# verses

text:
 Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they [are] before the altar of the LORD.


text:
 Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and assembled the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.


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 And they brought seven bulls, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer [them] on the altar of the LORD.


text:
 So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled [it] on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.


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 And they brought forth the male goats [for] the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:


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 And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded [that] the burnt offering and the sin offering [should be made] for all Israel.


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 And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for [so was] the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.


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 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began [also] with the trumpets, and with the instruments [ordained] by David king of Israel.


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 And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: [and] all [this continued] until the burnt offering was finished.


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 And when they had finished offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.


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 Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise to the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.


text:
 Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.


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 And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation brought, was seventy bulls, an hundred rams, [and] two hundred lambs: all these [were] for a burnt offering to the LORD.


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 But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: therefore their brethren the Levites helped them, till the work was ended, and until the [other] priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites [were] more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.


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 And also the burnt offerings [were] in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for [every] burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.


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 And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was [done] suddenly.


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 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover to the LORD God of Israel.


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 For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.


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 For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together at Jerusalem.


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 So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover to the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done [it] of a long [time in the manner] as it was written.


text:
 So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.


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 And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, who trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, [who] therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.


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 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers [were, but] yield yourselves to the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.


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 For if ye turn again to the LORD, your brethren and your children [shall find] compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall return into this land: for the LORD your God [is] gracious and merciful, and will not turn away [his] face from you, if ye return to him.


text:
 So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even to Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.


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 Nevertheless some from Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.


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 Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.


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 And there assembled at Jerusalem many people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.


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 And they arose and took away the altars that [were] in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense they took away, and cast [them] into the brook Kidron.


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 Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth [day] of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.


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 And they stood in their place after their custom, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, [which they received] from the hand of the Levites.


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 For [there were] many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one [that was] not clean, to sanctify [them] to the LORD.


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 For a multitude of the people, [even] many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon every one


text:
 [That] prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though [he is] not [cleansed] according to the purification of the sanctuary.


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 And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, [singing] with loud instruments to the LORD.


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 And Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of the LORD: and they ate throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings, and making confession to the LORD God of their fathers.


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 And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept [other] seven days with gladness.


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 For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the congregation a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.


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 And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came from the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.


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 So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel [there was] not the like in Jerusalem.


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 Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer ascended to his holy dwelling place, [even] to heaven.


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 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.


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 And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, 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.


text:
 [He appointed] also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, [that is], for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as [it is] written in the law of the LORD.


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 Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the LORD.


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 And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of grain, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all [things] they brought in abundantly.


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 And the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated to the LORD their God, and laid [them] by heaps.


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 In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished [them] in the seventh month.


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 And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD, and his people Israel.


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 And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since [the people] began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath blessed his people; and that which is left [is] this great abundance.


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 And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated [things] faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite [was] ruler, and Shimei his brother [was] the next.


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 And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, [were] overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.


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 And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward the east, [was] over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of the LORD, and the most holy things.


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 And under him [were] Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in [their] set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small:


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 Besides their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, [even] to every one that entereth into the house of the LORD, his daily portion for their service in their charges according to their courses;


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 Both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their courses;


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 And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their set office they sanctified themselves in holiness:


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 Also of the sons of Aaron the priests, [who were] in the fields of the common lands of their cities, in every single city, the men that were mentioned by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites.


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 And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and performed [that which was] good and right and truth before the LORD his God.


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 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did [it] with all his heart, and prospered.


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 After these things, and their establishment, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fortified cities, and thought to win them for himself.


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 He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which [were] outside the city: and they helped him.


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 So there was gathered many people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?


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 Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised [it] up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo [in] the city of David, and made weapons and shields in abundance.


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 And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and encouraged them, saying,


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 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that [is] with him: for [there are] more with us than with him:


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 With him [is] an arm of flesh; but with us [is] the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.


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 After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem, (but he [himself laid siege] against Lachish, and all his power with him,) to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah that [were] at Jerusalem, saying,


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 Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, On what do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?


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 Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?


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 Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?


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 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done to all the people of [other] lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of my hand?


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 Who [was there] among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand?


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 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you in this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom hath been able to deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of my hand?


text:
 He wrote also letters to rail at the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of [other] lands have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of my hand.


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 Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech to the people of Jerusalem that [were] on the wall, to make them afraid, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.


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 And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, the work of the hands of man.


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 And for this [cause] Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.


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 And the LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he had come into the house of his god, they that came forth from his own bowels slew him there with the sword.


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 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 guided them on every side.


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 And many brought gifts to the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that from then on he was magnified in the sight of all nations.


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 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near to death, and he prayed to the LORD: and he spoke to him, and he gave him a sign.


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 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit [done] to him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.


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 However Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, [both] he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.


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 And Hezekiah had very great riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;


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 Storehouses also for the increase of grain, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and sheepfolds for flocks.


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 Moreover he provided for himself cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance in great abundance.


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 This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.


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 But in [the business of] the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to enquire of the wonder that was [done] in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all [that was] in his heart.


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 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they [are] written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, [and] in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.


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 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chief of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.


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 Manasseh [was] twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem:


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 But did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, like the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.


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 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.


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 Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.


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 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a medium, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.


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 And he set a carved image, 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 before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:


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 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers; provided they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.


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 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, [and] to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.


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 Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.


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 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,


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 And prayed to him: and he was entreated by him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he [is] God.


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 Now after this he built a wall outside the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate, and surrounded Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fortified cities of Judah.


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 And he took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast [them] out of the city.


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 And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed on it peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.


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 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they [are written] in the book of the kings of Israel.


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 His prayer also, and [how God] was entreated by him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places in which he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they [are] written among the sayings of the seers.


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 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.


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 But he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;


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 And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.


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 But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.


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 Josiah [was] eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.


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 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined [neither] to the right hand, nor to the left.


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 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.


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 And they broke down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that [were] on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he broke in pieces, and made dust [of them], and scattered [it] upon the graves of them that had sacrificed to them.


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 And [so did he] in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even to Naphtali, with their surrounding ruins.


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 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.


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 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.


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 And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had assembled from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.


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 And they put [it] in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the LORD, to repair and restore the house:


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 Even to the craftsmen and builders they gave [it], to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.


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 And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them [were] Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to oversee [it]; and [others of] the Levites, all that had skill in instruments of music.


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 Also [they were] over the bearers of burdens, and [were] overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites [there were] scribes, and officers, and porters.


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 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the LORD [given] by Moses.


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 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.


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 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they are doing.


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 And they have gathered the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.


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 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.


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 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying,


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 Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great [is] the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.


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 And Hilkiah, and [they] that the king [had appointed], went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter:) and they spoke to her to that [effect].


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 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon its inhabitants, [even] all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:


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 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.


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 And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel [concerning] the words which thou hast heard;


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 Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou didst hear his words against this place, and against its inhabitants, and didst humble thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard [thee] also, saith the LORD.


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 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thy eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.


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 And the king went into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.


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 And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.


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 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand [to it]. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.


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 And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that [pertained] to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, [even] to serve the LORD their God. [And] all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.


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 Moreover Josiah kept a passover to the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth [day] of the first month.


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 And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the LORD,


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 And said to the Levites that taught all Israel, who were holy to the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; [it shall] not [be] a burden upon [your] shoulders: serve now the LORD your God, and his people Israel,


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 And prepare [yourselves] by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.


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 And stand in the holy [place] according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and [after] the division of the families of the Levites.


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 So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that [they] may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.


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 And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand cattle: these [were] of the king's substance.


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 And his princes gave willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred [small cattle], and three hundred oxen.


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 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave to the Levites for passover offerings five thousand [small cattle], and five hundred oxen.


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 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's commandment.


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 And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled [the blood] from their hands, and the Levites flayed [them].


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 And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer to the LORD, as [it is] written in the book of Moses. And so [did they] with the oxen.


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 And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the [other] holy [offerings] they boiled in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided [them] speedily among all the people.


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 And afterwards they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron [were busied] in offering burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.


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 And the singers the sons of Asaph [were] in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters [waited] at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.


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 So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah.


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 And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.


text:
 And there was no passover like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


text:
 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.


text:
 But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? [I come] not against thee this day, but against the house with which I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from [meddling with] God, who [is] with me, that he may not destroy thee.


text:
 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not to the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.


text:
 And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Take me away; for I am grievously wounded.


text:
 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in [one of] the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.


text:
 And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women have spoken of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they [are] written in the lamentations.


text:
 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to [that which was] written in the law of the LORD,


text:
 And his deeds, first and last, behold, they [are] written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.


text:
 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.


text:
 Jehoahaz [was] twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.


text:
 And the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and imposed a fine on the land of an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.


text:
 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.


text:
 Jehoiakim [was] twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD his God.


text:
 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.


text:
 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.


text:
 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they [are] written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.


text:
 Jehoiachin [was] eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD.


text:
 And when the year had ended, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.


text:
 Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.


text:
 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD his God, [and] humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet [speaking] from the mouth of the LORD.


text:
 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning to the LORD God of Israel.


text:
 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.


text:
 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up early, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:


text:
 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till [there was] no remedy.


text:
 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave [them] all into his hand.


text:
 And all the vessels 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 princes; all [these] he brought to Babylon.


text:
 And they burnt the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels.


text:
 And them that had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:


text:
 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths: [for] as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years.


text:
 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD [spoken] by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and [put it] also in writing, saying,


text:
 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which [is] in Judah. Who [is there] among you of all his people? The LORD his God [be] with him, and let him go up.


text:
 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and [put it] also in writing, saying,


text:
 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which [is] in Judah.


text:
 Who [is there] among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which [is] in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he [is] the God,) who [is] in Jerusalem.


text:
 And whoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill offering for the house of God that [is] in Jerusalem.


text:
 Then arose the heads of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all [them] whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which [is] in Jerusalem.


text:
 And all they that [were] about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, besides all [that] was willingly offered.


text:
 Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods;


text:
 Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.


text:
 And this [is] the number of them: thirty platters of gold, a thousand platters of silver, nine and twenty knives,


text:
 Thirty basins of gold, silver basins of a second [sort] four hundred and ten, [and] other vessels a thousand.


text:
 All the vessels of gold and of silver [were] five thousand and four hundred. All [these] did Sheshbazzar bring with [them of] the captivity that were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem.


text:
 Now these [are] the children of the province that went up from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and came again to Jerusalem and Judah, every one to his city;


text:
 Who came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:


text:
 The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Jeshua [and] Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve.


text:
 The children of the porters: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, [in] all an hundred and thirty and nine.


text:
 The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Peruda,


text:
 The children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth of Zebaim, the children of Ami.


text:
 All the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants, [were] three hundred and ninety and two.


text:
 And these [were] they who went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, [and] Immer: but they could not show their father's house, and their seed, whether they [were] of Israel:


text:
 The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred and fifty and two.


text:
 And of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai; who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name:


text:
 These sought their family record [among] those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.


text:
 And the Tirshatha said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.


text:
 Besides their male and female servants, of whom [there were] seven thousand three hundred and thirty and seven: and [there were] among them two hundred men and women singers.


text:
 Their camels, four hundred and thirty and five; [their] donkeys, six thousand seven hundred and twenty.


text:
 And [some] of the heads of the fathers' [houses], when they came to the house of the LORD which [is] at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in its place:


text:
 They gave after their ability into the treasury of the work sixty and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pounds of silver, and one hundred priests ' garments.


text:
 So the priests, and the Levites, and [some] of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.


text:
 And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel [were] in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man at Jerusalem.


text:
 Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and 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.


text:
 And they set the altar upon its bases; for fear [was] upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, [even] burnt offerings morning and evening.


text:
 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as [it is] written, and [offered] the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;


text:
 And afterward [offered] the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering to the LORD.


text:
 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 was not [yet] laid.


text:
 They gave money also to the masons, and to the carpenters; and food, and drink, and oil, to them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.


text:
 Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD.


text:
 Then stood Jeshua [with] his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, [with] their sons and their brethren the Levites.


text:
 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.


text:
 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks to the LORD; because [he is] good, for his mercy [endureth] for ever toward Israel. 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.


text:
 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers' [houses], old men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:


text:
 So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of the joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.


text:
 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building the temple to the LORD God of Israel;


text:
 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of the fathers, and said to them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye [do]; and we sacrifice to him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, who brought us up here.


text:
 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers of Israel, said to them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.


text:
 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,


text:
 And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.


text:
 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote [to him] an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.


text:
 And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter [was] written in the Syrian language, and interpreted in the Syrian language.


text:
 Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:


text:
 Then [wrote] Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, [and] the Elamites,


text:
 And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest [that are] on this side of the river, and now.


text:
 this [is] the copy of the letter that they sent to him, [even] to Artaxerxes the king; Thy servants the men on this side of the river, and now.


text:
 let it be known to the king, that the Jews who came from thee to us are come to Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the evil city, and have set up the walls, and joined the foundations.


text:
 Be it known now to the king, that, if this city shall be built, and the walls set up [again, then] they will not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and [so] thou shalt diminish the revenue of the kings.


text:
 Now because we have maintenance from [the king's] palace, and it was not good for us to see the king's dishonour, therefore have we sent and informed the king;


text:
 That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city [is] a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same from of old: for which cause was this city destroyed.


text:
 We inform the king that, if this city shall be built [again], and the walls set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side of the river.


text:
 [Then] the king sent an answer to Rehum the chancellor, and [to] Shimshai the scribe, and [to] the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and [to] the rest beyond the river, Peace, and now.


text:
 And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city from of old hath made insurrection against kings, and [that] rebellion and sedition have been made in it.


text:
 There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all [countries] beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid to them.


text:
 Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not built, until [another] commandment shall be given from me.


text:
 Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes ' letter [was] read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.


text:
 Then ceased the work of the house of God which [is] at Jerusalem. So it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.


text:
 Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews that [were] in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, [even] to them.


text:
 Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which [is] at Jerusalem: and with them [were] the prophets of God helping them.


text:
 At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side of the river, and Shetharboznai, and their companions, and said thus to them, Who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall?


text:
 But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius: and then they returned answer by letter concerning this [matter].


text:
 The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side of the river, and Shetharboznai, and his companions the Apharsachites, who [were] on this side of the river, sent to Darius the king:


text:
 Be it known to the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is built with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work proceedeth quickly, and prospereth in their hands.


text:
 Then we asked those elders, [and] said to them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to finish these walls?


text:
 We asked their names also, to inform thee, that we might write the names of the men that [were] the chief of them.


text:
 And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was built these many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and set up.


text:
 But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.


text:
 But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon [the same] king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God.


text:
 And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that [was] in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to [one], whose name [was] Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor;


text:
 And said to him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that [is] in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its place.


text:
 Then came the same Sheshbazzar, [and] laid the foundation of the house of God which [is] in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and [yet] it is not finished.


text:
 Now therefore, if [it seemeth] good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure house, which [is] there at Babylon, whether it is [so], that a decree was made by Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.


text:
 Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the books, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.


text:
 And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that [is] in the province of the Medes, a scroll, and in it [was] a record thus written:


text:
 In the first year of Cyrus the king [the same] Cyrus the king made a decree [concerning] the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be built, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations of it be strongly laid; the height of it sixty cubits, [and] the breadth of it sixty cubits;


text:
 [With] three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house:


text:
 And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple which [is] at Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be restored, and brought again to the temple which [is] at Jerusalem, [every one] to its place, and place [them] in the house of God.


text:
 Now [therefore], Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shetharboznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who [are] beyond the river, keep away from there:


text:
 Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place.


text:
 Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, [even] of the tribute beyond the river, expenses be given immediately to these men, that they be not hindered.


text:
 And that which they have need of, both young bulls, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests who [are] at Jerusalem, let it be given to them day by day without fail:


text:
 That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.


text:
 Also I have made a decree, that whoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged on it; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.


text:
 And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall try to alter [the decree and] to destroy this house of God which [is] at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed.


text:
 Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shetharboznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily.


text:
 And the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built, and finished [it], according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.


text:
 And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.


text:
 And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy,


text:
 And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.


text:
 And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, who [is] at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.


text:
 For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them [were] pure, and they killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.


text:
 And the children of Israel, who had returned from captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, ate,


text:
 And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.


text:
 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,


text:
 This Ezra went from Babylon; and he [was] a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.


text:
 And there went [some] of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.


text:
 For upon the first [day] of the first month he began to go from Babylon, and on the first [day] of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.


text:
 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do [it], and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.


text:
 Now this [is] the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, [even] a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.


text:
 Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect [peace], and now.


text:
 I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and [of] his priests and Levites, in my realm, who are disposed of their own freewill to go to Jerusalem, go with thee.


text:
 Forasmuch as thou art sent by the king, and by his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which [is] in thy hand;


text:
 And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation [is] in Jerusalem,


text:
 And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which [is] in Jerusalem:


text:
 That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bulls, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which [is] in Jerusalem.


text:
 And whatever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and gold, that do after the will of your God.


text:
 The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, [those] deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.


text:
 And whatever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow [it] out of the king's treasure house.


text:
 And I, [even] I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers who [are] beyond the river, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,


text:
 To an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing [how much].


text:
 Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?


text:
 Also we inform you, that concerning any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.


text:
 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that [is] in thy hand, set magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people that [are] beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know [them] not.


text:
 And whoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether [it be] to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.


text:
 Blessed [be] the LORD God of our fathers, who hath put [such a thing] as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which [is] in Jerusalem:


text:
 And hath extended mercy to me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God [was] upon me, and I gathered out of Israel chief men to go up with me.


text:
 These [are] now the heads of their fathers' [houses], and [this is] the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.


text:
 Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.


text:
 And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names [are] these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty males.


text:
 And I gathered them at the river that runneth to Ahava; and there we abode in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.


text:
 Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.


text:
 And I sent them with commandment to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say to Iddo, [and] to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.


text:
 And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;


text:
 Also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were mentioned by name.


text:
 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.


text:
 For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God [is] upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath [is] against all them that forsake him.


text:
 Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,


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 And weighed to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, [even] the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel [there] present, had offered:


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 I even weighed to their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, [and] of gold an hundred talents;


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 And I said to them, Ye [are] holy to the LORD; the vessels [are] holy also; and the silver and the gold [are] a freewill offering to the LORD God of your fathers.


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 Watch ye, and keep [them], until ye weigh [them] before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.


text:
 So the priests and the Levites took the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring [them] to Jerusalem to the house of our God.


text:
 Then we departed 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 delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.


text:
 Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him [was] Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them [was] Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites;


text:
 [Also] the children of those that had been carried away, who had come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve male goats [for] a sin offering: all [this was] a burnt offering to the LORD.


text:
 And they delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps, and to the governors on this side of the river: and they helped the people, and the house of God.


text:
 Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, [doing] according to their abominations, [even] of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.


text:
 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mixed themselves with the people of [those] lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been first in this trespass.


text:
 And when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down appalled.


text:
 Then were assembled to me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice.


text:
 And at the evening sacrifice I arose from my heaviness; and having torn my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands to the LORD my God,


text:
 And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over [our] head, and our trespass is grown up to the heavens.


text:
 Since the days of our fathers [have] we [been] in a great trespass to this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, [and] our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as [it is] this day.


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 And now for a little moment grace hath been [shown] from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.


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 For we [were] slaves; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations of it, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.


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 Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, where ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.


text:
 Now therefore give not your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave [it] for an inheritance to your children for ever.


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 And after all that hath come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities [deserve], and hast given us [such] deliverance as this;


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 Should we again break thy commandments, and join in marriage with the people of these abominations? wouldest thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed [us], so that [there should be] no remnant nor escaping?


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 O LORD God of Israel, thou [art] righteous: for we having escaped, remain yet, as [it is] this day: behold, we [are] before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.


text:
 Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled to him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very bitterly.


text:
 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, [one] of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken foreign wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.


text:
 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.


text:
 Arise; for [this] matter [belongeth] to thee: we also [will be] with thee: be of good courage, and do [it].


text:
 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they swore.


text:
 Then Ezra arose from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and [when] he came there, he ate no bread, nor drank water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.


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 And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather at Jerusalem;


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 And that whoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.


text:
 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered at Jerusalem within three days. It [was] the ninth month, and the twentieth [day] of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of [this] matter, and for the great rain.


text:
 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said to them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken foreign wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.


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 Now therefore make confession to the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the foreign wives.


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 But the people [are] many, and [it is] a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand abroad, neither [is this] a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.


text:
 Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them who have taken foreign wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter shall be turned from us.


text:
 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this [matter]: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.


text:
 And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, [with] certain heads of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by [their] names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.


text:
 And they finished with all the men that had taken foreign wives by the first day of the first month.


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 And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken foreign wives: [namely], of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren; Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.


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 And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and [being] guilty, [they offered] a ram of the flock for their trespass.


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 Also of the Levites; Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah, (the same [is] Kelita,) Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.


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 Moreover of Israel: of the sons of Parosh; Ramiah, and Jeziah, and Malchiah, and Miamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.


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 And of the sons of Pahathmoab; Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.


text:
 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,


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 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and [certain] men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, who were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.


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 And they said to me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province [are] in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also [is] broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.


text:
 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned [certain] days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,


text:
 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:


text:
 Let thy ear now be attentive, and thy eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.


text:
 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou didst command thy servant Moses.


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 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou didst command thy servant Moses, saying, [If] ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:


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 But [if] ye turn to me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you driven to the uttermost part of the heaven, [yet] will I gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen to set my name there.


text:
 Now these [are] thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.


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 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thy ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.


text:
 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, [that] wine [was] before him: and I took up the wine, and gave [it] to the king. Now I had not [in times past] been sad in his presence.


text:
 Therefore the king said to me, Why [is] thy countenance sad, seeing thou [art] not sick? this [is] nothing but sorrow of heart. Then I was very greatly afraid,


text:
 And said to the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers ' sepulchres, [lieth] waste, and its gates are consumed with fire?


text:
 And I said to the king, If it should please the king, and if thy servant hath found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers ' sepulchres, that I may build it.


text:
 And the king said to me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.


text:
 Moreover I said to the king, If it should please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may let me pass through till I come into Judah;


text:
 And a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which [is near] to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.


text:
 Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.


text:
 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard [of it], it grieved them exceedingly that there had come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.


text:
 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I [any] man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither [was there any] beast with me, except the beast that I rode upon.


text:
 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and their gates were consumed with fire.


text:
 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but [there was] no place for the beast [that was] under me to pass.


text:
 Then I went up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and [so] returned.


text:
 And the rulers knew not where I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told [it] to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.


text:
 Then said I to them, Ye see the distress that we [are] in, how Jerusalem [lieth] waste, and its gates are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we may be no more a reproach.


text:
 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise and build. So they strengthened their hands for [this] good [work].


text:
 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard [it], they mocked, and despised us, and said, What [is] this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?


text:
 Then I answered them, and said to them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.


text:
 Then Eliashib the high priest arose with his brethren the priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even to the tower of Meah they sanctified it, to the tower of Hananeel.


text:
 But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who [also] laid its beams, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars.


text:
 And next to them repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz. And next to them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel. And next to them repaired Zadok the son of Baana.


text:
 And next to them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.


text:
 Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid its beams, and set up its doors, and its locks, and its bars.


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 And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, to the throne of the governor on this side of the river.


text:
 Next to him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths. Next to him also repaired Hananiah the son of [one of] the perfumers, and they fortified Jerusalem to the broad wall.


text:
 And next to them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, opposite his house. And next to him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabniah.


text:
 Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hashub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired the other piece, and the tower of the furnaces.


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 And next to him repaired Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.


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 The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars, and a thousand cubits on the wall to the dung gate.


text:
 But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Bethhaccerem; he built it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars.


text:
 But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars, and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king's garden, and to the stairs that descend from the city of David.


text:
 After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Bethzur, to [the place] opposite the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty.


text:
 After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah, in his part.


text:
 And next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another piece opposite the ascent to the armoury at the turning [of the wall].


text:
 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning [of the wall] to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.


text:
 After him repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah the son of Koz another piece, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.


text:
 After him repaired Benjamin and Hashub opposite their house. After him repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah by his house.


text:
 After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another piece, from the house of Azariah to the turning [of the wall], even to the corner.


text:
 Palal the son of Uzai, opposite the turning [of the wall], and the projecting tower from the king's upper house, that [was] by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh.


text:
 Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, to [the place] opposite the water gate toward the east, and the projecting tower.


text:
 After them the Tekoites repaired another piece, opposite the great projecting tower, even to the wall of Ophel.


text:
 After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer opposite his house. After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate.


text:
 After him repaired Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, another piece. After him repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah opposite his chamber.


text:
 After him repaired Malchiah the goldsmith's son to the place of the Nethinims, and of the merchants, opposite the gate Miphkad, and to the ascent of the corner.


text:
 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and felt great indignation, and mocked the Jews.


text:
 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they finish in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?


text:
 Now Tobiah the Ammonite [was] by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox should go up, he would even break down their stone wall.


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 Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a spoil in the land of captivity:


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 And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked [thee] to anger before the builders.


text:
 So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to the half of it: for the people had a mind to work.


text:
 But it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were set up, [and] that the breaches began to be closed, then they were very angry,


text:
 Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.


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 And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is failing, and [there is] much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.


text:
 And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.


text:
 And it came to pass, that when the Jews who dwelt by them came, they said to us ten times, From all places where ye shall return to us [they will be upon you].


text:
 Therefore I set in the lower places behind the wall, [and] on the higher places, I even set the people according to their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.


text:
 And I looked, and arose, and said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be ye not afraid of them: remember the Lord, [who is] great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.


text:
 And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one to his work.


text:
 And it came to pass from that time forth, [that] the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers [were] behind all the house of Judah.


text:
 They who built on the wall, and they that bore burdens, burdened themselves, [every one] with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other [hand] held a weapon.


text:
 For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and [so] built. And he that sounded the trumpet [was] by me.


text:
 And I said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work [is] great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another.


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 In what place [therefore] ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye there to us: our God shall fight for us.


text:
 So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.


text:
 Likewise at the same time said I to the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour in the day.


text:
 So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us put off our clothes, [except that] every one put them off for washing.


text:
 For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, [are] many: therefore we take up grain [for them], that we may eat, and live.


text:
 [Some] also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy grain, because of the famine.


text:
 There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tax, [and that upon] our lands and vineyards.


text:
 Yet now our flesh [is] as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and [some] of our daughters are brought to bondage [already]: neither [is it] in our power [to redeem them]; for other men have our lands and vineyards.


text:
 Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said to them, Ye exact interest, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them.


text:
 And I said to them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold to the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold to us? Then they held their peace, and found nothing [to answer].


text:
 Also I said, That [is] not good which ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?


text:
 I likewise, my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and grain: I pray you, let us stop charging interest.


text:
 Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth [part] of the money, and of the grain, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.


text:
 Then said they, We will restore [them], and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.


text:
 Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise.


text:
 Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, [that is], twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.


text:
 But the former governors that [had been] before me had laid a burden upon the people, and had taken of them food and wine, besides forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bore rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.


text:
 Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants [were] gathered there to the work.


text:
 Moreover [there were] at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those that came to us from among the heathen that [were] about us.


text:
 Now [that] which was prepared [for me] daily [was] one ox [and] six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days an abundance of all sorts of wine: yet for all this I required not the food of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people.


text:
 Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and [that] there was no breach left in it; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)


text:
 That Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come, let us meet together in [some one of] the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.


text:
 And I sent messengers to them, saying, I [am] doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you?


text:
 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand;


text:
 In which [was] written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith [it, that] thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.


text:
 And thou hast also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning thee at Jerusalem, saying, [There is] a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.


text:
 Then I sent to him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou maketh up them out of thy own heart.


text:
 For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it may not be done. Now therefore, [O God], strengthen my hands.


text:
 Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who [was] shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.


text:
 And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who [is there], that, [being] as I [am], would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.


text:
 And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.


text:
 Therefore [was] he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and [that] they might have [matter] for a bad report, that they might reproach me.


text:
 My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.


text:
 And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard [of it], and all the heathen that [were] about us saw [these things], they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought by our God.


text:
 Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and [the letters] of Tobiah came to them.


text:
 For [there were] many in Judah sworn to him, because he [was] the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.


text:
 Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. [And] Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.


text:
 Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed,


text:
 That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he [was] a faithful man, and feared God above many.


text:
 And I said to them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun shall be hot; and while they stand by, let them shut the doors, and bar [them]: and appoint soldiers of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one [to be] opposite his house.


text:
 Now the city [was] large and great: but the people in it [were] few, and the houses [were] not built.


text:
 And my God put into my heart to gather the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found a family record of the genealogy of them who came up at the first, and found written in it,


text:
 These [are] the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city;


text:
 Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number, [I say], of the men of the people of Israel [was this];


text:
 The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand and eight hundred [and] eighteen.


text:
 The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, [and] of the children of Hodevah, seventy and four.


text:
 The porters: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, an hundred and thirty and eight.


text:
 The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida,


text:
 The children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth of Zebaim, the children of Amon.


text:
 And these [were] they who went up [also] from Telmelah, Telharesha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer: but they could not show their father's house, nor their seed, whether they [were] of Israel.


text:
 The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred and forty and two.


text:
 And of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai, who took [one] of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite for a wife, and was called after their name.


text:
 These sought their family record [among] those that were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.


text:
 And the Tirshatha said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there should stand [up] a priest with Urim and Thummim.


text:
 Besides their male and female servants, of whom [there were] seven thousand three hundred and thirty and seven: and they had two hundred and forty and five men and women singers.


text:
 And some of the heads of the fathers' [houses] gave to the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasury a thousand drams of gold, fifty basins, five hundred and thirty priests ' garments.


text:
 And [some] of the heads of the fathers' [houses] gave to the treasury of the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pounds of silver.


text:
 And [that] which the rest of the people gave [was] twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand pounds of silver, and sixty and seven priests ' garments.


text:
 So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and [some] of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities; and when the seventh month came, the children of Israel [were] in their cities.


text:
 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man in the street that [was] before the water gate; and they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.


text:
 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.


text:
 And he read in it before the street that [was] before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people [were attentive] to the book of the law.


text:
 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, [and] Meshullam.


text:
 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:


text:
 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with [their] faces to the ground.


text:
 Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people [stood] in their place.


text:
 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused [them] to understand the reading.


text:
 And Nehemiah, who [is] the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said to all the people, This day [is] holy to the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.


text:
 Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared: for [this] day [is] holy to our Lord: neither be ye sad; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.


text:
 So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day [is] holy; neither be ye grieved.


text:
 And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.


text:
 And on the second day were gathered together the heads of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law.


text:
 And they found written in the law which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month:


text:
 And that they should declare and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth to the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as [it is] written.


text:
 So the people went forth, and brought [them], and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.


text:
 And all the congregation of them that had returned from the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.


text:
 Also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day [was] a solemn assembly, according to the manner.


text:
 Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.


text:
 And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.


text:
 And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God [one] fourth part of the day; and [another] fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.


text:
 Then stood upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, [and] Chenani, and cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God.


text:
 Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up [and] bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.


text:
 Thou, [even] thou, [art] LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all [things] that [are] in it, the seas, and all that [is] in them, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.


text:
 Thou [art] the LORD the God, who chose Abram, and broughtest him forth from Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;


text:
 And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give [it, I say], to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou [art] righteous:


text:
 And didst show signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as [it is] this day.


text:
 And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.


text:
 Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way in which they should go.


text:
 Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:


text:
 And madest known to them thy holy sabbath, and didst command them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:


text:
 And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and didst promise them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.


text:
 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,


text:
 And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst perform among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou [art] a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.


text:
 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This [is] thy God that brought thee out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;


text:
 Yet thou in thy great mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go.


text:
 Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.


text:
 Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [so that] they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out, and their feet swelled not.


text:
 Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.


text:
 Their children also didst multiply thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou didst promise to their fathers, that they should go in to possess [it].


text:
 So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou didst subdue before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.


text:
 And they took strong cities, and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all goods, dug wells, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they ate, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.


text:
 Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets who testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.


text:
 Therefore thou didst deliver them into the hand of their enemies, who distressed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried to thee, thou heardest [them] from heaven; and according to thy great mercies thou gavest them deliverers, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.


text:
 But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore thou leftest them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried to thee, thou heardest [them] from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;


text:
 And didst testify against them, that thou mightest bring them again to thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not to thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man doeth, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.


text:
 Yet many years didst thou forbear over them, and didst testify against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not listen: therefore thou gavest them into the hand of the people of the lands.


text:
 Nevertheless for thy great mercies ' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou [art] a gracious and merciful God.


text:
 Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.


text:
 But thou [art] just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:


text:
 Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened to thy commandments and thy testimonies, with which thou didst testify against them.


text:
 For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and rich land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.


text:
 Behold, we [are] servants this day, and [for] the land that thou gavest to our fathers to eat the fruit of it and the good of it, behold, we [are] servants in it:


text:
 And it yieldeth much increase to the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we [are] in great distress.


text:
 And because of all this we make a sure [covenant], and write [it]; and our princes, Levites, [and] priests, set their seals [to it].


text:
 And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding;


text:
 They joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes;


text:
 And that we would not give our daughters to the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons:


text:
 And [if] the people of the land should bring wares or any food on the sabbath day to sell, [that] we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day: and [that] we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.


text:
 Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God;


text:
 For the showbread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy [things], and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and [for] all the work of the house of our God.


text:
 And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring [it] into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the LORD our God, as [it is] written in the law:


text:
 And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house of the LORD:


text:
 Also the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as [it is] written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, to the priests that minister in the house of our God:


text:
 And [that] we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.


text:
 And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house.


text:
 For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the grain, of the new wine, and the oil, to the chambers, where [are] the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the porters, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God.


text:
 And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts [to dwell] in [other] cities.


text:
 Now these [are] the chief of the province that dwelt in Jerusalem: but in the cities of Judah dwelt every one in his possession in their cities, [that is], Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants.


text:
 And at Jerusalem dwelt [certain] of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin. Of the children of Judah; Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalaleel, of the children of Perez;


text:
 And Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Colhozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of Shiloni.


text:
 And 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, the son of Jesaiah.


text:
 And Joel the son of Zichri [was] their overseer: and Judah the son of Senuah [was] second over the city.


text:
 Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, [was] the ruler of the house of God.


text:
 And their brethren that performed the work of the house [were] eight hundred and twenty and two: and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchiah,


text:
 And his brethren, heads of the fathers' [houses], two hundred and forty and two: and Amashai the son of Azareel, the son of Ahasai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,


text:
 And their brethren, mighty men of valour, an hundred and twenty and eight: and their overseer [was] Zabdiel, the son of [one of] the great men.


text:
 Also of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hashub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;


text:
 And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chief of the Levites, [had] the oversight of the outward business of the house of God.


text:
 And Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, [was] the chief to begin the thanksgiving in prayer: and Bakbukiah the second among his brethren, and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.


text:
 Moreover the porters, Akkub, Talmon, and their brethren that kept the gates, [were] an hundred and seventy and two.


text:
 And the rest of Israel, of the priests, [and] the Levites, [were] in all the cities of Judah, every one in his inheritance.


text:
 The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem [was] Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micha. Of the sons of Asaph, the singers [were] over the business of the house of God.


text:
 For [it was] the king's commandment concerning them, that a certain portion should be for the singers, as every day required.


text:
 And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabeel, of the children of Zerah the son of Judah, [was] at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people.


text:
 And for the villages, with their fields, [some] of the children of Judah dwelt at Kirjatharba, and [in] its villages, and at Dibon, and [in] its villages, and at Jekabzeel, and [in] its villages,


text:
 Zanoah, Adullam, and [in] their villages, at Lachish, and its fields, at Azekah, and [in] its villages. And they dwelt from Beersheba to the valley of Hinnom.


text:
 The children also of Benjamin from Geba [dwelt] at Michmash, and Aija, and Bethel, and [in] their villages,


text:
 Now these [are] the priests and the Levites that went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,


text:
 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These [were] the chief of the priests and of their brethren in the days of Jeshua.


text:
 Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, [and] Mattaniah, [who was] over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren.


text:
 And in the days of Joiakim were priests, the heads of the fathers: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;


text:
 The Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, [were] recorded heads of the fathers: also the priests, to the reign of Darius the Persian.


text:
 The sons of Levi, the heads of the fathers, [were] written in the book of the chronicles, even till the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib.


text:
 And the chief of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brethren opposite them, to praise [and] to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, division side by side with division.


text:
 Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, [were] porters keeping the watch at the storehouses of the gates.


text:
 These [were] in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe.


text:
 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, [with] cymbals, psalteries, and with harps.


text:
 And the sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of the plain country around Jerusalem, and from the villages of Netophathi;


text:
 Also from the house of Gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth: for the singers had built them villages around Jerusalem.


text:
 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.


text:
 Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great [companies of them that gave] thanks, [of which one] went on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate:


text:
 And [certain] of the priests ' sons with trumpets; [namely], Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph:


text:
 And his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azarael, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethaneel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God, and Ezra the scribe before them.


text:
 And at the fountain gate, which was opposite them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, even to the water gate eastward.


text:
 And the other [company of them that gave] thanks went to meet [them], and I after them, and the half of the people upon the wall, from beyond the tower of the furnaces even to the broad wall;


text:
 And from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and above the fish gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even to the sheep gate: and they stood still in the prison gate.


text:
 So stood the two [companies of them that gave] thanks in the house of God, and I, and the half of the rulers with me:


text:
 And the priests; Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, [and] Hananiah, with trumpets;


text:
 And Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah [their] overseer.


text:
 Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.


text:
 And at that time were some appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited.


text:
 And both the singers and the porters kept the charge of their God, and the charge of the purification, according to the commandment of David, [and] of Solomon his son.


text:
 For in the days of David and Asaph of old [there were] leaders of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.


text:
 And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the porters, every day his portion: and they sanctified [holy things] to the Levites; and the Levites sanctified [them] to the children of Aaron.


text:
 On that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and in it was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever;


text:
 Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: but our God turned the curse into a blessing.


text:
 Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.


text:
 And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, [was] allied to Tobiah:


text:
 And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where before they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded [to be given] to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.


text:
 But in all this [time] I was not at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I came to the king, and after certain days I obtained leave of the king:


text:
 And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.


text:
 And it grieved me greatly: therefore I cast forth all the household goods of Tobiah out of the chamber.


text:
 Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and there I brought again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat offering and the frankincense.


text:
 And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given [them]: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, had fled every one to his field.


text:
 Then I contended with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place.


text:
 And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them [was] Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah: for they were accounted faithful, and their office [was] to distribute to their brethren.


text:
 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its offices.


text:
 In those days I saw in Judah [some] treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and putting [them] on donkeys; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all [manner of] burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified [against them] in the day when they sold food.


text:
 There dwelt men of Tyre also in [the city], who brought fish, and all kinds of wares, and sold on the sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.


text:
 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, What evil thing [is] this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day?


text:
 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.


text:
 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and I set [some] of my servants at the gates, [that] there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.


text:
 Then I testified against them, and said to them, Why lodge ye before the wall? if ye do [so] again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came no [more] on the sabbath.


text:
 And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and [that] they should come [and] keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, [concerning] this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.


text:
 And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people.


text:
 And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, [saying], Ye shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons, or for yourselves.


text:
 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did foreign women cause to sin.


text:
 Shall we then hearken to you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying foreign women?


text:
 And [one] of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, [was] son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I drove him away from me.


text:
 Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.


text:
 Thus I cleansed them from all strangers, and appointed the duties of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business;


text:
 And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.


text:
 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this [is] Ahasuerus who reigned, from India even to Cush, [over] an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)


text:
 [That] in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which [was] in Shushan the palace,


text:
 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast to all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, [being] before him:


text:
 When he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, [even] an hundred and eighty days.


text:
 And when these days had ended, the king made a feast for all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both for great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace;


text:
 [Where were] white, green, and blue, [hangings], fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the couches [were of] gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.


text:
 And they gave [them] drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels differing one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the bounty of the king.


text:
 And the drinking [was] according to the law; none constrained: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.


text:
 Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women [in] the royal house which [belonged] to king Ahasuerus.


text:
 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,


text:
 To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the people and the princes her beauty: for she [was] fair to look on.


text:
 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by [his] chamberlains: therefore was the king very angry, and his anger burned in him.


text:
 Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times, (for so [was] the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment:


text:
 And the next to him [was] Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, [and] Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, [and] who sat in the first place in the kingdom;)


text:
 What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?


text:
 And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that [are] in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.


text:
 For [this] deed of the queen shall become known to all women, so that they shall look with contempt upon their husbands, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.


text:
 [Likewise] shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day to all the king's princes, who have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus [shall there arise] too much contempt and wrath.


text:
 If it pleaseth the king, let a royal commandment go from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate to another that is better than she.


text:
 And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be proclaimed throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.


text:
 And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan:


text:
 For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing of it, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that [it] should be proclaimed in the language of every people.


text:
 After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.


text:
 Then said the king's servants that ministered to him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:


text:
 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the fair young virgins to Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, into the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given [them]:


text:
 And let the maiden who pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.


text:
 [Now] in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name [was] Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;


text:
 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.


text:
 And he brought up Hadassah, that [is], Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid [was] fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.


text:
 So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree were heard, and when many maidens were gathered at Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also to the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.


text:
 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness from him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven choice maidens, to be given her, out of the king's house: and he preferred her and her maids to the best [place] of the house of the women.


text:
 Esther had not revealed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not make [it] known.


text:
 And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.


text:
 Now when every maid's turn had come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the law for the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, [that is], six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with [other] things for the purifying of the women;)


text:
 Then thus came [every] maiden to the king; whatever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women to the king's house.


text:
 In the evening she went, and on the next morning she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, who kept the concubines: she came in to the king no more, except that the king delighted in her, and she was called by name.


text:
 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, had come to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.


text:
 So Esther was taken to king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which [is] the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.


text:
 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.


text:
 Then the king made a great feast to all his princes and his servants, [even] Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the bounty of the king.


text:
 Esther had not [yet] revealed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther performed the commandment of Mordecai, as when she was brought up with him.


text:
 In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those who kept the door, were angry, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.


text:
 And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told [it] to Esther the queen; and Esther informed the king [of it] in Mordecai's name.


text:
 And when enquiry was made of the matter, it was discovered; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.


text:
 After these things king Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that [were] with him.


text:
 And all the king's servants, that [were] in the king's gate, bowed, and paid honour to Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did pay [him] honour.


text:
 Then the king's servants, who [were] in the king's gate, said to Mordecai, Why dost thou transgress the king's commandment?


text:
 Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he hearkened not to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's reason would stand: for he had told them that he [was] a Jew.


text:
 And he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had made known to him the people of Mordecai: therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that [were] throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, [even] the people of Mordecai.


text:
 In the first month, that [is], the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that [is], the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, [to] the twelfth [month], that [is], the month Adar.


text:
 And Haman said to king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws [are] different from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it [is] not for the king's profit to allow them [to remain].


text:
 If it shall please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring [it] into the king's treasuries.


text:
 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews ' enemy.


text:
 And the king said to Haman, The silver [is] given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.


text:
 Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded to the king's satraps, and to the governors that [were] over every province, and to the princes of every people of every province according to the writing of it, and [to] every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring.


text:
 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, [even] upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder them for spoil.


text:
 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was proclaimed to all people, that they should be ready for that day.


text:
 The posts departed, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.


text:
 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;


text:
 And came even before the king's gate: for none [might] enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.


text:
 And in every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, [there was] great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.


text:
 So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told [it] to her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he accepted [it] not.


text:
 Then called Esther for Hatach, [one] of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to learn what it [was], and why it [was].


text:
 And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.


text:
 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to show [it] to Esther, and to tell [it] to her, and to charge her that she should go in to the king, to make supplication to him, and to make request before him for her people.


text:
 All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whoever, whether man or woman, shall come to the king into the inner court, who is not called, [there is] one law of his to put [him] to death, except him to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.


text:
 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.


text:
 For if thou shalt altogether hold thy peace at this time, [then] shall there relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou hast come to the kingdom for [such] a time as this?


text:
 Go, gather all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in to the king, which [is] not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.


text:
 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on [her] royal [apparel], and stood in the inner court of the king's house, opposite the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, opposite the entrance of the house.


text:
 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, [that] she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that [was] in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.


text:
 Then said the king to her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what [is] thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.


text:
 And Esther answered, If [it shall seem] good to the king, let the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.


text:
 Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.


text:
 And the king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, What [is] thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what [is] thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.


text:
 If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it shall please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said.


text:
 Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor trembled before him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.


text:
 Nevertheless Haman restrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.


text:
 And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all [the things] in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.


text:
 Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow I am invited to her also with the king.


text:
 Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends to him, Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou to the king that Mordecai may be hanged on it: then go thou in merrily with the king to the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.


text:
 In that night the king could not sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.


text:
 And it was found written, that Mordecai had informed on Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.


text:
 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been bestowed upon Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered to him, There is nothing done for him.


text:
 And the king said, Who [is] in the court? Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king's house, to speak to the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.


text:
 And the king's servants said to him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.


text:
 So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What shall be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?


text:
 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king [useth] to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:


text:
 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.


text:
 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, [and] take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.


text:
 Then Haman took the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.


text:
 And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.


text:
 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every [thing] that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife to him, If Mordecai [is] of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.


text:
 And while they [were] yet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.


text:
 And the king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What [is] thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what [is] thy request? and it shall be performed, [even] to the half of the kingdom.


text:
 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it shall please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:


text:
 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for male and female slaves, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not compensate for the king's loss.


text:
 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said to Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that dared presume in his heart to do so?


text:
 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy [is] this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.


text:
 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath [went] into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.


text:
 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen upon the couch on which Esther [was]. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.


text:
 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him on it.


text:
 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.


text:
 On that day the king Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman the Jews ' enemy to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he [was] to her.


text:
 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.


text:
 And Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his plot that he had devised against the Jews.


text:
 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,


text:
 And said, If it shall please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing [shall seem] right before the king, and I [am] pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who [are] in all the king's provinces:


text:
 For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come to my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?


text:
 Then the king Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.


text:
 Write ye also for the Jews, as it pleaseth you, in the king's name, and seal [it] with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, no man may reverse.


text:
 Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, that [is], the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth [day] of it; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and princes of the provinces which [are] from India to Cush, an hundred and twenty and seven provinces, to every province according to the writing of it, and to every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.


text:
 And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus ' name, and sealed [it] with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, [and] riders on mules, camels, [and] young dromedaries:


text:
 In which the king granted the Jews who [were] in every city to gather themselves together, and to defend their lives, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, [both] little ones and women, and to plunder them for spoil,


text:
 Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, [namely], upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which [is] the month Adar.


text:
 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province [was] proclaimed to all people, and that the Jews should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.


text:
 [So] the posts that rode upon mules [and] camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace.


text:
 And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.


text:
 And in every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.


text:
 Now in the twelfth month, that [is], the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)


text:
 The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their harm: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.


text:
 And all the princes of the provinces, and the satraps, and the governors, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.


text:
 For Mordecai [was] great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai became greater and greater.


text:
 Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would to those that hated them.


text:
 The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, they slew; but on the spoil they laid not their hand.


text:
 And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? now what [is] thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: or what [is] thy request further? and it shall be done.


text:
 Then said Esther, If it shall please the king, let it be granted to the Jews who [are] in Shushan to do to morrow also according to this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.


text:
 And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.


text:
 For the Jews that [were] in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the spoil they laid not their hand.


text:
 But the other Jews that [were] in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and defended their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the spoil,


text:
 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.


text:
 But the Jews that [were] at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth [day] of the month, and on the fourteenth of it; and on the fifteenth [day] of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.


text:
 Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar [a day of] gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.


text:
 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews that [were] in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, [both] near and far,


text:
 To establish [this] among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,


text:
 As the days in which the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.


text:
 Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that [is], the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;


text:
 But when [Esther] came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked plot, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.


text:
 Therefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and [of that] which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come to them,


text:
 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves to them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their [appointed] time every year;


text:
 And [that] these days [should be] remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and [that] these days of Purim should not fail [to be observed] among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.


text:
 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.


text:
 And he sent the letters to all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, [with] words of peace and truth,


text:
 To confirm these days of Purim in their times [appointed], according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had established for them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their lamentations.


text:
 And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?


text:
 For Mordecai the Jew [was] next to king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the welfare of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.


text:
 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name [was] Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and turned away from evil.


text:
 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.


text:
 And his sons went and feasted [in their] houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.


text:
 And it was so, when the days of [their] feasting were ended, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose early in the morning, and offered 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. Thus did Job continually.


text:
 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.


text:
 And the LORD said to Satan, From where comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down upon it.


text:
 And the LORD said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil?


text:
 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.


text:
 And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, all that he hath [is] in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.


text:
 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters [were] eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:


text:
 And there came a messenger to Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them:


text:
 And the Sabeans fell [upon them], and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only have escaped alone to tell thee.


text:
 While he [was] yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God hath fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only have escaped alone to tell thee.


text:
 While he [was] yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only have escaped alone to tell thee.


text:
 While he [was] yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters [were] eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:


text:
 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only have escaped alone to tell thee.


text:
 Then Job arose, and tore his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshipped,


text:
 And said, Naked came I from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.


text:
 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.


text:
 And the LORD said to Satan, From where comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down upon it.


text:
 And the LORD said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou didst move me against him, to destroy him without cause.


text:
 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, even, all that a man hath will he give for his life.


text:
 So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with severe boils from the sole of his foot to his crown.


text:
 But he said to her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.


text:
 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.


text:
 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they raised their voice, and wept; and they tore every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.


text:
 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him: for they saw that [his] grief was very great.


text:
 Let the day perish when I was born, and the night [in which] it was said, There is a man child conceived.


text:
 Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.


text:
 As [for] that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined to the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.


text:
 Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it look for light, but [have] none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:


text:
 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.


text:
 It stood still, but I could not discern its form: an image [was] before my eyes, [there was] silence, and I heard a voice, [saying],


text:
 How much less [in] them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation [is] in the dust, [who] are crushed before the moth?


text:
 His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither [is there] any to deliver [them].


text:
 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.


text:
 Behold, happy [is] the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:


text:
 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.


text:
 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.


text:
 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.


text:
 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle [shall be] in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.


text:
 For the arrows of the Almighty [are] within me, the poison of which drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God set themselves in array against me.


text:
 Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.


text:
 To him that is afflicted pity [should be shown] from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.


text:
 In the time when they become warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.


text:
 [Is there] not an appointed time to man upon earth? [are not] his days also like the days of an hireling?


text:
 As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for [the reward of] his work:


text:
 When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro to the dawning of the day.


text:
 [As] the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no [more].


text:
 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.


text:
 I have sinned; what shall I do to thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?


text:
 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I [shall] not [be].


text:
 How long wilt thou speak these [things]? and [how long shall] the words of thy mouth [be like] a strong wind?


text:
 If thou [wert] pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.


text:
 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.


text:
 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.


text:
 [He is] wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened [himself] against him, and hath prospered?


text:
 Whom, though I were righteous, [yet] would I not answer, [but] I would make supplication to my judge.


text:
 If I had called, and he had answered me; [yet] I would not believe that he had hearkened to my voice.


text:
 If [I speak] of strength, lo, [he is] strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time [to plead]?


text:
 If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me: [if I say], I [am] perfect, that also shall prove me perverse.


text:
 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of its judges; if not, where, [and] who [is] he?


text:
 For [he is] not a man, as I [am, that] I should answer him, [and] we should come together in judgment.


text:
 My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.


text:
 [Is it] good to thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thy hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?


text:
 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?


text:
 If I be wicked, woe to me; and [if] I be righteous, [yet] will I not lift up my head. [I am] full of confusion; therefore see thou my affliction;


text:
 For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me.


text:
 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thy indignation upon me; changes and war [are] against me.


text:
 Why then hast thou brought me forth from the womb? O that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!


text:
 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.


text:
 Before I go [to the place from which] I shall not return, [even] to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;


text:
 A land of darkness, as darkness [itself; and] of the shadow of death, without any order, and [where] the light [is] as darkness.


text:
 And that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom, that [they are] double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee [less] than thy iniquity [deserveth].


text:
 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear:


text:
 And [thy] age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.


text:
 And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig [about thee, and] thou shalt take thy rest in safety.


text:
 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope [shall be as] the giving up of the ghost.


text:
 But I have understanding as well as you; I [am] not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?


text:
 I am [as] one mocked by his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright [man is] mocked.


text:
 He that is ready to slip with [his] feet [is as] a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.


text:
 The tents of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth [abundantly].


text:
 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:


text:
 Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.


text:
 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.


text:
 He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness [where there is] no way.


text:
 Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and observest carefully all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.


text:
 Seeing his days [are] determined, the number of his months [is] with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;


text:
 For there is hope of a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its tender branch will not cease.


text:
 So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens [shall be] no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.


text:
 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest conceal me, until thy wrath is past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!


text:
 If a man dieth, shall he live [again]? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change shall come.


text:
 The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow [out] of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.


text:
 Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.


text:
 His sons come to honour, and he knoweth [it] not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth [it] not of them.


text:
 What [is] man, that he should be clean? and [he who is] born of a woman, that he should be righteous?


text:
 The wicked man travaileth with pain all [his] days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.


text:
 He wandereth abroad for bread, [saying], Where [is it]? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.


text:
 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.


text:
 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, [and] in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.


text:
 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection of it upon the earth.


text:
 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.


text:
 For the congregation of hypocrites [shall be] desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.


text:
 I also could speak as ye [do]: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you.


text:
 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, [which] is a witness [against me]: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.


text:
 He teareth [me] in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; my enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.


text:
 They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.


text:
 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken [me] by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.


text:
 His archers surround me, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.


text:
 Upright [men] shall be appalled at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.


text:
 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.


text:
 He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of its place?


text:
 It shall dwell in his tent, because [it is] none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.


text:
 They that come after [him] shall be appalled at his day, as they that went before were seized with horror.


text:
 Surely such [are] the dwellings of the wicked, and this [is] the place [of him that] knoweth not God.


text:
 For I know [that] my redeemer liveth, and [that] he shall stand at the latter [day] upon the earth:


text:
 Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another; [though] my reins be consumed within me.


text:
 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath [bringeth] the punishments of the sword, that ye may know [there is] a judgment.


text:
 I have heard the rebuke that reproaches me, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.


text:
 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.


text:
 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.


text:
 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow [it] down: according to [his] substance [shall] the restitution [be], and he shall not rejoice [in it].


text:
 Because he hath oppressed [and] hath forsaken the poor; [because] he hath violently taken away an house which he did not build;


text:
 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.


text:
 [When] he is about to fill his belly, [God] shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain [it] upon him while he is eating.


text:
 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors [are] upon him.


text:
 All darkness [shall be] laid up for his treasures: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tent.


text:
 Who [is] the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray to him?


text:
 How oft is the lamp of the wicked put out! and [how oft] cometh their destruction upon them! [God] distributeth sorrows in his anger.


text:
 For what pleasure [hath] he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?


text:
 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.


text:
 The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him, and every man shall draw after him, as [there are] innumerable before him.


text:
 [Is it] any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or [is it] gain [to him], that thou makest thy ways perfect?


text:
 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother without cause, and stripped the naked of their clothing.


text:
 If thou shalt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tents.


text:
 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established to thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.


text:
 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold [him]: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see [him]:


text:
 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary [food].


text:
 But he [is] in one [mind], and who can turn him? and [what] his soul desireth, even [that] he doeth.


text:
 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, [neither] hath he covered the darkness from my face.


text:
 Behold, [as] wild donkeys in the desert, they go forth to their work; rising early for a prey: the wilderness [yieldeth] food for them [and] for [their] children.


text:
 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly [to them].


text:
 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth [his] face.


text:
 In the dark they dig through houses, [which] they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.


text:
 For the morning [is] to them even as the shadow of death: if [one] knoweth [them, they are in] the terrors of the shadow of death.


text:
 He [is] swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.


text:
 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.


text:
 [Though] it is given him [to be] in safety, on which he resteth; yet his eyes [are] upon their ways.


text:
 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all [others], and cut off as the tops of the heads of grain.


text:
 How hast thou helped [him that is] without power? [how] savest thou the arm [that hath] no strength?


text:
 How hast thou counselled [him that hath] no wisdom? and [how] hast thou abundantly declared the thing as it is?


text:
 Lo, these [are] parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?


text:
 [As] God liveth, [who] hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, [who] hath afflicted my soul;


text:
 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach [me] so long as I live.


text:
 This [is] the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, [which] they shall receive of the Almighty.


text:
 If his children are multiplied, [it is] for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.


text:
 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.


text:
 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; [even the waters] forgotten by the foot: they are dried up, they have gone away from men.


text:
 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it [shall not be for] jewels of fine gold.


text:
 And to man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom; and to depart from evil [is] understanding.


text:
 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.


text:
 I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one [that] comforteth the mourners.


text:
 But now [they that are] younger than I hold me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.


text:
 For want and famine [they were] solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.


text:
 Upon [my] right [hand] rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.


text:
 They came [upon me] as a wide breaking in [of waters]: in the desolation they rolled themselves [upon me].


text:
 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.


text:
 By the great force [of my disease] is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.


text:
 For what portion of God [is there] from above? and [what] inheritance of the Almighty from on high?


text:
 If my step hath turned out of the way, and my heart walked after my eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to my hands;


text:
 (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as [with] a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;)


text:
 This also [were] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judge: for I should have denied the God [that is] above.


text:
 If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or have lifted up myself when evil found him:


text:
 Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, [and] went not out of the door?


text:
 O that one would hear me! behold, my desire [is, that] the Almighty would answer me, and [that] my adversary had written a book.


text:
 Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.


text:
 Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and [yet] had condemned Job.


text:
 When Elihu saw that [there was] no answer in the mouth of [these] three men, then his wrath was kindled.


text:
 And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I [am] young, and ye [are] very old; therefore I was afraid, and dared not show you my opinion.


text:
 Yea, I attended to you, and, behold, [there was] none of you that convinced Job, [or] that answered his words:


text:
 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;


text:
 If there is a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man his uprightness:


text:
 Then he is gracious to him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.


text:
 He shall pray to God, and he will be favourable to him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render to man his righteousness.


text:
 He looketh upon men, and [if any] shall say, I have sinned, and perverted [that which was] right, and it profited me not;


text:
 Therefore hearken to me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, [that he should do] wickedness; and [from] the Almighty, [that he should commit] iniquity.


text:
 [How much less to him] that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all [are] the work of his hands.


text:
 In a moment they shall die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.


text:
 Therefore he knoweth their works, and he overturneth [them] in the night, so that they are destroyed.


text:
 When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth [his] face, who then can behold him? whether [it be done] against a nation, or against a man only:


text:
 [Should it be] according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether thou shalt refuse, or whether thou shalt choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.


text:
 For he addeth rebellion to his sin, he clappeth [his hands] among us, and multiplieth his words against God.


text:
 For thou saidst, What advantage will it be to thee? [and], What profit shall I have, [if I be cleansed] from my sin?


text:
 If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or [if] thy transgressions are multiplied, what doest thou to him?


text:
 By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make [the oppressed] to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.


text:
 Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, [yet] judgment [is] before him; therefore trust thou in him.


text:
 But now, because [it is] not [so], he hath visited in his anger; yet he knoweth [it] not in great extremity:


text:
 He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings [are they] on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted.


text:
 If they obey and serve [him], they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.


text:
 Even so would he have removed thee out of distress [into] a broad place, where [there is] no restraint; and that which should be set on thy table [should be] full of fatness.


text:
 Because [there is] wrath, [beware] lest he take thee away with [his] stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.


text:
 Behold, God [is] great, and we know [him] not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.


text:
 With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it [not to shine] by [the cloud] that cometh between.


text:
 After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not restrain them when his voice is heard.


text:
 For he saith to the snow, Be thou [on] the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.


text:
 And it is turned around by his counsels: that they may do whatever he commandeth them upon the face of the world on the earth.


text:
 Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge?


text:
 And now [men] see not the bright light which [is] in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them.


text:
 [As for] the Almighty, we cannot find him out: [he is] excellent in power, and in judgment, and in abundance of justice: he will not afflict.


text:
 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;


text:
 To cause it to rain on the earth, [where] no man [is; on] the wilderness, in which [there is] no man;


text:
 To satisfy the desolate and waste [ground]; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?


text:
 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry to God, they wander for want of food.


text:
 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? [or] canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?


text:
 Their young ones are become strong, they grow strong with grain; they go forth, and return not to them.


text:
 She is hardened against her young ones, as though [they were] not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;


text:
 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that [it is] the sound of the trumpet.


text:
 He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.


text:
 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct [him]? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.


text:
 Behold, he drinketh up a river, [and] hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.


text:
 Who [is] he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that which I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.


text:
 And it was [so], that after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me [the thing that is] right, as my servant Job [hath].


text:
 Therefore take to you now seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you [after your] folly, in that ye have not spoken of me [the thing which is] right, like my servant Job.


text:
 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite [and] Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.


text:
 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.


text:
 Then came there to him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and ate bread with him in his house: and they mourned with him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.


text:
 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.


text:
 And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.


text:
 And in all the land were no women found [so] fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.


text:
 After this Job lived an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons ' sons, [even] four generations.


text:
 Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of scoffers.


text:
 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he doeth shall prosper.


text:
 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.


text:
 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, [saying],


text:
 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said to me, Thou [art] my Son; this day have I begotten thee.


text:
 Ask of me, and I shall give [thee] the heathen [for] thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth [for] thy possession.


text:
 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish [from] the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed [are] all they that put their trust in him.


text:
 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set [themselves] against me on all sides.


text:
 Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all my enemies [upon] the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.


text:
Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me [when I was] in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.


text:
 O ye sons of men, how long [will ye turn] my glory into shame? [how long] will ye love vanity, [and] seek after falsehood? Selah.


text:
 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call to him.


text:
 [There are] many that say, Who will show us [any] good? LORD, lift thou upon us the light of thy countenance.


text:
 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time when their grain and their wine increased.


text:
 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct [my prayer] to thee, and will look up.


text:
 But as for me, I will come [into] thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: [and] in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.


text:
 For [there is] no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part [is] very wickedness; their throat [is] an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.


text:
 Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.


text:
 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.


text:
 If I have rewarded evil to him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is my enemy:)


text:
 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take [it]; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay my honour in the dust. Selah.


text:
 Arise, O LORD, in thy anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of my enemies: and awake for me [to] the judgment [that] thou hast commanded.


text:
 So shall the congregation of the people surround thee: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.


text:
 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity [that is] in me.


text:
 O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.


text:
 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.


text:
 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon the crown of his head.


text:
 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.


text:
O LORD our Lord, how excellent [is] thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.


text:
 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thy enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.


text:
 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;


text:
 Thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all [things] under his feet:


text:
 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, [and whatever] passeth through the paths of the seas.


text:
 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.


text:
 O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial hath perished with them.


text:
 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.


text:
 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.


text:
 When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.


text:
 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble [which I suffer] from them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:


text:
 That I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.


text:
 The heathen are sunk down in the pit [that] they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.


text:
 The LORD is known [by] the judgment [which] he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.


text:
 For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall [not] perish for ever.


text:
 The wicked in [his] pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.


text:
 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, [whom] the LORD abhorreth.


text:
 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek [after God]: God [is] not in all his thoughts.


text:
 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments [are] far above out of his sight: [as for] all his enemies, he puffeth at them.


text:
 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are secretly set against the poor.


text:
 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.


text:
 Thou hast seen [it]; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to repay [it] with thy hand: the poor committeth himself to thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.


text:
 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil [man]: seek out his wickedness [till] thou shalt find none.


text:
 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thy ear to hear:


text:
 For, lo, the wicked bend [their] bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may secretly shoot at the upright in heart.


text:
 The LORD [is] in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne [is] in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.


text:
 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: [this shall be] the portion of their cup.


text:
 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: [with] flattering lips [and] with a double heart do they speak.


text:
 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set [him] in safety [from him that] puffeth at him.


text:
 The words of the LORD [are] pure words: [as] silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.


text:
 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, [having] sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall my enemy be exalted over me?


text:
 Lest my enemy say, I have prevailed against him; [and] those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.


text:
The fool hath said in his heart, [There is] no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, [there is] none that doeth good.


text:
 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, [and] seek God.


text:
 They are all gone aside, they are [all] together become filthy: [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one.


text:
 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people [as] they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.


text:
 O that the salvation of Israel [were come] out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, [and] Israel shall be glad.


text:
 [He that] backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.


text:
 In whose eyes a vile person is despised; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. [He that] sweareth to [his own] hurt, and changeth not.


text:
 [He that] putteth not out his money to interest, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these [things] shall never be moved.


text:
 Their sorrows shall be multiplied [that] hasten [after] another [god]: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take their names into my lips.


text:
 Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence [is] fulness of joy; at thy right hand [are] pleasures for evermore.


text:
Hear the right, O LORD, attend to my cry, give ear to my prayer, [that goeth] not out of deceitful lips.


text:
 Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited [me] in the night; thou hast tried me, [and] shalt find nothing; I have purposed [that] my mouth shall not transgress.


text:
 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept [me from] the paths of the destroyer.


text:
 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thy ear to me, [and hear] my speech.


text:
 Show thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them who put their trust [in thee] from those that rise up [against them].


text:
 From men [who are] thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, [who have] their portion in [this] life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid [treasure]: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their [substance] to their babes.


text:
 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.


text:
 The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, [and] my high tower.


text:
 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, [even] into his ears.


text:
 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was angry.


text:
 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion around him [was] dark waters [and] thick clouds of the skies.


text:
 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail [stones] and coals of fire.


text:
 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were uncovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.


text:
 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.


text:
 Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.


text:
 With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt show thyself upright;


text:
 [As for] God, his way [is] perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he [is] a buckler to all those that trust in him.


text:
 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath held me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.


text:
 For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.


text:
 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; [and] thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people [whom] I have not known shall serve me.


text:
 He delivereth me from my enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.


text:
 He giveth great deliverance to his king; and showeth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.


text:
 Their line hath gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,


text:
 Which [is] as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, [and] rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.


text:
 His going forth [is] from the end of the heaven, and his circuit to its ends: and there is nothing hid from his heat.


text:
 The law of the LORD [is] perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD [is] sure, making wise the simple.


text:
 The statutes of the LORD [are] right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD [is] pure, enlightening the eyes.


text:
 The fear of the LORD [is] clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD [are] true [and] righteous altogether.


text:
 More to be desired [are they] than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.


text:
 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous [sins]; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.


text:
 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.


text:
 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up [our] banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.


text:
 Now I know that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.


text:
 For thou meetest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.


text:
 For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.


text:
 Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thy anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.


text:
 For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, [which] they are not able [to perform].


text:
 Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, [when] thou shalt make ready [thy arrows] upon thy strings against the face of them.


text:
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [why art thou so] far from helping me, [and from] the words of my roaring?


text:
 He trusted on the LORD [that] he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.


text:
 But thou [art] he that brought me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope [when I was] upon my mother's breasts.


text:
 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted within me.


text:
 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.


text:
 For dogs have surrounded me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.


text:
 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.


text:
 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.


text:
 My praise [shall be] of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.


text:
 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.


text:
 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.


text:
 All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.


text:
 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, that he hath done [this].


text:
 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.


text:
 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.


text:
 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.


text:
 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.


text:
 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.


text:
 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift [them] up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.


text:
 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou [art] the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.


text:
 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness ' sake, O LORD.


text:
Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in my integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; [therefore] I shall not slide.


text:
The LORD [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD [is] the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?


text:
 When the wicked, [even] my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.


text:
 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this [will] I [be] confident.


text:
 One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.


text:
 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.


text:
 And now shall my head be lifted above my enemies around me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises to the LORD.


text:
 Hide not thy face from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.


text:
 Deliver me not over to the will of my enemies: for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.


text:
To thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, [if] thou shouldest be silent to me, I should become like them that go down into the pit.


text:
 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry to thee, when I lift my hands toward thy holy oracle.


text:
 Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief [is] in their hearts.


text:
 Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.


text:
 Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.


text:
 The LORD [is] my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.


text:
 The voice of the LORD [is] upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD [is] upon many waters.


text:
 The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and maketh bare the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of [his] glory.


text:
I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.


text:
 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.


text:
 For his anger [endureth but] a moment; in his favour [is] life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy [cometh] in the morning.


text:
 LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, [and] I was troubled.


text:
 What profit [is there] in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?


text:
 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;


text:
 To the end that [my] glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to thee for ever.


text:
 Bow down thy ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.


text:
 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;


text:
 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: my eye is consumed with grief, [yea], my soul and my body.


text:
 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of my iniquity, and my bones are consumed.


text:
 I was a reproach among all my enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to my acquaintance: they that saw me without fled from me.


text:
 For I have heard the slander of many: fear [was] on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.


text:
 My times [are] in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from them that persecute me.


text:
 Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, [and] let them be silent in the grave.


text:
 Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.


text:
 [O] how great [is] thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; [which] thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!


text:
 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.


text:
 For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thy eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried to thee.


text:
 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: [for] the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.


text:
 Blessed [is] the man to whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit [there is] no guile.


text:
 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.


text:
 I acknowledged my sin to thee, and my iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.


text:
 For this shall every one that is godly pray to thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come near to him.


text:
 Thou [art] my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.


text:
 Be ye not as the horse, [or] as the mule, [which] have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near to thee.


text:
 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all [ye that are] upright in heart.


text:
 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.


text:
 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of no effect.


text:
 Blessed [is] the nation whose God [is] the LORD; [and] the people [whom] he hath chosen for his own inheritance.


text:
 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.


text:
 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not lack any good [thing].


text:
 The face of the LORD [is] against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.


text:
 The LORD [is] near to them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.


text:
 Draw out also the spear, and stop [the way] against them that persecute me: say to my soul, I [am] thy salvation.


text:
 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.


text:
 For without cause they have hid for me their net [in] a pit, [which] without cause they have dug for my soul.


text:
 Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.


text:
 All my bones shall say, LORD, who [is] like thee, who deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, even the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?


text:
 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing [was] sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into my own bosom.


text:
 I behaved myself as though [he had been] my friend [or] brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth [for his] mother.


text:
 But in my adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: [yea], the smiters gathered themselves together against me, and I knew [it] not; they did tear [me], and ceased not:


text:
 Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.


text:
 Let not them that are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: [neither] let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.


text:
 For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against [them that are] quiet in the land.


text:
 Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.


text:
 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at my hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify [themselves] against me.


text:
 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, who hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.


text:
The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, [that there is] no fear of God before his eyes.


text:
 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way [that is] not good; he abhorreth not evil.


text:
 Thy righteousness [is] like the great mountains; thy judgments [are] a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.


text:
 How excellent [is] thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.


text:
 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.


text:
 O continue thy lovingkindness to them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.


text:
 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.


text:
 For yet a little while, and the wicked [shall] not [be]: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it [shall] not [be].


text:
 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, [and] to slay such as are of upright conduct.


text:
 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD [shall be] as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.


text:
 For [such as are] blessed by him shall inherit the earth; and [they that are] cursed by him shall be cut off.


text:
 Though he should fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth [him with] his hand.


text:
 I have been young, and [now] am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.


text:
 For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.


text:
 Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see [it].


text:
 But the salvation of the righteous [is] of the LORD: [he is] their strength in the time of trouble.


text:
 And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.


text:
 [There is] no soundness in my flesh because of thy anger; neither [is there any] rest in my bones because of my sin.


text:
 They also that seek after my life lay snares [for me]: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.


text:
 For I said, [Hear me], lest [otherwise] they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify [themselves] against me.


text:
 But my enemies [are] lively, [and] they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.


text:
 They also that render evil for good are my adversaries; because I follow [the thing that] [is] good.


text:
I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.


text:
 LORD, make me to know my end, and the measure of my days, what it [is; that] I may know how frail I [am].


text:
 Behold, thou hast made my days [as] an hand breadth; and my age [is] as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state [is] altogether vanity. Selah.


text:
 Surely every man walketh in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up [riches], and knoweth not who shall gather them.


text:
 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man [is] vanity. Selah.


text:
 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I [am] a stranger with thee, [and] a sojourner, as all my fathers [were].


text:
 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, [and] established my goings.


text:
 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, [even] praise to our God: many shall see [it], and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.


text:
 Blessed [is] that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.


text:
 Many, O LORD my God, [are] thy wonderful works [which] thou hast done, and thy thoughts [which are] toward us: they cannot be reckoned up in order to thee: [if] I would declare and speak [of them], they are more than can be numbered.


text:
 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; my ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.


text:
 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not restrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.


text:
 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.


text:
 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.


text:
 For innumerable evils have surrounded me: my iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head: therefore my heart faileth me.


text:
 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.


text:
 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.


text:
 But I [am] poor and needy; [yet] the Lord thinketh upon me: thou [art] my help and my deliverer; make no delay, O my God.


text:
 The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; [and] he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him to the will of his enemies.


text:
 The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.


text:
 And if he cometh to see [me], he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; [when] he goeth abroad, he telleth [it].


text:
 Yea, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, hath lifted up [his] heel against me.


text:
 When I remember these [things], I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day.


text:
 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and [why] art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him [for] the help of his countenance.


text:
 O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.


text:
 Deep calleth to deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.


text:
 [Yet] the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song [shall be] with me, [and] my prayer to the God of my life.


text:
 I will say to God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?


text:
 [As] with a sword in my bones, my enemies reproach me; while they say daily to me, Where [is] thy God?


text:
 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God.


text:
 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.


text:
 For thou [art] the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?


text:
 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me to thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.


text:
 Then will I go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.


text:
 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God.


text:
We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, [what] work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.


text:
 [How] thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and didst plant them; [how] thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.


text:
 For they obtained not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour to them.


text:
 Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name we will tread them under that rise up against us.


text:
 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they who hate us [have taken] spoil for themselves.


text:
 All this is come upon us; yet we have not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.


text:
 Though thou hast greatly broke us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.


text:
My heart is overflowing with a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made concerning the king: my tongue [is] the pen of a skilful writer.


text:
 Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.


text:
 And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness [and] righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.


text:
 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy companions.


text:
 All thy garments [smell] of myrrh, and aloes, [and] cassia, out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made thee glad.


text:
 Kings ' daughters [were] among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand stood the queen in gold of Ophir.


text:
 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thy ear; forget also thy own people, and thy father's house;


text:
 And the daughter of Tyre [shall be there] with a gift; [even] the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour.


text:
 She shall be brought to the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought to thee.


text:
 I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.


text:
 Therefore will we not fear, though the earth shall be removed, and though the mountains shall be carried into the midst of the sea;


text:
 [Though] its waters shall roar [and] be troubled, [though] the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah.


text:
 [There is] a river, the streams of which shall make glad the city of God, the holy [place] of the tabernacles of the most High.


text:
 He maketh wars to cease to the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear asunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.


text:
 Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.


text:
 The princes of the people are gathered together, [even] the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth [belong] to God: he is greatly exalted.


text:
Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, [in] the mountain of his holiness.


text:
 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, [is] mount Zion, [on] the sides of the north, the city of the great King.


text:
 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 it for ever. Selah.


text:
 According to thy name, O God, so [is] thy praise to the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.


text:
 Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell [it] to the generation following.


text:
 For he seeth [that] wise men die, likewise the fool and the stupid person perish, and leave their wealth to others.


text:
 Their inward thought [is, that] their houses [shall continue] for ever, [and] their dwelling places to all generations; they call [their] lands after their own names.


text:
 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.


text:
 Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and [men] will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.


text:
The mighty God, [even] the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising to the setting of the sun.


text:
 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous around him.


text:
 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I [am] God, [even] thy God.


text:
 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, [to have been] continually before me.


text:
 But to the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or [that] thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?


text:
 When thou sawest a thief, then thou didst consent with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.


text:
 These [things] hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether [such an one] as thyself: [but] I will reprove thee, and set [them] in order before thine eyes.


text:
 Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear [you] in pieces, and [there be] none to deliver.


text:
 Whoever offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth [his] conduct [aright] will I show the salvation of God.


text:
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.


text:
 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done [this] evil in thy sight: that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, [and] be clear when thou judgest.


text:
 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden [part] thou shalt make me to know wisdom.


text:
 Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: [and] my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.


text:
 The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.


text:
 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bulls upon thy altar.


text:
 God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of [thy] dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.


text:
 Lo, [this is] the man [that] made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, [and] strengthened himself in his wickedness.


text:
 But I [am] like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.


text:
 I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done [it]: and I will wait on thy name; for [it is] good before thy saints.


text:
The fool hath said in his heart, [There is] no God. They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity: [there is] none that doeth good.


text:
 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were [any] that did understand, that did seek God.


text:
 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one.


text:
 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people [as] they eat bread: they have not called upon God.


text:
 There they were in great fear, [where] no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth [against] thee: thou hast put [them] to shame, because God hath despised them.


text:
 O that the salvation of Israel [were come] out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, [and] Israel shall be glad.


text:
 For strangers have risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.


text:
 Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.


text:
 For [it was] not an enemy [that] reproached me; then I could have borne [it]: neither [was it] he that hated me [that] magnified [himself] against me; then I would have hid myself from him:


text:
 Let death seize upon them, [and] let them go down alive into hell: for wickedness [is] in their dwellings, [and] among them.


text:
 He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle [that was] against me: for there were many with me.


text:
 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.


text:
 [The words] of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war [was] in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet [were] they drawn swords.


text:
 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never allow the righteous to be moved.


text:
 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.


text:
 My enemies would daily swallow [me] up: for [they are] many that fight against me, O thou most High.


text:
 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do to me.


text:
 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.


text:
 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: [wilt thou] not [deliver] my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?


text:
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until [these] calamities are past by.


text:
 He shall send from heaven, and save me [from] the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.


text:
 My soul [is] among lions: [and] I lie [even among] them that are set on fire, [even] the sons of men, whose teeth [are] spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.


text:
 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have dug a pit before me, into the midst of which they have fallen [themselves]. Selah.


text:
 Their poison [is] like the poison of a serpent: [they are] like the deaf adder [that] stoppeth her ear;


text:
 Let them melt away as waters [which] run continually: [when] he bendeth [his bow to shoot] his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.


text:
 As a snail [which] melteth, let [every one of them] pass away: [like] the untimely birth of a woman, [that] they may not see the sun.


text:
 Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in [his] wrath.


text:
 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.


text:
 So that a man shall say, Verily [there is] a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.


text:
 For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not [for] my transgression, nor [for] my sin, O LORD.


text:
 Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.


text:
 Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords [are] in their lips: for who, [say they], doth hear?


text:
 Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.


text:
 [For] the sin of their mouth [and] the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying [which] they speak.


text:
 Consume [them] in wrath, consume [them], that they [may] not [be]: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob to the ends of the earth. Selah.


text:
 But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.


text:
O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.


text:
 Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.


text:
 God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth.


text:
 Gilead [is] mine, and Manasseh [is] mine; Ephraim also [is] the strength of my head; Judah [is] my lawgiver;


text:
 [Wilt] thou not, O God, [who] hadst cast us off? and [thou], O God, [who] didst not go out with our armies?


text:
 From the end of the earth will I cry to thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock [that] is higher than I.


text:
 For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given [me] the heritage of those that fear thy name.


text:
 How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall [shall ye be, and as] a tottering fence.


text:
 They only consult to cast [him] down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.


text:
 Trust in him at all times; [ye] people, pour out your heart before him: God [is] a refuge for us. Selah.


text:
 Surely men of low degree [are] vanity, [and] men of high degree [are] a lie: to be laid in the balance, they [are] altogether [lighter] than vanity.


text:
 Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart [upon them].


text:
O God, thou [art] my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;


text:
 My soul shall be satisfied as [with] marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise [thee] with joyful lips:


text:
 But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.


text:
 Who whet their tongue like a sword, [and] bend [their bows to shoot] their arrows, [even] bitter words:


text:
 They encourage themselves [in] an evil matter: they speak of laying snares secretly; they say, Who shall see them?


text:
 They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward [thought] of every one [of them], and the heart, [is] deep.


text:
 And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.


text:
 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.


text:
 Blessed [is the man whom] thou choosest, and causest to approach [to thee, that] he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, [even] of thy holy temple.


text:
 [By] terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; [who art] the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off [upon] the sea:


text:
 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy signs: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.


text:
 Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, [which] is full of water: thou preparest them grain, when thou hast so provided for it.


text:
 Thou waterest the ridges of it abundantly: thou settlest its furrows: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest its growth.


text:
 The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with grain; they shout for joy, they also sing.


text:
 Say to God, How terrible [art thou in] thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thy enemies submit themselves to thee.


text:
 He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.


text:
 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy [place].


text:
 I will offer to thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bulls with goats. Selah.


text:
 O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.


text:
 As smoke is driven away, [so] drive [them] away: as wax melteth before the fire, [so] let the wicked perish at the presence of God.


text:
 Sing to God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.


text:
 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those who are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry [land].


text:
 O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:


text:
 The earth shook, the heavens also rained at the presence of God: [even] Sinai itself [was moved] at the presence of God, the God of Israel.


text:
 Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, by which thou didst confirm thy inheritance, when it was weary.


text:
 Though ye lie among the pots, [yet shall ye be as] the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.


text:
 Why leap ye, ye lofty hills? [this is] the hill [which] God desireth to dwell in; yea, the LORD will dwell [in it] for ever.


text:
 The chariots of God [are] twenty thousand, [even] thousands of angels: the Lord [is] among them, [as in] Sinai, in the holy [place].


text:
 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, [for] the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell [among them].


text:
 Blessed [be] the Lord, [who] daily loadeth us [with benefits, even] the God of our salvation. Selah.


text:
 [He that is] our God [is] the God of salvation; and to GOD the Lord [belong] the issues from death.


text:
 But God shall wound the head of his enemies, [and] the hairy scalp of such one as goeth on still in his trespasses.


text:
 The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring [my people] again from the depths of the sea:


text:
 That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of [thy] enemies, [and] the tongue of thy dogs in the same.


text:
 The singers went before, the players on instruments [followed] after; among [them were] the damsels playing with timbrels.


text:
 There [is] little Benjamin [with] their ruler, the princes of Judah [and] their counsel, the princes of Zebulun, [and] the princes of Naphtali.


text:
 Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, [till every one] shall submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people [that] delight in war.


text:
 To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, [which were] of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, [and that] a mighty voice.


text:
 O God, [thou art] terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel [is] he that giveth strength and power to [his] people. Blessed [be] God.


text:
 I sink in deep mire, where [there is] no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.


text:
 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: they that would destroy me, [being] my enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored [that] which I took not away.


text:
 Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.


text:
 For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee have fallen upon me.


text:
 But as for me, my prayer [is] to thee, O LORD, [in] an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.


text:
 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.


text:
 Let not the water flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.


text:
 Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness [is] good: turn to me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.


text:
 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked [for some] to take pity, but [there was] none; and for comforters, but I found none.


text:
 Let their table become a snare before them: and [that which should have been] for [their] welfare, [let it become] a trap.


text:
 For they persecute [him] whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.


text:
 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.


text:
 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.


text:
 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.


text:
 But I [am] poor and needy: make haste to me, O God: thou [art] my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no delay.


text:
 Be thou my strong habitation, where I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou [art] my rock and my fortress.


text:
 By thee have I been sustained from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb: my praise [shall be] continually of thee.


text:
 Let them be confounded [and] consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered [with] reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt.


text:
 My mouth shall show forth thy righteousness [and] thy salvation all the day; for I know not [their] numbers.


text:
 I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, [even] of thine only.


text:
 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shown thy strength to [this] generation, [and] thy power to every one [that] is to come.


text:
 Thy righteousness also, O God, [is] very high, who hast done great things: O God, who [is] like thee!


text:
 [Thou], who hast shown me great and many troubles, wilt revive me again, and shalt bring me again from the depths of the earth.


text:
 I will also praise thee with the psaltery, [even] thy truth, O my God: to thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.


text:
 My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought to shame, that seek my hurt.


text:
 He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.


text:
 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.


text:
 He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall be their blood in his sight.


text:
 And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; [and] daily shall he be praised.


text:
 There shall be an handful of grain in the earth upon the top of the mountains; its fruit shall shake like Lebanon: and [they] of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.


text:
 His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and [men] shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.


text:
 And blessed [be] his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled [with] his glory; Amen, and Amen.


text:
 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go astray from thee.


text:
 But [it is] good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.


text:
O God, why hast thou cast [us] off for ever? [why] doth thy anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?


text:
 Remember thy congregation, [which] thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thy inheritance, [which] thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, in which thou hast dwelt.


text:
 Lift up thy feet to the perpetual desolations; [even] all [that] the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.


text:
 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled [by casting down] the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.


text:
 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.


text:
 We see not our signs: [there is] no more any prophet: neither [is there] among us any that knoweth how long.


text:
 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou didst break the heads of the dragons in the waters.


text:
 Thou didst break the head of leviathan in pieces, [and] didst give him [to be] food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.


text:
 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove to the multitude [of the wicked]: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.


text:
 Have respect to the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.


text:
 Forget not the voice of thy enemies: the tumult of those that rise against thee increaseth continually.


text:
To thee, O God, do we give thanks, [to thee] do we give thanks: for [that] thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.


text:
 For in the hand of the LORD [there is] a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but its dregs, all the wicked of the earth shall wring [them] out, [and] drink [them].


text:
 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; [but] the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.


text:
 The stout hearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.


text:
 Vow, and pay to the LORD your God: let all that are about him bring presents to him that ought to be feared.


text:
 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.


text:
 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with my own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.


text:
 And I said, This [is] my infirmity: [but I will remember] the years of the right hand of the most High.


text:
 The voice of thy thunder [was] in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.


text:
 We will not hide [them] from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.


text:
 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:


text:
 That the generation to come might know [them, even] the children [who] should be born; [who] should arise and declare [them] to their children:


text:
 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation [that] set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.


text:
 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, [in] the field of Zoan.


text:
 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?


text:
 Therefore the LORD heard [this], and was full of wrath: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;


text:
 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen [men] of Israel.


text:
 But he, [being] full of compassion, forgave [their] iniquity, and destroyed [them] not: yea, many a time he turned his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.


text:
 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels [among them].


text:
 He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;


text:
 And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, [even to] this mountain, [which] his right hand had purchased.


text:
 He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.


text:
 But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.


text:
 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.


text:
 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.


text:
 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.


text:
O God, the heathen have come into thy inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.


text:
 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given [to be] food to the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints to the beasts of the earth.


text:
 Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.


text:
 O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily come to help us: for we are brought very low.


text:
 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.


text:
 Why should the heathen say, Where [is] their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight [by] avenging the blood of thy servants [which is] shed.


text:
 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;


text:
 And render to our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, with which they have reproached thee, O Lord.


text:
 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will show forth thy praise to all generations.


text:
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest [between] the cherubim, shine forth.


text:
 And the vineyard which thy right hand planted, and the branch [that] thou madest strong for thyself.


text:
 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man [whom] thou madest strong for thyself.


text:
 This he ordained in Joseph [for] a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: [where] I heard a language [that] I understood not.


text:
 Thou didst call in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.


text:
 I [am] the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.


text:
 The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves to him: and their time should have endured for ever.


text:
 He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock I should have satisfied thee.


text:
 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.


text:
 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from [being] a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.


text:
 That [men] may know that thou, whose name alone [is] JEHOVAH, [art] the most high over all the earth.


text:
 My soul longeth, and, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.


text:
 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, [even] thy altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.


text:
 For a day in thy courts [is] better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.


text:
 For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.


text:
 I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace to his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.


text:
 For thou, Lord, [art] good, and ready to forgive; and abundant in mercy to all them that call upon thee.


text:
 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.


text:
 O God, the proud have risen against me, and the assemblies of violent [men] have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them.


text:
 But thou, O Lord, [art] a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in mercy and truth.


text:
 O turn to me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength to thy servant, and save the son of thy handmaid.


text:
 Show me a sign for good; that they who hate me may see [it], and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast helped me, and comforted me.


text:
 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Cush; this [man] was born there.


text:
 And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the Highest himself shall establish her.


text:
 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.


text:
 Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination to them: [I am] shut up, and I cannot come forth.


text:
 My eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands to thee.


text:
 I [am] afflicted and ready to die from [my] youth up: [while] I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.


text:
I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.


text:
 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.


text:
 And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.


text:
 For who in the heaven can be compared to the LORD? [who] among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the LORD?


text:
 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence by all [them that are] about him.


text:
 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thy enemies with thy strong arm.


text:
 The heavens [are] thine, the earth also [is] thine: [as for] the world and all it containeth, thou hast founded them.


text:
 Righteousness and justice [are] the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.


text:
 Blessed [are] the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.


text:
 Then thou didst speak in vision to thy holy one, and didst say, I have laid help upon [one that is] mighty; I have exalted [one] chosen out of the people.


text:
 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail.


text:
 Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown [by casting it] to the ground.


text:
 What man [is he that] liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.


text:
 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; [how] I do bear in my bosom [the reproach of] all the mighty people;


text:
 With which thy enemies have reproached, O LORD; with which they have reproached the footsteps of thy anointed.


text:
 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou [art] God.


text:
 For a thousand years in thy sight [are but] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night.


text:
 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are [as] a sleep: in the morning [they are] like grass [which] groweth.


text:
 The days of our years [are] seventy years; and if by reason of strength [they are] eighty years, yet [is] their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.


text:
 Make us glad according to the days [in which] thou hast afflicted us, [and] the years [in which] we have seen evil.


text:
 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.


text:
 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.


text:
 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth [shall be thy] shield and buckler.


text:
 [Nor] for the pestilence [that] walketh in darkness; [nor] for the destruction [that] wasteth at noonday.


text:
 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; [but] it shall not come near thee.


text:
 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.


text:
 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.


text:
 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I [will be] with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.


text:
 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; [it is] that they shall be destroyed for ever:


text:
 For, lo, thy enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thy enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.


text:
 My eye also shall see [my desire] on my enemies, [and] my ears shall hear [my desire] of the wicked that rise up against me.


text:
 The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, [with which] he hath girded himself: the world also is established, that it cannot be moved.


text:
 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift their waves.


text:
 The LORD on high [is] mightier than the noise of many waters, [yea, than] the mighty waves of the sea.


text:
 [How long] shall they utter [and] speak hard things? [and] all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?


text:
 He that chastiseth the heathen, shall he not correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, [shall he not know]?


text:
 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? [or] who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?


text:
 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; [yea], the LORD our God shall cut them off.


text:
 For he [is] our God; and we [are] the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,


text:
 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, [and] as [in] the day of temptation in the wilderness:


text:
 Forty years long was I grieved with [this] generation, and said, It [is] a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:


text:
 Say among the heathen [that] the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.


text:
 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.


text:
 Clouds and darkness surroundeth him: righteousness and judgment [are] the habitation of his throne.


text:
 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.


text:
 Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all [ye] gods.


text:
 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.


text:
O sing to the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.


text:
 The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shown in the sight of the heathen.


text:
 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.


text:
 Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.


text:
 The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he setteth [between] the cherubim; let the earth be moved.


text:
 The king's strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.


text:
 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.


text:
 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance [that] he gave them.


text:
 Thou didst answer them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance on their [evil] deeds.


text:
 Know ye that the LORD he [is] God: [it is] he [that] hath made us, and not we ourselves; [we are] his people, and the sheep of his pasture.


text:
 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, [and] into his courts with praise: be thankful to him, [and] bless his name.


text:
 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.


text:
 I will set no wicked thing before my eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; [it] shall not cleave to me.


text:
 Whoever secretly slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart I will not endure.


text:
 My eyes [shall be] upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.


text:
 He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.


text:
 I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all who practise wickedness from the city of the LORD.


text:
 Hide not thy face from me in the day [when] I am in trouble; incline thy ear to me: in the day [when] I call answer me speedily.


text:
 Thou shalt arise, [and] have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.


text:
 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.


text:
 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven hath the LORD beheld the earth;


text:
 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years [are] throughout all generations.


text:
 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall grow old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:


text:
 But the mercy of the LORD [is] from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness to children's children;


text:
 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening to the voice of his word.


text:
 Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.


text:
 Who coverest [thyself] with light as [with] a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:


text:
 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:


text:
 They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys to the place which thou hast founded for them.


text:
 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;


text:
 And wine [that] maketh glad the heart of man, [and] oil to make [his] face to shine, and bread [which] strengtheneth man's heart.


text:
 O LORD, how many are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.


text:
 [So is] this great and wide sea, in which [are] creeping things innumerable, both small and great beasts.


text:
 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.


text:
 Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.


text:
 He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and [there was] not one feeble [person] among their tribes.


text:
 Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks to the LORD; for [he is] good: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.


text:
 Remember me, O LORD, with the favour [that thou bearest to] thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;


text:
 That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thy inheritance.


text:
 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked [him] at the sea, [even] at the Red sea.


text:
 He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.


text:
 And he saved them from the hand of him that hated [them], and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.


text:
 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy [them].


text:
 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 blood.


text:
 Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.


text:
 Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked [him] with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.


text:
 Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks to thy holy name, [and] to triumph in thy praise.


text:
 Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.


text:
 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.


text:
 O that [men] would praise the LORD [for] his goodness, and [for] his wonderful works to the children of men!


text:
 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.


text:
 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.


text:
 He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and doest not let their cattle to decrease.


text:
 He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, [where there is] no way.


text:
 Whoever [is] wise, and will observe these [things], even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.


text:
 Gilead [is] mine; Manasseh [is] mine; Ephraim also [is] the strength of my head; Judah [is] my lawgiver;


text:
 [Wilt] not [thou], O God, [who] hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our armies?


text:
 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.


text:
 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek [their bread] also out of their desolate places.


text:
 Let there be none to extend mercy to him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.


text:
 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.


text:
 Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.


text:
 As he loved cursing, so let it come to him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.


text:
 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.


text:
 Let it be to him as the garment [which] covereth him, and for a belt with which he is girded continually.


text:
 [Let] this [be] the reward of my adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.


text:
 But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thy mercy [is] good, deliver thou me.


text:
 Let my adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.


text:
 Thy people [shall be] willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.


text:
 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.


text:
 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill [the places] with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.


text:
 Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with [my] whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and [in] the congregation.


text:
 He hath shown his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.


text:
 He sent redemption to his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend [is] his name.


text:
 The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do [his commandments]: his praise endureth for ever.


text:
 Praise ye the LORD. Blessed [is] the man [that] feareth the LORD, [that] delighteth greatly in his commandments.


text:
 To the upright there ariseth light in darkness: [he is] gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.


text:
 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.


text:
 The wicked shall see [it], and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.


text:
 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, [and to be] a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.


text:
 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to thy name give glory, for thy mercy, [and] for thy truth's sake.


text:
 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.


text:
 The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless [us]; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.


text:
 The heaven, [even] the heavens, [are] the LORD'S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.


text:
 The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the pains of hell came upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.


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 O LORD, truly I [am] thy servant; I [am] thy servant, the son of thy handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.


text:
 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD [endureth] for ever. Praise ye the LORD.


text:
 The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see [my desire] upon them that hate me.


text:
 They surrounded me like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.


text:
 The voice of rejoicing and salvation [is] in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.


text:
 Blessed [be] he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.


text:
 God [is] the LORD, who hath shown us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, [even] to the horns of the altar.


text:
 My hands also will I lift to thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.


text:
 JOD. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.


text:
 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: [but] I will meditate in thy precepts.


text:
 Therefore I esteem all [thy] precepts [concerning] all [things to be] right; [and] I hate every false way.


text:
 Thy word [is] true [from] the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments [endureth] for ever.


text:
 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.


text:
 Where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, to the testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.


text:
 Behold, as the eyes of servants [look] to the hand of their masters, [and] as the eyes of a maiden to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes [wait] upon the LORD our God, until he shall have mercy upon us.


text:
 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, [and] with the contempt of the proud.


text:
 Our soul hath escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we have escaped.


text:
They that trust in the LORD [shall be] as mount Zion, [which] cannot be removed, [but] abideth for ever.


text:
 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surroundeth his people from henceforth even for ever.


text:
 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands to iniquity.


text:
 As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: [but] peace [shall be] upon Israel.


text:
 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.


text:
 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless return with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves [with him].


text:
Except the LORD shall build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD shall keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain.


text:
 [It is] vain for you to rise early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: [for] so he giveth his beloved sleep.


text:
 Happy [is] the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.


text:
 For thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands: happy [shalt] thou [be], and [it shall be] well with thee.


text:
 Thy wife [shall be] as a fruitful vine by the sides of thy house: thy children like olive plants around thy table.


text:
 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.


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 Neither do they who go by say, The blessing of the LORD [be] upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.


text:
 My soul [waiteth] for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: [I say, more than] they that watch for the morning.


text:
 Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD [there is] mercy, and with him [is] plenteous redemption.


text:
LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.


text:
 Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned by his mother: my soul [is] even as a weaned child.


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 The LORD hath sworn [in] truth to David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.


text:
 If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children also shall sit upon thy throne for evermore.


text:
 [It is] like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, [even] Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garment;


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 As the dew of Hermon, [and as the dew] that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, [even] life for evermore.


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Behold, bless ye the LORD, all [ye] servants of the LORD, who by night stand in the house of the LORD.


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 Whatever the LORD pleased, [that] did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.


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 He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.


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 [Who] sent signs and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.


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 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us [required of us] mirth, [saying], Sing us [one] of the songs of Zion.


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 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.


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 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase [it], rase [it, even] to its foundation


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 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy [shall he be], that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.


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 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.


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 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of my enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.


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 The LORD will perfect [that which] concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, [endureth] for ever: forsake not the works of thy own hands.


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 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light [are] both alike [to thee].


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 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully [and] wonderfully made: marvellous [are] thy works; and [that] my soul well knoweth


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 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, [and] skilfully formed in the lowest parts of the earth.


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 Thy eyes saw my substance, not yet formed; and in thy book all [my members] were written, [which] in continuance were fashioned, when [as yet there was] none of them.


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 [If] I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.


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 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?


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 Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.


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 The proud have hid a trap for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the way side; they have set snares for me. Selah.


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 Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; [lest] they exalt themselves. Selah.


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 Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not again.


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 Let not an evil speaker be established on the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow [him].


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 Let my prayer be set forth before thee [as] incense; [and] the lifting up of my hands [as] the evening sacrifice.


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 Incline not my heart to [any] evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.


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 Let the righteous smite me; [it shall be] a kindness: and let him reprove me; [it shall be] an excellent oil, [which] shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also [shall be] in their calamities.


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 Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth [wood] upon the earth.


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 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way in which I walked have they secretly laid a snare for me.


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 I looked on [my] right hand, and beheld, but [there was] no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.


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 Attend to my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.


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 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall surround me; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.


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Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, [and] in thy righteousness.


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 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.


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 Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like them that go down into the pit.


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 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way in which I should walk; for I lift up my soul to thee.


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 Teach me to do thy will; for thou [art] my God: thy spirit [is] good; lead me into the land of uprightness.


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 And of thy mercy cut off my enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I [am] thy servant.


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 My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and [he] in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.


text:
 LORD, what [is] man, that thou takest knowledge of him! [or] the son of man, that thou makest account of him!


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 I will sing a new song to thee, O God: upon a psaltery [and] an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises to thee.


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 [It is he] that giveth salvation to kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.


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 Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of foreigners, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand [is] a right hand of falsehood:


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 That our sons [may be] as plants grown up in their youth; [that] our daughters [may be] as corner stones, polished [after] the similitude of a palace:


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 [That] our barns [may be] full, affording all manner of store: [that] our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:


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 [That] our oxen [may be] strong to labour; [that there be] no breaking in, nor going out; that [there be] no complaining in our streets.


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 Happy [is that] people, that is in such a case: [yea], happy [is that] people, whose God [is] the LORD.


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 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.


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 Who executeth judgment for the oppressed: who giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:


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 The LORD openeth [the eyes of] the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:


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 The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.


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 Praise ye the LORD: for [it is] good to sing praises to our God; for [it is] pleasant; [and] praise is comely.


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 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.


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 He hath not dealt so with any nation: and [as for his] judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.


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 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory [is] above the earth and heaven.


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 He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; [even] of the children of Israel, a people near to him. Praise ye the LORD.


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 A wise [man] will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain to wise counsels:


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 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause:


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 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, [saying],


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 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?


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 Turn ye at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit to you, I will make known to you my words.


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 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.


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 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:


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 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.


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 To deliver thee from the strange woman, [even] from the adulteress [who] flattereth with her words;


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 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thy heart:


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 For the merchandise of it [is] better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain of it than fine gold.


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 She [is] more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her.


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 She [is] a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy [is every one] that retaineth her.


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 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: but, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.


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 Say not to thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.


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 Wisdom [is] the principal thing; [therefore] get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.


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 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause [some] to fall.


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 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are unstable, [that] thou canst not know [them].


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 [Let her be as] the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.


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 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and plead with thy friend.


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 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and [when] thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.


text:
 For the commandment [is] a lamp; and the law [is] light; and reproofs of instruction [are] the way of life:


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 For by means of an harlot [a man is brought] to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.


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 [But] whoever committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he [that] doeth it destroyeth his own soul.


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 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she seduced him.


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 He goeth after her quickly, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;


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 Till an arrow striketh through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it [is] for his life.


text:
 For wisdom [is] better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.


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 The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the perverse mouth, do I hate.


text:
 When [there were] no depths, I was brought forth; when [there were] no fountains abounding with water.


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 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.


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 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:


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 Then I was by him, [as] one brought up [with him]: and I was daily [his] delight, rejoicing always before him;


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 Blessed [is] the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.


text:
 Whoever [is] simple, let him turn in here: [as for] him that lacketh understanding, she saith to him,


text:
 He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked [man getteth] himself a blot.


text:
 Give [instruction] to a wise [man], and he will be yet wiser: teach a just [man], and he will increase in learning.


text:
 The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy One [is] understanding.


text:
 If thou art wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but [if] thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear [it].


text:
 Whoever [is] simple, let him turn in here: and [as for] him that lacketh understanding, she saith to him,


text:
 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son [is] the heaviness of his mother.


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 The LORD will not allow the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.


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 He that gathereth in summer [is] a wise son: [but] he that sleepeth in harvest [is] a son that causeth shame.


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 In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod [is] for the back of him that is void of understanding.


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 As the whirlwind passeth, so [is] the wicked no [more]: but the righteous [is] an everlasting foundation.


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 The way of the LORD [is] strength to the upright: but destruction [shall be] to the workers of iniquity.


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 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked [speaketh] perverseness.


text:
 The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.


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 The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.


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 The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in [their own] iniquity.


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 An hypocrite with [his] mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered.


text:
 By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.


text:
 The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness [shall be] a sure reward.


text:
 They that are of a perverse heart [are] abomination to the LORD: but [such as are] upright in [their] way [are] his delight.


text:
 [Though] hand [join] in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.


text:
 There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and [there is] that withholdeth more than is right, but [it tendeth] to poverty.


text:
 He that withholdeth grain, the people shall curse him: but blessing [shall be] upon the head of him that selleth [it].


text:
 He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come to him.


text:
 He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool [shall be] servant to the wise of heart.


text:
 A virtuous woman [is] a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed [is] as rottenness in his bones.


text:
 The words of the wicked [are] to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.


text:
 A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.


text:
 [He that is] despised, and hath a servant, [is] better than he that honoureth himself, and is destitute of bread.


text:
 A righteous [man] regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked [are] cruel.


text:
 He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain [persons is] void of understanding.


text:
 A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of [his] mouth: and the recompence of a man's hands shall be rendered to him.


text:
 The slothful [man] roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man [is] precious.


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 A man shall eat good by the fruit of [his] mouth: but the soul of the transgressors [shall eat] violence.


text:
 He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: [but] he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.


text:
 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and [hath] nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.


text:
 There is that maketh himself rich, yet [hath] nothing: [there is] that maketh himself poor, yet [hath] great riches.


text:
 Whoever despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.


text:
 Poverty and shame [shall be to] him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.


text:
 The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but [it is] abomination to fools to depart from evil.


text:
 A good [man] leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner [is] laid up for the just.


text:
 Much food [is in] the fallow ground of the poor: but there is [that is] destroyed for lack of judgment.


text:
 He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but [he that is] perverse in his ways despiseth him.


text:
 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man [shall be satisfied] from himself.


text:
 In the multitude of people [is] the king's honour: but in the lack of people [is] the destruction of the prince.


text:
 [He that is] slow to wrath [is] of great understanding: but [he that is] hasty of spirit exalteth folly.


text:
 He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.


text:
 Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but [that which is] in the midst of fools is made known.


text:
 The sacrifice of the wicked [is] an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright [is] his delight.


text:
 The way of the wicked [is] an abomination to the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness.


text:
 The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.


text:
 All the days of the afflicted [are] evil: but he that is of a merry heart [hath] a continual feast.


text:
 The way of the slothful [man is] as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous [is] made plain.


text:
 Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.


text:
 The thoughts of the wicked [are] an abomination to the LORD: but [the words] of the pure [are] pleasant words.


text:
 The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.


text:
 He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.


text:
 Every one [that is] proud in heart [is] an abomination to the LORD: [though] hand [join] in hand, he shall not be unpunished.


text:
 [It is] an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.


text:
 How much better [is it] to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!


text:
 Understanding [is] a wellspring of life to him that hath it: but the instruction of fools [is] folly.


text:
 [He that is] slow to anger [is] better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.


text:
 A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.


text:
 He that mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: [and] he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.


text:
 A bribe [is as] a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: wherever it turneth, it prospereth.


text:
 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth [very] friends.


text:
 The beginning of strife [is as] when one letteth out water: therefore withdraw from contention, before it be meddled with.


text:
 He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both [are] abomination to the LORD.


text:
 He that hath a perverse heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.


text:
 Wisdom [is] before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool [are] in the ends of the earth.


text:
 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: [and] he that shutteth his lips [is esteemed] a man of understanding.


text:
 The words of a man's mouth [are as] deep waters, [and] the wellspring of wisdom [as] a flowing brook.


text:
 A brother offended [is harder to be won] than a strong city: and [their] contentions [are] like the bars of a castle.


text:
 A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; [and] with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.


text:
 A man [that hath] friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend [that] sticketh closer than a brother.


text:
 Better [is] the poor that walketh in his integrity, than [he that is] perverse in his lips, and is a fool.


text:
 Also, [that] the soul [be] without knowledge, [it is] not good; and he that hasteth with [his] feet sinneth.


text:
 All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth [them with] words, [yet] they [are] gone.


text:
 A foolish son [is] the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife [are] a continual dropping.


text:
 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth to the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.


text:
 A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver [him], yet thou must do it again.


text:
 The fear of the LORD [tendeth] to life: and [he that hath it] shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.


text:
 A slothful [man] hideth his hand in [his] bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.


text:
 Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, [and] he will understand knowledge.


text:
 He that wasteth [his] father, [and] chaseth away [his] mother, [is] a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.


text:
 The fear of a king [is] as the roaring of a lion: [whoever] provoketh him to anger sinneth [against] his own soul.


text:
 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; [therefore] shall he beg in harvest, and [have] nothing.


text:
 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thy eyes, [and] thou shalt be satisfied with bread.


text:
 He that goeth about [as] a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.


text:
 The king's heart [is] in the hand of the LORD, [as] the rivers of water: he turneth it wherever he will.


text:
 The thoughts of the diligent [tend] only to plenteousness; but of every one [that is] hasty only to want.


text:
 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue [is] a vanity tossed to and fro by them that seek death.


text:
 When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.


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 The righteous [man] wisely considereth the house of the wicked: [but God] overthroweth the wicked for [their] wickedness.


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 Whoever stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.


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 The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.


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 [There is] a treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.


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 The sacrifice of the wicked [is] abomination: how much more, [when] he bringeth it with a wicked mind?


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 A [good] name [is] rather to be chosen than great riches, [and] loving favour rather than silver and gold.


text:
 Thorns [and] snares [are] in the way of the perverse: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.


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 Foolishness [is] bound in the heart of a child; [but] the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.


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 He that oppresseth the poor to increase his [riches, and] he that giveth to the rich, [shall] surely [come] to want.


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 For [it is] a pleasant thing if thou keepest them within thee; they shall all be ready on thy lips.


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 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send to thee?


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 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before obscure [men].


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 Wilt thou set thy eyes upon that which is not? for [riches] certainly make to themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.


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 For as he thinketh in his heart, so [is] he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart [is] not with thee.


text:
 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe [a man] with rags.


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 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise [child] shall have joy of him.


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 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?


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 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its colour in the cup, [when] it moveth itself aright.


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 And thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.


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 They have stricken me, [shalt thou say, and] I was not sick; they have beaten me, [and] I felt [it] not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.


text:
 If thou refraineth to deliver [them that are] drawn to death, and [those that are] ready to be slain;


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 If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that weigheth the heart consider [it]? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth [not] he know [it]? and shall [not] he render to [every] man according to his works?


text:
 So [shall] the knowledge of wisdom [be] to thy soul: when thou hast found [it], then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.


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 Lay not wait, O wicked [man], against the dwelling of the righteous; destroy not his resting place:


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 He that saith to the wicked, Thou [art] righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:


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 Prepare thy work outside, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thy house.


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 Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.


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 And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, [and] nettles had covered the face of it, and its stone wall was broken down.


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 For better [it is] that it be said to thee, Come up here; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thy eyes have seen.


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 Go not forth hastily to strive, lest [thou know not] what to do in its end, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.


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 [As] an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, [so is] a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.


text:
 As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, [so is] a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.


text:
 Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled with it, and vomit it.


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 A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour [is] a club, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.


text:
 Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble [is like] a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.


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 [As] he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, [and as] vinegar upon soda, so [is] he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.


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 [It is] better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.


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 He that [hath] no rule over his own spirit [is like] a city [that is] broken down, [and] without walls.


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 He that passeth by, [and] meddleth with strife [belonging] not to him, [is like] one that taketh a dog by the ears.


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 Where no wood is, [there] the fire goeth out: so where [there is] no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.


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 [Whose] hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be revealed before the [whole] congregation.


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 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so [doth] the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.


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 Thy own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity: [for] better [is] a neighbour [that is] near than a brother far off.


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 A prudent [man] foreseeth the evil, [and] hideth himself; [but] the simple pass on, [and] are punished.


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 He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.


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 Whoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, [which] betrayeth [itself].


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 He that keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit of it: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.


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 Though thou shouldest crush a fool in a mortar among grain with a pestle, [yet] his foolishness will not depart from him.


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 And [thou shalt have] goats ' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and [for] maintenance for thy maidens.


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 For the transgression of a land many [are] its princes: but by a man of understanding [and] knowledge [its] state shall be prolonged.


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 Better [is] the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than [he that is] perverse [in his] ways, though he [is] rich.


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 He who keepeth the law [is] a wise son: but he that is a companion of gluttonous [men] shameth his father.


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 He that by interest and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.


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 Whoever causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good [things] in possession.


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 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but he who confesseth and forsaketh [them] shall have mercy.


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 The prince that lacketh understanding [is] also a great oppressor: [but] he that hateth covetousness shall prolong [his] days.


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 A man that doeth violence to the blood of [any] person shall flee to the pit; let no man sustain him.


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 He who walketh uprightly shall be saved: but [he that is] perverse [in his] ways shall fall at once.


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 He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain [persons] shall have poverty enough.


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 A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.


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 He that hasteneth to be rich [hath] an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.


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 He that robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, [It is] no transgression; the same [is] the companion of a destroyer.


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 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.


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 He, that being often reproved hardeneth [his] neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.


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 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.


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 He that loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth [his] substance.


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 An unjust man [is] an abomination to the just: and [he that is] upright in the way [is] abomination to the wicked.


text:
 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, [even] the prophecy: the man spoke to Ithiel, even to Ithiel and Ucal,


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 Who hath ascended into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what [is] his name, and what [is] his son's name, if thou canst tell?


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 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:


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 Lest I be full, and deny [thee], and say, Who [is] the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God [in vain].


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 [There is] a generation [that are] pure in their own eyes, and [yet] are not washed from their filthiness.


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 [There is] a generation, whose teeth [are as] swords, and their jaw teeth [as] knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from [among] men.


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 The horseleach hath two daughters, [crying], Give, give. There are three [things that] are never satisfied, [yea], four [things] say not, [It is] enough:


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 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth [that] is not filled with water; and the fire [that] saith not, [It is] enough.


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 The eye [that] mocketh at [its] father, and despiseth to obey [its] mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.


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 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.


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 Such [is] the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.


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 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, [lay] thy hand upon thy mouth.


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 Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.


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 [It is] not for kings, O Lemuel, [it is] not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:


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 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth food to her household, and a portion to her maidens.


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 Favour [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.


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 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about to the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to its circuits.


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 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea [is] not full; to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again.


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 All things [are] full of labour; man cannot utter [it]: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.


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 The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] under the sun.


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 Is there [any] thing of which it may be said, See, this [is] new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.


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 [There is] no remembrance of former [things]; neither shall there be [any] remembrance of [things] that are to come with [those] that shall come after.


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 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all [things] that are done under heaven: this grievous labour hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised with it.


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 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.


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 I spoke to my own heart, saying, Lo, I have come to great estate, and have gained more wisdom than all [they] that have been before me in Jerusalem: and my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.


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 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.


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 I said in my heart, Come now, I will test thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also [is] vanity.


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 I sought in my heart to give myself to wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what [was] that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.


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 I procured [me] male and female servants, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks above all that were in Jerusalem before me:


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 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the special treasure of kings and of the provinces: I procured me male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men, [as] musical instruments, and of all sorts.


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 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.


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 And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.


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 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all [was] vanity and vexation of spirit, and [there was] no profit under the sun.


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 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what [can] the man [do] that cometh after the king? [even] that which hath been already done.


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 The wise man's eyes [are] in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.


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 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also [is] vanity.


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 For [there is] no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now [is] in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise [man]? as the fool.


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 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun [is] grievous to me: for all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.


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 Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it to the man that shall be after me.


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 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour in which I have laboured, and in which I have showed myself wise under the sun. This [is] also vanity.


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 For there is a man whose labour [is] in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured in it shall he leave it [for] his portion. This also [is] vanity and a great evil.


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 For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, in which he hath laboured under the sun?


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 For all his days [are] sorrows, and his labour grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.


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 [There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God.


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 For [God] giveth to a man who [is] good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth toil, to gather and to store up [wealth], that he may give to [him that is] good before God. This also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.


text:
 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted;


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 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;


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 He hath made every [thing] beautiful in its time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.


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 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it [is] the gift of God.


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 I know that, whatever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him.


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 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.


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 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, [that] wickedness [was] there; and the place of righteousness, [that] iniquity [was] there.


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 I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for [there is] a time there for every purpose and for every work.


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 I said in my heart concerning the state of the sons of men, that God might surely test them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.


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 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all [is] vanity.


text:
 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?


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 Therefore I perceive that [there is] nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that [is] his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?


text:
 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of [such as were] oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors [there was] power; but they had no comforter.


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 Yea, better [is he] than both they, who hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.


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 Again, I considered all labour, and every right work, that for this a man is envied by his neighbour. This [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit.


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 Better [is] an handful [with] quietness, than both the hands full [with] toil and vexation of spirit.


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 There is one [alone], and [there is] not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet [is there] no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither [saith he], For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This [is] also vanity, yea, it [is] a grievous labour.


text:
 For if they fall, the one will lift up his companion: but woe to him [that is] alone when he falleth; for [he hath] not another to help him to rise.


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 And if one prevaileth against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.


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 Better [is] a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no longer be admonished.


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 I considered all the living who walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.


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 [There is] no end of all the people, [even] of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.


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 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.


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 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter [any] thing before God: for God [is] in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.


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 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice [is known] by a multitude of words.


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 When thou vowest a vow to God, defer not to pay it; for [he hath] no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.


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 Permit not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it [was] an error: why should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?


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 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, wonder not at the matter: for [he that is] higher than the highest regardeth; and [there are] higher than they.


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 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this [is] also vanity.


text:
 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good [is there] to the owners of them, except the beholding [of them] with their eyes?


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 The sleep of a labouring man [is] sweet, whether he eateth little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.


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 There is a grievous evil [which] I have seen under the sun, [namely], riches kept for the owners of them to their hurt.


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 But those riches perish by evil labour: and he begetteth a son, and [there is] nothing in his hand.


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 As he came of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.


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 And this also [is] a grievous evil, [that] in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?


text:
 Behold [that] which I have seen: [it is] good and proper [for one] to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it [is] his portion.


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 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this [is] the gift of God.


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 For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth [him] in the joy of his heart.


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 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he lacketh nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat of it, but a stranger eateth it: this [is] vanity, and it [is] an evil disease.


text:
 If a man begetteth an hundred [children], and liveth many years, so that the days of his years are many, and his soul is not filled with good, and also [that] he hath no burial; I say, [that] an untimely birth [is] better than he.


text:
 Yea, though he liveth a thousand years twice [told], yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?


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 For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?


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 Better [is] the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit.


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 That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it [is] man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.


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 For who knoweth what [is] good for man in [this] life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?


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 [It is] better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that [is] the end of all men; and the living will lay [it] to his heart.


text:
 The heart of the wise [is] in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools [is] in the house of mirth.


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 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so [is] the laughter of the fool: this also [is] vanity.


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 Better [is] the end of a thing than its beginning: [and] the patient in spirit [is] better than the proud in spirit.


text:
 Say not thou, What is [the cause] that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.


text:
 For wisdom [is] a defence, [and] money [is] a defence: but the excellency of knowledge [is, that] wisdom giveth life to them that have it.


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 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath appointed the one as well as the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.


text:
 All [things] have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just [man] that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked [man] that prolongeth [his life] in his wickedness.


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 [It is] good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God shall escape from them all.


text:
 I applied my heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason [of things], and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness [and] madness:


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 And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart [is] snares and nets, [and] her hands [as] bands: whoever pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.


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 Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.


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 Who [is] as the wise [man]? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.


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 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatever pleaseth him.


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 He who keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.


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 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man [is] great upon him.


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 [There is] no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither [hath he] power in the day of death: and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.


text:
 All this have I seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: [there is] a time in which one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.


text:
 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this [is] also vanity.


text:
 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.


text:
 Though a sinner doeth evil an hundred times, and his [days] are prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, who fear before him:


text:
 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong [his] days, [which are] as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.


text:
 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there are just [men], to whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked [men], to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also [is] vanity.


text:
 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.


text:
 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also [there is that] neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)


text:
 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man may labour to seek [it] out, yet he shall not find [it]; yea further; though a wise [man] thinketh to know [it], yet shall he not be able to find [it].


text:
 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, [are] in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred [by] all [that is] before them.


text:
 All [things come] alike to all: [there is] one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as [is] the good, so [is] the sinner; [and] he that sweareth, as [he] that feareth an oath.


text:
 This [is] an evil among all [things] that are done under the sun, that [there is] one event to all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness [is] in their heart while they live, and after that [they go] to the dead.


text:
 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.


text:
 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.


text:
 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, hath now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any [thing] that is done under the sun.


text:
 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.


text:
 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that [is] thy portion in [this] life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.


text:
 Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might; for [there is] no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where thou goest.


text:
 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race [is] not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.


text:
 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so [are] the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.


text:
 [There was] a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:


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 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.


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 Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard.


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 Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer to send forth a stinking odour: [so doth] a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom [and] honour.


text:
 Also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth [him], and he saith to every one [that] he [is] a fool.


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 If the spirit of the ruler riseth against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.


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 Whoever removeth stones shall be hurt by them; [and] he that cutteth wood shall be endangered by it.


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 If the iron is blunt, and he doth not whet the edge, then must he use more strength: but wisdom [is] profitable to direct.


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 The beginning of the words of his mouth [is] foolishness: and the end of his talk [is] mischievous madness.


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 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?


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 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.


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 Blessed [art] thou, O land, when thy king [is] the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!


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 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.


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 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.


text:
 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.


text:
 If the clouds are full of rain, they empty [themselves] upon the earth: and if the tree falleth toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.


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 As thou knowest not what [is] the way of the spirit, [nor] how the bones [do grow] in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.


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 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand: for thou knowest not which shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both [shall be] alike good.


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 But if a man shall live many years, [and] rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh [is] vanity.


text:
 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thy eyes: but know thou, that for all these [things] God will bring thee into judgment.


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 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth [are] vanity.


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 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw near, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;


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 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, are not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:


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 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows shall be darkened,


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 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding shall be low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;


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 Also [when] they shall be afraid of [that which is] high, and fears [shall be] in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:


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 Or ever the silver cord shall be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.


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 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, [and] set in order many proverbs.


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 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and [that which was] written [was] upright, [even] words of truth.


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 The words of the wise [are] as goads, and as nails fastened [by] the masters of assemblies, [which] are given from one shepherd.


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 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books [there is] no end; and much study [is] a weariness of the flesh.


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 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man.


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 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it is] good, or whether [it is] evil.


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 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name [is as] ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.


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 Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.


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 I [am] black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.


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 Look not upon me, because I [am] black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; [but] my own vineyard have I not kept.


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 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest [thy flock] to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?


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 If thou knowest not, O thou fairest among women, go forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds ' tents.


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 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so [is] my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit [was] sweet to my taste.


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 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not, nor awake [my] love, till he please.


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 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, gazing himself through the lattice.


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 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing [of birds] is come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land;


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 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines [with] the tender grape give [forth their] fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.


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 O my dove, [that art] in the clefts of the rock, in the secret [places] of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet [is] thy voice, and thy countenance [is] comely.


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 Until the day shall break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.


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 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.


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 [It was] but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.


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 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake [my] love, till he please.


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 Who [is] this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?


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 They all hold swords, [being] expert in war: every man [hath] his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.


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 He made its posts [of] silver, the bottom of it [of] gold, the covering of it [of] purple, the midst of it being paved [with] love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.


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 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown with which his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.


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 Behold, thou [art] fair, my love; behold, thou [art] fair; thou [hast] doves ' eyes within thy locks: thy hair [is] as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.


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 Thy teeth [are] like a flock [of sheep that are even] shorn, which came up from the washing; all of which bear twins, and none [is] barren among them.


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 Thy lips [are] like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech [is] comely: thy temples [are] like a piece of pomegranate within thy locks.


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 Thy neck [is] like the tower of David built for an armoury, on which hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.


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 Until the day shall break, and the shadows flee away, I will go up to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.


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 Come with me from Lebanon, [my] spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions ' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.


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 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, [my] spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thy eyes, with one chain of thy neck.


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 How fair is thy love, my sister, [my] spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the fragrance of thy ointments than all spices!


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 Thy lips, O [my] spouse, drop [as] the honeycomb: honey and milk [are] under thy tongue; and the scent of thy garments [is] like the fragrance of Lebanon.


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 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:


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 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, [that] its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.


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 I have come into my garden, my sister, [my] spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.


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 I sleep, but my heart waketh: [it is] the voice of my beloved that knocketh, [saying], Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, [and] my locks with the drops of the night.


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 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands flowed [with] myrrh, and my fingers [with] sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.


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 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, [and] was gone: my soul failed when he spoke: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.


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 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.


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 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I [am] sick with love.


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 What [is] thy beloved more than [another] beloved, O thou fairest among women? what [is] thy beloved more than [another] beloved, that thou dost so charge us?


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 His cheeks [are] as a bed of spices, [as] sweet flowers: his lips [like] lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.


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 His hands [are as] gold rings set with the beryl: his belly [is as] bright ivory overlaid [with] sapphires.


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 His legs [are as] pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance [is] as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.


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 His mouth [is] most sweet: yea, he [is] altogether lovely. This [is] my beloved, and this [is] my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.


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 Where is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? where is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.


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 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.


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 Thou [art] beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as [an army] with banners.


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 Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair [is] as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.


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 Thy teeth [are] as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, of which every one beareth twins, and [there is] not one barren among them.


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 My dove, my undefiled is [but] one; she [is] the [only] one of her mother, she [is] the choice [one] of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; [yea], the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.


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 Who [is] she [that] looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, [and] terrible as [an army] with banners?


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 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, [and] to see whether the vine flourished, [and] the pomegranates budded.


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 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.


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 How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs [are] like jewels, the work of the hands of a skilful workman.


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 Thy navel [is like] a round goblet, [which] wanteth not liquor: thy belly [is like] an heap of wheat set about with lilies.


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 Thy neck [is] as a tower of ivory; thy eyes [like] the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose [is] as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.


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 Thy head upon thee [is] like Carmel, and the hair of thy head like purple; the king [is] held captive by [her] locks of hair.


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 I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of its boughs: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the fragrance of thy breath like apples;


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 And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth [down] sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak.


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 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourisheth, [whether] the tender grape appeareth, [and] the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.


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 The mandrakes give a fragrance, and at our gates [are] all manner of pleasant [fruits], new and old, [which] I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.


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 O that thou [wert] as my brother, that was nourished at the breasts of my mother! [when] I should find thee outside, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.


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 I would lead thee, [and] bring thee into my mother's house, [who] would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.


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 Who [is] this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I awakened thee under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth [that] bore thee.


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 Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm: for love [is] strong as death; jealousy [is] cruel as the grave: the coals of it [are] coals of fire, [which hath a] most vehement flame.


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 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if [a] man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be despised.


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 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?


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 If she [is] a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she [is] a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.


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 Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; every one for the fruit of it was to bring a thousand [pieces] of silver.


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 My vineyard, which [is] mine, [is] before me: thou, O Solomon, [must have] a thousand, and those that keep the fruit of it two hundred.


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 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah.


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 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.


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 The ox knoweth his owner, and the donkey his master's crib: [but] Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.


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 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward.


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 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.


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 From the sole of the foot even to the head [there is] no soundness in it; [but] wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.


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 Your country [is] desolate, your cities [are] burned with fire: your land, foreigners devour it in your presence, and [it is] desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.


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 And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.


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 Except the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like Gomorrah.


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 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.


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 To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices to me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats.


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 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination to me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure; [it is] iniquity, even the solemn meeting.


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 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble to me; I am weary of bearing [them].


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 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.


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 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil;


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 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.


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 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it].


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 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.


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 Thy princes [are] rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come to them.


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 Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will rid myself of my adversaries, and avenge me of my enemies:


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 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.


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 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners [shall be] together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.


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 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.


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 And the strong shall be as a wick, and its maker as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench [them].


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 And it shall come to pass in the last days, [that] the mount of the LORD'S house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.


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 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.


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 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.


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 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they are filled [with the manners] from the east, and [are] soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of foreigners.


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 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither [is there any] end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither [is there any] end of their chariots:


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 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:


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 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.


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 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be abased, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.


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 For the day of the LORD of hosts [shall be] upon every [one that is] proud and lofty, and upon every [one that is] lifted up; and he shall be brought low:


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 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, [that are] high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,


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 And the loftiness of man shall be abased, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.


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 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.


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 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made [each one] for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;


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 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.


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 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the rod and the staff, the whole support of bread, and the whole support of water,


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 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the skilful craftsman, and the eloquent orator.


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 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the elder, and the base against the honourable.


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 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, [saying], Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and [let] this ruin [be] under thy hand:


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 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house [is] neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.


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 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings [are] against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.


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 The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide [it] not. Woe to their soul! for they have rewarded evil to themselves.


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 Say ye to the righteous, that [it shall be] well [with him]: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.


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 [As for] my people, children [are] their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they who lead thee cause [thee] to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.


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 The LORD will enter into judgment with the elders of his people, and with their princes: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor [is] in your houses.


text:
 What mean ye [that] ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.


text:
 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with extended necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing [as] they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:


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 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will uncover their secret parts.


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 In that day the Lord will take away the show of [their] tinkling anklets, and [their] scarves, and [their] necklaces like the moon,


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 The headdresses, and the leg ornaments, and the headbands, and the perfume bottles, and the charms,


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 And it shall come to pass, [that] instead of sweet smell there shall be a foul odour; and instead of a belt a rope; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a rich robe a girding of sackcloth; [and] a brand instead of beauty.


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 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.


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 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth [shall be] the pride and glory of them that have escaped of Israel.


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 And it shall come to pass, [that he that is] left in Zion, and [he that] remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, [even] every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:


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 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst of it by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.


text:
 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory [shall be] a defence.


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 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.


text:
 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:


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 And he dug it, and removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress in it: and he expected that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.


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 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.


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 What more could have been done to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?


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 And now come; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up; [and] break down the wall of it, and it shall be trodden down:


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 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor dug; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.


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 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts [is] the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.


text:
 Woe to them that join house to house, [that] lay field to field, till [there is] no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!


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 In my ears [said] the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, [even] great and fair, without inhabitant.


text:
 Woe to them that rise early in the morning, [that] they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, [till] wine inflames them!


text:
 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.


text:
 Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because [they have] no knowledge: and their honourable men [are] famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.


text:
 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.


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 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be abased:


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 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.


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 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.


text:
 That say, Let him make speed, [and] hasten his work, that we may see [it]: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know [it]!


text:
 Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!


text:
 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, [so] their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.


text:
 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills trembled, and their dead bodies [were] torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.


text:
 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar, and will hiss to them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:


text:
 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the belt of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:


text:
 Whose arrows [are] sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses ' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:


text:
 Their roaring [shall be] like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry [it] away safe, and none shall deliver [it].


text:
 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if [one] looketh to the land, behold darkness [and] sorrow, and the light is darkened in its heavens.


text:
 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.


text:
 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.


text:
 And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory.


text:
 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.


text:
 Then said I, Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.


text:
 Then one of the seraphims flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:


text:
 And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thy iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.


text:
 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here [am] I; send me.


text:
 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.


text:
 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and be healed.


text:
 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities shall be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,


text:
 And the LORD shall have removed men far away, and [there be] a great forsaking in the midst of the land.


text:
 But yet in it [shall be] a tenth, and [it] shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance [is] in them, when they cast [their leaves: so] the holy seed [shall be] the substance of it.


text:
 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, [that] Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.


text:
 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest are moved with the wind.


text:
 Then said the LORD to Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;


text:
 And say to him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.


text:
 Let us go up against Judah, and trouble it, and let us conquer it for ourselves and set a king in the midst of it, [even] the son of Tabeal:


text:
 For the head of Syria [is] Damascus, and the head of Damascus [is] Rezin; and within sixty and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.


text:
 And the head of Ephraim [is] Samaria, and the head of Samaria [is] Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.


text:
 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; [Is it] a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?


text:
 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.


text:
 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken by both her kings.


text:
 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; [even] the king of Assyria.


text:
 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall hiss for the fly that [is] in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that [is] in the land of Assyria.


text:
 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the clefts of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.


text:
 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, [namely], by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.


text:
 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk [that] they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.


text:
 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand pieces of silver, it shall [even] be for briers and thorns.


text:
 With arrows and with bows shall [men] come there; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.


text:
 And [on] all hills that shall be dug with the mattock, there shall not come there the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.


text:
 Moreover the LORD said to me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.


text:
 And I took to me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.


text:
 And I went to the prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.


text:
 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.


text:
 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;


text:
 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, [even] the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks:


text:
 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach [even] to the neck; and the spread of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.


text:
 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.


text:
 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God [is] with us.


text:
 For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,


text:
 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all [them to] whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.


text:
 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


text:
 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.


text:
 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me [are] for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion.


text:
 And when they shall say to you, Seek to them that are mediums, and to wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek to their God? for the living to the dead?


text:
 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them.


text:
 And they shall pass through it, distressed and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall be enraged, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.


text:
 And they shall look to the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and [they shall be] driven to darkness.


text:
 Nevertheless the dimness [shall] not [be] such as [was] in her distress, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict [her by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.


text:
 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.


text:
 Thou hast multiplied the nation, [and] to him increased the joy: they rejoice before thee according to the joy in harvest, [and] as [men] rejoice when they divide the spoil.


text:
 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.


text:
 For every battle of the warrior [is] with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but [this] shall be with burning [and] fuel of fire.


text:
 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.


text:
 Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.


text:
 And all the people shall know, [even] Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,


text:
 The bricks have fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change [them into] cedars.


text:
 Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;


text:
 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.


text:
 The ancient and honourable, he [is] the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he [is] the tail.


text:
 For the leaders of this people cause [them] to err; and [they that are] led by them [are] destroyed.


text:
 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one [is] an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.


text:
 For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up [like] the rising of smoke.


text:
 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.


text:
 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:


text:
 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: [and] they together [shall be] against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.


text:
 Woe to them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness [which] they have prescribed;


text:
 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and [that] they may rob the fatherless!


text:
 And what will ye do in the day of punishment, and in the desolation [which] shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?


text:
 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.


text:
 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I command him, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.


text:
 Yet he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but [it is] in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.


text:
 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images excelled them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;


text:
 Therefore it shall come to pass, [that] when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.


text:
 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done [it], and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant [man]:


text:
 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs [that are] left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.


text:
 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth with it? [or] shall the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it? as if the rod should shake [itself] against them that lift it, [or] as if the staff should lift [itself, as if it were] no wood.


text:
 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.


text:
 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;


text:
 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.


text:
 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean upon him that smote them; but shall lean upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.


text:
 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, [yet] a remnant of them shall return: the full end decreed shall overflow with righteousness.


text:
 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.


text:
 And the LORD of hosts shall raise up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and [as] his rod [was] upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.


text:
 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.


text:
 They have gone over the pass: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul hath fled.


text:
 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand [against] the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.


text:
 Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature [shall be] hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.


text:
 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forests with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.


text:
 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:


text:
 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;


text:
 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:


text:
 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.


text:
 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.


text:
 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.


text:
 And the nursing child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the den of the adder.


text:
 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.


text:
 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.


text:
 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the isles of the sea.


text:
 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.


text:
 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not distress Ephraim.


text:
 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.


text:
 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make [men] go over dryshod.


text:
 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; as it was to Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.


text:
 And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thy anger is turned away, and thou didst comfort me.


text:
 Behold, God [is] my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH [is] my strength and [my] song; he also is become my salvation.


text:
 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.


text:
 Cry aloud and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great [is] the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.


text:
 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice to them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.


text:
 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for my anger, [even] them that rejoice in my highness.


text:
 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.


text:
 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, [even] the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.


text:
 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces [shall be as] flames.


text:
 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy its sinners out of it.


text:
 For the stars of heaven and its constellations shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.


text:
 And I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.


text:
 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.


text:
 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one to his own land.


text:
 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined [to them] shall fall by the sword.


text:
 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be plundered, and their wives ravished.


text:
 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver; and [as for] gold, they shall not delight in it.


text:
 [Their] bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.


text:
 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees ' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.


text:
 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.


text:
 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.


text:
 And the wild beasts of the isles shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in [their] pleasant palaces: and her time [is] near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.


text:
 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall unite with the house of Jacob.


text:
 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.


text:
 And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage in which thou wast made to serve,


text:
 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!


text:
 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, [and] none hindereth.


text:
 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, [and] the cedars of Lebanon, [saying], Since thou art laid down, no woodsman is come up against us.


text:
 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet [thee] at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, [even] all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.


text:
 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, [and] the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.


text:
 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!


text:
 For thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:


text:
 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, [and] consider thee, [saying, Is] this the man that made the earth to tremble, that shook kingdoms;


text:
 [That] made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed its cities; [that] opened not the house of his prisoners?


text:
 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, [and as] the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a dead body trodden under feet.


text:
 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, [and] slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.


text:
 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they may not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.


text:
 For I will arise against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.


text:
 I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.


text:
 The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, [so] shall it stand:


text:
 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.


text:
 This [is] the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this [is] the hand that is stretched over all the nations.


text:
 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall frustrate [it]? and his hand [is] stretched out, and who shall turn it back?


text:
 Rejoice not thou, all Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth an adder, and his fruit [shall be] a fiery flying serpent.


text:
 And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.


text:
 Wail, O gate; cry, O city; thou, all Palestina, [art] dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none [shall be] alone in his appointed times.


text:
 What shall [one] then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.


text:
 The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to silence;


text:
 He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall wail over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads [shall be] baldness, [and] every beard shorn.


text:
 In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall wail, weeping abundantly.


text:
 And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard [even] to Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous to him.


text:
 My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives [shall flee] to Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for they shall go up the ascent of Luhith with weeping for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise a cry of destruction.


text:
 For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the herb is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.


text:
 Therefore the abundance they have gained, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.


text:
 For the cry hath gone around the borders of Moab; its wailing to Eglaim, and its howling to Beerelim.


text:
 For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.


text:
 Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.


text:
 For it shall be, [that], as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, [so] the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.


text:
 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; discover not him that wandereth.


text:
 Let my outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.


text:
 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and swiftly executing righteousness.


text:
 We have heard of the pride of Moab; [he is] very proud: [even] of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: [but] his lies [shall] not [be] so.


text:
 Therefore shall Moab wail for Moab, every one shall wail: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely [they are] stricken.


text:
 For the fields of Heshbon languish, [and] the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down its principal plants, they have come [even] to Jazer, they wandered [through] the wilderness: her branches are extended, they have gone over the sea.


text:
 Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen.


text:
 And gladness is taken away, and joy from the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in [their] presses; I have made [their vintage] shouting to cease.


text:
 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.


text:
 But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be despised, with all that great multitude; and the remnant [shall be] very small [and] feeble.


text:
 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.


text:
 The cities of Aroer [are] forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make [them] afraid.


text:
 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.


text:
 And in that day it shall come to pass, [that] the glory of Jacob shall be diminished, and the fatness of his flesh shall become lean.


text:
 And it shall be as when the reaper gathereth the grain, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.


text:
 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two [or] three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four [or] five in the outmost fruitful branches of it, saith the LORD God of Israel.


text:
 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.


text:
 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect [that] which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.


text:
 In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.


text:
 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:


text:
 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: [but] the harvest [shall be] a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.


text:
 Woe to the multitude of many people, [who] make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, [that] make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!


text:
 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but [God] shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.


text:
 And behold at the time of evening trouble; [and] before the morning he [is] not. This [is] the portion of them that plunder us, and the lot of them that rob us.


text:
 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, [saying], Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and stripped, to a people terrible from their beginning to this time; a nation powerful and oppressive, whose land the rivers have spoiled!


text:
 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.


text:
 For so the LORD said to me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, [and] like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.


text:
 For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away [and] cut down the branches.


text:
 They shall be left together to the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.


text:
 In that time shall the present be brought to the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and stripped, and from a people terrible from their beginning to this time; a nation powerful and oppressive, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.


text:
 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.


text:
 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, [and] kingdom against kingdom.


text:
 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of her; and I will destroy its counsel: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to the mediums, and to the wizards.


text:
 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.


text:
 And they shall turn the rivers far away; [and] the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.


text:
 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no [more].


text:
 The fishermen also shall mourn, and all they that cast a line into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.


text:
 Surely the princes of Zoan [are] fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become stupid: how say ye to Pharaoh, I [am] the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?


text:
 Where [are] they? where [are] thy wise [men]? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.


text:
 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, [even they that are] the support of its tribes.


text:
 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst of it: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work of it, as a drunken [man] staggereth in his vomit.


text:
 In that day shall Egypt be like women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it.


text:
 And the land of Judah shall be a terror to Egypt, every one that maketh mention of it shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it.


text:
 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.


text:
 In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at its border to the LORD.


text:
 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry to the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.


text:
 And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall offer sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow to the LORD, and perform [it].


text:
 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal [it]: and they shall return [even] to the LORD, and he shall be entreated by them, and shall heal them.


text:
 In that day shall there be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.


text:
 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, [even] a blessing in the midst of the land:


text:
 Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed [be] Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.


text:
 In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;


text:
 At the same time spoke the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.


text:
 And the LORD said, As my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years [for] a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Cush;


text:
 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Cushites captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with [their] hind parts uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.


text:
 And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such [is] our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?


text:
 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; [so] it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.


text:
 A grievous vision is declared to me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler plundereth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all its sighing have I made to cease.


text:
 Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing [of it]; I was dismayed at the seeing [of it].


text:
 My heart panted, fearfulness terrified me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear to me.


text:
 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, [and] anoint the shield.


text:
 And he saw a chariot [with] a couple of horsemen, a chariot of donkeys, [and] a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:


text:
 And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my post whole nights:


text:
 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, [with] a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken to the ground.


text:
 O my threshing, and the grain of my floor: that which I have heard from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared to you.


text:
 The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?


text:
 The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.


text:
 The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.


text:
 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they met with their bread him that fled.


text:
 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.


text:
 For thus hath the Lord said to me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:


text:
 And the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken [it].


text:
 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou hast wholly gone up to the housetops?


text:
 Thou that art full of shoutings, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain [men are] not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.


text:
 All thy rulers have fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, [who] have fled from far.


text:
 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the plundering of the daughter of my people.


text:
 For [it is] a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.


text:
 And it shall come to pass, [that] thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.


text:
 And he uncovered the coverings of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest.


text:
 Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.


text:
 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.


text:
 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked to its maker, neither had respect to him that fashioned it long ago.


text:
 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:


text:
 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.


text:
 And it was revealed in my ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.


text:
 Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get to this treasurer, [even] to Shebna, who [is] over the house, [and say],


text:
 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, [as] he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, [and] that cut out an habitation for himself in a rock?


text:
 With violence he will surely turn and toss thee [like] a ball into a wide country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory [shall be] the shame of thy lord's house.


text:
 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy belt, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.


text:
 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.


text:
 And I will fasten him [as] a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.


text:
 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.


