16:Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover or pretext for evil, but [use it and live] as bond-servants of God.
2:17:Show respect for all people [treat them honorably], love the brotherhood [of believers], fear God, honor the king.
2:18:Servants, be submissive to your masters with all [proper] respect, not only to those who are good and kind, but also to those who are unreasonable.
2:19:For this finds favor, if a person endures the sorrow of suffering unjustly because of an awareness of [the will of] God.
2:20:After all, what kind of credit is there if, when you do wrong and are punished for it, you endure it patiently? But if when you do what is right and patiently bear [undeserved] suffering, this finds favor with God.
2:21:Christ Is Our Example
For [as a believer] you have been called for this purpose, since Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you may follow in His footsteps.
2:22:He committed no sin, nor was deceit ever found in His mouth.
2:23:While being reviled and insulted, He did not revile or insult in return; while suffering, He made no threats [of vengeance], but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges fairly.
2:24:He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been healed.
2:25:For you were continually wandering like [so many] sheep, but now you have come back to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
3:1:Godly Living
In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands [subordinate, not as inferior, but out of respect for the responsibilities entrusted to husbands and their accountability to God, and so partnering with them] so that even if some do not obey the word [of God], they may be won over [to Christ] without discussion by the godly lives of their wives,
3:2:when they see your modest and respectful behavior [together with your devotion and appreciation—love your husband, encourage him, and enjoy him as a blessing from God].
3:3:Your adornment must not be merely external—with interweaving and elaborate knotting of the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or [being superficially preoccupied with] dressing in expensive clothes;
3:4:but let it be [the inner beauty of] the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, [one that is calm and self-controlled, not overanxious, but serene and spiritually mature] which is very precious in the sight of God.
3:5:For in this way in former times the holy women, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands and adapting themselves to them;
3:6:just as Sarah obeyed Abraham [following him and having regard for him as head of their house], calling him lord. And you have become her daughters if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear [that is, being respectful toward your husband but not giving in to intimidation, nor allowing yourself to be led into sin, nor to be harmed].
3:7:In the same way, you husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way [with great gentleness and tact, and with an intelligent regard for the marriage relationship], as with someone physically weaker, since she is a woman. Show her honor and respect as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered or ineffective.
3:8:Finally, all of you be like-minded [united in spirit], sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted [courteous and compassionate toward each other as members of one household], and humble in spirit;
3:9:and never return evil for evil or insult for insult [avoid scolding, berating, and any kind of abuse], but on the contrary, give a blessing [pray for one another’s well-being, contentment, and protection]; for you have been called for this very purpose, that you might inherit a blessing [from God that brings well-being, happiness, and protection].
3:10:For,
“The one who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good—whether apparent or not],
Must keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from speaking guile (treachery, deceit).
3:11:“He must turn away from wickedness and do what is right.
He must search for peace [with God, with self, with others] and pursue it eagerly [actively—not merely desiring it].
3:12:“For the eyes of the Lord are [looking favorably] upon the righteous (the upright),
And His ears are attentive to their prayer (eager to answer),
But the face of the Lord is against those who practice evil.”
3:13:Now who is there to hurt you if you become enthusiastic for what is good?
3:14:But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness [though it is not certain that you will], you are still blessed [happy, to be admired and favored by God]. Do not be afraid of their intimidating threats, nor be troubled or disturbed [by their opposition].
3:15:But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.
3:16:And see to it that your conscience is entirely clear, so that every time you are slandered or falsely accused, those who attack or disparage your good behavior in Christ will be shamed [by their own words].
3:17:For it is better that you suffer [unjustly] for doing what is right, if that should be God’s will, than [to suffer justly] for doing wrong.
3:18:For indeed Christ died for sins once for all, the Just and Righteous for the unjust and unrighteous [the Innocent for the guilty] so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;
3:19:in which He also went and preached to the spirits now in prison,
3:20:who once were disobedient, when the great patience of God was waiting in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons [Noah’s family], were brought safely through the water.
3:21:Corresponding to that [rescue through the flood], baptism [which is an expression of a believer’s new life in Christ] now saves you, not by removing dirt from the body, but by an appeal to God for a good (clear) conscience, [demonstrating what you believe to be yours] through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
3:22:who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God [that is, the place of honor and authority], with [all] angels and authorities and powers made subservient to Him.
4:1:Keep Fervent in Your Love
Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh [and died for us], arm yourselves [like warriors] with the same purpose [being willing to suffer for doing what is right and pleasing God], because whoever has suffered in the flesh [being like-minded with Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [having stopped pleasing the world],
4:2:so that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living for human appetites and desires, but [lives] for the will and purpose of God.
4:3:For the time already past is [more than] enough for doing what the [unsaved] Gentiles like to do—living [unrestrained as you have done] in a course of [shameless] sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries.
4:4:In [connection with] all this, they [the unbelievers] are resentful and surprised that you do not [think like them, value their values and] run [hand in hand] with them into the same excesses of dissipation and immoral freedom, and they criticize and abuse and ridicule you and make fun of your values.
4:5:But they will [have to] give an account to Him who is ready to judge and pass sentence on the living and the dead.
4:6:For this is why the good news [of salvation] was preached [in their lifetimes] even to those who are dead, that though they were judged in the flesh as men are, they may live in the spirit according to [the will and purpose of] God.
4:7:The end and culmination of all things is near. Therefore, be sound-minded and self-controlled for the purpose of prayer [staying balanced and focused on the things of God so that your communication will be clear, reasonable, specific and pleasing to Him.]
4:8:Above all, have fervent and unfailing love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins [it overlooks unkindness and unselfishly seeks the best for others].
4:9:Be hospitable to one another without complaint.
4:10:Just as each one of you has received a special gift [a spiritual talent, an ability graciously given by God], employ it in serving one another as [is appropriate for] good stewards of God’s multi-faceted grace [faithfully using the diverse, varied gifts and abilities granted to Christians by God’s unmerited favor].
4:11:Whoever speaks [to the congregation], is to do so as one who speaks the oracles (utterances, the very words) of God. Whoever serves [the congregation] is to do so as one who serves by the strength which God [abundantly] supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified [honored and magnified] through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
4:12:Share the Sufferings of Christ
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test you [that is, to test the quality of your faith], as though something strange or unusual were happening to you.
4:13:But insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, keep on rejoicing, so that when His glory [filled with His radiance and splendor] is revealed, you may rejoice with great joy.
4:14:If you are insulted and reviled for [bearing] the name of Christ, you are blessed [happy, with life-joy and comfort in God’s salvation regardless of your circumstances], because the Spirit of glory and of God is resting on you [and indwelling you—He whom they curse, you glorify].
4:15:Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or a thief, or any sort of criminal [in response to persecution], or as a troublesome meddler interfering in the affairs of others;
4:16:but if anyone suffers [ill-treatment] as a Christian [because of his belief], he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God [because he is considered worthy to suffer] in this name.
4:17:For it is the time [destined] for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not respect or believe or obey the gospel of God?
4:18:And if it is difficult for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the godless and the sinner?
4:19:Therefore, those who are ill-treated and suffer in accordance with the will of God must [continue to] do right and commit their souls [for safe-keeping] to the faithful Creator.
5:1:Serve God Willingly
Therefore, I strongly urge the elders among you [pastors, spiritual leaders of the church], as a fellow elder and as an eyewitness [called to testify] of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory that is to be revealed:
5:2:shepherd and guide and protect the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not [motivated] for shameful gain, but with wholehearted enthusiasm;
5:3:not lording it over those assigned to your care [do not be arrogant or overbearing], but be examples [of Christian living] to the flock [set a pattern of integrity for your congregation].
5:4:And when the Chief Shepherd (Christ) appears, you will receive the [conqueror’s] unfading crown of glory.
5:5:Likewise, you younger men [of lesser rank and experience], be subject to your elders [seek their counsel]; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another [tie on the servant’s apron], for God is opposed to the proud [the disdainful, the presumptuous, and He defeats them], but He gives grace to the humble.
5:6:Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [set aside self-righteous pride], so that He may exalt you [to a place of honor in His service] at the appropriate time,
5:7:casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].
5:8:Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.
5:9:But resist him, be firm in your faith [against his attack—rooted, established, immovable], knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being experienced by your brothers and sisters throughout the world. [You do not suffer alone.]
5:10:After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace [who imparts His blessing and favor], who called you to His own eternal glory in Christ, will Himself complete, confirm, strengthen, and establish you [making you what you ought to be].
5:11:To Him be dominion (power, authority, sovereignty) forever and ever. Amen.
5:12:By Silvanus, our faithful brother (as I consider him), I have written to you briefly, to counsel and testify that this is the true grace [the undeserved favor] of God. Stand firm in it!
5:13:She [the church] who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son [in the faith], Mark.
5:14:Greet one another with a kiss of love.
To all of you who are in Christ, may there be peace.
2_peter:1:1:Growth in Christian Virtue
Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ,
To those who have received and possess [by God’s will] a precious faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:
1:2:Grace and peace [that special sense of spiritual well-being] be multiplied to you in the [true, intimate] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
1:3:For His divine power has bestowed on us [absolutely] everything necessary for [a dynamic spiritual] life and godliness, through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
1:4:For by these He has bestowed on us His precious and magnificent promises [of inexpressible value], so that by them you may escape from the immoral freedom that is in the world because of disreputable desire, and become sharers of the divine nature.
1:5:For this very reason, applying your diligence [to the divine promises, make every effort] in [exercising] your faith to, develop moral excellence, and in moral excellence, knowledge (insight, understanding),
1:6:and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, steadfastness, and in your steadfastness, godliness,
1:7:and in your godliness, brotherly affection, and in your brotherly affection, [develop Christian] love [that is, learn to unselfishly seek the best for others and to do things for their benefit].
1:8:For as these qualities are yours and are increasing [in you as you grow toward spiritual maturity], they will keep you from being useless and unproductive in regard to the true knowledge and greater understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:9:For whoever lacks these qualities is blind—shortsighted [closing his spiritual eyes to the truth], having become oblivious to the fact that he was cleansed from his old sins.
1:10:Therefore, believers, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you [be sure that your behavior reflects and confirms your relationship with God]; for by doing these things [actively developing these virtues], you will never stumble [in your spiritual growth and will live a life that leads others away from sin];
1:11:for in this way entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly provided to you.
1:12:Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and are established in the truth which is held firmly in your grasp.
1:13:I think it right, as long as I am in this earthly tent, to inspire you by reminding you,
1:14:knowing that the laying aside of this earthly tent of mine is imminent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
1:15:Moreover, I will diligently endeavor [to see to it] that even after my departure you will be able, at all times, to call these things to mind.
1:16:Eyewitnesses
For we did not follow cleverly devised stories or myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty [His grandeur, His authority, His sovereignty].
1:17:For when He was invested with honor and [the radiance of the Shekinah] glory from God the Father, such a voice as this came to Him from the [splendid] Majestic Glory [in the bright cloud that overshadowed Him, saying], “This is My Son, My Beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased and delighted”—
1:18:and we [actually] heard this voice made from heaven when we were together with Him on the holy mountain.
1:19:So we have the prophetic word made more certain. You do well to pay [close] attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and light breaks through the gloom and the morning star arises in your hearts.
1:20:But understand this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of or comes from one’s own [personal or special] interpretation,
1:21:for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
2:1:The Rise of False Prophets
But [in those days] false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will subtly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2:2:Many will follow their shameful ways, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned.
2:3:And in their greed they will exploit you with false arguments and twisted doctrine. Their sentence [of condemnation which God has decreed] from a time long ago is not idle [but is still in force], and their destruction and deepening misery is not asleep [but is on its way].
2:4:For if God did not [even] spare angels that sinned, but threw them into hell and sent them to pits of gloom to be kept [there] for judgment;
2:5:and if He did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought [the judgment of] a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2:6:and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;
2:7:and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was tormented by the immoral conduct of unprincipled and ungodly men
2:8:(for that just man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by what he saw and heard of their lawless acts),
2:9:then [in light of the fact that all this is true, be sure that] the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and how to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,
2:10:and especially those who indulge in the corrupt passions of the sin nature, and despise authority.
Presumptuous and reckless, self-willed and arrogant [creatures, despising the majesty of the Lord], they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties,
2:11:whereas even angels who are superior in might and power do not bring a reviling (defaming) accusation against them before the Lord.
2:12:But these [false teachers], like unreasoning animals, [mere] creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed, reviling things they do not understand, will also perish in their own corruption [in their destroying they will be destroyed],
2:13:suffering wrong [destined for punishment] as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a delight to revel in the daytime [living luxuriously]. They are stains and blemishes [on mankind], reveling in their deceptions even as they feast with you.
2:14:They have eyes full of adultery, constantly looking for sin, enticing and luring away unstable souls. Having hearts trained in greed, [they are] children of a curse.
2:15:Abandoning the straight road [that is, the right way to live], they have gone astray; they have followed the way of [the false teacher] Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the reward of wickedness;
2:16:but he was rebuked for his own transgression: a mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
2:17:These [false teachers] are springs without water and mists driven by a tempest, for whom is reserved the gloom of black darkness.
2:18:For uttering arrogant words of vanity [pompous words disguised to sound scholarly or profound, but meaning nothing and containing no spiritual truth], they beguile and lure using lustful desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error.
2:19:They promise them liberty, when they themselves are the slaves of depravity—for by whatever anyone is defeated and overcome, to that [person, thing, philosophy, or concept] he is continually enslaved.
2:20:For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world by [personal] knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, their last condition has become worse for them than the first.
2:21:For it would have been better for them not to have [personally] known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to have turned back from the holy commandment [verbally] handed on to them.
2:22:The thing spoken of in the true proverb has happened to them, “The dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “A sow is washed only to wallow [again] in the mire.”
3:1:Purpose of This Letter
Beloved, I am now writing you this second letter. In this [as in the first one], I am stirring up your untainted mind to remind you,
3:2:that you should remember the words spoken in the past [about the future] by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior given by your apostles [His personally chosen representatives].
3:3:The Coming Day of the Lord
First of all, know [without any doubt] that mockers will come in the last days with their mocking, following after their own human desires
3:4:and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming [what has become of it]? For ever since the fathers fell asleep [in death], all things have continued [exactly] as they did from the beginning of creation.”
3:5:For they willingly forget [the fact] that the heavens existed long ago by the word of God, and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
3:6:through which the world at that time was destroyed by being flooded with water.
3:7:But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly people.
3:8:Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day.
3:9:The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
3:10:A New Heaven and Earth
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will vanish with a [mighty and thunderous] roar, and the [material] elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and the works that are on it will be burned up.
3:11:Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be [in the meantime] in holy behavior [that is, in a pattern of daily life that sets you apart as a believer] and in godliness [displaying profound reverence toward our awesome God],
3:12:[while you earnestly] look for and await the coming of the day of God. For on this day the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the [material] elements will melt with intense heat!
3:13:But in accordance with His promise we expectantly await new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
3:14:So, beloved, since you are looking forward to these things, be diligent and make every effort to be found by Him [at His return] spotless and blameless, in peace [that is, inwardly calm with a sense of spiritual well-being and confidence, having lived a life of obedience to Him].
3:15:And consider the patience of our Lord [His delay in judging and avenging wrongs] as salvation [that is, allowing time for more to be saved]; just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him [by God],
3:16:speaking about these things as he does in all of his letters. In which there are some things that are difficult to understand, which the untaught and unstable [who have fallen into error] twist and misinterpret, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
3:17:Therefore, [let me warn you] beloved, knowing these things beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men [who distort doctrine] and fall from your own steadfastness [of mind, knowledge, truth, and faith],
3:18:but grow [spiritually mature] in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory (honor, majesty, splendor), both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
1_john:1:1:Introduction, The Incarnate Word
[I am writing about] what existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life [the One who existed even before the beginning of the world, Christ]—
1:2:and the Life [an aspect of His being] was manifested, and we have seen [it as eyewitnesses] and testify and declare to you [the Life], the eternal Life who was [already existing] with the Father and was [actually] made visible to us [His followers]—
1:3:what we have seen and heard we also proclaim to you, so that you too may have fellowship [as partners] with us. And indeed our fellowship [which is a distinguishing mark of born-again believers] is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
1:4:We are writing these things to you so that our joy [in seeing you included] may be made complete [by having you share in the joy of salvation].
1:5:God Is Light
This is the message [of God’s promised revelation] which we have heard from Him and now announce to you, that God is Light [He is holy, His message is truthful, He is perfect in righteousness], and in Him there is no darkness at all [no sin, no wickedness, no imperfection].
1:6:If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness [of sin], we lie and do not practice the truth;
1:7:but if we [really] walk in the Light [that is, live each and every day in conformity with the precepts of God], as He Himself is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another [He with us, and we with Him], and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin [by erasing the stain of sin, keeping us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].
1:8:If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude ourselves and the truth is not in us. [His word does not live in our hearts.]
1:9:If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose].
1:10:If we say that we have not sinned [refusing to admit acts of sin], we make Him [out to be] a liar [by contradicting Him] and His word is not in us.
2:1:Christ Is Our Advocate
My little children (believers, dear ones), I am writing you these things so that you will not sin and violate God’s law. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate [who will intercede for us] with the Father: Jesus Christ the righteous [the upright, the just One, who conforms to the Father’s will in every way—purpose, thought, and action].
2:2:And He [that same Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins [the atoning sacrifice that holds back the wrath of God that would otherwise be directed at us because of our sinful nature—our worldliness, our lifestyle]; and not for ours alone, but also for [the sins of all believers throughout] the whole world.
2:3:And this is how we know [daily, by experience] that we have come to know Him [to understand Him and be more deeply acquainted with Him]: if we habitually keep [focused on His precepts and obey] His commandments (teachings).
2:4:Whoever says, “I have come to know Him,” but does not habitually keep [focused on His precepts and obey] His commandments (teachings), is a liar, and the truth [of the divine word] is not in him.
2:5:But whoever habitually keeps His word and obeys His precepts [and treasures His message in its entirety], in him the love of God has truly been perfected [it is completed and has reached maturity]. By this we know [for certain] that we are in Him:
2:6:whoever says he lives in Christ [that is, whoever says he has accepted Him as God and Savior] ought [as a moral obligation] to walk and conduct himself just as He walked and conducted Himself.
2:7:Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the message which you have heard [before from us].
2:8:On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true and realized in Christ and in you, because the darkness [of moral blindness] is clearing away and the true Light [the revelation of God in Christ] is already shining.
2:9:The one who says he is in the Light [in consistent fellowship with Christ] and yet habitually hates (works against) his brother [in Christ] is in the darkness until now.
2:10:The one who loves and unselfishly seeks the best for his [believing] brother lives in the Light, and in him there is no occasion for stumbling or offense [he does not hurt the cause of Christ or lead others to sin].
2:11:But the one who habitually hates (works against) his brother [in Christ] is in [spiritual] darkness and is walking in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
2:12:I am writing to you, little children (believers, dear ones), because your sins have been forgiven for His name’s sake [you have been pardoned and released from spiritual debt through His name because you have confessed His name, believing in Him as Savior].
2:13:I am writing to you, fathers [those believers who are spiritually mature], because you know Him who has existed from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men [those believers who are growing in spiritual maturity], because you have been victorious and have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children [those who are new believers, those spiritually immature], because you have come to know the Father.
2:14:I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and vigorous, and the word of God remains [always] in you, and you have been victorious over the evil one [by accepting Jesus as Savior].
2:15:Do Not Love the World
Do not love the world [of sin that opposes God and His precepts], nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
2:16:For all that is in the world—the lust and sensual craving of the flesh and the lust and longing of the eyes and the boastful pride of life [pretentious confidence in one’s resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father, but are from the world.
2:17:The world is passing away, and with it its lusts [the shameful pursuits and ungodly longings]; but the one who does the will of God and carries out His purposes lives forever.
2:18:Children, it is the last hour [the end of this age]; and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming [the one who will oppose Christ and attempt to replace Him], even now many antichrists (false teachers) have appeared, which confirms our belief that it is the last hour.
2:19:They went out from us [seeming at first to be Christians], but they were not really of us [because they were not truly born again and spiritually transformed]; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out [teaching false doctrine], so that it would be clearly shown that none of them are of us.
2:20:But you have an anointing from the Holy One [you have been set apart, specially gifted and prepared by the Holy Spirit], and all of you know [the truth because He teaches us, illuminates our minds, and guards us from error].
2:21:I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie [nothing false, no deception] is of the truth.
2:22:Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)? This is the antichrist [the enemy and antagonist of Christ], the one who denies and consistently refuses to acknowledge the Father and the Son.
2:23:Whoever denies and repudiates the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses and acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
2:24:As for you, let that remain in you [keeping in your hearts that message of salvation] which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you too will remain in the Son and in the Father [forever].
2:25:The Promise Is Eternal Life
This is the promise which He Himself promised us—eternal life.
2:26:These things I have written to you with reference to those who are trying to deceive you [seducing you and leading you away from the truth and sound doctrine].
2:27:As for you, the anointing [the special gift, the preparation] which you received from Him remains [permanently] in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But just as His anointing teaches you [giving you insight through the presence of the Holy Spirit] about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as His anointing has taught you, you must remain in Him [being rooted in Him, knit to Him].
2:28:Now, little children (believers, dear ones), remain in Him [with unwavering faith], so that when He appears [at His return], we may have [perfect] confidence and not be ashamed and shrink away from Him at His coming.
2:29:If you know that He is absolutely righteous, you know [for certain] that everyone who practices righteousness [doing what is right and conforming to God’s will] has been born of Him.
3:1:Children of God Love One Another
See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
3:2:Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory].
3:3:And everyone who has this hope [confidently placed] in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (holy, undefiled, guiltless).
3:4:Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness [ignoring God’s law by action or neglect or by tolerating wrongdoing—being unrestrained by His commands and His will].
3:5:You know that He appeared [in visible form as a man] in order to take away sins; and in Him there is [absolutely] no sin [for He has neither the sin nature nor has He committed sin or acts worthy of blame].
3:6:No one who abides in Him [who remains united in fellowship with Him—deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin. No one who habitually sins has seen Him or known Him.
3:7:Little children (believers, dear ones), do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who practices righteousness [the one who strives to live a consistently honorable life—in private as well as in public—and to conform to God’s precepts] is righteous, just as He is righteous.
3:8:The one who practices sin [separating himself from God, and offending Him by acts of disobedience, indifference, or rebellion] is of the devil [and takes his inner character and moral values from him, not God]; for the devil has sinned and violated God’s law from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
3:9:No one who is born of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, because God’s seed [His principle of life, the essence of His righteous character] remains [permanently] in him [who is born again—who is reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose]; and he [who is born again] cannot habitually [live a life characterized by] sin, because he is born of God and longs to please Him.
3:10:By this the children of God and the children of the devil are clearly identified: anyone who does not practice righteousness [who does not seek God’s will in thought, action, and purpose] is not of God, nor is the one who does not [unselfishly] love his [believing] brother.
3:11:For this is the message which you [believers] have heard from the beginning [of your relationship with Christ], that we should [unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another;
3:12:and not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother [Abel]. And why did he murder him? Because Cain’s deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
3:13:Do not be surprised, believers, if the world hates you.
3:14:We know that we have passed out of death into Life, because we love the brothers and sisters. He who does not love remains in [spiritual] death.
3:15:Everyone who hates (works against) his brother [in Christ] is [at heart] a murderer [by God’s standards]; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
3:16:By this we know [and have come to understand the depth and essence of His precious] love: that He [willingly] laid down His life for us [because He loved us]. And we ought to lay down our lives for the believers.
3:17:But whoever has the world’s goods (adequate resources), and sees his brother in need, but has no compassion for him, how does the love of God live in him?
3:18:Little children (believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in truth [in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words].
3:19:By this we will know [without any doubt] that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart and quiet our conscience before Him
3:20:whenever our heart convicts us [in guilt]; for God is greater than our heart and He knows all things [nothing is hidden from Him because we are in His hands].
3:21:Beloved, if our heart does not convict us [of guilt], we have confidence [complete assurance and boldness] before God;
3:22:and we receive from Him whatever we ask because we [carefully and consistently] keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight [habitually seeking to follow His plan for us].
3:23:This is His commandment, that we believe [with personal faith and confident trust] in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and [that we unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, just as He commanded us.
3:24:The one who habitually keeps His commandments [obeying His word and following His precepts, abides and] remains in Him, and He in him. By this we know and have the proof that He [really] abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us [as a gift].
4:1:Testing the Spirits
Beloved, do not believe every spirit [speaking through a self-proclaimed prophet]; instead test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets and teachers have gone out into the world.
4:2:By this you know and recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ has [actually] come in the flesh [as a man] is from God [God is its source];
4:3:and every spirit that does not confess Jesus [acknowledging that He has come in the flesh, but would deny any of the Son’s true nature] is not of God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and is now already in the world.
4:4:Little children (believers, dear ones), you are of God and you belong to Him and have [already] overcome them [the agents of the antichrist]; because He who is in you is greater than he (Satan) who is in the world [of sinful mankind].
4:5:They [who teach twisted doctrine] are of the world and belong to it; therefore they speak from the [viewpoint of the] world [with its immoral freedom and baseless theories—demanding compliance with their opinions and ridiculing the values of the upright], and the [gullible one of the] world listens closely and pays attention to them.
4:6:We [who teach God’s word] are from God [energized by the Holy Spirit], and whoever knows God [through personal experience] listens to us [and has a deeper understanding of Him]. Whoever is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know [without any doubt] the spirit of truth [motivated by God] and the spirit of error [motivated by Satan].
4:7:God Is Love
Beloved, let us [unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves [others] is born of God and knows God [through personal experience].
4:8:The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]
4:9:By this the love of God was displayed in us, in that God has sent His [One and] only begotten Son [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind] into the world so that we might live through Him.
4:10:In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [that is, the atoning sacrifice, and the satisfying offering] for our sins [fulfilling God’s requirement for justice against sin and placating His wrath].
4:11:Beloved, if God so loved us [in this incredible way], we also ought to love one another.
4:12:No one has seen God at any time. But if we love one another [with unselfish concern], God abides in us, and His love [the love that is His essence abides in us and] is completed and perfected in us.
4:13:By this we know [with confident assurance] that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given to us His [Holy] Spirit.
4:14:We [who were with Him in person] have seen and testify [as eye-witnesses] that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
4:15:Whoever confesses and acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
4:16:We have come to know [by personal observation and experience], and have believed [with deep, consistent faith] the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides continually in him.
4:17:In this [union and fellowship with Him], love is completed and perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him]; because as He is, so are we in this world.
4:18:There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love].
4:19:We love, because He first loved us.
4:20:If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates (works against) his [Christian] brother he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
4:21:And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should also [unselfishly] love his brother and seek the best for him.
5:1:Overcoming the World
Everyone who believes [with a deep, abiding trust in the fact] that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) is born of God [that is, reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], and everyone who loves the Father also loves the child born of Him.
5:2:By this we know [without any doubt] that we love the children of God: [expressing that love] when we love God and obey His commandments.
5:3:For the [true] love of God is this: that we habitually keep His commandments and remain focused on His precepts. And His commandments and His precepts are not difficult [to obey].
5:4:For everyone born of God is victorious and overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has conquered and overcome the world—our [continuing, persistent] faith [in Jesus the Son of God].
5:5:Who is the one who is victorious and overcomes the world? It is the one who believes and recognizes the fact that Jesus is the Son of God.
5:6:This is He who came through water and blood [His baptism and death], Jesus Christ—not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. It is the [Holy] Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. [He is the essence and origin of truth itself.]
5:7:For there are three witnesses:
5:8:the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three are in agreement [their testimony is perfectly consistent].
5:9:If we accept [as we do] the testimony of men [that is, if we are willing to take the sworn statements of fallible humans as evidence], the testimony of God is greater [far more authoritative]; for this is the testimony of God, that He has testified regarding His Son.
5:10:The one who believes in the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies confidently on Him as Savior] has the testimony within himself [because he can speak authoritatively about Christ from his own personal experience]. The one who does not believe God [in this way] has made Him [out to be] a liar, because he has not believed in the evidence that God has given regarding His Son.
5:11:And the testimony is this: God has given us eternal life [we already possess it], and this life is in His Son [resulting in our spiritual completeness, and eternal companionship with Him].
5:12:He who has the Son [by accepting Him as Lord and Savior] has the life [that is eternal]; he who does not have the Son of God [by personal faith] does not have the life.
5:13:This Is Written That You May Know
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God [which represents all that Jesus Christ is and does], so that you will know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have eternal life.
5:14:This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us.
5:15:And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.
5:16:If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not lead to death, he will pray and ask [on the believer’s behalf] and God will for him give life to those whose sin is not leading to death. There is a sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for this [kind of sin].
5:17:All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death [one can repent of it and be forgiven].
5:18:We know [with confidence] that anyone born of God does not habitually sin; but He (Jesus) who was born of God [carefully] keeps and protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
5:19:We know [for a fact] that we are of God, and the whole world [around us] lies in the power of the evil one [opposing God and His precepts].
5:20:And we [have seen and] know [by personal experience] that the Son of God has [actually] come [to this world], and has given us understanding and insight so that we may [progressively and personally] know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
5:21:Little children (believers, dear ones), guard yourselves from idols—[false teachings, moral compromises, and anything that would take God’s place in your heart].
2_john:1:1:Walk According to His Commandments
The elder [of the church addresses this letter] to the elect (chosen) lady and her children, whom I love in truth—and not only I, but also all who know and understand the truth—
1:2:because of the truth which lives in our hearts and will be with us forever:
1:3:Grace, mercy, and peace (inner calm, a sense of spiritual well-being) will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love.
1:4:I was greatly delighted to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father.
1:5:Now I ask you, lady, not as if I were writing to you a new commandment, but [simply reminding you of] the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love and unselfishly seek the best for one another.
1:6:And this is love: that we walk in accordance with His commandments and are guided continually by His precepts. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should [always] walk in love.
1:7:For many deceivers [heretics, posing as Christians] have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge and confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh (bodily form). This [person, the kind who does this] is the deceiver and the antichrist [that is, the antagonist of Christ].
1:8:Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have accomplished together, but that you may receive a full and perfect reward [when He grants rewards to faithful believers].
1:9:Anyone who runs on ahead and does not remain in the doctrine of Christ [that is, one who is not content with what He taught], does not have God; but the one who continues to remain in the teaching [of Christ does have God], he has both the Father and the Son.
1:10:If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching [but diminishes or adds to the doctrine of Christ], do not receive or welcome him into your house, and do not give him a greeting or any encouragement;
1:11:for the one who gives him a greeting [who encourages him or wishes him success, unwittingly] participates in his evil deeds.
1:12:I have many things to write to you, but I prefer not to do so with paper (papyrus) and black (ink); but I hope to come to you and speak with you face to face, so that your joy may be complete.
1:13:The children of your elect (chosen) sister greet you.
3_john:1:1:You Walk in the Truth
The elder [of the church addresses this letter] to the beloved and esteemed Gaius, whom I love in truth.
1:2:Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health [physically], just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually].
1:3:For I was greatly pleased when [some of the] brothers came [from time to time] and testified to your [faithfulness to the] truth [of the gospel message], that is, how you are walking in truth.
1:4:I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my [spiritual] children are living [their lives] in the truth.
1:5:Beloved, you are acting faithfully in what you are providing for the brothers, and especially when they are strangers;
1:6:and they have testified before the church of your love and friendship. You will do well to [assist them and] send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.
1:7:For these [traveling missionaries] went out for the sake of the Name [of Christ], accepting nothing [in the way of assistance] from the Gentiles.
1:8:So we ought to support such people [welcoming them as guests and providing for them], so that we may be fellow workers for the truth [that is, for the gospel message of salvation].
1:9:I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to put himself first, does not accept what we say and refuses to recognize my authority.
1:10:For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, unjustly accusing us with wicked words and unjustified charges. And not satisfied with this, he refuses to receive the [missionary] brothers himself, and also forbids those who want to [welcome them] and puts them out of the church.
1:11:Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but [imitate] what is good. The one who practices good [exhibiting godly character, moral courage and personal integrity] is of God; the one who practices [or permits or tolerates] evil has not seen God [he has no personal experience with Him and does not know Him at all].
1:12:Demetrius has received a good testimony and commendation from everyone—and from the truth [the standard of God’s word] itself; and we add our testimony and speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
1:13:I had many things [to say when I began] to write to you, but I prefer not to put it down with pen (reed) and black (ink);
1:14:but I hope to see you soon, and we will speak face to face.
1:15:Peace be to you. The friends [here] greet you. Greet the friends [personally] by name.
jude:1:1:The Warnings of History to the Ungodly
Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, [writes this letter],
To those who are the called (God’s chosen ones, the elect), dearly loved by God the Father, and kept [secure and set apart] for Jesus Christ:
1:2:May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you [filling your heart with the spiritual well-being and serenity experienced by those who walk closely with God].
1:3:Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I was compelled to write to you [urgently] appealing that you fight strenuously for [the defense of] the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints [the faith that is the sum of Christian belief that was given verbally to believers].
1:4:For certain people have crept in unnoticed [just as if they were sneaking in by a side door]. They are ungodly persons whose condemnation was predicted long ago, for they distort the grace of our God into decadence and immoral freedom [viewing it as an opportunity to do whatever they want], and deny and disown our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
1:5:Now I want to remind you, although you are fully informed once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe [who refused to trust and obey and rely on Him].
1:6:And angels who did not keep their own designated place of power, but abandoned their proper dwelling place, [these] He has kept in eternal chains under [the thick gloom of utter] darkness for the judgment of the great day,
1:7:just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the adjacent cities, since they in the same way as these angels indulged in gross immoral freedom and unnatural vice and sensual perversity. They are exhibited [in plain sight] as an example in undergoing the punishment of everlasting fire.
1:8:Nevertheless in the same way, these dreamers [who are dreaming that God will not punish them] also defile the body, and reject [legitimate] authority, and revile and mock angelic majesties.
1:9:But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil (Satan), and arguing about the body of Moses, did not dare bring an abusive condemnation against him, but [simply] said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
1:10:But these men sneer at anything which they do not understand; and whatever they do know by [mere] instinct, like unreasoning and irrational beasts—by these things they are destroyed.
1:11:Woe to them! For they have gone the [defiant] way of Cain, and for profit they have run headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of [mutinous] Korah.
1:12:These men are hidden reefs [elements of great danger to others] in your love feasts when they feast together with you without fear, looking after [only] themselves; [they are like] clouds without water, swept along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted and lifeless;
1:13:wild waves of the sea, flinging up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of deep darkness has been reserved forever.
1:14:It was about these people that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, when he said, “Look, the Lord came with myriads of His holy ones
1:15:to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly deeds they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh and cruel things ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
1:16:These people are [habitual] murmurers, griping and complaining, following after their own desires [controlled by passion]; they speak arrogantly, [pretending admiration and] flattering people to gain an advantage.
1:17:Keep Yourselves in the Love of God
But as for you, beloved, remember the [prophetic] words spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:18:They used to say to you, “In the last days there will be scoffers, following after their own ungodly passions.”
1:19:These are the ones who are [agitators] causing divisions—worldly-minded [secular, unspiritual, carnal, merely sensual—unsaved], devoid of the Spirit.
1:20:But you, beloved, build yourselves up on [the foundation of] your most holy faith [continually progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], pray in the Holy Spirit,
1:21:and keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously and looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ [which will bring you] to eternal life.
1:22:And have mercy on some, who are doubting;
1:23:save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy but with fear, loathing even the clothing spotted and polluted by their shameless immoral freedom.
1:24:Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling or falling into sin, and to present you unblemished [blameless and faultless] in the presence of His glory with triumphant joy and unspeakable delight,
1:25:to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and power, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
revelation:1:1:The Revelation of Jesus Christ
This is the revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries], which God [the Father] gave to Him to show to His bond-servants (believers) the things which must soon take place [in their entirety]; and He sent and communicated it by His angel (divine messenger) to His bond-servant John,
1:2:who testified and gave supporting evidence to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to everything that he saw [in his visions].
1:3:Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and who keep the things which are written in it [heeding them and taking them to heart]; for the time [of fulfillment] is near.
1:4:Message to the Seven Churches
John, to the seven churches that are in [the province of] Asia: Grace [be granted] to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being], from Him Who is [existing forever] and Who was [continually existing in the past] and Who is to come, and from the seven Spirits that are before His throne,
1:5:and from Jesus Christ, the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who [always] loves us and who [has once for all] freed us [or washed us] from our sins by His own blood (His sacrificial death)—
1:6:and formed us into a kingdom [as His subjects], priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1:7:Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes (nations) of the earth will mourn over Him [realizing their sin and guilt, and anticipating the coming wrath]. So it is to be. Amen.
1:8:“I am the Alpha and the Omega [the Beginning and the End],” says the Lord God, “Who is [existing forever] and Who was [continually existing in the past] and Who is to come, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all].”
1:9:The Patmos Vision
I, John, your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patient endurance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, [exiled there] because of [my preaching of] the word of God [regarding eternal salvation] and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
1:10:I was in the Spirit [in special communication with the Holy Spirit and empowered to receive and record the revelation from Jesus Christ] on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,
1:11:saying, “Write on a scroll what you see [in this revelation], and send it to the seven churches—to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
1:12:Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And after turning I saw seven golden lampstands;
1:13:and in the midst of the lampstands I saw someone like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe reaching to His feet, and with a golden sash wrapped around His chest.
1:14:His head and His hair were white like white wool, [glistening white] like snow; and His [all-seeing] eyes were [flashing] like a flame of fire [piercing into my being].
1:15:His feet were like burnished [white-hot] bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was [powerful] like the sound of many waters.
1:16:In His right hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword [of judgment]; and His face [reflecting His majesty and the Shekinah glory] was like the sun shining in [all] its power [at midday].
1:17:When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. And He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last [absolute Deity, the Son of God],
1:18:and the Ever-living One [living in and beyond all time and space]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of [absolute control and victory over] death and of Hades (the realm of the dead).
1:19:So write the things which you have seen [in the vision], and the things which are [now happening], and the things which will take place after these things.
1:20:As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels (divine messengers) of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
2:1:Message to Ephesus
“To the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Ephesus write:
“These are the words of the One who holds [firmly] the seven stars [which are the angels or messengers of the seven churches] in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands (the seven churches):
2:2:‘I know your deeds and your toil, and your patient endurance, and that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and have tested and critically appraised those who call themselves apostles (special messengers, personally chosen representatives, of Christ), and [in fact] are not, and have found them to be liars and impostors;
2:3:and [I know that] you [who believe] are enduring patiently and are bearing up for My name’s sake, and that you have not grown weary [of being faithful to the truth].
2:4:But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me].
2:5:So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will] and do the works you did at first [when you first knew Me]; otherwise, I will visit you and remove your lampstand (the church, its impact) from its place—unless you repent.
2:6:Yet you have this [to your credit], that you hate the works and corrupt teachings of the Nicolaitans [that mislead and delude the people], which I also hate.
2:7:He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will grant [the privilege] to eat [the fruit] from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’
2:8:Message to Smyrna
“And to the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Smyrna write:
“These are the words of the First and the Last [absolute Deity, the Son of God] who died and came to life [again]:
2:9:‘I know your suffering and your poverty (but you are rich), and how you are blasphemed and slandered by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan [they are Jews only by blood, and do not believe and truly honor the God whom they claim to worship].
2:10:Fear nothing that you are about to suffer. Be aware that the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested [in your faith], and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful to the point of death [if you must die for your faith], and I will give you the crown [consisting] of life.
2:11:He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God] will not be hurt by the second death (the lake of fire).’
2:12:Message to Pergamum
“And to the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Pergamum write:
“These are the words of Him who has and wields the sharp two-edged sword [in judgment]:
2:13:‘I know where you dwell, [a place] where Satan sits enthroned. Yet you are holding fast to My name, and you did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed (martyred) among you, where Satan dwells.
2:14:But I have a few things against you, because you have there some [among you] who are holding to the [corrupt] teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, [enticing them] to eat things that had been sacrificed to idols and to commit [acts of sexual] immorality.
2:15:You also have some who in the same way are holding to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
2:16:Therefore repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will]; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war and fight against them with the sword of My mouth [in judgment].
2:17:He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], to him I will give [the privilege of eating] some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name engraved on the stone which no one knows except the one who receives it.’
2:18:Message to Thyatira
“And to the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Thyatira write:
“These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes [that flash] like a flame of fire [in righteous judgment], and whose feet are like burnished [white-hot] bronze:
2:19:‘I know your deeds, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your last deeds are more numerous and greater than the first.
2:20:But I have this [charge] against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess [claiming to be inspired], and she teaches and misleads My bond-servants so that they commit [acts of sexual] immorality and eat food sacrificed to idols.
2:21:I gave her time to repent [to change her inner self and her sinful way of thinking], but she has no desire to repent of her immorality and refuses to do so.
2:22:Listen carefully, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her [I will bring] into great anguish, unless they repent of her deeds.
2:23:And I will kill her children (followers) with pestilence [thoroughly annihilating them], and all the churches will know [without any doubt] that I am He who searches the minds and hearts [the innermost thoughts, purposes]; and I will give to each one of you [a reward or punishment] according to your deeds.
2:24:But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not explored and known the depths of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you,
2:25:except to hold tightly to what you have until I come.
2:26:And he who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God] and he who keeps My deeds [doing things that please Me] until the [very] end, to him I will give authority and power over the nations;
2:27:and he shall shepherd and rule them with a rod of iron, as the earthen pots are broken in pieces, as I also have received authority [and power to rule them] from My Father;
2:28:and I will give him the Morning Star.
2:29:He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.’
3:1:Message to Sardis
“To the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Sardis write:
“These are the words of Him who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your deeds; you have a name (reputation) that you are alive, but [in reality] you are dead.
3:2:Wake up, and strengthen and reaffirm what remains [of your faithful commitment to Me], which is about to die; for I have not found [any of] your deeds completed in the sight of My God or meeting His requirements.
3:3:So remember and take to heart the lessons you have received and heard. Keep and obey them, and repent [change your sinful way of thinking, and demonstrate your repentance with new behavior that proves a conscious decision to turn away from sin]. So then, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
3:4:But you [still] have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes [that is, contaminated their character and personal integrity with sin]; and they will walk with Me [dressed] in white, because they are worthy (righteous).
3:5:He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God] will accordingly be dressed in white clothing; and I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, and I will confess and openly acknowledge his name before My Father and before His angels [saying that he is one of Mine].
3:6:He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.’
3:7:Message to Philadelphia
“And to the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Philadelphia write:
“These are the words of the Holy One, the True One, He who has the key [to the house] of David, He who opens and no one will [be able to] shut, and He who shuts and no one opens:
3:8:‘I know your deeds. See, I have set before you an open door which no one is able to shut, for you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not renounced or denied My name.
3:9:Take note, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet and make them know [without any doubt] that I have loved you.
3:10:Because you have kept the word of My endurance [My command to persevere], I will keep you [safe] from the hour of trial, that hour which is about to come on the whole [inhabited] world, to test those who live on the earth.
3:11:I am coming quickly. Hold tight what you have, so that no one will take your crown [by leading you to renounce the faith].
3:12:He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God; he will most certainly never be put out of it, and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My [own] new name.
3:13:He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.’
3:14:Message to Laodicea
“To the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Laodicea write:
“These are the words of the Amen, the trusted and faithful and true Witness, the Beginning and Origin of God’s creation:
3:15:‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold (invigorating, refreshing) nor hot (healing, therapeutic); I wish that you were cold or hot.
3:16:So because you are lukewarm (spiritually useless), and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [rejecting you with disgust].
3:17:Because you say, “I am rich, and have prospered and grown wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked [without hope and in great need],
3:18:I counsel you to buy from Me gold that has been heated red hot and refined by fire so that you may become truly rich; and white clothes [representing righteousness] to clothe yourself so that the shame of your nakedness will not be seen; and healing salve to put on your eyes so that you may see.
3:19:Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I rebuke and discipline [showing them their faults and instructing them]; so be enthusiastic and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will].
3:20:Behold, I stand at the door [of the church] and continually knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him (restore him), and he with Me.
3:21:He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will grant to him [the privilege] to sit beside Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down beside My Father on His throne.
3:22:He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
4:1:Scene in Heaven
After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a [war] trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”
4:2:At once I was in [special communication with] the Spirit; and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne.
4:3:And He who sat there appeared like [the crystalline sparkle of] a jasper stone and [the fiery redness of] a sardius stone, and encircling the throne there was a rainbow that looked like [the color of an] emerald.
4:4:Twenty-four [other] thrones surrounded the throne; and seated on these thrones were twenty-four elders dressed in white clothing, with crowns of gold on their heads.
4:5:The Throne and Worship of the Creator
From the throne came flashes of lightning and [rumbling] sounds and peals of thunder. Seven lamps of fire were burning in front of the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;
4:6:and in front of the throne there was something like a sea or large expanse of glass, like [the clearest] crystal. In the center and around the throne were four living creatures who were full of eyes in front and behind [seeing everything and knowing everything that is around them].
4:7:The first living creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf (ox), the third creature had the face of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.
4:8:And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes all over and within [underneath their wings]; and day and night they never stop saying,
“Holy, holy, holy [is the] Lord God, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all], who was and who is and who is to come [the unchanging, eternal God].”
4:9:Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,
4:10:the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever; and they throw down their crowns before the throne, saying,
4:11:“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they exist, and were created and brought into being.”
5:1:The Scroll with Seven Seals
I saw in the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, closed and sealed with seven seals.
5:2:And I saw a strong angel announcing with a loud voice, “Who is worthy [having the authority and virtue] to open the scroll and to break its seals?”
5:3:And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth [in Hades, the realm of the dead] was able to open the scroll or look into it.
5:4:And I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it.
5:5:Then one of the [twenty-four] elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look closely, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome and conquered! He can open the scroll and [break] its seven seals.”
5:6:And there between the throne (with the four living creatures) and among the elders I saw a Lamb (Christ) standing, [bearing scars and wounds] as though it had been slain, with seven horns (complete power) and with seven eyes (complete knowledge), which are the seven Spirits of God who have been sent [on duty] into all the earth.
5:7:And He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
5:8:And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb (Christ), each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of fragrant incense, which are the prayers of the saints (God’s people).
5:9:And they sang a new song [of glorious redemption], saying,
“Worthy and deserving are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slain (sacrificed), and with Your blood You purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
5:10:“You have made them to be a kingdom [of royal subjects] and priests to our God; and they will reign on the earth.”
5:11:Angels Exalt the Lamb
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and [the voice] of the living creatures and the elders; and they numbered myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands (innumerable),
5:12:saying in a loud voice,
“Worthy and deserving is the Lamb that was sacrificed to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
5:13:And I heard every created thing that is in heaven or on earth or under the earth [in Hades, the realm of the dead] or on the sea, and everything that is in them, saying [together],
“To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb (Christ), be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
5:14:And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped [Him who lives forever and ever].
6:1:The First Seal—The Conqueror
Then I saw as the Lamb (Christ) broke one of the seven seals [of the scroll initiating the judgments], and I heard one of the four living creatures call out as with a voice of thunder, “Come.”
6:2:I looked, and behold, a white horse [of victory] whose rider carried a bow; and a crown [of victory] was given to him, and he rode forth conquering and to conquer.
6:3:The Second Seal—War
When He (the Lamb) broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, “Come.”
6:4:And another, a fiery red horse [of bloodshed], came out; and its rider was empowered to take peace from the earth, so that men would slaughter one another; and a great sword [of war and violent death] was given to him.
6:5:The Third Seal—Famine
When He (the Lamb) broke open the third seal, I heard the third living creature call out, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a black horse [of famine]; and the rider had in his hand a pair of scales (a balance).
6:6:And I heard something like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius (a day’s wages), and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”
6:7:The Fourth Seal—Death
When He (the Lamb) broke open the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature call out, “Come.”
6:8:So I looked, and behold, an ashen (pale greenish gray) horse [like a corpse, representing death and pestilence]; and its rider’s name was Death; and Hades (the realm of the dead) was following with him. They were given authority and power over a fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword and with famine and with plague (pestilence, disease) and by the wild beasts of the earth.
6:9:The Fifth Seal—Martyrs
When He (the Lamb) broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained [out of loyalty to Christ].
6:10:They cried in a loud voice, saying, “O Lord, holy and true, how long now before You will sit in judgment and avenge our blood on those [unregenerate ones] who dwell on the earth?”
6:11:Then they were each given a white robe; and they were told to rest and wait quietly for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed.
6:12:The Sixth Seal—Terror
I looked when He (the Lamb) broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth [made] of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;
6:13:and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree shedding its late [summer] figs when shaken by a strong wind.
6:14:The sky was split [separated from the land] and rolled up like a scroll, and every mountain and island were dislodged and moved out of their places.
6:15:Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the military commanders and the wealthy and the strong and everyone, [whether] slave or free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;
6:16:and they called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the [righteous] wrath and indignation of the Lamb;
6:17:for the great day of their wrath and vengeance and retribution has come, and who is able to [face God and] stand [before the wrath of the Lamb]?”
7:1:An Interlude
After this I saw four angels stationed at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.
7:2:Then I saw another angel coming up from the rising of the sun, holding the seal of the living God; and with a loud voice he called out to the four angels to whom it was granted [to have authority and power] to harm the earth and the sea,
7:3:saying, “Do not harm the earth nor the sea nor the trees until we seal (mark) the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”
7:4:The 144,000
And I heard how many were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand; [twelve thousand] sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
7:5:Twelve thousand were sealed from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad,
7:6:twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh,
7:7:twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar,
7:8:twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph, and twelve thousand from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed (marked, redeemed, protected).
7:9:A Multitude from the Tribulation
After these things I looked, and this is what I saw: a vast multitude which no one could count, [gathered] from every nation and from all the tribes and peoples and languages [of the earth], standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Christ), dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands;
7:10:and in a loud voice they cried out, saying,
“Salvation [belongs] to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [our salvation is the Trinity’s to give, and to God the Trinity we owe our deliverance].”
7:11:And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the [twenty-four] elders and the four living creatures; and they fell to their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
7:12:saying,
“Amen! Blessing and glory and majesty and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
7:13:Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, “These who are dressed in the long white robes—who are they, and from where did they come?”
7:14:I said to him, “My lord, you know [the answer].” And he said to me, “These are the people who come out of the great tribulation (persecution), and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb [because of His atoning sacrifice].
7:15:For this reason, they are [standing] before the throne of God; and they serve Him [in worship] day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them and shelter and protect them [with His presence].
7:16:They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any [scorching] heat;
7:17:for the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of the waters of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes [giving them eternal comfort].”
8:1:The Seventh Seal—the Trumpets
When He (the Lamb) broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour [in awe of God’s impending judgment].
8:2:Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
8:3:Another angel came and stood at the altar. He had a golden censer, and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints (God’s people) on the golden altar in front of the throne.
8:4:And the smoke and fragrant aroma of the incense, with the prayers of the saints (God’s people), ascended before God from the angel’s hand.
8:5:So the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; and there were peals of thunder and loud rumblings and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
8:6:Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them [initiating the judgments].
8:7:The first [angel] sounded [his trumpet], and there was [a storm of] hail and fire, mixed with blood, and it was hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8:8:The second angel sounded [his trumpet], and something like a great mountain blazing with fire was hurled into the sea; and a third of the sea was turned to blood;
8:9:and a third of the living creatures that were in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
8:10:The third angel sounded [his trumpet], and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch [flashing across the sky], and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of [fresh] waters.
8:11:The name of the star is Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters, because they had become bitter (toxic).
8:12:Then the fourth angel sounded [his trumpet], and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and a third of the daylight would not shine, and the night in the same way [would not shine].
8:13:Then I looked, and I heard a solitary eagle flying in midheaven [for all to see], saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe [great wrath is coming] to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpets which the three angels are about to sound [announcing ever greater judgments]!”
9:1:The Fifth Trumpet—the Bottomless Pit
Then the fifth angel sounded [his trumpet], and I saw a star (angelic being) that had fallen from heaven to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit (abyss) was given to him (the star-angel).
9:2:He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke like the smoke of a great furnace flowed out of the pit; and the sun and the atmosphere were darkened by the smoke from the pit.
9:3:Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power [to hurt] was given to them, like the power which the earth’s scorpions have.
9:4:They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but [to hurt] only the people who do not have the seal (mark of ownership, protection) of God on their foreheads.
9:5:They were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment and cause them extreme pain for five months; and their torment was like the torment from a scorpion when it stings a man.
9:6:And in those days people will seek death and will not find it; and they will long to die [to escape the pain], but [will discover that] death evades them.
9:7:The locusts resembled horses prepared and equipped for battle; and on their heads appeared to be [something like] golden crowns, and their faces resembled human faces.
9:8:They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions.
9:9:They had breastplates (scales) like breastplates made of iron; and the [whirring] noise of their wings was like the [thunderous] noise of countless horse-drawn chariots charging [at full speed] into battle.
9:10:They have tails like scorpions, and stingers; and in their tails is their power to hurt people for five months.
9:11:They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss (the bottomless pit); in Hebrew his name is Abaddon (destruction), and in Greek he is called Apollyon (destroyer-king).
9:12:The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.
9:13:The Sixth Trumpet—Army from the East
Then the sixth angel sounded [his trumpet], and I heard a solitary voice from the four horns of the golden altar which stands before God,
9:14:saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
9:15:So the four angels, who had been prepared for the [appointed] hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.
9:16:The number of the troops of cavalry was twice ten thousand times ten thousand (two hundred million); I heard the number of them.
9:17:And this is how I saw the horses and their riders in my vision: the riders had breastplates [the color] of fire and of hyacinth (sapphire blue) and of brimstone (yellow); and the heads of the horses looked like the heads of lions; and from out of their mouths came fire and smoke and brimstone (burning sulfur).
9:18:A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone that came from the mouths of the horses.
9:19:For the power of the horses [to do harm] is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and it is with them that they do harm.
9:20:The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent even then of the works of their hands, so as to cease worshiping and paying homage to the demons and the idols of gold and of silver and of bronze and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;
9:21:and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries (drugs, intoxications) nor of their [sexual] immorality nor of their thefts.
10:1:The Angel and the Little Book
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed in a cloud, with a rainbow (halo) over his head; and his face was like the sun, and his feet (legs) were like columns of fire;
10:2:and he had a little book (scroll) open in his hand. He set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land;
10:3:and he shouted with a loud voice, like the roaring of a lion [compelling attention and inspiring awe]; and when he had shouted out, the seven peals of thunder spoke with their own voices [uttering their message in distinct words].
10:4:And when the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them down.”
10:5:Then the angel whom I had seen standing on the sea and the land raised his right hand [to swear an oath] to heaven,
10:6:and swore [an oath] by [the name of] Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will be delay no longer,
10:7:but when it is time for the trumpet call of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God [that is, His hidden purpose and plan] is finished, as He announced the gospel to His servants the prophets.
10:8:Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking to me, and saying, “Go, take the book (scroll) which is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
10:9:So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the little book. And he said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.”
10:10:So I took the little book from the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey; but once I had swallowed it, my stomach was bitter.
10:11:Then they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
11:1:The Two Witnesses
Then there was given to me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar [of incense], and [count] those who worship in it.
11:2:But leave out the court [of the Gentiles] which is outside the temple and do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles (the nations); and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months (three and one-half years).
11:3:And I will grant authority to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days (forty-two months; three and one-half years), dressed in sackcloth.”
11:4:These [witnesses] are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth.
11:5:And if anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.
11:6:These [two witnesses] have the power [from God] to shut up the sky, so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophesying [regarding judgment and salvation]; and they have power over the waters (seas, rivers) to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every [kind of] plague, as often as they wish.
11:7:When they have finished their testimony and given their evidence, the beast that comes up out of the abyss (bottomless pit) will wage war with them, and overcome them and kill them.
11:8:And their dead bodies will lie exposed in the open street of the great city (Jerusalem), which in a spiritual sense is called [by the symbolic and allegorical names of] Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
11:9:Those from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.
11:10:And those [non-believers] who live on the earth will gloat over them and rejoice; and they will send gifts [in celebration] to one another, because these two prophets tormented and troubled those who live on the earth.
11:11:But after three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear and panic fell on those who were watching them.
11:12:And the two witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they ascended into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.
11:13:And in that [very] hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell and was destroyed; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest [who survived] were overcome with terror, and they glorified the God of heaven [as they recognized His awesome power].
11:14:The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
11:15:The Seventh Trumpet—Christ’s Reign Foreseen
Then the seventh angel sounded [his trumpet]; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
“The kingdom (dominion, rule) of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”
11:16:And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell face downward and worshiped God,
11:17:saying,
“To You we give thanks, O Lord God Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all], Who are and Who were, because You have taken Your great power and the sovereignty [which is rightly Yours] and have [now] begun to reign.
11:18:And the nations (Gentiles) became enraged, and Your wrath and indignation came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and [the time came] to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints (God’s people) and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and [the time came] to destroy the destroyers of the earth.”
11:19:And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning, loud rumblings and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
12:1:The Woman, Israel
And a great sign [warning of an ominous and frightening future event] appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
12:2:She was with child (the Messiah) and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
12:3:The Red Dragon, Satan
Then another sign [of warning] was seen in heaven: behold, a great fiery red dragon (Satan) with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven royal crowns (diadems).
12:4:And his tail swept [across the sky] and dragged away a third of the stars of heaven and flung them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
12:5:The Male Child, Christ
And she gave birth to a Son, a male Child, who is destined to rule (shepherd) all the nations with a rod of iron; and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.
12:6:Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that she would be nourished there for a thousand two hundred and sixty days (forty-two months; three and one-half years).
12:7:The Angel, Michael
And war broke out in heaven, Michael [the archangel] and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought,
12:8:but they were not strong enough and did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.
12:9:And the great dragon was thrown down, the age-old serpent who is called the devil and Satan, he who continually deceives and seduces the entire inhabited world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
12:10:Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying,
“Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom (dominion, reign) of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come; for the accuser of our [believing] brothers and sisters has been thrown down [at last], he who accuses them and keeps bringing charges [of sinful behavior] against them before our God day and night.
12:11:And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.
12:12:Therefore rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them [in the presence of God]. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you in great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time [remaining]!”
12:13:And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who had given birth to the male Child.
12:14:But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time (three and one-half years), away from the presence of the serpent (Satan).
12:15:And the serpent hurled water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.
12:16:But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had hurled out of his mouth.
12:17:So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went off to wage war on the rest of her children (seed), those who keep and obey the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus [holding firmly to it and bearing witness to Him].
13:1:The Beast from the Sea
And the dragon (Satan) stood on the sandy shore of the sea.
Then I saw a [vicious] beast coming up out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten royal crowns (diadems), and on his heads were blasphemous names.
13:2:And the beast that I saw resembled a leopard, but his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth was like that of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.
13:3:I saw one of his heads which seemed to have a fatal wound, but his fatal wound was healed; and the entire earth followed after the beast in amazement.
13:4:They fell down and worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; they also worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like (as great as) the beast, and who is able to wage war against him?”
13:5:And the beast was given a mouth (the power of speech), uttering great things and arrogant and blasphemous words, and he was given freedom and authority to act and to do as he pleased for forty-two months (three and a half years).
13:6:And he opened his mouth to speak blasphemies (abusive speech, slander) against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, and those who live in heaven.
13:7:He was also permitted to wage war against the saints (God’s people) and to overcome them, and authority and power over every tribe and people and language and nation.
13:8:All the inhabitants of the earth will fall down and worship him, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been slain [as a willing sacrifice].
13:9:If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
13:10:If anyone is destined for captivity, he will go into captivity; if anyone kills with a sword, he must be killed with a sword. Here is [the call for] the patient endurance and the faithfulness of the saints [which is seen in the response of God’s people to difficult times].
13:11:The Beast from the Earth
Then I saw another beast rising up out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke like a dragon.
13:12:He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence [when the two are together]. And he makes the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13:13:He performs great signs (awe-inspiring acts), even making fire fall from the sky to the earth, right before peoples’ eyes.
13:14:And he deceives those [unconverted ones] who inhabit the earth [into believing him] because of the signs which he is given [by Satan] to perform in the presence of the [first] beast, telling those who inhabit the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded [fatally] by the sword and has come back to life.
13:15:And he is given power to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast will even [appear to] speak, and cause those who do not bow down and worship the image of the beast to be put to death.
13:16:Also he compels all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead [signifying allegiance to the beast],
13:17:and that no one will be able to buy or sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
13:18:Here is wisdom. Let the person who has enough insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the [imperfect] number of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.
14:1:The Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion
Then I looked, and this is what I saw: the Lamb stood [firmly established] on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had His name and His Father’s name inscribed on their foreheads [signifying God’s own possession].
14:2:And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of great waters and like the rumbling of mighty thunder; and the voice that I heard [seemed like music and] was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps.
14:3:And they sang a new song before the throne [of God] and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased (ransomed, redeemed) from the earth.
14:4:These are the ones who have not been defiled [by relations] with women, for they are celibate. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased and redeemed from among men [of Israel] as the first fruits [sanctified and set apart for special service] for God and the Lamb.
14:5:No lie was found in their mouth, for they are blameless (spotless, untainted, beyond reproach).
14:6:The Angel with the Gospel
Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to preach to the inhabitants of the earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people;
14:7:and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God [with awe and reverence], and give Him glory [and honor and praise in worship], because the hour of His judgment has come; [with all your heart] worship Him who created the heaven and the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
14:8:Doom for Proud Babylon
Then another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality [corrupting them with idolatry].”
14:9:Doom for Worshipers of the Beast
Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “Whoever worships the beast and his image and receives the mark [of the beast] on his forehead or on his hand,
14:10:he too will [have to] drink of the wine of the wrath of God, mixed undiluted into the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone (flaming sulfur) in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb (Christ).
14:11:And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night—those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
14:12:Here is [encouragement for] the steadfast endurance of the saints (God’s people), those who habitually keep God’s commandments and their faith in Jesus.
14:13:Then I heard [the distinct words of] a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes, [blessed indeed],” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest and have relief from their labors, for their deeds do follow them.”
14:14:The Reapers
Again I looked, and this is what I saw: a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was One like the Son of Man, with a crown of gold on His head and a sharp sickle [of swift judgment] in His hand.
14:15:And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to Him who was sitting upon the cloud, “Put in Your sickle and reap [at once], for the hour to reap [in judgment] has arrived, because the earth’s harvest is fully ripened.”
14:16:So He who was sitting on the cloud cast His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped (judged).
14:17:Then another angel came out of the temple (sanctuary) in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.
14:18:And another angel came from the altar, the one who has power over fire; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle and reap the clusters of grapes from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe [for judgment].”
14:19:So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and harvested the grapevine of the earth, and threw the grapes into the great wine press of the wrath and indignation of God [as judgment of the rebellious world].
14:20:And the grapes in the wine press were trampled and crushed outside the city, and blood poured from the wine press, reaching up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of sixteen hundred stadia.
15:1:A Scene of Heaven
Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and wonderful [a warning of terrifying and horrible events]: seven angels who had seven plagues (afflictions, calamities), which are the last, because with them the wrath of God is finished [that is, it is completely expressed and reaches its zenith].
15:2:Then I saw something like a sea or large expanse of glass mixed with fire, and those who were victorious over the beast and over his image and over the number corresponding to his name were standing on the sea or large expanse of glass, holding harps of God [worshiping Him].
15:3:And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and wonderful and awe-inspiring are Your works [in judgment],
O Lord God, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all];
Righteous and true are Your ways,
O King of the nations!
15:4:“Who will not fear [reverently] and glorify Your name, O Lord [giving You honor and praise in worship]?
For You alone are holy;
For all the nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your righteous acts [Your just decrees and judgments] have been revealed and displayed.”
15:5:After these things I looked, and the temple (sanctuary) of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened,
15:6:and the seven angels who had the seven plagues (afflictions, calamities) came out of the temple, arrayed in linen, pure and gleaming, and wrapped around their chests were golden sashes.
15:7:Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath and indignation of God, who lives forever and ever.
15:8:And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory and radiance and splendor of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
16:1:Six Bowls of Wrath
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath and indignation of God.”
16:2:So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and loathsome and malignant sores came on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.
16:3:The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a corpse [foul and disgusting]; and every living thing in the sea died.
16:4:Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water; and they turned into blood.
16:5:And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous and just are You, Who are and Who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things;
16:6:for they have poured out the blood of the saints (God’s people) and the prophets, and You [in turn] have given them blood to drink. They deserve Your judgment.”
16:7:And I heard [another from] the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all], Your judgments are true and fair and righteous.”
16:8:Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given power to scorch humanity with [raging] fire.
16:9:People were [severely] burned by the great heat; and they reviled the name of God who has power over these plagues, but they did not repent [of their sin] and glorify Him.
16:10:Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness; and people gnawed their tongues because of the pain [of their excruciating anguish and severe torment],
16:11:and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their anguish and their sores (abscesses, boils); and they did not repent of what they had done nor hate their wickedness.
16:12:Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for [the coming of] the kings from the east.
16:13:Armageddon
And I saw three loathsome spirits like frogs, leaping from the mouth of the dragon (Satan) and from the mouth of the beast (Antichrist, dictator) and from the mouth of the false prophet;
16:14:for they are [actually] the spirits of demons, performing [miraculous] signs. And they go out to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
16:15:(“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is he who stays awake and who keeps his clothes [that is, stays spiritually ready for the Lord’s return], so that he will not be naked—spiritually unprepared—and men will not see his shame.”)
16:16:And they (demons) gathered the kings and armies of the world together at the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon (Armageddon).
16:17:Seventh Bowl of Wrath
Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne [of God], saying, “It is done. [It is all over, it is all accomplished, it has come.]”
16:18:And there were flashes of lightning and loud rumblings and peals of thunder; and there was a massive earthquake—nothing like it has ever occurred since mankind originated on the earth, so severe and far-reaching was that earthquake.
16:19:The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And God kept in mind Babylon the great, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce and furious wrath.
16:20:Then every island fled away, and no mountains could be found.
16:21:And giant hailstones, as heavy as a talent, fell from the sky on the people; and people reviled and spoke abusively of God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so very great.
17:1:The Doom of Babylon
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment and doom of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters [influencing nations],
17:2:she with whom the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality, and the inhabitants of the earth have become intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”
17:3:And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was entirely covered with blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.
17:4:The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls, [and she was] holding in her hand a gold cup full of the abominations and the filth of her [sexual] immorality.
17:5:And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES (false religions, heresies) AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
17:6:I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints (God’s people), and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus [who were martyred]. When I saw her, I wondered in amazement.
17:7:But the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns.
17:8:“The beast that you saw was [once], but [now] is not, and he is about to come up out of the abyss (the bottomless pit, the dwelling place of demons) and go to destruction (perdition). And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished when they see the beast, because he was and is not and is yet to come [to earth].
17:9:Here is the mind which has wisdom [and this is what it knows about the vision]. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits;
17:10:and they are seven kings: five of whom have fallen, one exists and is reigning; the other [the seventh] has not yet come, and when he does come, he must remain a little while.
17:11:And the beast that [once] was but is not, is himself also an eighth king and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction (perdition).
17:12:The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but [together] they receive authority as kings for a single hour [for a common purpose] along with the beast.
17:13:These [kings] have one purpose [one mind, one common goal], and they give their power and authority to the beast.
17:14:Victory for the Lamb
They will wage war against the Lamb (Christ), and the Lamb will triumph and conquer them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him and on His side are the called and chosen (elect) and faithful.”
17:15:Then the angel said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.
17:16:And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked [stripped of her power and influence], and will eat her flesh and completely consume her with fire.
17:17:For God has put it in their hearts to carry out His purpose by agreeing together to surrender their kingdom to the beast, until the [prophetic] words of God will be fulfilled.
17:18:The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over and dominates and controls the kings and the political leaders of the earth.”
18:1:Babylon Is Fallen
After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, possessing great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his splendor and radiance.
18:2:And he shouted with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen [certainly to be destroyed] is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a dungeon haunted by every unclean spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird.
18:3:For all the nations have drunk from the wine of the passion of her [sexual] immorality, and the kings and political leaders of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth and economic power of her sensuous luxury.”
18:4:And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not be a partner in her sins and receive her plagues;
18:5:for her sins (crimes, transgressions) have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her wickedness and crimes [for judgment].
18:6:Repay to her even as she has repaid others, and pay back [to her] double [her torment] in accordance with what she has done; in the cup [of sin and suffering] which she mixed, mix a double portion [of perfect justice] for her.
18:7:To the degree that she glorified herself and reveled and gloated in her sensuality [living deliciously and luxuriously], to that same degree impose on her torment and anguish, and mourning and grief; for in her heart she boasts, ‘I sit as a queen [on a throne] and I am not a widow, and will never, ever see mourning or experience grief.’
18:8:For this reason in a single day her plagues (afflictions, calamities) will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire and completely consumed; for strong and powerful is the Lord God who judges her.
18:9:Laments for Babylon
“And the kings and political leaders of the earth, who committed immorality and lived luxuriously with her, will weep and beat their chests [in mourning] over her when they see the smoke of her burning,
18:10:standing a long way off, in fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, the strong city, Babylon! In a single hour your judgment has come.’
18:11:“And merchants of the earth will weep and grieve over her, because no one buys their cargo (goods, merchandise) anymore—
18:12:cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet; all kinds of citron (scented) wood and every article of ivory and every article of very costly and lavish wood and bronze and iron and marble;
18:13:and cinnamon and spices and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat; of cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and carriages; and of slaves and human lives.
18:14:The ripe fruits and delicacies of your soul’s desire have gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and extravagant are lost to you, never again to be found.
18:15:The merchants who handled these articles, who grew wealthy from [their business with] her, will stand a long way off in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
18:16:saying, ‘Woe, woe, for the great city that was robed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, gilded and adorned with gold, with precious stones, and with pearls;
18:17:because in one hour all the vast wealth has been laid waste.’ And every ship captain or navigator, and every passenger and sailor, and all who make their living by the sea, stood a long way off,
18:18:and exclaimed as they watched the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What could be compared to the great city?’
18:19:And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, for the great city, where all who had ships at sea grew rich from her great wealth, because in one hour she has been laid waste!’
18:20:Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints (God’s people) and apostles and prophets [who were martyred], because God has executed vengeance for you [through righteous judgment] upon her.”
18:21:The Divine Sentence upon Babylon
Then a single powerful angel picked up a boulder like a great millstone and flung it into the sea, saying, “With such violence will Babylon the great city be hurled down [by the sudden, spectacular judgment of God], and will never again be found.
18:22:And the sound of harpists and musicians and flutists and trumpeters will never again be heard in you, and no skilled artisan of any craft will ever again be found in you, and the sound of the millstone [grinding grain] will never again be heard in you [for commerce will no longer flourish, and normal life will cease].
18:23:And never again will the light of a lamp shine in you, and never again will the voice of the bridegroom and bride be heard in you; for your merchants were the great and prominent men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived and misled by your sorcery [your magic spells and poisonous charm].
18:24:And in Babylon was found the blood of prophets and of saints (God’s people) and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.”
19:1:The Fourfold Hallelujah
After these things I heard something like the great and mighty shout of a vast multitude in heaven, exclaiming,
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory (splendor, majesty) and power (dominion, might) belong to our God;
19:2:because His judgments are true and righteous. He has judged [convicted and pronounced sentence on] the great prostitute (idolatress) who was corrupting and ruining and poisoning the earth with her adultery (idolatry), and He has imposed the penalty for the blood of His bond-servants on her.”
19:3:And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke shall ascend forever and ever.”
19:4:Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures also fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah (praise the Lord)!”
19:5:Then from the throne there came a voice, saying,
“Praise our God, all you bond-servants of His, you who fear Him, the small (common) and the great (distinguished).”
19:6:Marriage of the Lamb
Then I heard something like the shout of a vast multitude, and like the boom of many pounding waves, and like the roar of mighty peals of thunder, saying,
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all] reigns.
19:7:“Let us rejoice and shout for joy! Let us give Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb has come [at last] and His bride (the redeemed) has prepared herself.”
19:8:She has been permitted to dress in fine linen, dazzling white and clean—for the fine linen signifies the righteous acts of the saints [the ethical conduct, personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character of believers].
19:9:Then the angel said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said to me [further], “These are the true and exact words of God.”
19:10:Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he [stopped me and] said to me, “You must not do that; I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who have and hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God [alone]. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy [His life and teaching are the heart of prophecy].”
19:11:The Coming of Christ the Conqueror
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who was riding it is called Faithful and True (trustworthy, loyal, incorruptible, steady), and in righteousness He judges and wages war [on the rebellious nations].
19:12:His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many royal crowns; and He has a name inscribed [on Him] which no one knows or understands except Himself.
19:13:He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
19:14:And the armies of heaven, dressed in fine linen, [dazzling] white and clean, followed Him on white horses.
19:15:From His mouth comes a sharp sword (His word) with which He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He will tread the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty [in judgment of the rebellious world].
19:16:And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name inscribed, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
19:17:Doom of the Beast and False Prophet
Then I saw a single angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he shouted to all the birds that fly in midheaven, saying, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,
19:18:so that you may feast on the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of powerful and mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all humanity, both free men and slaves, both small and great [in a complete conquest of evil].”
19:19:Then I saw the beast and the kings and political leaders of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against Him who is mounted on the [white] horse and against His army.
19:20:And the beast (Antichrist) was seized and overpowered, and with him the false prophet who, in his presence, had performed [amazing] signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were hurled alive into the lake of fire which blazes with brimstone.
19:21:And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds fed ravenously and gorged themselves with their flesh.
20:1:Satan Bound
And then I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding the key of the abyss (the bottomless pit) and a great chain was in his hand.
20:2:And he overpowered and laid hold of the dragon, that old serpent [of primeval times], who is the devil and Satan, and bound him [securely] for a thousand years (a millennium);
20:3:and the angel hurled him into the abyss, and closed it and sealed it above him [preventing his escape or rescue], so that he would no longer deceive and seduce the nations, until the thousand years were at an end. After these things he must be liberated for a short time.
20:4:The Millennial Reign
And then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those to whom judgment [that is, the authority to act as judges] was given. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had refused to worship the beast or his image, and had not accepted his mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
20:5:The rest of the dead [the non-believers] did not come to life again until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
20:6:Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) and holy is the person who takes part in the first resurrection; over these the second death [which is eternal separation from God, the lake of fire] has no power or authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and they will reign with Him a thousand years.
20:7:The Final Rebellion
And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison (the abyss),
20:8:and will come out to deceive and mislead the nations which are in the four corners of the earth—[including] Gog and Magog—to gather them together for the war; their number is like the sand of the seashore.
20:9:And they swarmed up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints (God’s people) and the beloved city [Jerusalem]; but fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
20:10:And the devil who had deceived them was hurled into the lake of fire and burning brimstone (sulfur), where the beast (Antichrist) and false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever.
20:11:The Final Judgment
And I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them [for this heaven and earth are passing away].
20:12:And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life; and the dead were judged according to what they had done as written in the books [that is, everything done while on earth].
20:13:And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades (the realm of the dead) surrendered the dead who were in them; and they were judged and sentenced, every one according to their deeds.
20:14:Then death and Hades [the realm of the dead] were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire [the eternal separation from God].
20:15:And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was hurled into the lake of fire.
21:1:The New Heaven and Earth
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away (vanished), and there is no longer any sea.
21:2:And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, arrayed like a bride adorned for her husband;
21:3:and then I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “See! The tabernacle of God is among men, and He will live among them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them [as their God,]
21:4:and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be death; there will no longer be sorrow and anguish, or crying, or pain; for the former order of things has passed away.”
21:5:And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true [they are accurate, incorruptible, and trustworthy].”
21:6:And He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the one who thirsts I will give [water] from the fountain of the water of life without cost.
21:7:He who overcomes [the world by adhering faithfully to Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior] will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
21:8:But as for the cowards and unbelieving and abominable [who are devoid of character and personal integrity and practice or tolerate immorality], and murderers, and sorcerers [with intoxicating drugs], and idolaters and occultists [who practice and teach false religions], and all the liars [who knowingly deceive and twist truth], their part will be in the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
21:9:The New Jerusalem
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven final plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
21:10:And he carried me away in the Spirit to a vast and lofty mountain, and showed me the holy (sanctified) city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
21:11:having God’s glory [filled with His radiant light]. The brilliance of it resembled a rare and very precious jewel, like jasper, shining and clear as crystal.
21:12:It had a massive and high wall, with twelve [large] gates, and at the gates [were stationed] twelve angels; and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were written.
21:13:On the east side [there were] three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.
21:14:And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Christ).
21:15:The one who was speaking with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.
21:16:The city is laid out as a square, its length being the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod—twelve thousand stadia (about 1,400 miles); its length and width and height are equal.
21:17:He measured its wall also—a hundred forty-four cubits (about 200 feet), according to man’s measurements, which are [also] angelic [measurements].
21:18:The wall was built of jasper; and the city was pure gold, transparent like clear crystal.
21:19:The foundation stones of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
21:20:the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite (yellow topaz); the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
21:21:And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each separate gate was of one single pearl. And the street (broad way) of the city was pure gold, like transparent crystal.
21:22:I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all] and the Lamb are its temple.
21:23:And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to give light to it, for the glory (splendor, radiance) of God has illumined it, and the Lamb is its lamp and light.
21:24:The nations [the redeemed people from the earth] will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring into it their glory.
21:25:By day (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed [in fear of evil];
21:26:and they will bring the glory (splendor, majesty) and the honor of the nations into it;
21:27:and nothing that defiles or profanes or is unwashed will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices abominations [detestable, morally repugnant things] and lying, but only those [will be admitted] whose names have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
22:1:The Perfect Life
Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Christ),
22:2:in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
22:3:There will no longer exist anything that is cursed [because sin and illness and death are gone]; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve and worship Him [with great awe and joy and loving devotion];
22:4:they will [be privileged to] see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
22:5:And there will no longer be night; they have no need for lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign [as kings] forever and ever.
22:6:You Are Invited to be Blessed
Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel [as a representative] to show His bond-servants the things that must soon take place.
22:7:“And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is the one who heeds and takes to heart and remembers the words of the prophecy [that is, the predictions, consolations, and warnings] contained in this book (scroll).”
22:8:I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
22:9:But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets and with those who heed and remember [the truths contained in] the words of this book. Worship God.”
22:10:And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time [of their fulfillment] is near.
22:11:Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy (vile, impure), still be filthy; and the one who is righteous (just, upright), still be righteous; and the one who is holy, still be holy.”
22:12:“Behold, I (Jesus) am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to the merit of his deeds (earthly works, faithfulness).
22:13:I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End [the Eternal One].”
22:14:Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) are those who wash their robes [in the blood of Christ by believing and trusting in Him—the righteous who do His commandments], so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
22:15:Outside are the dogs [the godless, the impure, those of low moral character] and the sorcerers [with their intoxicating drugs, and magic arts], and the immoral persons [the perverted, the molesters, and the adulterers], and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying (deception, cheating).
22:16:The Final Invitation
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you and to give you assurance of these things for the churches. I am the Root (the Source, the Life) and the Offspring of David, the radiant and bright Morning Star.”
22:17:The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, believers) say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take and drink the water of life without cost.
22:18:I testify and warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book [its predictions, consolations, and admonitions]: if anyone adds [anything] to them, God will add to him the plagues (afflictions, calamities) which are written in this book;
22:19:and if anyone takes away from or distorts the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away [from that one] his share from the tree of life and from the holy city (new Jerusalem), which are written in this book.
22:20:He who testifies and affirms these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
22:21:The grace of the Lord Jesus (the Christ, the Messiah) be with all [the saints—all believers, those set apart for God]. Amen.