# verses

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to proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;


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to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the mantle of praise for the spirit of heaviness; so that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that He might be glorified.


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And they shall rebuild the old wastes, they shall raise up what was formerly desolated. And they shall repair the waste cities, what lay desolate for many generations.


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And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.


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But you shall be named, The Priests of Jehovah; and they shall call you, Ministers of our God. You shall eat the riches of the nations, and you shall revel in their glory.


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Instead of your shame you shall have double; and instead of reproach they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their own land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs.


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For I, Jehovah, love justice; I hate stolen things for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.


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And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the people; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed Jehovah has blessed.


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I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garment of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness like a bridegroom adorns himself with ornaments, and like a bride adorns herself with her jewels.


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For as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes that which is sown to grow; so the Lord Jehovah will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.


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For Zion's sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until its righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning lamp.


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And the nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah will name.


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You also shall be a crown of glory in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.


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You shall no more be called Forsaken; nor shall your land any more be called Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is In Her, and your land, Married; for Jehovah delights in you, and your land is married.


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For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so will your God rejoice over you.


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I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, who shall never be silent day or night; you who remember Jehovah, do not keep silent.


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Jehovah has sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength: Surely I will no more give your grain as food for your enemies; and the children of foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored.


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But those who gathered it shall eat it, and praise Jehovah; and those who brought it together shall drink it in My holy courts.


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Pass! Pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Raise up! Raise up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a banner for the people.


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Behold, Jehovah has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.


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And they shall call them, The Holy People, The Redeemed Of Jehovah; and you shall be called, Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.


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Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, this One adorned in His apparel, flexing His great strength? I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.


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I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no one with Me; for I tread them in My anger and trample them in My fury, and their blood is sprinkled on My garments, and I have stained all My apparel.


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And I looked, and there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold; therefore My own arm has given victory for Me; and My fury sustained Me.


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And I will tread down the people in My anger, and make them drunk in My fury, and I will bring down their blood to the earth.


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I will mention the lovingkindnesses of Jehovah, the praises of Jehovah, according to all that Jehovah has bestowed upon us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel which He has bestowed upon them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.


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In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.


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But they rebelled, and grieved His Holy Spirit; therefore He changed, to be their enemy, and He fought against them.


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Then He remembered the days of old, Moses and His people, saying, Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within him;


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who led them by the right hand of Moses with His glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make for Himself an everlasting name?


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As a beast goes down into the valley, the Spirit of Jehovah caused him to rest. So You led Your people, to make for Yourself a glorious name.


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Look down from Heaven, and look down from the place of Your holiness and of Your glory. Where is Your zeal and Your strength, the multitude of Your tender affections and of Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained?


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Indeed, You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Jehovah, are our Father, our Redeemer; Your name is from everlasting.


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O Jehovah, why have You made us wander from Your ways, and hardened our heart from Your fear? For the sake of Your servants, return the tribes of Your inheritance.


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The people of Your holiness have possessed it but a little while; our enemies have trampled Your sanctuary.


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as the brushwood fire burns, as the fire causes water to boil; to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!


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When You did awesome things which we did not look for, You came down, the mountains shook at Your presence.


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For since ancient times they have not heard, nor been obedient. Eye has not seen any god besides You, who works for him who waits for Him.


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You meet him who rejoices and works righteousness, those who remember You in Your ways (Behold, You were angry, for we sinned continually), and we shall be saved.


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But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like a menstruation cloth. And we all fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.


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And there is no one who calls upon Your name, who stirs up himself to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us, and have melted us away because of our iniquities.


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But now, O Jehovah, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the One who forms us; and we all are the work of Your hand.


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Do not be greatly furious, O Jehovah, nor remember iniquity forever. Behold, please look. We all are Your people.


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Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised You, is burned up with fire; and all our pleasant things are laid waste.


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I am sought by those who asked not for Me; I am found by those who did not seek Me. I had said, Look to Me, Look to Me; to a nation that was not calling upon My name.


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I have spread out My hands all the day to a rebellious people who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts;


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a people who continually provoke Me to anger to My face; who sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense on altars of bricks;


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who remain among the graves, and spend the night in the tombs, who eat swine's flesh, and the broth of unclean things in their vessels;


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who say, Keep to yourself, do not come near me; for I am holier than you. These are a smoke in My nose, a fire that burns all the day.


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Behold, it is written before Me; I will not be silent, but what I will repay; yea, I will repay into their bosom


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your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, says Jehovah, who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed Me on the hills. Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.


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Thus says Jehovah, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it; so I will do to My servants, that I may not destroy them all.


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And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah one who inherits My mountains; and My elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there.


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And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for My people who have sought Me.


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But you are those who forsake Jehovah, who forget My holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who furnish the drink offering to Fate.


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Therefore I have assigned you to the sword; and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear, but did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I have not delighted.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, My servants will eat, but you shall be hungry. Behold, My servants will drink, but you shall be thirsty. Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you shall be ashamed.


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Behold, My servants will sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl because of a crushed spirit.


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And you shall leave your name as a curse to My elect; for the Lord Jehovah will kill you, and call His servants by another name.


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He who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth. And he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from My eyes.


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For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. And the former shall not be remembered, nor come to mind.


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But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people as a joy.


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I have rejoiced in Jerusalem, and exulted in My people. And the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.


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There shall not be an infant of only a few days, nor an old man that has not fulfilled his days. For the child shall die at a hundred years old; but the sinner who is a hundred years old shall be accursed.


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They shall not build, and another live in them; they shall not plant, and another eat. For as the days of a tree are the days of My people, and My elect shall grow old enjoying the work of their hands.


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They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for terror. For they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them.


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And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.


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The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says Jehovah.


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Thus says Jehovah, Heaven is My throne, and earth My footstool. Where, then, is the house that you would build for Me? And where is the place of My rest?


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For all those My hand has made, and all those exist, says Jehovah. But to this one will I have regard: To the lowly and contrite of spirit, and the one who trembles at My Word.


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He who kills an ox is as if he killed a man; he who sacrifices a lamb is as if he broke a dog's neck; he who offers an offering is as if he offered swine's blood; he who burns incense is as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations.


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I also will choose the things that delude them, and I will bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they have not obeyed. But they did evil before My eyes and have chosen that in which I have not delighted.


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Hear the Word of Jehovah, you who tremble at His Word: Your brothers who hated you, who cast you out because of My name, said, Let Jehovah be glorified. But He will appear for your joy, and they shall be ashamed.


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Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion had gone into labor, she had brought forth her children.


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Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth, says Jehovah? Shall I beget, and then restrain the womb? says your God.


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Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;


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that you may suckle and be satisfied with her comforting breasts; that you may suck milk and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.


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For thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like a flowing stream. Then you shall suckle, you shall be carried on her sides and be dandled upon her knees.


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And you shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the grass. And the hand of Jehovah shall be known toward His servants, and His indignation toward His enemies.


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For behold, Jehovah will come with fire and with His chariots like a tempest, to refresh His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.


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Those who sanctify themselves, and purify themselves to go into the garden after an idol that is in its midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall come to an end together, says Jehovah.


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For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall come to pass that I will gather all the nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.


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And I will set a sign among them. And those among them who escape I will send to the nations; to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud (who draw the bow), to Tubal, and Javan; to the far away coasts that have not heard of My fame, nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the nations.


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And they shall bring all your brothers for an offering to Jehovah out of all nations on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, says Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah.


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For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, says Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain.


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And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to bow down before Me, says Jehovah.


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And they shall go out and observe the dead corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me. For their worm does not die, nor is their fire quenched; and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.


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The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,


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to whom the Word of Jehovah came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.


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It also came in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away captive of Jerusalem in the fifth month.


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Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I consecrated you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.


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But Jehovah said to me, Do not say, I am a youth; for you shall go to all to whom I shall send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.


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And Jehovah put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And Jehovah said to me, Behold, I have put My Words in your mouth.


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Behold, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.


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And the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.


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And the Word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot; and its face is facing north.


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And Jehovah said to me, Out of the north an evil will be unleashed upon all the inhabitants of the land.


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For behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says Jehovah; and they shall come, and they shall each one set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah.


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And I will pronounce My judgments against them regarding all their evil, those who have forsaken Me, and burned incense to other gods, and bowed down to the works of their own hands.


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You therefore gird up your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed at their faces, lest I shame you before them.


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For behold, I have made you a fortified city this day, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its rulers, against its priests, and against the people of the land.


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And they shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you, says Jehovah, to deliver you.


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Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Jehovah, I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothals, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.


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Israel was holiness to Jehovah, and the firstfruits of His increase. All that devour him shall be held guilty; evil shall come upon them, says Jehovah.


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Thus says Jehovah, What injustice have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me and have walked after vanity, and have become vain?


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Nor did they say, Where is Jehovah who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of dry places, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man lived?


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And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat its fruit and its goodness; but when you entered, you defiled My land and made My inheritance an abomination.


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The priests did not say, Where is Jehovah? And they who handle the Law did not know Me; the shepherds also rebelled against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.


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Therefore I will contend with you, says Jehovah, and with your children's children I will make a complaint.


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For pass over the coasts of Kittim, and see; and send to Kedar, and consider carefully, and see if there is such a thing.


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Has a nation changed their gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for that which does not profit.


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For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of Living Waters, to hew out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.


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The young lions roared against him; they uttered their voice. And they made his land a waste; his cities are burned without inhabitant.


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Have you not brought this upon yourself, in that you have forsaken Jehovah your God, when He led you by the way?


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And now what are you doing on the way toward Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or what are you doing, going toward Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?


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Your own evil shall correct you, and your backslidings shall reprove you. Therefore know and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken Jehovah your God, and that My fear is not in you, says the Lord Jehovah of Hosts.


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For long ago you broke your yoke and tore apart your bonds; and you said, I will not transgress, when on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down like a harlot.


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Yet I planted you a noble vine, a true seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate shoots of an alien vine to Me?


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For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is stained before Me, says the Lord Jehovah.


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How can you say, I am not defiled; I have not gone after the Baals? See your way in the valley, know what you have done! You are a swift camel crisscrossing its ways.


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A wild ass used to the wilderness, in her cravings she sniffs at the wind; when she is in heat who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they will find her.


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Withhold your foot from being bare, and your throat from thirst. But you said, There is no hope. No! For I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.


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As the thief is ashamed when he is found out, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their rulers, and their priests, and their prophets;


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saying to a tree, You are my father; and to a stone, You gave birth to me. For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face; but in the time of their distress they will say, Arise and save us!


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But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your distress; for according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah.


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In vain I have chastened your children; they received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.


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O generation, see the Word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? Why do My people say, We roam freely; we will come no more to You?


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Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.


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Also in your skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents; I did not find them by secret search, but plainly on all these.


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Yet you say, Because I am innocent, surely His anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with you, because you say, I have not sinned.


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Why do you gad about so much to change your way? You also shall be ashamed of Egypt, as you were ashamed of Assyria.


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Indeed, you shall go out from this place, with your hands on your head. For Jehovah has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper by them.


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They say, If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him and becomes another man's, shall he return to her again? Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have committed adultery with many lovers; yet turn back to Me, says Jehovah.


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Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights, and see. Where have you not been lain with and ravished? By the highways you have sat for them, like an Arabian in the wilderness; and you have polluted the land with your harlotry and with your evil.


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Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; and you had a harlot's forehead; you refused to be ashamed.


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Will He keep His anger forever? Will He keep it to the end? Behold, you have spoken and done all the evil things you could.


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Jehovah also said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has committed adultery there.


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And after she had done all these things I said, Turn back to Me! But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.


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And I saw, when for all the causes for which backsliding Israel committed adultery, I put her away and gave her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and committed adultery.


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So it came to pass through the wantonness of her harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and pieces of wood.


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And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not returned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense, says Jehovah.


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And Jehovah said to me, Backsliding Israel has shown herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah.


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Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, O backsliding Israel, says Jehovah; and I will not cause My anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, says Jehovah, and I will not keep anger forever.


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Only, acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Jehovah your God and have scattered your ways to strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice, says Jehovah.


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Return, O backsliding children, says Jehovah; for I am married to you. And I will take you, one from a city, and two from a family; and I will bring you to Zion.


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And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.


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And it shall come to pass, when you have multiplied and increased in the land in those days, says Jehovah, that they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Jehovah! Nor shall it come to mind; nor shall they remember it; nor shall they seek it; nor shall it be made anymore.


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At that time Jerusalem shall be called, The Throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem. Nor shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil hearts.


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In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance to your fathers.


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But I said, How shall I put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a beautiful inheritance among the multitudes of nations! And I said, You shall call Me, My Father, and shall not turn away from Me.


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Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her companion, so you have dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, says Jehovah.


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A voice was heard on the desolate heights; weeping and supplications of the children of Israel; for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten Jehovah their God.


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Return, O backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come to You; for You are Jehovah our God.


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Truly, deception comes from the high hills, from the multitudes on the mountains. Truly, in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.


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For shame has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.


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We lie down in our shame, and our reproach covers us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.


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If you will return, O Israel, says Jehovah, return to Me. And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not waver.


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And you shall swear, Jehovah lives, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory.


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For thus says Jehovah to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.


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Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.


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Declare in Judah, and let it be heard in Jerusalem; and say, Blow the shofar in the land; cry out, gather together, and say, Gather yourselves and let us go into the fortified cities.


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Set up the standard toward Zion, take refuge, do not wait around; for I will bring evil from the north, and great destruction.


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The lion has come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the nations has set out; he has gone forth from his place to make your land a waste. Your cities will fall into ruins without inhabitant.


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Put on sackcloth for this, wail and howl; for the fierce anger of Jehovah is not turned back from us.


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And it shall come to pass in that day, says Jehovah, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the rulers; and the priests shall be appalled, and the prophets shall be stunned.


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Then I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace; whereas the sword reaches to the soul.


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At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind from the desolate heights in the wilderness blows toward the daughter of My people, not to sift nor to cleanse.


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Behold, he shall come up like clouds, and his chariots like a tempest. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered!


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O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil so that you may be saved. How long shall your vain thoughts lodge within you?


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Tell it to the nations: Behold! proclaim against Jerusalem! Watchers are going to come from a distant land; and they will utter their voice against the cities of Judah.


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Like keepers of a field, they are against her all around; because she has rebelled against Me, says Jehovah.


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Your way and your doings have procured these things for you; this is your evil, because it is bitter, because it reaches to your heart.


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My stomach, my stomach! I am convulsed to my heart! My heart groans within me; I cannot be silent because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the shofar, the alarm of war.


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Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed; for the whole land is devastated. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my curtains in a moment.


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For My people are foolish; they have not known Me; they are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.


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I looked on the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.


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I looked, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of Jehovah, before His fierce anger.


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The earth shall mourn for this, and the heavens above shall be black, because I have spoken, I have purposed, and will not be moved to pity, nor will I turn back from it.


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Every city shall flee at the sound of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and climb up among the rocks. Every city is abandoned, and not a man shall live in them.


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And you, what will you do when you are ruined? Though you dress with crimson, though you put on ornaments of gold, though you make your eyes large with paint, you shall make yourself beautiful in vain; your lovers will despise you; they will seek your life.


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For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, the anguish as of one bearing her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, gasping and spreading her hands, saying, Woe to me now! For my soul is weary because of murderers.


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Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in her open places, if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks the truth; and I will pardon her.


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O Jehovah, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have destroyed them, but they have refused to receive correction; they have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.


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So I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they do not know the way of Jehovah, nor the judgment of their God.


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I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of Jehovah and the judgment of their God. But these have broken the yoke together and have torn off the bonds!


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Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, and a wolf of the deserts shall destroy them; a leopard shall watch over their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many and their backslidings are increased.


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How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me, and have sworn by those that are not gods. When I adjured them, then they committed adultery, and gathered themselves by troops in a harlot's house.


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They were like lusty, well-fed stallions in the morning; every one neighing after his neighbor's wife.


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Shall I not punish for these things? says Jehovah. And shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?


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Go up on her vine rows and destroy; but do not make a full end; take away her branches, for they are not Jehovah's.


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For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against Me, says Jehovah.


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They have denied Jehovah and said, It is not He; neither shall evil come upon us; nor shall we see sword nor famine.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah the God of Hosts, Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My Words in your mouth fire, and these people wood, and it shall devour them.


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Lo, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel, says Jehovah. It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor understand what they say.


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And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. They shall beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.


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And it will be when you shall say, Why does Jehovah our God do all these things to us? then you shall answer them, Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.


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Now hear this, O foolish people, without understanding; who have eyes and see not; who have ears and hear not.


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Do you not fear Me? says Jehovah. Will you not tremble at My presence, I who have placed the sand for the boundary of the sea by a perpetual decree, so that it cannot pass it? And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it?


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Neither do they say in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, who gives both the former and the latter rain in its season; He reserves unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.


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For among My people are found wicked ones; they lie in wait, as one who sets snares; they set a trap, they catch men.


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Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and grown rich.


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They have grown fat, they gleam. Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked; they do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may get rich; and they do not judge the right of the needy.


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Shall I not punish for these things? says Jehovah. Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?


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The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their own power; and my people love to have it so, and what will you do in the end?


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O children of Benjamin, seek refuge out of the midst of Jerusalem. Blow the shofar in Tekoa, and set up a signal-fire in Beth-haccerem; for evil appears out of the north, and great destruction.


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The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch tents against her all around; they shall feed each one in his place.


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Prepare war against her; arise and let us go up at noon. Woe to us! For the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.


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For thus has Jehovah of Hosts said, Cut down trees and cast a mound against Jerusalem! This is the city to be punished; she is full of oppression in her midst.


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As a fountain keeps fresh its waters, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and devastation is heard in her; before Me continually are sickness and wounds.


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O Jerusalem, be instructed, lest My soul depart from you; lest I make you desolate, a land not inhabited.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine; as a grape gatherer, put your hand back to the branches.


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To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the Word of Jehovah is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.


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Therefore I am full of the fury of Jehovah; I am weary with holding it in; I will pour it out on the children outside, and on the group of young men together. For even the husband shall be taken along with the wife, the aged who is full of days.


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And their houses shall be turned over to others, together with their fields and wives; for I will stretch out My hand upon the inhabitants of the land, says Jehovah.


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For everyone from the least of them even to the greatest of them profits from unjust gain; and from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.


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Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush; therefore they shall fall among those who fall. At the time that I punish them they shall be cast down, says Jehovah.


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Thus says Jehovah, Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths where the good way is, and walk in it, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it.


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Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Listen to the sound of the shofar. But they said, We will not listen.


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Hear, O earth; behold, I will bring evil on this people, the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not heeded My Words, nor My Law, but rejected it.


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For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not pleasing, nor are your sacrifices sweet to Me.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble on them; the neighbor and his friend shall perish.


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Thus says Jehovah, Behold, a people comes from the land of the north, and a great nation shall be aroused from the extremities of the earth.


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They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, set in array against you as men of war, O daughter of Zion.


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We have heard the rumor of it; our hands become feeble; anguish has taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in labor.


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Do not go out into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear are on every side.


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O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and wallow in ashes; make mourning for yourself, as for an only son, most bitter wailing; for the destruction shall suddenly come upon us.


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I have set you up as an inspector, and a fortress among My people, that you may know and examine their way.


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The bellows are scorched, the lead is consumed by the fire; the refiner melts in vain; for the wicked are not drawn off.


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Stand in the gate of the house of Jehovah, and proclaim there this Word, and say, Hear the Word of Jehovah, all Judah, who enter in at these gates to bow down to Jehovah.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Make your ways and your doings good, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.


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Do not trust in lying words, saying, The temple of Jehovah, The temple of Jehovah, This is the temple of Jehovah.


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For if you thoroughly make your ways and your doings good; if you work to execute justice between a man and his neighbor;


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if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your hurt;


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then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever.


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Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know;


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and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all those abominations?


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Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says Jehovah.


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But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel.


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And now, because you have done all these works, says Jehovah, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear; and I called you, but you did not answer;


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therefore I will do to this house, which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.


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And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, the whole seed of Ephraim.


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Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry nor prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.


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The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, My anger and My fury shall be poured out on this place, on man, and on beast, and on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Snatch away your burnt offerings from your sacrifices, and eat flesh.


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For I did not speak to your fathers, nor command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.


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But this is what I commanded them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, so that it may be well with you.


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But they did not listen, nor extend their ear, but walked in their own plans, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.


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Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.


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Yet they did not listen to Me, nor extend their ear, but hardened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.


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Therefore you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; you shall also call to them, but they will not answer you.


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But you shall say to them, This is a nation which does not obey the voice of Jehovah their God, nor receives instruction; truth has perished, and is cut off from their mouth.


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Cut off your hair and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the desolate heights. For Jehovah has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.


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For the sons of Judah have done evil in My eyes, says Jehovah. They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, in order to defile it.


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They have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I did not command them, nor did it even come into My heart.


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Therefore behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they shall bury in Tophet, until there is no more room.


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And the carcasses of this people shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away.


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Then I will cause the voice of gladness to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate.


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At that time, says Jehovah, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its rulers, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves.


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And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of the heavens, which they have loved and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and to which they have bowed down. They shall not be gathered nor buried; they shall be as dung on the face of the earth.


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And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the rest of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them, says Jehovah of Hosts.


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Moreover you shall say to them, Thus says Jehovah, Shall they fall and not arise? Shall he turn away and not return?


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Why has this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a continual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return.


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I listened and heard, but they did not speak right; no man repented of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Everyone turned to his own course, as a horse rushes into the battle.


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Yea, the stork in the heavens knows her appointed times; and the turtledove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people do not know the judgment of Jehovah.


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How can you say, We are wise, and the Law of Jehovah is with us? Lo, certainly the lying pen of the scribes has written falsehood.


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The wise are ashamed, they are dismayed, and are captured. Lo, they have rejected the Word of Jehovah; so what wisdom is in them?


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Therefore I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who shall inherit them, for everyone from the least even to the greatest profits from unjust gain. From the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.


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For they have healed the ruin of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.


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Were they ashamed when they had committed abominations? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; in the time of their punishment they shall be cast down, says Jehovah.


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I will utterly consume them, says Jehovah; there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; I give them to those who pass through.


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Why do we sit still? Gather yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there. For Jehovah our God has put us to silence, and has given us bitter water to drink, because we have sinned against Jehovah.


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The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan; the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his valiant ones. For they have come, and devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those who live in it.


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For, behold, I will send serpents and vipers among you, which cannot be charmed; and they shall bite you, says Jehovah.


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Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land. Is not Jehovah in Zion? Is not her King in her? Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images, with foreign vanities?


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Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the healing of the daughter of my people not come?


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Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!


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Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place for travelers, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.


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And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies. But they are not mighty for the truth on the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me, says Jehovah.


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Everyone beware of his neighbor, and do not trust any brother! For every brother will supplant and assail his neighbor, and will walk with slanderers.


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And everyone will deceive his neighbor and will not speak the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and they weary themselves to commit iniquity.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah of Hosts, Behold, I will refine them and try them; for how else shall I deal with the daughter of My people?


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Their tongue is a slaughtering arrow; it speaks deceit; one speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he lies in wait.


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Shall I not punish them for these things? says Jehovah; shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?


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I will take up a weeping and a wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness; because they are burned up, so that no one can pass through them; nor can men hear the voice of the cattle. Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled; they are gone.


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And I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.


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Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of Jehovah has spoken, that he may declare it? Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?


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And Jehovah says, Because they have forsaken My Law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, and have not walked in it,


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but they have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and make them drink bitter water.


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I will also scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, Consider carefully, and call for those who lament, that they may come. And send for the wise women, that they may come;


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and let them make haste and take up a lamentation for us, so that our eyes may run down with tears, and waters flow from our eyelids.


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For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion. How we are plundered! We are greatly ashamed, because we have forsaken the land, because they have thrown down our tents.


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Yet hear the Word of Jehovah, O women, and let your ear receive the Word of His mouth, and teach your daughters a mourning song, and each one teach her neighbor a lamentation.


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For death has come up into our windows, and has entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from outside and the young men from the streets.


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Speak, Thus says Jehovah, Even the carcasses of men shall fall as dung on the open field, and as the fallen grain after the reaper; and no one shall gather them.


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Thus says Jehovah, Let not the wise glory in his wisdom, nor let the mighty glory in his might; let not the rich glory in his riches;


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but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am Jehovah, doing kindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says Jehovah.


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Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will punish all the circumcised along with the uncircumcised;


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Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all who are in the remotest quarters, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.


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Thus says Jehovah, Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be dismayed at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them.


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For the customs of the people are vain; for one cuts a tree out of the forest with the ax, the work of the hands of the craftsman.


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They make it beautiful with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers, so that it will not totter.


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They are crafted into hammered work like a palm tree, and they cannot speak. They must be lifted up and carried, because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them; for they are not able to do evil, neither is it in them to do good.


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Who would not fear You, O King of nations? For fear is befitting to You, because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.


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But they are, every one of them, dull-hearted and foolish; a piece of wood is a discipline in vanities.


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Silver beaten into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman, and of the hands of the goldsmith. Violet and purple is their clothing; they are all the work of skillful ones.


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But Jehovah is the true God, He is the living God, and the eternal King. At His wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to endure His indignation.


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So you shall say to them, The gods who have not made the heavens and the earth, they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.


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He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by His understanding.


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When He utters His voice, there is the noise of much water in the heavens. He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings with the rain, and brings forth the wind out of His treasures.


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Every man is stupid in his knowledge; every refiner is dried up by the graven image; for his molten image is a lie, and no breath is in them.


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The Portion of Jacob is not like them; for He is the Maker of all things; and Israel is the rod of His inheritance. Jehovah of Hosts is His name.


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For thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land this once, and will distress them, so that they may find Me.


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Woe to me for my ruin! My wound makes me sick. But I said, Surely this is an infirmity, and I must bear it.


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My tent is plundered, and all my cords are broken; my children have gone away from me, and they are not. There is no one to stretch out my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.


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For the shepherds have become stupid, and have not sought Jehovah, therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.


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Behold, the sound of the report has come, and a great commotion out of the land of the north, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a den of dragons.


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O Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.


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Pour out Your fury on the nations who do not know You, and on the families who do not call on Your name; for they have eaten up Jacob and have devoured him, and have destroyed him, and have made his dwelling place desolate.


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and say to them, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,


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which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey My voice and do according to all that I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God;


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so that I may fulfill the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then I answered and said, Amen, O Jehovah.


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Then Jehovah said to me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear the words of this covenant, and do them.


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For I admonished and testified to your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising early and exhorting, saying, Obey My voice.


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Yet they did not obey nor extend their ear, but walked each one in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did not do them.


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And Jehovah said to me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear My Words. And they went after other gods, to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.


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Therefore Jehovah says this: Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry to Me, I will not listen to them.


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Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry to the gods to whom they offer incense. But they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.


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For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah. And according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.


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Therefore, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their trouble.


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What is My beloved doing in My house, since she has worked out many evil devices? Has the holy flesh taken away your evil from you? How then do you rejoice?


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Jehovah called your name, Green Olive Tree, fair, with fine fruit. With a great roaring sound He has set fire to it, and its branches are broken.


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For Jehovah of Hosts who planted you has pronounced evil against you, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger by offering incense to Baal.


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But I was like a docile lamb being led to the slaughter. And I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be remembered no more.


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But, O Jehovah of Hosts, who judges righteously, who tries the mind and the heart, let me see Your vengeance on them. For to You I have laid open my cause.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning the men of Anathoth who seek your life, saying, Do not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, that you do not die by our hand.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine;


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and there shall be no remnant of them. For I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their punishment.


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Righteous are You, O Jehovah, when I complain to You; yet let me speak with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all those who deceive with treachery at ease?


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You have planted them; yea, they take root. They grow, yea, they bring forth fruit. You are near in their mouth, but far from their heart.


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But You, O Jehovah, know me. You have seen me and tried my heart toward You. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and consecrate them for the day of slaughter.


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How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither from the evil of those who dwell in it? The beasts and the birds have been swept away; because they said, He shall not see our last end.


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If you have run with footmen, and they wore you out, then how can you compete with horses? And if you feel secure in the land of peace, then how will you do in the swelling of the Jordan?


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For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you. Yea, they have called out a multitude after you. Do not believe them, though they speak pleasant things to you.


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I have forsaken My house; I have left My inheritance. I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies.


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My inheritance is to Me as a lion in the forest; it cries out against Me; therefore I have hated it.


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My inheritance is like a speckled bird to Me; the birds all around are against her. Go, gather all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour.


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Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My portion under foot; they have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.


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They have made it a desolation. Being desolate, it mourns to Me. The whole land is made desolate because no man lays it to heart.


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The plunderers have come upon all high places through the wilderness; for the sword of Jehovah shall devour from one end of the land even to the other end of the land. No flesh shall have peace.


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They have sown wheat, but reap thorns. They have tired themselves out, but to no profit. And they shall be ashamed of your harvests because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.


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Thus says Jehovah against all My evil neighbors who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.


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And it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them, and will bring them back, each man to his inheritance and each man to his land.


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And it shall be, if they will carefully learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, As Jehovah lives (as they taught the people to swear by Baal), then they shall be established in the midst of My people.


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Thus Jehovah said to me, Go and buy for yourself a linen waistband, and put it around your waist, and do not put it in water.


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Take the waistband that you bought, which is around your waist, and arise. Go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.


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And it came to pass at the end of many days that Jehovah said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates and take the waistband from there, which I commanded you to hide there.


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Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it. And, behold, the waistband was rotten; it was good for nothing.


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This evil people, who refuse to hear My Words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart and walk after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, shall even be like this waistband, which is good for nothing.


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For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me, says Jehovah; so that they might be a people unto Me, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory; but they would not hear.


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So you shall speak to them this Word: Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And they shall say to you, Do we not perceive to know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?


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Then you shall say to them, Thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.


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And I will smash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says Jehovah. I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but will destroy them.


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Give glory to Jehovah your God, before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and, while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it gross darkness.


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But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and my eye shall weep and cry and run down with tears, because Jehovah's flock is taken captive.


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Say to the king and to the queen mother, Humble yourselves; sit down, for your dominion has come down, even the crown of your glory.


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The cities of the south have been shut up, and no one is opening; Judah has been exiled, all of it has been completely carried away captive.


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Lift up your eyes and look at those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your beautiful sheep?


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What will you say when he punishes you? For you have taught them to be chief rulers over you. Do not pangs seize you, like a woman in travail?


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And if you say in your heart, Why have these things come upon me? It is because of the greatness of your iniquity; your skirts have been uncovered, and your heels have suffered violence.


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Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard its spots? Then you also may do good, who are accustomed to doing evil.


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This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you, says Jehovah, because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.


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I have seen your adulteries, and your neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry, and your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you not be made clean? How long will it still be?


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Judah mourns, and its gates languish. They mourn for the land, and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.


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And their nobles have sent their little ones for water; they came to the cisterns, and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.


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Because the ground is parched, for there was no rain on the earth, the plowmen were ashamed; they covered their heads.


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And the wild asses stood in the high places; they sniffed at the wind like dragons; their eyes failed because there was no grass.


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O Jehovah, though our iniquities testify against us, work for Your name's sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You.


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O the Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of trouble, why should You be like a sojourner in the land, and like a traveler who turns aside to lodge for the night?


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Why should You be like a man astonished, as a mighty one who cannot save? Yet You, O Jehovah, are in our midst, and we are called by Your name. Do not leave us!


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Thus says Jehovah to this people: Thus they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet; therefore Jehovah does not accept them. He will now remember their iniquity and punish their sins.


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When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.


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Then I said, Ah, O Lord Jehovah! Behold, the prophets are saying to them, You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine; but I will give you sure peace in this place.


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And Jehovah said to me, The prophets prophesy lies in My name; I did not send them, nor have I commanded them, nor did I speak to them. They prophesy to you a false vision and a worthless divination, and a thing of no value, and the deceit of their heart.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, when I did not send them (yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land): by sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.


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And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have no one to bury them; either them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour their evil upon them.


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Therefore you shall speak this word to them: Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and do not let them cease. For the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great break, with a sickening blow.


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If I go out into the field, then I see those killed with the sword! And if I enter into the city, then, behold, those that are sick from famine! Yes, both the prophet and the priest have gone up into a land that they do not know.


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Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us such that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for the time of healing, and behold, terror!


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We acknowledge, O Jehovah, our wickedness, the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You.


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Do not abhor us; for Your name's sake do not disgrace the throne of Your glory; remember, do not break Your covenant with us.


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Are there any among the vain idols of the nations who can make it rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Is it not You, O Jehovah our God. Therefore we will wait upon You; for You have made all these things.


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Then Jehovah said to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My soul could not be inclined toward this people. Send them out of My sight, and let them go out.


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And it shall come to pass that if they say to you, Where shall we go? Then you shall tell them, Thus says Jehovah: Those who are for death, to death; and those for the sword, to the sword; and those for the famine, to the famine; and those for the captivity, to the captivity.


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And I will set over them four kinds, says Jehovah; the sword to kill, and the dogs to drag, and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.


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And I will make them a horror to all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.


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For who shall have pity on you, O Jerusalem? Or who shall bemoan you? Or who shall turn aside to ask after your welfare?


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You have forsaken Me, says Jehovah; you have gone backward; therefore I will stretch out My hand against you, and destroy you; I am weary with sorrow.


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And I will winnow them with a pitch fork in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children; I will destroy My people, since they have not turned back from their ways.


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Their widows are more numerous around Me than the sand of the seas; I have brought on them, against a mother of a young man, a plunderer at noonday; I have caused anguish and terror to fall suddenly upon the city.


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She who bore seven languishes; she has breathed out her life; her sun has gone down while it was yet day. She has been ashamed and confounded; and I will deliver the rest of them to the sword before their enemies, says Jehovah.


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Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither loaned with usury, nor have men loaned to me; yet every one curses me.


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Jehovah said, Truly I will not free you for good. Truly I will cause the enemy to entreat you in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.


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Your wealth and your treasures I will give as spoils without price, because of all your sins, even in all your borders.


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And I will make you pass over with your enemies into a land which you do not know. For a fire has been kindled in My anger, which shall burn against you.


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O Jehovah, You know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on those who persecute me. In Your long-suffering do not take me away; know that for Your sake I have suffered rebuke.


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Your Words were found, and I ate them; and Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Jehovah the God of Hosts.


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I did not sit in the council of the mockers, nor rejoice; I sat alone because of Your hand; for You have filled me with indignation.


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Why has my pain been continual, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You surely are to me like deceitful waters that cannot be trusted.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah, If you turn back, then I will bring you back again; you shall stand before Me. And if you take the precious out from the vile, you shall be as My mouth. Let them turn back to you, but do not return to them.


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And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; and they shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you to save you and to deliver you, says Jehovah.


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And I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you out of the grip of the terrible.


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For thus says Jehovah concerning the sons and concerning the daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them, and concerning their fathers who begot them in this land:


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They shall die from deaths of diseases; they shall not be mourned, nor shall they be buried. But they shall be as dung on the face of the earth. They shall be destroyed by the sword and by famine; and their carcasses shall be food for the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.


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For thus says Jehovah, Do not enter into the house of mourning; do not go to weep nor bemoan them. For I have taken away My peace from this people, says Jehovah, even lovingkindness and mercies.


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Both the great and the small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, nor shall men mourn for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them.


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Nor shall anyone break bread for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead. Nor shall anyone give them the cup of comfort to drink for their father or for their mother.


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For thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause the voice of mirth to cease out of this place before your eyes, and in your days, and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.


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And it shall be, when you proclaim to this people all these words, and they shall say to you, Why has Jehovah pronounced all this great evil against us? Or what is our iniquity, or what is our sin that we have sinned against Jehovah our God?


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Then you shall say to them, Because your fathers have forsaken Me, says Jehovah, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have bowed down to them, and have forsaken Me, and have not kept My Law.


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And you have done worse than your fathers; for behold, you walk, each one, after the stubbornness of his evil heart, and do not listen to Me.


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Therefore I will cast you out of this land into a land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods day and night; where I will not grant you favor.


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Therefore behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, As Jehovah lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;


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but rather, As Jehovah lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands where He had driven them. For I will bring them back into their land that I gave to their fathers.


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Behold, I will send for many fishermen, says Jehovah, and they will fish for them. And afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.


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For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes.


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And first I will repay double their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land, they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things.


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O Jehovah, my strength and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the nations shall come to You from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.


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Therefore behold, this once I will make them know; I will cause them to know My hand and My might; and they shall know that My name is Jehovah.


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The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus; it is engraved on the tablet of the heart and on the horns of Your altar with the point of a diamond;


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O My mountain in the field, I will give your wealth and all your treasures for plunder, and your high places for sin, throughout all your borders.


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And you, even yourself, have let go of the inheritance which I gave you; and I will cause you to serve your enemies in a land which you do not know. For you have kindled a fire in My anger, which shall burn forever.


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Thus says Jehovah, Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart departs from Jehovah.


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For he shall be destitute in the wilderness, and shall not see when good comes. But he shall live in the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land that is not inhabited.


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For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters; it sends out its roots by the river, and it shall not fear when the heat comes, but its foliage shall be green; and he is not anxious in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit.


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I Jehovah search the heart, I examine the soul, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.


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The partridge sets on eggs and does not hatch them; in the same way he who gets riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the middle of his days, and at his end he shall be a fool.


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O Jehovah, the Hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be ashamed. Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Jehovah, the Fountain of Living Waters.


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As for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You; nor have I desired the woeful day; You surely know the going forth of my lips before Your face.


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Let those who persecute me be ashamed, but do not let me be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but do not let me be dismayed. Bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.


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Thus Jehovah said unto me: Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;


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and say to them, Hear the Word of Jehovah, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates!


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Thus says Jehovah, Take heed to yourselves, and carry no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.


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Nor carry out a burden from your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but consecrate the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.


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But they did not obey, nor extend their ear, but made their neck stiff, so that they might not hear nor receive instruction.


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And it shall be, if you listen and give heed to Me, says Jehovah, to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but consecrate the Sabbath day, to do no work in it;


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then kings and rulers sitting on the throne of David shall enter the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their rulers, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall remain forever.


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And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the valleys, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and grain offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise to the house of Jehovah.


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But if you will not listen to me to consecrate the Sabbath day, to not carry a burden when entering at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.


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And the vessel that he made of clay was ruined in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.


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O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? says Jehovah. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hands, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.


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The instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck it up; or to pull it down, and to destroy it;


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if that nation, against whom I have spoken, will turn from their evil, I will be moved with compassion regarding the evil that I thought to do to them.


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if it does evil in My eyes, so that it does not obey My voice, then I will regret the good by which I said I would do good to them.


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Now then, go speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I am forming evil against you, and devising a plan against you. Return now, each one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.


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And they said, There is no hope; but we will walk after our own thoughts, and we will each one do according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah, Ask now among the nations; who has heard the likes of this? The virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.


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Does the snow of Lebanon avoid the rock of the field? Or shall the cold flowing waters be forsaken for that which comes from another place?


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Because My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in byways, and not in the highway,


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to make their land desolate and a perpetual hissing. Everyone who passes by will be appalled, and will wag his head.


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I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.


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Then they said, Come and let us devise schemes against Jeremiah. For the Law shall not perish from the priest, nor wisdom from the wise, nor the Word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.


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Should evil be repaid for good? For they have dug a pit for my life. Remember that I stood before You to speak good for them, to turn away Your wrath from them.


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Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the hand of the sword. Let their wives be bereaved, and become widows. Let their men be slain to death, and their young men struck by the sword in battle.


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Let a cry be heard from their houses, when You suddenly bring a troop upon them. For they have dug a pit to take me, and have hidden snares for my feet.


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Yet, Jehovah, You know all their counsel against me to kill me. Do not forgive their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from Your sight, but let them be overthrown before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger.


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Thus says Jehovah, Go and get a potter's earthen jar, and assemble some of the elders of the people and of the elders of the priests.


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And go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom which is by the entry of Potsherd Gate. And there proclaim the words that I shall tell you.


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And say, Hear the Word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which shall cause the ears of him who hears it to tingle,


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because they have forsaken Me, and have given regard to this place and have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents.


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They have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I never commanded nor spoke, nor did it even come into My mind.


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Therefore behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but The Valley of Slaughter.


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And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of those who seek their lives. And I will give their corpses as food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.


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And I will make this city a desolation and a hissing. Everyone who passes by shall be amazed and shall hiss because of all its plagues.


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And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall each one eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and distress with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall distress them.


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and shall say to them, Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again. And they shall bury them in Tophet until there is no place left to bury.


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And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be as defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of the heavens, and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.


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Then Jeremiah came from Tophet, where Jehovah had sent him to prophesy. And he stood in the court of Jehovah's house, and said to all the people,


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have spoken against it, because they have hardened their necks so that they might not hear My Words.


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Now Pashur, the son of Immer the priest (he was chief officer in the house of Jehovah), heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.


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Then Pashur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of Jehovah.


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And it happened on the next day that Pashur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, Jehovah has not called your name Pashur, but Magor-Missabib.


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For thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. And they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and kill them with the sword.


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And I will give all the wealth of this city, and its produce, and all its precious things, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies; who will plunder them and take them, and bring them to Babylon.


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And you, Pashur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. And you shall go to Babylon, and you shall die there, and shall be buried there; you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.


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O Jehovah, You have deceived me, and I was deceived. You are stronger than I, and You have prevailed. I am in derision all the day; everyone mocks me.


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For whenever I speak, I cry out, I cry violence and devastation; for the Word of Jehovah has been a reproach and a derision to me all the day.


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Then I said, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak in His name any more. But His Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with holding it in, and I could not.


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For I have heard the whisperings of many, terror is all around. Proclaim, they say, and we will report it. Everyone at peace with me is watching for me to stumble and fall, saying, Perhaps he will be lured away, and we shall prevail against him, and shall take our revenge on him.


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But Jehovah is with me like a mighty, awesome one. Therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail. They shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not succeed. Their everlasting reproach shall never be forgotten.


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But, O Jehovah of Hosts, who tries the righteous and sees the soul and the heart, let me see Your vengeance on them. For I have made my cause known to You.


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Sing to Jehovah! Praise Jehovah! For He has delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.


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Cursed be the man who brought news to my father, saying, A male child has been born to you; making him very glad.


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And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew without compassion; and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noon;


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because he did not kill me from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb always pregnant.


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Why did I come forth from the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?


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The Word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,


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Please inquire of Jehovah for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is warring against us. Perhaps Jehovah will deal with us according to all His wonderful works, that he may depart from us.


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Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls. And I will gather them together in the middle of this city.


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And I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.


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And I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence.


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And afterward, says Jehovah, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. And he shall strike them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, nor have pity, nor have mercy.


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And to this people you shall say, Thus says Jehovah, Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.


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He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. But he who goes out and prostrates himself to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be his prize.


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For I have set My face against this city for evil, and not for good, says Jehovah. It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.


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O house of David, thus says Jehovah: Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest My fury go forth like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.


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Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, rock of the plain, says Jehovah; who say, Who shall come down against us? Or who shall enter into our dwellings?


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But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says Jehovah; and I will kindle a fire in its forest, and it shall devour all things around it.


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and say, Hear the Word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you and your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates.


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Thus says Jehovah, Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. And do no wrong, do no violence to the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.


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For if indeed you do this thing, then there shall enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, his servants, and his people.


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But if you will not heed these Words, I swear by Myself, says Jehovah, that this house shall become a desolation.


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For thus says Jehovah to the house of the king of Judah, You are Gilead to Me, the head of Lebanon. Yet surely I will make you a wilderness; cities which are not inhabited.


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And I will prepare destroyers against you, each one with his weapons. And they shall cut down your choice cedars, and throw them into the fire.


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And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say each one to his neighbor, Why has Jehovah done this to this great city?


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Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of Jehovah their God, and bowed down to other gods, and served them.


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Weep not for the dead, nor moan for him; but weep bitterly for him who goes away. For he shall return no more, nor see his native land.


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For thus says Jehovah concerning Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, who reigned in the place of Josiah his father, who went forth out of this place: he shall not return there any more.


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Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his upper rooms without justice; his neighbor serves without pay, and is given nothing for his work;


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who says, I will build myself a wide house and large rooms, and has cut out windows for himself, and the ceiling is paneled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.


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Shall you reign, because you lust after cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.


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He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him. Was this not knowledge of Me? says Jehovah.


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But your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your unjust gain, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and to do violence.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, They shall not mourn for him, saying, Alas, my brother! or, Alas, sister! They shall not mourn for him, saying, Alas, master! or, Alas, his majesty!


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Go up to Lebanon, and cry out; and lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers are destroyed.


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I spoke to you in your prosperity; but you said, I will not hear. This has been your way from your youth, for you have not obeyed My voice.


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The wind shall eat up all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity; surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated for all your wickedness.


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O inhabitant of Lebanon, nesting in the cedars, how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you, the pain as of a woman giving birth!


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As I live, says Jehovah, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on My right hand, yet I would tear you out of there!


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And I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.


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And I will cast you out, along with your mother who bore you, into another land where you were not born; and there you shall die.


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Is this man Coniah a despised and broken vessel? Is he an object in which there is no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they do not know?


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Thus says Jehovah, Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall succeed, sitting on the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, against the shepherds who feed My people, You have scattered My flock, and have driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings, says Jehovah.


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And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and will bring them back to their folds. And they shall be fruitful and multiply.


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And I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. And they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed; nor shall they be lacking, says Jehovah.


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Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King who shall reign and act prudently, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the earth.


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In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is His name by which He shall be called, JEHOVAH, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.


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Therefore, behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that they shall no longer say, Jehovah lives, who brought the sons of Israel up out of the land of Egypt;


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but, Jehovah lives, who brought up and led the seed of the house of Israel out of the land of the north, and from all lands where I have driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land.


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My heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of Jehovah, and because of the Words of His holiness.


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For the land is full of adulterers. Yes, because of cursing the land mourns; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their strength is not right.


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So their way shall be to them as slippery ways in the darkness; they shall be driven on, and fall in them; for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their punishment, says Jehovah.


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And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to go astray.


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I have also seen in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing; they commit adultery and walk in falsehood. They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns back from his evil; they are all of them like Sodom to Me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah of Hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them wormwood, and make them drink bitter water; for godlessness has gone forth from the prophets of Jerusalem into all the land.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They fill you with vanities; they speak a vision from their own heart, not out of the mouth of Jehovah.


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They speak to those who despise Me, promising, Jehovah has said, You shall have peace! And they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you!


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For who has stood in the counsel of Jehovah, and has perceived and heard His Word? Who has paid attention to His Word and heeded it?


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Behold, a tempest from Jehovah has gone forth in fury, a whirling tempest. It shall whirl upon the head of the wicked.


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The anger of Jehovah shall not turn back, until He has executed and until He has fulfilled the purposes of His heart; in the latter days you shall diligently consider it with understanding.


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But if they had stood in My counsel and had caused My people to hear My Words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.


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Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? says Jehovah. Do I not fill the heavens and earth? says Jehovah.


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I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in My name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.


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How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart,


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who think to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams which they tell, each one to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten My name for Baal.


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The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream. And he who has My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? says Jehovah.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah, Behold, I am against the prophets who steal My Words each one from his neighbor.


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Jehovah says, Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams and tell them, and cause My people to go astray by their lies and by their foolishness. Yet I did not send them nor command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all, says Jehovah.


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And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, What is the burden of Jehovah? You shall then say to them, What burden? I will even forsake you, says Jehovah.


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And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, who shall say, The burden of Jehovah! I will even punish that man and his house.


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And you shall say each one to his neighbor, and each one to his brother, What has Jehovah answered? and, What has Jehovah spoken?


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And you shall mention the burden of Jehovah no more. For every man's word shall be his burden; for you have perverted the Words of the living God, of Jehovah of Hosts our God.


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But since you say, The burden of Jehovah! therefore thus says Jehovah, Because you say this word (The burden of Jehovah), and I have sent to you saying, You shall not say, The burden of Jehovah;


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therefore behold, I, even I, will completely forget you, and I will forsake you and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and will cast you out of My presence.


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And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.


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Jehovah caused me to see, and behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of Jehovah (after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the rulers of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon);


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one basket had very good figs, like the first ripe figs. And the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.


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Then Jehovah said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs are very good, and the bad are very bad, so that they cannot be eaten, they are so bad.


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Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will acknowledge the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for good.


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For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. And I will build them and not pull them down; and I will plant them and not pluck them up.


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And I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am Jehovah; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. For they shall return to Me with their whole heart.


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And like the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad; surely thus says Jehovah, Thus I will give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his rulers, and the rest of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt;


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and I will deliver them over in horror into all the kingdoms of the earth for evil, for a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, there in all the places where I shall drive them.


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And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, until they are destroyed from the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.


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The Word that came unto Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (It was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon);


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which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,


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From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even to this day, which is the twenty-third year, the Word of Jehovah has come unto me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking; but you have not listened.


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And Jehovah has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but you have not listened nor extended your ear to hear.


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They said, Turn back now, each one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah has given to you and to your fathers forever and ever.


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And do not go after other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no harm.


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Yet you have not listened to Me, says Jehovah, so that you might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands, to your own hurt.


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behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says Jehovah, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations all around. And I will completely destroy them, and make them a waste, and a hissing, and perpetual ruins.


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And I will take from them the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.


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And this whole land shall be a ruin and a waste. And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.


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And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are fulfilled, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, and the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity, says Jehovah; and I will make it a perpetual desolation.


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And I will bring on that land all My Words which I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.


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For many nations and great kings shall lay service upon them also. And I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.


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For thus says Jehovah the God of Israel to me, Take the wine cup of this wrath from My hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.


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And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and go mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.


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Then I took the cup from Jehovah's hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom Jehovah had sent me;


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Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, their kings and their rulers, to make them a desolation, a horror, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;


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and all the people mixed together, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the rest of Ashdod;


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and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon; and the kings of the coastlands beyond the sea,


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and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the people mixed together who dwell in the desert;


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and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth. And the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.


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Therefore you shall say to them, Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Drink and be drunk, and vomit, and fall and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.


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And it shall be, that if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, You shall certainly drink.


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For, lo, I am beginning to bring evil on the city which is called by My name; and should you be found clean and free from guilt? You shall not be without guilt, for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, says Jehovah of Hosts.


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Therefore prophesy against them all these Words, and say to them, Jehovah shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation. He shall mightily roar over His dwelling place. He shall give a shout, like those who tread out grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.


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A roaring noise shall come to the ends of the earth; for Jehovah has a controversy with the nations; He will enter into judgment with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword, says Jehovah.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest shall be roused up from the recesses of the earth.


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And in that day the slain of Jehovah shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be mourned, nor gathered, nor buried. They shall be as dung on the ground.


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Howl, you shepherds, and cry! Wallow in the ashes, you majestic ones of the flock! For the days of your slaughter and of your scattering are fulfilled; and you shall fall like a delightful vessel.


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A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the majestic ones of the flock shall be heard; for Jehovah has spoiled their pasture,


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He has left His den like a lion; for their land is wasted at the presence of His fierce violence, and before His fierce anger.


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In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this Word came from Jehovah, saying,


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Thus says Jehovah: Stand in the court of Jehovah's house and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to bow down in Jehovah's house, all the Words that I command you to speak to them; do not diminish a word.


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It may be that they will listen, and each man turn from his evil way, that I may be moved to compassion from the evil which I purpose to do to them because of the evil of their doings.


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And you shall say to them, Thus says Jehovah: If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My Law which I have set before you,


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to listen to the words of My servants the prophets whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not listened);


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then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.


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So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Jehovah.


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And it happened when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that Jehovah had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, You shall die the death!


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Why have you prophesied in the name of Jehovah, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be wasted, without inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah.


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When the rulers of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house to the house of Jehovah, and sat down in the entrance of the New Gate of Jehovah's house.


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And the priests and the prophets spoke to the rulers and to all the people, saying, Sentence this man to death, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.


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Then Jeremiah spoke to all the rulers and to all the people, saying, Jehovah sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.


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Now therefore, make your ways and your doings good, and obey the voice of Jehovah your God. And Jehovah will show compassion regarding the evil that He has spoken against you.


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But know for certain that if you put me to death, you shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon its inhabitants; for truly Jehovah has sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.


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Then the rulers and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, This man is not worthy of death; for he has spoken to us in the name of Jehovah our God.


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Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus says Jehovah of Hosts: Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, and the mountain of the house like the high places of a forest.


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Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah execute him to death? Did he not fear Jehovah, and entreat Jehovah, and Jehovah had compassion regarding the evil which He had spoken against them? So we are doing great evil against our souls.


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And there was also a man who prophesied in the name of Jehovah, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.


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And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the rulers, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled and went into Egypt.


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And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt; Elnathan the son of Achbor, and men with him into Egypt.


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And they brought Urijah out of Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and threw his dead body into the graves of the common people.


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But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.


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In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, this Word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,


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and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.


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And command them to go to their masters, saying, Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Thus you shall say to your masters,


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I have made the earth, man, and the animals on the face of the earth, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed right to Me.


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And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant. And I have also given him the beasts of the field to serve him.


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And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his land comes. And then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them.


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And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish, says Jehovah, with the sword and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.


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Therefore, do not listen to your prophets, nor to your fortune tellers, nor to your dreamers, nor to your conjurers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon.


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For they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out and you should perish.


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But the nations who bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, those I will let remain on their own land, says Jehovah. And they shall work it and dwell in it.


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I also spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.


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Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Jehovah has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?


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Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon. For they prophesy a lie to you.


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For I have not sent them, says Jehovah; yet they prophesy a lie in My name, so that I might drive you out, and that you might perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.


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Also I spoke to the priests and to all the people, saying, Thus says Jehovah, Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of Jehovah's house shall now shortly be brought back from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you.


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But if they are prophets, and if the Word of Jehovah is with them, let them now make entreaties to Jehovah of Hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.


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For thus says Jehovah of Hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels which remain in this city,


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which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;


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yes, thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of Jehovah and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem:


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They shall be carried to Babylon, and they shall be there until the day that I visit them, says Jehovah. Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.


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And it happened in the same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur, the prophet of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of Jehovah in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.


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Within two full years I will bring back into this place all the vessels of Jehovah's house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried them to Babylon.


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And I will bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah who went into Babylon, says Jehovah; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.


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Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of Jehovah,


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even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen. May Jehovah do so. May Jehovah establish your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of Jehovah's house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place.


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The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms; of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.


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As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then the prophet shall be known, that Jehovah has truly sent him.


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And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus says Jehovah, Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the time frame of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.


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Then the Word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off of the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,


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Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus says Jehovah: You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron.


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For thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And they shall serve him. And I have given him the beasts of the field also.


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Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah: Jehovah has not sent you, but you make this people to trust in a lie.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will drive you from off the face of the earth. You shall die this year, because you have taught rebellion against Jehovah.


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And these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar took captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.


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(After Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the officials, the rulers of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, had departed from Jerusalem.)


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The letter came by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah the king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captives whom I caused to be taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon:


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Take wives and beget sons and daughters. And take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters, that you may be multiplied there and not diminished.


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And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be exiled, and pray to Jehovah for it. For in its peace you shall have peace.


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For thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your fortune-tellers in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you dream.


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For thus says Jehovah, When according to My Word seventy years have been fulfilled at Babylon, I will visit you and carry out My good Word to you, to bring you back to this place.


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For I know the thoughts which I am planning for you, says Jehovah; thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.


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And I will be found by you, says Jehovah; and I will bring you back from your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Jehovah. And I will bring you back into the place from where I caused you to be taken captive.


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thus says Jehovah concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brothers who have not gone out with you into captivity;


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thus says Jehovah of Hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like overripe figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad.


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And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and will make them objects of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and a waste, and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them,


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because they have not heeded My Words, says Jehovah, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not obey, says Jehovah.


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thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall kill them before your eyes.


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And a curse shall be taken up about them by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, May Jehovah make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,


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because they have done disgraceful things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them; for I am He who knows and is a witness, says Jehovah.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because you have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,


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Jehovah has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be officers in the house of Jehovah over every madman who prophesies, that you should put him in prison and in the stocks.


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For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long. Build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.


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Send to all the captives, saying, Thus says Jehovah concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I have not sent him, and he caused you to trust in a lie,


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therefore thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his seed. He shall not have a man to dwell among this people; nor shall he behold the good which I shall do for My people, says Jehovah, because he has taught rebellion against Jehovah.


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Thus speaks Jehovah the God of Israel, saying, Write all the Words that I have spoken to you in a book.


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For, lo, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will bring back the captives of My people Israel and Judah, says Jehovah. And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave their fathers, and they shall possess it.


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Ask now, and see whether a man ever gives birth? Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in labor, and all faces are turned pale?


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Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.


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For it shall come to pass in that day, says Jehovah of Hosts, that I will break his yoke from your neck and will burst your bonds. And strangers shall no longer enslave him,


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Therefore, do not fear, O My servant Jacob, says Jehovah. Do not be dismayed, O Israel. For lo, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return, and shall be at rest, and be quiet, and no one shall make him afraid.


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For I am with you, says Jehovah, to save you. Though I make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, yet I will not make a complete end of you; but I will correct you in justice, and will not acquit nor leave you unpunished.


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All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you. For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the abundance of your iniquity, because your sins are many.


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Why do you cry over your break? Your pain is incurable, because of the abundance of your iniquities; because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you.


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Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity. And those who plunder you shall become plunder, and all who prey upon you I will give as prey.


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For I will stir up health to you, and will heal you of your wounds, says Jehovah; because they called you an outcast, saying, This is Zion; no one seeks after her.


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Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will bring back the captives of Jacob's tents, and will have mercy on his dwelling places. And the city shall be built on her own hill, and the palace shall remain in its own place.


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And out of them shall come forth thanksgiving, and the voice of those who make merry. And I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.


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Their children shall also be as they were before, and their congregation shall be established before Me, and I will punish all who oppress them.


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And their rulers shall be from among themselves, and their governor shall come from their midst; and I will cause him to be brought near, and he shall draw near to Me. For who is this who pledged his heart to come near to Me? says Jehovah.


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Behold, the tempest of Jehovah's wrath goes forth, a roaring tempest; it shall whirl on the head of the wicked.


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The fierce anger of Jehovah shall not return until He has done it, and until He has fulfilled the purposes of His heart. In the latter days you shall understand it.


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At that time, says Jehovah, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.


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Thus says Jehovah, The people who were survivors of the sword have found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I go to give him rest.


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Jehovah has appeared to me from afar, saying, Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.


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Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel. You shall again put on your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.


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You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common food.


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For there shall be a day that the watchmen on Mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise and let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God!


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For thus says Jehovah, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations. Cry out, give praise and say, O Jehovah, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!


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Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the recesses of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together; a great company shall return there.


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They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way; they shall not stumble in it, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.


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Hear the Word of Jehovah, O nations, and declare it on distant shores; and say, He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.


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Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of Jehovah, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and the herd. And their souls shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not languish any more at all.


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Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow.


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And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says Jehovah.


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Thus says Jehovah: A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not.


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Thus says Jehovah: Refrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says Jehovah. And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.


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And there is hope for your future, says Jehovah, that your children shall come back to their own territory.


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I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, saying, You have chastised me, and I was chastised, like an untrained bull; draw me back, and I shall return. For You are Jehovah my God.


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Surely after I was turned back, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, because I bore the reproach of my youth.


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Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? For as often as I spoke against him, I call to mind and remember him still. Therefore My heart is stirred for him; I will have mercy and compassion upon him, says Jehovah.


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Set up signposts, make landmarks for yourself. Set your heart toward the highway, the way you went. Turn back, O virgin of Israel, turn back to these cities of yours.


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How long will you vacillate, O backsliding daughter? For Jehovah has created a new thing in the earth; a woman shall contain a man.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, They shall speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring back their captives, saying, Jehovah bless you, O habitation of justice and mountain of holiness.


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And farmers, and those going forth with flocks, shall dwell together in Judah and in all its cities.


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Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beasts.


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And it shall come to pass that, as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says Jehovah.


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In those days they shall not say any more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are dull.


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But every man shall die for his own iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be dull.


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Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah,


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not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, says Jehovah.


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But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says Jehovah, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.


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And they shall no more teach each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Jehovah. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.


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Thus says Jehovah, who gives the sun for a light by day and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea when its waves roar (Jehovah of Hosts is His name);


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if those ordinances depart from My presence, says Jehovah, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.


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Thus says Jehovah, If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be searched out, then I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says Jehovah.


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Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that the city shall be built to Jehovah from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.


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And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to Jehovah. It shall not be plucked up nor thrown down any more forever.


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The Word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.


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For then the army of the king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem. And Jeremiah the prophet was shut in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah.


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For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Why do you prophesy and say, Thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it,


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and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall be given over and delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes,


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and he shall lead Zedekiah into Babylon, and there he shall be until I visit him, says Jehovah; though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed.


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Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, Buy for yourself my field in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours, to buy it.


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So Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the Word of Jehovah and said to me, Please buy my field in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the right of redemption is yours. Buy it for yourself. Then I knew that this was the Word of Jehovah.


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And I bought the field in Anathoth, from Hanamel my uncle's son, and weighed him the money, seventeen shekels of silver.


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And I wrote it in the document, and sealed it, and called witnesses, and weighed the silver in the scales.


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So I took the document of the purchase, that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and the open copy.


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And I gave the document of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the eyes of Hanamel my uncle's son, and in the eyes of the witnesses who wrote in the purchase document, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Take these documents, the purchase document, the one sealed and the open document, and put them in an earthen vessel so that they may survive many days.


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For thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall be acquired again in this land.


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Ah, Lord Jehovah! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You.


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You show lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them. The great, the strong and Mighty God, Jehovah of Hosts, is His name,


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great in counsel and mighty in work; for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give every one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.


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For You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, and in Israel and among men; and have made Yourself a name, as it is this day;


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and have brought forth Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror.


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And You have given them this land, which You swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.


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And they came in and possessed it, but they have not obeyed Your voice, nor walked in Your Law. They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have caused all this evil to come upon them.


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Behold, the siege mounds have come to the city to take it; and the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the pestilence. And what You have spoken has happened; and behold, there You see it.


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And You have said to me, O Lord Jehovah, Buy the field for money, and take witnesses; yet the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it.


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And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger.


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For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have only provoked Me to anger with the work of their hands, says Jehovah.


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For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and of My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; that I should remove it from before My face,


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because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger; they, their kings, their rulers, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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And they have turned the back to Me, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.


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And they built the high places of Baal, in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech; which I did not command them, nor did it even enter My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.


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And now therefore, thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence:


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Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands where I have driven them in My anger, and in My fury, and in great wrath. And I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely.


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And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for their good and for the good of their children after them.


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And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good. But I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me.


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Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will truly plant them in this land, with all My heart and all My soul.


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For thus says Jehovah: Just as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.


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And fields shall be bought in this land of which you say, It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.


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Men shall buy fields for money, and write it in a document, and seal it, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south. For I will cause their captives to return, says Jehovah.


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And the Word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard, saying,


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Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and unfathomable things which you do not know.


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For thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword:


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They come to fight with the Chaldeans, only to fill them with the dead bodies of the men whom I have slain in My anger and in My fury, for all whose evil I have hidden My face from this city.


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Behold, I will bring it health and healing, and I will heal them and will show them the abundance of peace and truth.


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And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.


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And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned, and by which they have transgressed against Me.


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And it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them. And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the welfare that I am bringing to it.


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Thus says Jehovah: Again there shall be heard in this place, which you say is desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast;


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the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who shall say, Praise Jehovah of Hosts, for Jehovah is good, for His mercy is eternal; and the voice of those who shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of Jehovah. For I will cause the captives of the land to return, as at the first, says Jehovah.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts: Again in this place which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.


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In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him who counts them, says Jehovah.


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Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will establish the good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.


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In those days, and at that time, I will cause the Branch of Righteousness to grow up to David; and He shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.


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In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name by which she shall be called: JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.


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nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.


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Thus says Jehovah: If you can break My covenant of the day and My covenant of the night, so that there should not be day and night in their season,


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then also may My covenant with David My servant be broken, that he should not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites the priests, My ministers.


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As the host of the heavens cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the seed of David My servant and the Levites who serve Me.


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Do you not consider what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which Jehovah has chosen, He has even cast them off? Thus they have despised My people, that they should no more be a nation before them.


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Thus says Jehovah: If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of the heavens and the earth,


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then I will cast away the seed of Jacob, and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will bring back their captives, and have mercy on them.


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The Word which came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion, and all the peoples, fought against Jerusalem and against all its cities; saying,


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Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, Thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.


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And you shall not escape out of his hand, but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. And your eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon.


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Yet hear the Word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah, thus says Jehovah concerning you: You shall not die by the sword.


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You shall die in peace; and as the burnings of incense for your fathers, the former kings which were before you, so they shall burn incense for you. And they shall lament for you, saying, Ah, lord! For I have spoken the Word, says Jehovah.


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when the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem and against all the remaining cities of Judah; against Lachish, and against Azekah; for these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.


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The Word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;


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that each man should let his male slave, and each man his female slave, if they were a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, to go free; that no one should keep a Jewish brother enslaved.


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And all the rulers obeyed, and all the people who had entered into the covenant allowed them to go free, each man his male slave, and each man his female slave, so that no one should be enslaved among them any more; and they obeyed and let them go.


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But afterward they changed their minds and caused the slaves and slave women whom they had let go free, to return! And they subjected them as slaves and slave women.


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Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying,


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At the end of seven years let each man free his brother, a Hebrew, who has been sold to him. And when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you. But your fathers did not heed me, nor extend their ears.


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And you had turned today, and had done what was right in My eyes proclaiming liberty, each man to his neighbor. And you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name.


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But you turned and violated My name, and each man caused his slave, and each man his slave woman, whom you had set free to do as they pleased, to return. And you brought them back into bondage to be slaves and slave women to you.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah: You have not heeded Me to proclaim liberty each man to his brother, and each man to his neighbor! Behold, I proclaim liberty for you, says Jehovah, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. And I will cause you to be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.


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And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not done the words of the covenant which they made before Me when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts;


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the rulers of Judah, and the rulers of Jerusalem, the officials, and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf;


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I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the heavens and to the beasts of the earth.


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And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, and his rulers, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, who have withdrawn from you.


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Behold, I will command, says Jehovah, and cause them to return to this city. And they shall fight against it and capture it, and burn it with fire. And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.


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The Word which came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,


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Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of Jehovah, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink.


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Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites.


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And I brought them into the house of Jehovah, into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was near the room of the rulers, above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door.


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And I set pots full of wine, and cups, before the sons of the house of the Rechabites. And I said to them, Drink wine!


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But they said, We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons forever.


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Nor shall you build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall live in tents, so that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.


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So we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he has commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;


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But we have lived in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.


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But it came to pass when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of Syria. So we are living at Jerusalem.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction to heed My Words? says Jehovah.


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The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are done. For to this day they do not drink, but obey their father's commandment. But I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not heeded Me.


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I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Turn back now each man from his evil way, and do good, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and you shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers. But you have not extended your ear, nor heeded Me.


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Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have done the commandment of their father, which He commanded them; but this people has not heeded Me;


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therefore thus says Jehovah the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have spoken against them. Because I have spoken to them, but they have not given heed; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.


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And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his precepts, and have done according to all that he has commanded you;


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therefore thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.


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And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this Word came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,


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Take for yourself a scroll of a book, and write in it all the Words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.


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It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I plan to do to them, that they may turn, each man, from his evil way, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.


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Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah. And Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the Words of Jehovah, which He had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book.


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Therefore you go, and read from the scroll which you have written at my mouth, the Words of Jehovah in the ears of the people in Jehovah's house on the day of the fast. And also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities.


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It may be that they will present their supplication before Jehovah, and will turn back, each one from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that Jehovah has pronounced against this people.


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And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book, the Words of Jehovah in the house of Jehovah.


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And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before Jehovah to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem.


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And Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entrance to the New Gate of the house of Jehovah, in the ears of all the people.


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When Michaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the Words of Jehovah from the book,


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he then went down to the king's house, into the scribe's room. And, lo, all the rulers sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the rulers.


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Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.


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Therefore all the rulers sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, Take the scroll in your hand from which you have read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them.


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And it happened when they had heard all the words, that they turned to one another in fear and said to Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.


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Then Baruch answered them, He spoke all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.


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And the rulers said to Baruch, Go hide yourselves, you and Jeremiah; and let no man know where you are.


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And they went in to the king, into the court. But they laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.


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So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll. And he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the rulers who stood beside the king.


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And the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, the fire burning in the hearth before him.


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And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, that he cut it with the scribe's knife and threw it into the fire in the hearth, until all the scroll was burned up in the hearth.


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Yet the king and all his servants who heard these words were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments.


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But Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had entreated the king that he should not burn the scroll, but he would not consent to them.


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And the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But Jehovah hid them.


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Then the Word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, after the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch had written at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,


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Take for yourself another scroll, and write in it all the former Words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.


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And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus says Jehovah: You have burned this scroll, saying, Why have you written in it, saying that the king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause man and beast to be annihilated from there?


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Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David. And his dead body shall be cast out into the heat of the day, and the frost of the night.


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And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity. And I will bring upon them, and upon the people of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have spoken against them; but they have not given heed.


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Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote in it at the mouth of Jeremiah all the Words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many words like them were added to them.


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And King Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah.


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But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, gave heed to the Words of Jehovah which He spoke by the hand of the prophet Jeremiah.


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And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to Jehovah our God for us.


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And Pharaoh's army had come out from Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they departed from Jerusalem.


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Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: You shall say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: Behold, Pharaoh's army, which has come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.


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And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city, and capture it, and burn it with fire.


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Thus says Jehovah: Do not deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us. For they shall not depart.


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For though you had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only wounded men among them, they would rise up, each man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.


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that Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to claim his property there in the midst of the people.


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And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a commander of the guard named Irijah was there, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah. And he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are defecting to the Chaldeans.


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Then Jeremiah said, False! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans. But he did not listen to him; so Irijah arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the rulers.


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And the rulers were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison, the house of Jonathan the scribe. For they had made that the prison.


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then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out. And the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any Word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is. For, He said, you shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.


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Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, What have I offended against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?


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Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you nor against this land?


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Therefore please hear now, O my lord the king; I beg you, let my supplication fall before you, so that you not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.


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And Zedekiah the king commanded that they should put Jeremiah into the court of the guard, and that they should give him a piece of bread out of the bakers' street daily, until all the bread in the city was gone. Thus, Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.


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And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying,


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Thus says Jehovah, He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. But he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life as a prize, and shall live.


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Thus says Jehovah: This city shall be given and bestowed into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall seize it.


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Therefore the rulers said to the king, Please let this man be put to death. For in this way he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm.


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Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand. For the king cannot do a thing against you.


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And they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit of Malchijah the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And there was no water in the pit, only mud. So Jeremiah sank into the mud.


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And when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the officials in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the pit (the king was then sitting in the gate of Benjamin),


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My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have thrown into the pit. And he is likely to die of hunger in the place where he is, for there is no more bread in the city.


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Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take by your hand thirty men from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet up out of the pit before he dies.


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So Ebed-melech took the men by his hand and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took worn out clothes and worn out rags from there, and let them down by ropes into the pit to Jeremiah.


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And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Now put the worn out clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so.


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So they drew up Jeremiah with ropes and took him up out of the pit. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.


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And Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third gate of the house of Jehovah. And the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask you something. Do not hide anything from me.


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Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I declare it to you, will you not execute me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not give heed to me.


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So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, As Jehovah lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.


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Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, Thus says Jehovah the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you will come out and go forth to the rulers of the king of Babylon, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire. And you and your house shall live.


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But if you will not go forth to the rulers of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hands of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape out of their hand.


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And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they abuse me.


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But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver you. I beg of you, obey the voice of Jehovah which I am speaking to you; so it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.


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Behold, all the women who are left in the house of the king of Judah shall be brought out to the rulers of the king of Babylon, and they shall say, Your friends have enticed you, and have prevailed against you. Your feet have sunk in the mire, and they have turned away.


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So they shall bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans. And you shall not escape out of their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And this city shall be burned with fire.


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But if the rulers hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, Declare to us now what you have said to the king, and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death;


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then you shall say to them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there.


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Then all the rulers came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they quit speaking with him; for the conversation had not been heard.


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So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured. And he was there when Jerusalem was captured.


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In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it.


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In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth of the month, the city was broken into.


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And all the rulers of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer, Rabmag, and all the rest of the rulers of the king of Babylon.


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And it came to pass that when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went out from the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out the way of the plain.


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But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And they took him, and brought him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment upon him.


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Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes in Riblah. The king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah.


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And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.


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Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive to Babylon the rest of the people who remained in the city, and those who fell out and defected to him, with the rest of the people that remained.


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But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.


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And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,


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So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, sent, and Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergal-sharezer, Rabmag, and all the princes of the king of Babylon,


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even they sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and assigned him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he lived among the people.


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Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring My Words upon this city for evil and not for good. And they shall be done in that day before you.


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But I will deliver you in that day, says Jehovah. And you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.


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For I will give you an escape, to deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me, says Jehovah.


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This is the Word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had set him free from Ramah, when he had taken him, being bound in chains, from among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were being carried away captive to Babylon.


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And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, Jehovah your God has pronounced this evil against this place.


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Now Jehovah has brought it, and has done according as He has said. Because you have sinned against Jehovah and have not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come upon you.


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And now, behold, I have set you free today from the chains on your hand. If it seems agreeable to you to come with me to Babylon, come; and I will see to your settlement. But if it is displeasing in your eyes to come with me into Babylon, stay. Behold, all the land is before you. Wherever it seems agreeable and right for you to go, go there.


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And while he had not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and live with him among the people. Or go wherever it seems right to you to go. So the captain of the guard gave him rations and a gratuity, and let him go.


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Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah. And he lived with him among the people who were left in the land.


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And when all the commanders of the forces who were in the fields, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had entrusted to him men, and women, and children, and many of the poor of the land, of those who were not exiled to Babylon;


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then they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai of Netopha, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.


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And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, Do not fear to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.


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As for me, behold, I will live at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans who have come to us. But you go gather wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and live in your cities that you have taken.


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Also when all the Jews in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan;


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then all the Jews returned out of all the places where they had been driven, and came to the land of Judah to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits in abundance.


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Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were in the fields came to Gedaliah at Mizpah,


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and they said to him, You certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to kill you. But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them.


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Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know. Why should he kill you so that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?


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But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, You shall not do this thing, for you speak falsely of Ishmael.


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And it came to pass in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and the rulers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah. And there they ate bread together at Mizpah.


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Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah arose, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.


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Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.


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that some men from Shechem came from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, with their beards shaved, and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Jehovah.


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And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he walked. And it happened as he met them that he said to them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.


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And so it happened when they came into the middle of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, he and the men with him, and threw them into the middle of the pit.


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But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, Do not kill us, for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he left off and did not kill them with their brothers.


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And the pit into which Ishmael had thrown all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had killed because of Gedaliah, was the one which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.


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Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had entrusted to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took captive and departed to go over to the Ammonites.


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But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,


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they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. And they found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.


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And it happened when all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces with him, that they were glad.


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So all the people that Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.


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Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; the mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the officials, whom he had brought back from Gibeon.


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And they departed and stayed in the lodging place of Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, to go to enter Egypt,


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because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.


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Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near,


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and they said to Jeremiah the prophet, Please let us prostrate our supplication to you, and intercede for us to Jehovah your God, even for all this remnant, (for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes behold us),


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And Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard. Behold, I will pray to Jehovah your God according to your words; and it shall be that all the word Jehovah shall answer, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.


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So they said to Jeremiah, Let Jehovah be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do even according to all things which Jehovah your God shall send you to us.


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Whether it is good, or whether it is evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send you; so that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God.


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And he called Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,


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and said to them, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him:


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If you will still remain in this land, then I will build you and will not pull you down. And I will plant you and will not pluck you up. For I am sorry for you because of the evil that I have brought upon you.


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Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not be afraid of him, says Jehovah; for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand.


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And I will show mercy upon you, so that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.


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saying, No, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the shofar, nor hunger for bread; and there we will dwell;


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then now hear the Word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah. Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you decide to set your faces to go into Egypt, and go to live there,


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then it shall happen that the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt. And the famine about which you were anxious shall cling to you there in Egypt; and you shall die there.


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So shall it be to all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there. They shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. And none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.


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For thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: As My anger and My fury have been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall My fury be poured forth upon you when you shall enter into Egypt. And you shall be a curse, and a wonder, and a shame, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.


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Jehovah has said concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Do not go into Egypt. Recognize and acknowledge that I have testified against you this day.


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For you used deceit in your hearts when you sent me to Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us to Jehovah our God; and according to all that Jehovah our God shall say, declare it to us, and we will do it.


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And I have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah your God, nor anything for which He has sent me unto you.


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Now therefore know and recognize that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, in the place where you desire to go to live.


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And it happened when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking to all the people all the Words of Jehovah their God, for which Jehovah their God had sent him to them, all these Words,


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that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, You speak falsely! Jehovah our God has not sent you to say, Do not go to Egypt to live there.


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But Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death and to take us captive to Babylon.


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So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces, and all the people, did not obey the voice of Jehovah to live in the land of Judah.


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But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations (where they had been driven) to dwell in the land of Judah;


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men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every soul that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.


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So they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of Jehovah. So they came to Tahpanhes.


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Take large stones in your hand, and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln which is at the entrance to Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the eyes of the men of Judah.


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And say to them, Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.


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And when he comes, he shall strike the land of Egypt. And whoever is for death shall go to death; and whoever for captivity, into captivity; and whoever for the sword, to the sword.


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And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt. And he shall burn them and take them captive. And he shall adorn himself with the land of Egypt, like a shepherd puts on his robe; and he shall go out from there in peace.


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He shall also break the obelisks of The House of the Sun which are in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.


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The Word that came unto Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who live in the land of Egypt, who live in Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the land of Pathros, saying,


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. And, behold, today they are a desolation, and no one lives there


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because of their evil which they have done to provoke Me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, to serve other gods whom they knew not, they, you, nor your fathers.


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But I sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate!


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But they did not heed, nor extend their ear to turn from their evil, to burn no incense to other gods.


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Therefore My fury and My anger was poured out, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. And they are wasted and deserted, as it is this day.


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Now therefore thus says Jehovah the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, leaving none remaining;


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in that you provoke Me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to live, that you might cut yourselves off and that you might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?


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Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have done in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?


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They have not humbled themselves to this day, nor have they feared, nor walked in My Law, nor in My statutes which I have set before you and before your fathers.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set My face against you for evil, to cut off all Judah.


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And I will take the remnant of Judah, who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there; and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt. They shall be destroyed by the sword and by the famine. They shall die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they shall be a curse, a wonder, and a shame, and a reproach.


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For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence,


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so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there shall escape or survive, that they should return into the land of Judah to which they have a desire to return to live there. For no one shall return except those who escape.


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And all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great multitude, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,


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But we will prepare and do whatever goes forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our rulers, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and were well-off, and saw no evil.


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But since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything, and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.


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And the women also said, when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make our cakes in her image, and pour out drink offerings to her without our men?


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Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women, and to all the people who had given him that answer, saying:


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The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you, and your fathers, your kings, and your rulers, and the people of the land; did not Jehovah remember them, and did it not come into His mind?


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Yes, so that Jehovah could no longer hold back because of the evil of your doings, because of the abominations which you have done! Therefore your land is a waste, and a wonder, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is today.


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Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against Jehovah, and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, nor walked in His Law, nor in His statutes, nor did you walk in His testimonies, therefore this evil has happened to you, as it is this day.


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Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women, Hear the Word of Jehovah, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hands, saying, We will prepare and celebrate our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her. You will arise and carry out your vows, and prepare and celebrate your vows.


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Therefore hear the Word of Jehovah, all Judah that lives in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says Jehovah, that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord Jehovah lives.


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Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good. And all the men of Judah in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end to them.


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Yet a small number that escapes the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah; and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall know whose word shall stand, Mine or theirs.


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And this shall be a sign to you, says Jehovah, that I will punish you in this place, so that you may know that My Words shall be established and confirmed against you for evil.


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Thus says Jehovah, Behold, I am giving Pharaoh-hophra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy that sought his life.


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The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,


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You said, Woe is me now, for Jehovah has added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.


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Thus you shall say unto him, Thus says Jehovah: Behold, what I have built I will break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even all this land.


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And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring evil on all flesh, says Jehovah. But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places wherever you go.


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against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.


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Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back? And their mighty ones are beaten down and have fled for refuge, and they do not look back. Terror is all around, says Jehovah.


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Do not let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. They stumbled and fell toward the north, by the River Euphrates.


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Egypt rises up like a flood, and his waters surge about like the rivers. And he says, I will go up and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.


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Come up, you horses; and rage, you chariots! And let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield, and the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.


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For this is the day of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself of His adversaries. And the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood, for the Lord Jehovah of Hosts has a sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.


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Go up into Gilead and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt. In vain shall you use many medicines; you shall not be cured.


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The nations have heard of your shame, and your cry has filled the land. For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, and they have both fallen together.


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The Word which Jehovah spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, of the coming of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to strike the land of Egypt.


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Declare it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol, and proclaim it in Noph and in Tahpanhes. Say, Stand fast and get prepared, for the sword shall devour all around you.


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He made many fall; yea, one fell upon another. And they said, Arise, and let us go back to our own people and to the land of our birth, away from the oppressing sword.


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As I live, says the King, whose name is Jehovah of Hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.


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O daughter dwelling in Egypt, prepare yourself to go into captivity. For Noph shall be waste and desolate, without inhabitant.


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Also her hired ones are in her midst like calves of the stall; for they also have turned back, fleeing together. They did not stand, because the day of their calamity had come upon them, the time of their punishment.


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Their sound goes like a serpent, for they shall go with strength and come against her with axes like those who cut wood.


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They shall cut down her forest, says Jehovah, though it cannot be searched; because they are more numerous than the locusts and cannot be counted.


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The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed. She shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.


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Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, along with their gods and their kings; even Pharaoh and all who trust in him;


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and I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. And afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, says Jehovah.


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But do not fear, O My servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel. For behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return and have rest and be at ease, and no one shall make him afraid.


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Do not fear, O Jacob My servant, says Jehovah, for I am with you. For I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you. But I will not make a complete end of you, but will correct you in justice; and I will not leave you acquitted nor unpunished.


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The Word of Jehovah that came unto Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza.


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Thus says Jehovah: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land and all its fullness; the city and those who dwell in it. And the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.


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At the noise of the stamping of the hooves of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back for their children because of feebleness of hands;


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because of the day that comes to plunder all the Philistines and to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every survivor who helps. For Jehovah will plunder the Philistines, the rest of the regions of Caphtor.


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Baldness has come upon Gaza. Ashkelon is cut off with the rest of their valley. For how long will you cut yourself off?


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O sword of Jehovah, how long will it be until you are quiet? Put yourself into your sheath; rest and be still.


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How can it be quiet, since Jehovah has given it a command? He has appointed it there against Ashkelon, and against the seashore.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, against Moab: Woe to Nebo, for it is plundered! Kirjathaim is dried up and captured. The Fortress is dried up and dismayed.


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No more praise of Moab. In Heshbon they have plotted evil against it, saying, Come and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also you shall be silenced, O madmen; the sword shall pursue you.


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For at the ascent to Luhith they go up with continual weeping; for at the descent from Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.


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For because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you shall also be captured. And Chemosh shall go into captivity along with his priests and his rulers.


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And the robber shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape. Also the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as Jehovah has spoken.


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Give wings to Moab so that it may flee and get away; for its cities shall be desolate, without an inhabitant in them.


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Cursed is he who does the work of Jehovah deceitfully, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.


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Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his dregs and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent has not changed.


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Therefore behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will send ones to lean him, tip him over, and empty his vessels, and shatter his jars.


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And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.


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Moab is plundered and has gone up out of her cities. And his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter, says the King, whose name is Jehovah of Hosts.


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All you who are around him, mourn him. And all you who know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken; the beautiful rod!


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O daughter dwelling in Dibon, come down from your glory and sit in thirst. For the plunderer of Moab has come upon you; he has destroyed your strongholds.


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O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch. Ask him who flees and her who escapes; say, What is happening?


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Make him drunk, for he magnified himself against Jehovah. Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be an object of derision.


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For was not Israel an object of derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For ever since you spoke of him, you skipped for joy.


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O you who dwell in Moab, leave the cities and live in the rock, and be like the dove that makes her nest in the sides of the mouth of the cave.


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We have heard of the pride of Moab (he is exceedingly proud), his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.


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Therefore I will wail for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab, and shall mourn for the men of Kir-hares.


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O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer. Your plants have gone over the sea; they reach to the sea of Jazer. A plunderer has fallen upon your summer fruits and upon your vintage.


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And joy and gladness are taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab. And I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses; no one shall tread the grapes with shouting; no joyous shouting.


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From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh, and to Jahaz, they have uttered their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim, like a three year old heifer; for the waters of Nimrim also shall be desolate.


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Moreover, I will put an end to him who offers in the high places in Moab, says Jehovah, who burns incense to his gods.


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Therefore my heart shall mourn for Moab like flutes, and my heart shall mourn like flutes for the men of Kir-hares, because the riches that he has gotten have perished.


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For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped. On all the hands shall be cuttings, and on the loins sackcloth.


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On all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets, there is weeping for all. For I have broken Moab like a vessel in which no one has pleasure, says Jehovah.


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They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! How has Moab turned the back with shame! Thus Moab shall be an object of derision, and a terror to all those around him.


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Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized; and the mighty men's hearts in Moab in that day shall be like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.


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He who flees from the terror shall fall into the pit; and he who goes up out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their judgment, says Jehovah.


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Those who fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon from fatigue, but a fire shall come out from Heshbon, and a flame out of the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab and the crown of the head of the sons of desolation.


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Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perish; for your sons have been taken captive, and your daughters into captivity.


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But I will bring back the captives of Moab in the latter days, says Jehovah. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.


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Thus says Jehovah to the sons of Ammon: Has Israel no sons? Or has he no heir? Why does their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?


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Therefore behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will cause a shout of war to be heard in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. And it shall be a heap of ruins, and her daughter-villages shall be burned with fire. Then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance, says Jehovah.


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Wail, O Heshbon; for Ai is plundered! Cry, daughters of Rabbah; clothe yourselves with sackcloth, mourn, and run to and fro by the hedges! For their king shall go into captivity with his priests and his rulers together.


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Why do you glory in the valleys, your flowing valleys, O backsliding daughter; who trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come against me?


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Behold, I will bring a fear upon you, says the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, from all those who are around you. And you shall be driven out, each man straight forward; and there shall be no one to gather those who stray.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts to Edom: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?


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Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan. For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him in the time that I will punish him.


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If the gatherers of grapes had come to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves had come by night, would they not destroy until they had enough?


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But I have made Esau bare; I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself. His seed is plundered, and his brothers and his neighbors; and he is no more.


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For thus says Jehovah: Behold, those whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have surely drunk. And are you pure and innocent? You shall not be exempt from punishment, but you shall surely drink.


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For I have sworn by Myself, says Jehovah, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. And all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.


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I have heard a message from Jehovah, and a messenger is sent to the nations, saying, Gather together and come against her, and rise up to the battle.


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Your dreadfulness has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says Jehovah.


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Also Edom shall be an astonishment. Everyone who goes by it shall be appalled and shall hiss at all its plagues.


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As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says Jehovah, no man shall remain there, nor shall a son of man live in it.


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Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the dwelling of the strong. But I will suddenly make him run away from her. And who is a chosen one that I may appoint over her? For who is like Me? And who will summon Me? And who is that shepherd who will stand before Me?


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Therefore hear the counsel of Jehovah which He has taken against Edom, and His purposes which He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall drag them away; surely He shall desolate their dwellings with them.


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Behold, he shall come up and fly like the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah. And in that day the heart of the mighty men of Edom shall be like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.


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Concerning Damascus: Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard bad news. Their hearts have melted; the sea is anxious; it cannot be quiet.


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Damascus has become feeble; she has turned to flee, and trembling has seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in labor.


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Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be silenced in that day, says Jehovah of Hosts.


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Thus says Jehovah concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon shall strike: Arise, go up to Kedar, and plunder the men of the east.


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They shall take away their tents and their flocks. They shall take their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels to themselves. And they shall cry out to them, Fear is on every side!


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Flee, go far away, dwell in the depths, O people of Hazor, says Jehovah; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a plan against you.


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Arise, go up to the nation that is at ease, that dwells securely, says Jehovah, which has neither gates nor bars, which dwells alone.


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And their camels shall be for spoils, and the multitude of their cattle for plunder. And I will scatter them to all the winds, cut off to the farthest extremities. And I will bring their calamity from all sides of it, says Jehovah.


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And Hazor shall be a dwelling for jackals and a desolation forever. No man shall live there, nor any son of man dwell in it.


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The Word of Jehovah that came unto Jeremiah the prophet against Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,


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And I will bring the four winds from the four corners of the heavens upon Elam, and will scatter them toward all these winds. And there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.


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For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies and before those who seek their life. And I will bring evil upon them, even My fierce anger, says Jehovah. And I will send the sword after them until I have finished them;


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and I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy the king and the rulers from there, says Jehovah.


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But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring back the captives of Elam, says Jehovah.


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The Word that Jehovah spoke against Babylon, against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.


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Declare among the nations, proclaim, and lift up a banner. Proclaim and do not hide it; say, Babylon is captured, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is broken in pieces; her images are withered up, her idols are broken in pieces.


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For out of the north a nation comes up against her, which shall make her land a waste, and no one shall dwell in it. They shall flee, they shall depart, both man and beast.


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In those days, and at that time, says Jehovah, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping. They shall go and seek Jehovah their God.


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They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces headed there, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten.


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My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.


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All who have found them have devoured them. And their enemies said, We have done no wrong, because they have sinned against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, even Jehovah, the hope of their fathers.


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Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be like the rams before the flocks.


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For, lo, I am stirring up and bringing up against Babylon a company of great nations from a northern land. And they shall array themselves against her. She shall be captured there. Their arrows shall be as those of a skillful, mighty man; none shall return in vain.


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Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O destroyers of My inheritance; because you are fat like a heifer in lush grass, and bellow like bulls;


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your mother shall be deeply ashamed; she who bore you shall be embarrassed. Behold, the last of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land and a desert.


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Because of the wrath of Jehovah it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly a waste. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified and hiss at all her plagues.


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Put yourselves in array against Babylon all around; all you who bend the bow, shoot at her, and spare no arrows; for she has sinned against Jehovah.


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Shout against her all around. She has given her hand; her foundations have fallen, her walls have been thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Jehovah. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, do unto her.


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Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn, each one to his people; and they shall flee, each one to his own land.


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Israel is like scattered sheep, driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has crushed his bones.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.


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And I will bring Israel back to his home, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.


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In those days, and at that time, says Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and it shall not be found; and the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; for I will pardon those whom I spare.


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Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Waste and exterminate after them, says Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded you.


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How the hammer of the whole earth is chopped off and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!


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I have laid a trap for you, and you have also been caught, O Babylon, and you did not even know it. You have been found and also captured, because you have fought against Jehovah.


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Jehovah has opened His armory, and has brought forth the weapons of His indignation. For this is the work of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.


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Come against her from the border; open her storehouses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her completely. Let nothing of her be left.


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Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment.


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The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of His temple.


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Summon the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, camp against it all around; let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her. For she has been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel.


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Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be silenced in that day, says Jehovah.


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Behold, I am against you, O proud ones, says the Lord Jehovah of Hosts; for your day has come, the time that I will judge you.


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And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and no one shall raise him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall consume everything all around him.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together. And all who captured them have held them fast; they have refused to let them go.


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Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of Hosts, is His name. He shall thoroughly plead their case, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.


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A sword is upon the Chaldeans, says Jehovah, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her rulers, and upon her wise men.


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A sword is upon the liars, and they shall become fools. A sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.


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A sword is upon their horses and their chariots, and upon all the mixed people in her midst; and they shall become as women. A sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed.


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A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up. For it is the land of graven images, and they act madly and are in dread.


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Therefore the beasts of the desert shall dwell there with the howling beasts. And the young owls shall dwell in it. And it shall not again be inhabited forever; it shall not be lived in from generation to generation.


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As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says Jehovah, so no man shall remain there, nor shall any son of man live in it.


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Behold, a people shall come from the north, even a great nation; and many kings shall be aroused from the ends of the earth.


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They lay hold on the bow and spear; they are cruel and shall not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride on horses, set in array like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Babylon.


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The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands became feeble. Anguish has taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in labor.


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Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of the Jordan against the dwelling of the strong. But I will make them suddenly run away from her. And who is a chosen one whom I may appoint over her? For who is like Me? And who will set My appointments? And who is that shepherd who will face Me?


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Therefore hear the counsel of Jehovah that He has taken against Babylon; and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely the least of the flock shall drag them; surely He shall make their dwelling desolate to them.


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Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up a destroying wind against Babylon, and against those dwelling in their midst who rise up against Me.


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And I will send strangers into Babylon who shall winnow her and shall empty her land. For in the day of calamity they shall be against her all around.


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Do not let the archer tread and bend his bow; nor lift himself up in his armor. And do not spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army.


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For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, Jehovah of Hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.


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Flee out of the middle of Babylon, and each man deliver his soul. Do not be cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of Jehovah's vengeance; He will make good her recompense.


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Babylon has been a golden cup in Jehovah's hand, which made all the earth drunk. The nations have drunk her wine; therefore the nations are deranged.


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Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her; take balm for her pain, if perhaps she may be healed.


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We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her and let us go, each one into his own land; for her judgment reaches to the heavens and is lifted up to the skies.


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Jehovah has brought forth our righteousness; come and let us declare in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.


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Polish the arrows; gather the shields. Jehovah has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance of His temple.


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Set up the banner on the walls of Babylon; make the guard strong; set up the watchmen; prepare the ambushes. For Jehovah has both planned and done that which He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.


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O you who live on many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, and the measure of your unjust gain.


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Jehovah of Hosts has sworn by Himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men as with locust caterpillars; and they shall lift up a shout against you.


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When He utters His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and He causes the mists to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings with rain and brings forth the wind out of His treasures.


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Every man is stupid in knowledge; every refiner is put to shame by graven images. For his molten image is deception, and there is no breath in them.


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The Portion of Jacob is not like them; for He is the Former of all things, and Israel is the offshoot of His inheritance. Jehovah of Hosts is His name.


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You are My battle-ax and weapons of war; for with you I will shatter nations; and with you I will destroy kingdoms.


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And with you I will shatter the horse and his rider; and with you I will shatter the chariot and his rider.


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Also with you I will shatter man and woman; and with you I will shatter old and young; and with you I will shatter the young man and the maiden.


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I will also shatter the shepherd and his flock with you. And with you I will shatter the farmer and his yoke of oxen; and with you I will shatter governors and rulers.


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And I will recompense unto Babylon, and unto all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all the evil that they have done in Zion in your eyes, says Jehovah.


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Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, says Jehovah, who destroys all the earth. And I will stretch out My hand upon you and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.


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And they shall not take a stone from you for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be a waste forever, says Jehovah.


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Set up a banner in the land; blow the shofar among the nations; prepare the nations against her. Call the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz together against her; appoint a commander against her. Cause the horses to come up as the bristling caterpillars.


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Consecrate nations against her, with the kings of the Medes, her governors and all her rulers, and all the land of his realm.


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And the land shall tremble and writhe. For every purpose of Jehovah shall be fulfilled against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a waste without inhabitant.


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The mighty men of Babylon have stopped fighting; they have remained in strongholds; their might has failed. They became like women; they have burned her dwellings; the bars of her gates are broken.


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A runner shall run to meet a runner, and a herald to a herald, to report to the king of Babylon that his city is captured from end to end;


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and that the passages are blocked; and they have burned the reeds with fire, and the men of war are frightened.


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For thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor, and it is time to thresh her. Yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.


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Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel. He has swallowed me up like a dragon; he has filled his stomach with my delicacies; he has rinsed me out.


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The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, the inhabitant of Zion shall say. And, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, Jerusalem shall say.


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Therefore thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.


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And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, a horror and a hissing, without inhabitant.


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In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunk so that they may rejoice and sleep a never-ending sleep, and not wake up, says Jehovah.


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How Sheshach is captured! And how the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become a waste among the nations!


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Her cities are desolate, a dry land and a wilderness, a land in which no man dwells, nor does any son of man pass by it.


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And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. And the nations shall not flow together to him any more; yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.


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And let not your heart faint, nor fear the rumor that shall be heard in the land. The report shall come in a year. And after that a report shall come in another year; and violence shall be in the land, ruler against ruler.


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Therefore, behold, the days are coming that I will punish the graven images of Babylon. And all her land shall be put to shame, and all her slain shall fall in her midst.


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And the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, shall shout for joy over Babylon; for the plunderers shall come to her from the north, says Jehovah.


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As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall.


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You who have escaped the sword, go away! Do not stand still! Remember Jehovah from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.


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We are confounded because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of Jehovah's house.


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Therefore behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, that I will punish her graven images, and throughout all her land the wounded shall groan.


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Though Babylon should mount up to the heavens, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet plunderers shall come unto her from Me, says Jehovah.


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because Jehovah is plundering Babylon, and the loud voice has been blotted out of her. Her waves are turbulent like great waters, they have made a great roaring sound;


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because the plunderer has come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are captured. Every one of their bows is broken, for Jehovah, the Mighty God of recompenses, makes good the recompense.


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And I will make her rulers drunk, along with her wise ones, her governors, and her officials, and her mighty men. And they shall sleep a never-ending sleep and not wake up, says the King whose name is Jehovah of Hosts.


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Thus says Jehovah of Hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be completely broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the nation shall labor in vain, and the people shall be in the fire, and they shall be weary.


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The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was a quiet leader.


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So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon.


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And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you arrive in Babylon, and have seen, and have read all these words,


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then you shall say, O Jehovah, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that no one shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be a waste forever.


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And it shall be when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates.


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And you shall say, In this way shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise, from the evil that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.


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Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.


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For although the anger of Jehovah was upon Jerusalem and Judah (until He had cast them out from His presence), Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.


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And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it and built siege walls against it all around.


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And in the fourth month, in the ninth of the month, the famine was so severe in the city, so that there was no food for the people of the land.


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Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden. (And the Chaldeans lay in wait all around the city.) And they went by the way of the plain.


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But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And all his army was scattered from him.


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So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he passed judgment against him.


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And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. He also killed all the rulers of Judah in Riblah.


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And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah. And the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and brought him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.


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And in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, (which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came into Jerusalem.


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And he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house. And he burned with fire all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great ones.


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And all the army of the Chaldeans, with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.


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And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took captive some of the poor of the people, and the rest of the people who remained in the city, and those who deserted, who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.


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But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers.


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Also the Chaldeans broke the pillars of bronze that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the bronze sea in the house of Jehovah, and carried all the bronze from them to Babylon.


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They also took away the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered.


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And the captain of the guard took away the basins, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the spoons, and the cups; what was gold, in gold; and what was silver, in silver.


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The two pillars, one sea, and twelve bronze bulls that were under the bases, which King Solomon had made in the house of Jehovah; the bronze of all these vessels was without weight.


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And concerning the pillars: the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits. And a measuring line of twelve cubits went around it, and its thickness was four fingers; it was hollow.


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And a capital of bronze was on it. And the height of one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capitals all around, all of bronze. The second pillar also, and the pomegranates, were like these.


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And there were ninety-six pomegranates on a side; all the pomegranates on the network were a hundred all around.


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And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers.


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He also took out of the city an official who was in charge of the men of war; and seven men from those who were close to the king, who were found in the city; and the chief scribe of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the middle of the city.


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And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.


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And the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was taken captive out of his own land.


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These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar took captive: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews;


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in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he took captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons;


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in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took captive seven hundred and forty-five persons of the Jews. All the persons were four thousand and six hundred.


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And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty-fifth of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him out of prison,


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and spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon.


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And as for his allowance: a continual allowance was given him from the king of Babylon, the matter day by day, until the day of his death, all the days of his life.


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How alone sits the city that was full of people! She has become like a widow, who was once great among the nations, a princess among the nations, but now has come under tribute.


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She weeps bitterly in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; among all her lovers, she has no one to comfort her. All her friends have dealt deceitfully with her; they have become her enemies.


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Judah went into captivity under affliction and hard labor. She dwells among the nations; she finds no rest; all her pursuers have overtaken her between the straits.


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The roads of Zion mourn because none go to the appointed meetings. All her gates are deserted; her priests sigh; her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.


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Her oppressors have become the chief; her enemies are at ease; for Jehovah has afflicted her for the multitude of her sins. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.


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And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty has departed. Her rulers have become like deer, who find no pasture, that flee without strength before the pursuer.


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In the days of her affliction and her wandering, Jerusalem remembered all her desirable things from ancient days, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy with no one to help her. The enemies saw her; they laughed at her annihilation.


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Jerusalem has grievously sinned, therefore she has become impure. All who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness; yea, she sighs and turns backward.


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Her uncleanness is in her skirts; she did not remember her end, and her downfall was extraordinary. There is no comforter for her. O Jehovah, behold my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself.


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The enemy has spread out his hand upon all her desirable things; for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, whom You commanded that they should not enter into Your assembly.


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All her people sigh; they seek bread. They have given their desirable things for food to restore life. See, O Jehovah, and look upon me, for I have become vile.


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Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow which is done to me, with which Jehovah has afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger.


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From above He has sent fire into my bones and it has laid them low. He has spread a net for my feet; He has turned me back; He has made me desolate and faint all the day.


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The yoke of my transgressions is bound by His hand, woven together, and thrust upon my neck. He has made my strength to falter; the Lord has delivered me into their hands. I am not able to rise up.


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The Lord has trampled all my mighty ones in my midst; He has called a gathering against me to crush my young men. The Lord has trodden the virgin daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.


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For these I weep; my eye, my eye runs down with water, because the comforter who could refresh my soul is far from me. My children are desolate because the enemy has prevailed.


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Zion spreads forth her hands, but no one comforts her. Jehovah has commanded concerning Jacob that his enemies should be all around him; Jerusalem has become as an impure thing among them.


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Jehovah is righteous, for I have rebelled against His command. I beseech you, all peoples, hear and behold my sorrow. My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.


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I called for my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and my elders died in the city while they sought food for them to restore their life.


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Behold, O Jehovah, for I am in distress; my stomach is upset; my heart churns within me, for I have grievously rebelled. Outside the sword bereaves; at home it is like death.


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They hear that I sigh; but no one comforts me. All my enemies have heard of my evil; they are glad that You have done it. You will bring the day that You have called, and they shall be like me.


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Let all their wickedness come before You; and do to them as You have done to me for all my transgressions. For my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.


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How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger! He cast down the beauty of Israel from the heavens to the earth and remembered not His footstool in the day of His anger.


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The Lord has swallowed up all the dwelling places of Jacob and has not pitied. In His wrath He has thrown down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has brought them down to the ground. He has defiled the kingdom and its rulers.


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He has cut off all the horn of Israel in His fierce anger; He has drawn back His right hand from before the enemy, and He burned against Jacob like flaming fire which devours all around.


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He has bent His bow like an enemy; He stood with His right hand like an adversary, and killed all who were desirable to the eye in the tent of the daughter of Zion. He has poured out His fury like fire.


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The Lord was like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel; He has swallowed up all her palaces, and destroyed His strongholds. And He has increased mourning and lamentation in the daughter of Judah.


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And He has done violence to His pavilion like it were a garden, and has destroyed His meeting places. Jehovah has caused the appointed meetings and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and He has despised the king and the priest in the indignation of His anger.


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The Lord has cast off His altar; He has abhorred His sanctuary; He has given up the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have made a sound in the house of Jehovah, as in the day of the appointed meetings.


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Jehovah has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; He has stretched out a line; He has not withdrawn His hand from devouring, and He made rampart and wall lament; they languish together.


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Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her rulers are among the nations. The law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from Jehovah.


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The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground and are silent; they throw dust on their heads; they gird on sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.


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My eyes fail with tears; my stomach is upset; my liver is poured on the ground for the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the children and the babies faint in the streets of the city.


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They say to their mothers, Where are grain and wine? When they faint they are like the wounded in the streets of the city, pouring out their lives into their mothers' bosoms.


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What can I testify for you? To what thing shall I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what shall I equal you, so that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your break is great like the sea! Who can heal you?


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Your prophets have seen vain and foolish things for you, and they have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captives; but they have seen false utterances and causes of banishment for you.


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All who pass by clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city which is called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?


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All your enemies have opened their mouth against you; they hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we waited for. We have found it, we have seen it.


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Jehovah has done what He had purposed; He has fulfilled His Word which He commanded in the days of old. He has thrown down and not pitied. And He has caused your enemy to rejoice over you; He has set up the horn of your foes.


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Their heart cried unto the Lord. O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; give yourself no rest. Let not the daughter of your eye be silent.


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Arise, cry out in the night. At the beginning of the watches, pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift up your hands toward Him for the life of your children who faint from hunger at the head of every street.


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Behold, O Jehovah, and consider to whom You have done this. Shall the women eat their offspring, children of their tender care? Shall the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?


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Young and old lie on the ground in the streets; my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of Your anger; You have slaughtered and not pitied.


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You have summoned, as in an appointed day, my terrors all around; and there was not one who escaped, or a survivor in the day of Jehovah's anger. Those whom I have nursed and nurtured, my enemy has consumed.


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How the gold has become dim; the fine gold has changed! The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street.


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The precious sons of Zion, weighed against refined gold, are counted as earthen vessels, the work of the hands of the potter!


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Even the monsters draw out the breast to suckle their young. But the daughter of my people is cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.


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The tongue of the infant cleaves to the roof of his mouth in thirst; the young children ask for bread; there is none broken to them.


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Those who ate delicacies are desolate in the streets; those brought up in scarlet embrace refuse heaps.


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For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown as in a moment, with no hands to writhe over her.


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Her Nazirites were purer than snow, whiter than milk; they were redder of body than rubies; their polishing as sapphires.


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Their appearance is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones; it is dried up; it has become like wood.


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Better off are the ones slain by the sword than the ones slain by hunger; for they pine away, pierced through for lack of the fruits of the fields.


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The hands of the compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.


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Jehovah has fulfilled His fury; He has poured out His fierce anger, and has kindled a fire in Zion, and it has devoured its foundations.


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The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy would have entered the gates into Jerusalem.


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For the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, shedding the blood of the just in her midst,


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they have wandered as blind men in the streets; they are defiled with blood, so that no one could touch their clothes.


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They cried out to them, Depart! Unclean! Depart, depart! Do not touch us! When they fled and wandered, they said among the nations, They will not continue to live there.


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The face of Jehovah has scattered them out; He will no longer have regard for them; they did not respect the persons of the priests, nor show favor to the elders.


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As for us, our eyes failed, watching in vain for our help; in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.


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They have hunted our steps to keep us from going in our streets; our end was near, our days were fulfilled, for our end has come.


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Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens; they pursued us on the mountains, they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.


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The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was captured in their pits; of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.


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Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, who lives in the land of Uz. The cup also shall pass through unto you; you shall become drunk and stripped naked.


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The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; He will send you into captivity no more. He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins.


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Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.


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the Word of Jehovah came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the River Chebar; and the hand of Jehovah was upon him there.


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And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with flashing fire in it; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.


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Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.


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Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves' feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze.


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And the hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings.


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Their wings joined one to another. They did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward.


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As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle.


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Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one were joined to one another, and two covered their bodies.


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And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit was to go, and they did not turn when they went.


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As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.


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Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, a wheel was on the earth beside the living creatures with its four faces.


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The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workmanship was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.


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When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not change directions as they went.


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As for their rims, they were so high that they were awesome; and their rims were full of eyes, all around the four of them.


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When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.


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Wherever the spirit was to go, there they went, where the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted up alongside them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.


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When those went, these went; when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up alongside them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.


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The likeness of the expanse above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out above over their heads.


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And under the expanse their wings spread out straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of their bodies.


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When they went, I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the sound of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings.


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And there was a voice from the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings.


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And above the expanse over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it.


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Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around.


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As the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.


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And He said to me: Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.


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For they are impudent and hardhearted children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah.


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As for them, whether they hear or whether they forbear; for they are a rebellious house; yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.


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And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house.


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You shall speak My Words to them, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, for they are most rebellious.


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But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.


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And when I looked, behold, there was a hand stretched out to me; and lo, a scroll of a book was in it.


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And He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.


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Moreover He said to me, Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.


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And He said to me, Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you. So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey for sweetness.


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For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel,


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not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you.


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But the house of Israel is not willing to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.


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Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads.


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Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.


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Moreover He said to me: Son of man, receive into your heart all My Words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears.


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And go! Come to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.


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Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: Blessed is the glory of Jehovah from His place!


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I also heard the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching one another, and the sound of the wheels alongside them, and a great thunderous sound.


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So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of Jehovah was strong upon me.


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Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there in shock among them seven days.


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Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear the Word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me:


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When I say to the wicked, You shall die the death, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.


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Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.


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Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.


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Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall live life because he took warning; and you have delivered your soul.


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And the hand of Jehovah was upon me there, and He said to me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and there I will talk with you.


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So I arose and went forth into the plain. And behold, the glory of Jehovah stood there, like the glory which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face.


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Then the Spirit entered into me and stood me on my feet, and spoke with me and said to me: Go, shut yourself inside your house.


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But you, O son of man, behold, they shall put ropes on you and bind you with them, and you shall not go out among them.


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And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and not be one rebuking them, for they are a rebellious house.


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But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah. He who hears, let him hear; and he who forbears, let him forbear; for they are a rebellious house.


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You also, son of man, take a clay tablet and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, Jerusalem.


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And lay siege against it, build a siege wall against it, and heap up a mound against it; set camps against it also, and place battering rams against it all around.


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Moreover take for yourself an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face against it, and it shall be under siege, and you shall lay siege against it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.


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Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.


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For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.


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And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.


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Therefore you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem; your arm shall be uncovered, and you shall prophesy against it.


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And surely I will put bands on you so that you cannot turn from one side to another till you have completed the days of your siege.


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Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them into one vessel, and make bread of them for yourself, according to the number of days that you lie on your side; three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat it.


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And your food which you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time to time you shall eat it.


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And Jehovah said, Even so shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, where I will drive them.


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So I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! Behold, my soul has never been defiled from my youth till now; I have never eaten a carcass or a torn animal, nor has abominable flesh ever come into my mouth.


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Then He said to me, See, I am giving you cow manure instead of human dung, and you shall prepare your bread over it.


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Moreover He said to me, Son of man, behold, I will cut off the food supply in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and in horror,


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that they may lack bread and water, and be appalled with one another, and waste away because of their iniquity.


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And you, son of man, take a sharp knife, a barber's razor, take it to yourself and pass it over your head and your beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair.


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You shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are finished; then you shall take one-third and strike around it with the sword, and one-third you shall scatter into the wind: and I will draw out a sword after them.


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Then take some of them again and throw them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will go out into all the house of Israel.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the midst of the nations and the lands all around her.


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And she has rebelled against My judgments by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against My statutes more than the lands that are all around her; for they have rejected My judgments, and they have not walked in My statutes.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because you have multiplied disobedience more than the nations that are all around you, have not walked in My statutes nor kept My judgments, nor even done according to the judgments of the nations that are all around you;


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therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold I, even I, am against you and will execute judgments in your midst in the eyes of the nations.


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And I will do in you what I have never done, and the likes of which I will never do again, because of all your abominations.


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Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in you, and all of you who remain I will scatter to all the winds.


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Therefore, as I live, says the Lord Jehovah, surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you; My eye will not spare, nor will I have any pity.


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A third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and a third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter the other third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.


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Thus shall My anger be spent, and I will cause My fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted; and they shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken in My zeal, when I have spent My fury upon them.


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Moreover I will make you a waste and a reproach among the nations that are all around you, in the eyes of all who pass by.


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So it shall be a reproach, a taunt, a chastening, and a horror to the nations that are all around you, when I execute judgments against you in anger and in fury and in furious punishment. I, Jehovah, have spoken.


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When I send against them the terrible arrows of famine which shall be for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, I will increase the famine upon you and cut off your food supply.


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Thus I will send against you famine and evil beasts, and they will bereave you. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, Jehovah, have spoken.


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and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord Jehovah! Thus says the Lord Jehovah to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys: Behold I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.


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And your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols.


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And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars.


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In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and found guilty, your idols broken and brought to an end, your incense altars cut down, and your works blotted out.


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Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered throughout the earth.


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And those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has turned away from Me, and by their eyes which go whoring after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they did in all their abominations.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Strike with your hands and stamp with your feet, and say, Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.


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He who is far off shall die by the pestilence, he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine. Thus will I spend My fury upon them.


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Then you shall know that I am Jehovah, when their slain are among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every thick oak, wherever they offered soothing aromas to all their idols.


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Thus I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land desolate, yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblah, in all their dwelling places. And they shall know that I am Jehovah.


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And you, son of man, thus says the Lord Jehovah to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.


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Now the end has come upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will repay you for all your abominations.


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My eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity; but I will repay your ways, and your abominations will be in your midst; then you shall know that I am Jehovah!


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Morning has come to you, you who dwell in the land; the time has come, a day of trouble is near, and not a shout of rejoicing in the mountains.


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Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury, and spend My anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will repay you for all your abominations.


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My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will repay you according to your ways, and your abominations that are in your midst. And you shall know that I am Jehovah who strikes.


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Behold, the day! Behold, it has come! Morning has gone forth; the staff has blossomed, pride has budded.


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Violence has risen up into a staff of wickedness; none of them shall remain, none of their multitude, none of their abundance, nor any eminent among them.


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The time has come, the day draws near. Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all their multitude.


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For the seller shall not return to what has been sold, though he may still be alive (for the vision concerns the whole multitude, and shall not change); no one will strengthen himself who lives in iniquity.


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They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, but no one goes to battle; for My wrath is on all their multitude.


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The sword is outside, and the pestilence and famine within. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword; and whoever is in the city, famine and pestilence will devour him.


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Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each for his iniquity.


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They will also be girded with sackcloth; trembling will cover them; shame will be on every face, and baldness on all their heads.


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They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like filthiness; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Jehovah; they will not satisfy their souls, nor fill their stomachs, because it is the stumbling block of their iniquity.


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As for the beauty of His ornaments, He set it in majesty; but they made from it the images of their abominations; their detestable things; therefore I have made it like refuse to them.


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And I will give it as plunder into the hands of strangers, and to the wicked of the earth as spoils; and they shall defile it.


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I will turn My face from them, and they will defile My secret place; for violent ones shall enter it and defile it.


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Therefore I will bring the most evil of the nations, and they will possess their houses; I will bring an end to the pomp of the strong, and their holy places shall be defiled.


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Disaster will come upon disaster, and rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; but the Law will perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders.


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The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land will be terrified. I will do to them according to their way, and according to their judgment I will punish them. And they shall know that I am Jehovah!


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And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord Jehovah fell upon me there.


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Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire; from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.


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And He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the heavens, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.


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Then He said to me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, toward the north at the gate of the altar, was this image of jealousy at the entrance.


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Furthermore He said to me, Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.


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Then He said to me, Son of man, dig into the wall; and when I dug into the wall, there was an opening.


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So I went in and saw; and behold, every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, carved all around on the wall.


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And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up.


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Then He said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, Jehovah does not see us, Jehovah has forsaken the land.


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So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the house of Jehovah; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.


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Then He said to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.


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So He brought me into the inner court of the house of Jehovah; and behold, at the door of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing down to the sun toward the east.


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And He said to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose.


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Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.


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Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.


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And, behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer's inkhorn at his side. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.


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And the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer's inkhorn at his side;


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and Jehovah said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.


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To the others He said in my hearing, Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have pity.


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Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. So they began with the elders who were before the house.


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Then He said to them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth! And they went out and killed in the city.


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So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?


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Then He said to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is filled with blood, and the city is full of perversity; for they say, Jehovah has forsaken the land; and, Jehovah does not see!


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And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds upon their own head.


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And behold, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, I have done as You commanded me.


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And I looked, and there in the expanse that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne.


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Then He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he went in before my eyes.


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Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the house when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court.


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Then the glory of Jehovah went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of Jehovah.


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And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks.


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And it happened, when He had commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim, that he went in and stood beside the wheels.


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And the cherub stretched out his hand from among the cherubim to the fire that was among the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed with linen, who took it and went out.


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And when I looked, behold, four wheels were beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub and another wheel beside each other cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was as the color of a beryl stone.


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When they went, they went toward any of their four directions; they did not turn aside when they went, but followed in the direction the head was facing. They did not turn aside as they went.


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And their whole body, with their back, their hands, their wings, and the wheels that the four had, were full of eyes all around.


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And each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.


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And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels themselves did not turn from beside them.


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When they stood still, these stood still; and when they rose up, these rose up; for the spirit of the living creature was in them.


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And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the house of Jehovah, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them from above.


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This is the living creature I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar, and I knew that they were cherubim.


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Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.


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And the likeness of their faces was the same as the faces which I had seen by the River Chebar, their appearance, even theirs. They each went straight forward.


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Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the East Gate of the house of Jehovah, which faces eastward; and there at the door of the gate were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, rulers of the people.


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And He said to me: Son of man, these are the men who devise wickedness and give evil advice in this city,


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And the Spirit of Jehovah fell upon me, and said to me, Speak! Thus says Jehovah: Thus you have said, O house of Israel; for I know the thoughts that come into your mind.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the flesh, and this city is the kettle; but I shall bring you out of the midst of it.


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And I will bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and execute judgments against you.


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You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you to the borders of Israel. And you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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This city shall not be your kettle, nor shall you be the flesh in its midst. I will judge you in the borders of Israel.


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And you shall know that I am Jehovah; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My judgments, but have done according to the customs of the nations which are all around you.


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And it happened, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?


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Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, the men of your kindred, and all the house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Go far away from Jehovah; this land has been given to us as a possession.


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Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Although I have cast them far off among the nations, and although I have scattered them throughout the earth, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the lands where they have gone.


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Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the lands where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.


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And they will come there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there.


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And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh,


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that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.


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But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord Jehovah.


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Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them from above.


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And the glory of Jehovah went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.


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Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to those of the captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me.


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Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.


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Therefore, son of man, prepare your belongings for exile, and go into exile by day in their sight. You shall go from your place into exile to another place in their sight. It may be that they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.


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By day you shall bring out your belongings in their sight, as though going into captivity; and at evening you shall go in their sight, like those who go into captivity.


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In their sight you shall bear them on your shoulders and carry them out at twilight; you shall cover your face, so that you cannot see the ground, for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.


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So I did as I was commanded. I brought out my belongings by day, as though going into captivity, and at evening I dug through the wall with my hand. I brought them out at twilight, and I bore them on my shoulder in their sight.


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Say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are among them.


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Say, I am a sign to you. As I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.


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And the prince who is among them shall bear his belongings on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They shall dig through the wall to carry them out through it. He shall cover his face, so that he cannot see the ground with his eyes.


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I will also spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there.


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And I will scatter to every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his troops; and I will draw out the sword after them.


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And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the earth.


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But I will leave of them a number of men from the sword, from famine, and from pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the nations wherever they go. And they shall know that I am Jehovah.


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And say to the people of the land, Thus says the Lord Jehovah to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their water with horror, so that her land may be emptied of all who are in it, because of the violence of all those who dwell in it.


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Then the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall become desolate; and you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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Son of man, what is this proverb that you people have about the land of Israel, which says, The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?


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Tell them therefore, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel. But say to them, The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.


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For I, Jehovah, speak, and the Word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be drawn out. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying, The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times afar off.


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Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: None of My words will be drawn out any more, but the word which I speak will be done, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, Hear the Word of Jehovah!


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!


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You have not gone up into the gaps, nor built a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle in the day of Jehovah.


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They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, Jehovah declares! But Jehovah has not sent them; yet they hope that their word may be confirmed.


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Have you not seen a vain vision, and have you not spoken a lying divination? You say, Jehovah declares; though I have not spoken.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because you have spoken vanity and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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And My hand will be against the prophets who see vanity and who divine lies; they shall not be in the council of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.


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Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, Peace! when there is no peace; and one builds a wall, and plasters it with whitewash.


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Say to those who plaster it with whitewash, that it will fall. There will be a flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall break it down.


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Surely, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My fury; and there shall be a flooding rain in My anger, and great hailstones in fury to consume it.


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Thus I will break down the wall you have plastered with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. And you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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Thus will I accomplish My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it with whitewash; and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who plastered it;


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that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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Likewise, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; prophesy against them,


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and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the women who sew amulets on their sleeves and make veils for the heads of people of every height, to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and save the souls alive to yourselves?


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And will you profane Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, executing souls that should not die, and keeping alive the souls that should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies?


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against your amulets by which you hunt souls to make them fly. I will tear them from your arms, and let the souls go, the souls you hunt to make them fly.


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I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall no longer be as prey in your hand. And you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not pained; and you have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that he does not turn from his wicked way to restore his life.


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Therefore you shall no longer see vanity nor divine divinations; for I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I be inquired of at all by them?


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Therefore speak to them, and say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I, Jehovah will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols,


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that I may catch the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from Me through their idols.


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Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.


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For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the stranger who sojourns in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I Jehovah will answer him by Myself.


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I will set My face against that man and make him desolate as a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. And you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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And if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I Jehovah have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.


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And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired,


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that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me, nor be defiled anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people and I may be their God, says the Lord Jehovah.


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Son of man, when a land sins against Me by acting treacherously unfaithfully, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of food, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it.


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And although these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they bereave it, and make it so desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts,


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although these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be desolate.


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Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, Sword, go through the land, and I cut off man and beast from it,


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although these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered.


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Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast,


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although Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.


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For thus says the Lord Jehovah: How much more shall it be when I send My four severe judgments on Jerusalem; the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence; to cut off man and beast from it!


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Yet behold, there shall be left in it a remnant who will be brought out, both sons and daughters; surely they will come out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all that I have brought upon it.


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And they will comfort you when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have done nothing without cause, all that I have done in it, says the Lord Jehovah.


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Son of man, how is the wood of the vine, the vine branch, better than any other wood which is among the trees of the forest?


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Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it on which to hang any vessel?


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Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work?


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Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem;


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and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. And you shall know that I am Jehovah, when I set My face against them.


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And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted treacherously unfaithfully, says the Lord Jehovah.


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and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.


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As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.


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No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, for you yourself were loathed on the day you were born.


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And when I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you in your blood, Live! Yes, I said to you in your blood, Live!


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I have made you a multitude, like a plant in the field; and you grew, became great, bedecked with ornaments. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.


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When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread the edge of My garment over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk.


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Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate of fine flour, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and succeeded to royalty.


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Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed upon you, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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But you trusted in your own beauty, committed adultery because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it.


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You took some of your garments and adorned multicolored high places for yourself, and committed adultery on them. Such things should not happen, nor be.


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You have also taken your beautiful jewelry from My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images and committed adultery with them.


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And you took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set My oil and My incense before them.


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Also My food which I gave you; the fine flour, oil, and honey which I fed you; you set it before them as a soothing aroma; and so it was, says the Lord Jehovah.


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Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small matter,


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that you have slain My children and offered them up to them by causing them to pass through the fire?


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And in all your abominations and acts of harlotry you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, squirming in your blood.


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You built your high places at the head of every road, and made your beauty to be abhorred. You offered yourself to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of harlotry.


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You also committed adultery with the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, and increased your acts of harlotry to provoke Me to anger.


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Behold, therefore, I stretched out My hand against you, diminished your allotment, and gave you up to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your licentious ways.


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You also committed adultery with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; indeed you committed adultery with them and still were not satisfied.


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Moreover you multiplied your acts of harlotry in the land of Canaan, as far as Chaldea; and even then you were not satisfied.


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How weak is your heart! declares the Lord Jehovah, seeing you do all these things; the deeds of a domineering woman of prostitution.


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You build your mound at the head of every road, and built your high place in every open place. Yet you were not like a prostitute, in that you scorned payment.


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Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them to come to you from all around for your harlotry.


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You are the opposite of other women in your harlotry, because no one solicited you to be a prostitute. In that you gave payment but no payment was given you, therefore you are the opposite.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because your filthiness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your harlotry with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them,


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surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.


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And I will judge you as women who commit adultery or who shed blood are judged; I will bring blood upon you in fury and jealousy.


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I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your mounds and break down your high places. They shall also strip you of your clothes, take your beautiful jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.


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They shall also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones and cut you with their swords.


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And they shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will put an end to your harlotry, and you shall no longer hire lovers.


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So I will lay to rest My fury toward you, and My jealousy shall depart from you. I will be quiet, and be angry no more.


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Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but agitated Me with all these things, surely I will also recompense your deeds upon your own head, says the Lord Jehovah. And you shall not commit licentiousness in addition to all your abominations.


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You are your mother's daughter, loathing her husband and children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.


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And your older sister is Samaria, who dwells with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who dwells to the south of you, is Sodom and her daughters.


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Yet you did not walk in their ways nor act according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you became more corrupt than they in all your ways.


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As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done.


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Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.


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Samaria did not commit half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all the abominations which you have done.


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You who judged your sisters, bear your own shame also, because your sins were more abominable than theirs; they are more righteous than you. Yes, be disgraced also, and bear your own shame, because you justified your sisters.


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When I bring back their captives, the captives of Sodom and her daughters, and the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then I will also bring back the captives of your captivity among them,


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When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters return to their former state, then you and your daughters will return to your former state.


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before your wickedness was uncovered. It was like the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria and all those around her, and of the daughters of the Philistines, who despise you from all around.


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For thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.


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Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.


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Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when you receive your older and your younger sisters; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant.


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so that you may remember and be ashamed. And you will never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide atonement for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with large wings and long pinions, full of feathers of various colors, came to Lebanon and took the highest branch from the cedar.


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He cropped off its topmost young twig and carried it to a land of trade; he set it in a city of merchants.


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Then he took some of the seed of the land and planted it in a fertile field; he placed it by abundant waters and set it like a willow tree.


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And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature; its branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him. So it became a vine, brought forth branches, and put forth shoots.


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There was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and stretched its branches toward him, away from the garden terrace where it had been planted, that he might water it.


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It was planted in good soil by many waters, to bring forth branches, bear fruit, and become a majestic vine.


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Say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots, cut off its fruit, and leave it to wither? All of its sprouting leaves will wither, and no great power or many people will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.


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Behold, being planted, will it prosper? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It shall wither in the garden terrace where it sprouted.


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Say now to the rebellious house: Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon has come to Jerusalem and has taken its king and rulers, and led them with him to Babylon.


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And he has taken the king's seed, made a covenant with him, and put him under oath. He also has taken away the mighty of the land,


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that the kingdom might be low, that it might not lift itself up, but that by the keeping of his covenant it might stand.


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But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?


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As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, there he shall die with him in the midst of Babylon.


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Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, when they heap up a siege mound and build a wall to cut off many persons.


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Since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and in fact gave his hand and still did all these things, he shall not escape.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense upon his own head.


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And I will spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and judge him there for the treason by which he betrayed Me.


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And all his fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered to every wind. And you shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.


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On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. And under it will dwell birds of every wing; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell.


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And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done it.


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What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are dull?


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Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die.


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if he has not eaten on the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor defiled his neighbor's wife, nor approached a menstruating woman;


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if he has not oppressed anyone, but has restored to the debtor his pledge; has plundered no one by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry and covered the naked with clothing;


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if he has not given with usury nor taken any increase, but has withdrawn his hand from iniquity and executed true judgment between man and man;


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if he has walked in My statutes and kept My judgments faithfully; he is righteous. He shall live life, says the Lord Jehovah.


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if he has oppressed the poor and needy, plundered by robbery, not restored the pledge, has lifted his eyes to the idols, or committed abomination;


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if he has exacted usury or taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live! If he has done any of these abominations, he shall die the death; his blood shall be upon him.


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If, however, he begets a son who sees all the sins which his father has done, and considers but does not do likewise;


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who has not eaten on the mountains, nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor defiled his neighbor's wife;


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has not oppressed anyone, nor withheld a pledge, nor plundered by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry and covered the naked with clothing;


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who has withdrawn his hand from the poor and not received usury or increase, but has executed My judgments and walked in My statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father; he shall live life!


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As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, plundered his brother by robbery, and did what is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity.


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Yet you say, Why? Does not the son bear the guilt of the father? When the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and done them, he shall live life.


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The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.


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But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has done, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall live life; he shall not die.


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None of the transgressions which he has done shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.


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Do I delight with pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord Jehovah, and not that he should turn back from his ways and live?


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But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the treachery of his unfaithfulness, and the sin which he has sinned, in them he shall die.


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Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not fair. Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair.


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When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is for the iniquity which he has done that he dies.


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Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he has done, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive.


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Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he has done, he shall live life; he shall not die.


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Yet the house of Israel says, The way of the Lord is not fair. O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair.


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Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord Jehovah. Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity shall not be a stumbling block to you.


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Cast away from you all the transgressions by which you have transgressed, and prepare for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit; for why will you die, O house of Israel?


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For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies, declares the Lord Jehovah. Therefore turn and live!


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and say: What is your mother? A lioness: she lay down among the lions; among the young lions she nourished her cubs.


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She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a young lion; he learned to catch prey, and he devoured men.


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The nations also heard of him; he was trapped in their pit, and they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.


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When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.


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He knew their desolate places, and laid waste their cities; the land with its fullness was desolated by the sound of his roaring.


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Then the nations set against him from the provinces on every side, and spread their net over him; he was caught in their pit.


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They put him in a cage with chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him in hunting nets, so that his voice should no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.


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Your mother was like a vine in your blood, planted by the waters, fruitful and full of branches because of many waters.


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She had strong branches for the scepters of rulers. She towered in stature above the thick branches, and was seen in her height amid the abundance of her branches.


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But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit. Her strong branches were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.


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Fire has gone out from a staff of her branches and devoured her fruit, so that she has no strong staff; a scepter for ruling. This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.


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It came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that certain men of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Jehovah, and sat before me.


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Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by you.


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Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.


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And say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: On the day when I chose Israel and raised My hand and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I raised My hand and swore to them, saying, I am Jehovah your God.


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On that day I raised My hand and swore to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all the earth.


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Then I said to them, Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God.


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But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not, each man, cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, I will pour out My fury upon them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.


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But I acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they were, in whose sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.


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And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, which, if a man does, he shall even live by them.


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Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Jehovah who sets them apart.


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But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, which, if a man does, he shall even live by them; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said, I will pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.


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But I acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.


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So I also raised My hand and swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all the earth,


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because they despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but profaned My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.


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But I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols.


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set apart My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am Jehovah your God.


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Nevertheless, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and did not keep My judgments, which, if a man does, he shall even live by them; but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.


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Nevertheless I withdrew My hand and acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.


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And I raised My hand and swore to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the earth,


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because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes followed after their fathers' idols.


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Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live;


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and I defiled them by their gifts, in that they caused all that open the womb to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Jehovah.


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Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, by being treacherously unfaithful to Me.


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For when I brought them into the land concerning which I had raised My hand and sworn to give it to them, and they saw all the high hills and all the thick trees, there they offered their sacrifices and provoked Me with their offerings. There they also sent up their soothing aroma and poured out their drink offerings.


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Then I said to them, What is this high place to which you go? And its name is called Bamah to this day.


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Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Are you defiling yourselves in the manner of your fathers, and committing adultery with their abominations?


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For when you offer your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, even to this day. So shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by you.


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What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say, We will be like the nations, like the families in other lands, serving wood and stone.


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As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you.


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And I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out.


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And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead with you face to face.


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Just as I judged your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land where they dwell, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel. And you will know that I am Jehovah.


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As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord Jehovah: Go, serve every one of you his idols, even hereafter, if you will not obey me. But profane My holy name no more with your gifts and your idols.


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For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord Jehovah, there all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me; there I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings and the firstfruits of your sacrifices, together with all your holy things.


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I will accept you as a soothing aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the lands where you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the nations.


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And you shall know that I am Jehovah, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the land for which I raised My hand and swore to give it to your fathers.


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And there you shall remember your ways and all your evil deeds with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have done.


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And you shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have dealt with you for My name's sake, not according to your wicked ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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Son of man, set your face toward the south; drop a word toward the south and prophesy against the forest land, the South,


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and say to the forest of the South, Hear the Word of Jehovah! Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree and every dry tree in you; the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be scorched by it.


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Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, drop a word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel;


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and say to the land of Israel, Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.


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Because I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north,


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that all flesh may know that I, Jehovah, have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it shall not return anymore.


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And it shall be when they say to you, Why are you sighing? that you shall answer, Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says Jehovah! Say: A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished!


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It is sharpened to slaughter and butcher, polished to flash like lightning! Should we then make mirth? It despises the scepter of My son, as every tree.


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And He has given it to be polished, that it may be handled; this sword is sharpened, and it is polished to be given into the hand of the slayer.


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Cry and howl, son of man; for it will be against My people, against all the rulers of Israel. The sword will be thrown against My people; therefore slap your thigh,


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because it is a testing. And what if the sword despises even the scepter? It shall be no more, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike hand to hand; strike. The third time let the sword be doubled. It is the sword that slays, the sword that slays the great men, that surrounds them.


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I have set the slaughter of the sword against all their gates, That the heart may melt and many may stumble. Ah! It is made bright; it is grasped for the slaughter:


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And you, son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them shall come forth from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city.


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Appoint a road for the sword to go into Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem.


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For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the head of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver.


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In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to lift the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a mound, and to build a siege wall.


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And it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn oaths with them; but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear; because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken with the hand.


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thus says the Lord Jehovah: Remove the turban, and take off the crown; nothing shall remain as it was. Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted.


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Ruin, ruin! I will ruin it! It shall be no more, until He comes whose right it is. And I will give it to Him.


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And you, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; and say, A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for slaughter, for consuming, for flashing;


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while they see false visions for you, while they divine a lie to you, to bring you upon the necks of the slain, the wicked whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end.


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Return it to its sheath. I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land of your birth.


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And I will pour out My indignation upon you; I will blow against you with the fire of My wrath, and deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skilled in destruction.


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You shall be fuel for the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall not be remembered, for I, Jehovah, have spoken.


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And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations!


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Then say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: The city sheds blood in her midst, that her time may come. And she makes idols within herself to defile herself.


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You are guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all lands.


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In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the sojourner; in you they have mistreated the orphan and the widow.


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In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed; in you they eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness.


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In you men uncover the nakedness of their fathers; in you they humble women during their menstrual impurity.


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One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you humbles his sister, his father's daughter.


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In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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Behold, therefore, I have clapped My hands at the unjust gain which you have made, and at the blood which has been in your midst.


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Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I, Jehovah, have spoken, and will do it.


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I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the earth, and destroy your filthiness out of you.


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Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.


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As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow fire on it to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you.


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Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst.


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As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst. And you shall know that I, Jehovah, have poured out My fury upon you.


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The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.


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Her priests have violated My Law and defiled My holy things; they have not divided between the holy and profane, nor have they declared between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.


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Her rulers in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, and to get dishonest gain.


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Her prophets plastered them with whitewash, seeing vain visions, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, when Jehovah has not spoken.


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The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the sojourner.


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So I sought for a man among them who would close up the wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.


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Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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They committed harlotry in Egypt, they committed harlotry in their youth; their breasts were handled, their virgin nipples were fondled.


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Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister; they were Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.


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Oholah committed adultery even though she was Mine; and she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians,


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who were clothed in purple, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.


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Thus she committed her adultery with them, all of them choice men of Assyria; and with all for whom she lusted, with all their idols, she defiled herself.


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She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt, for in her youth they had lain with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and poured out their immorality upon her.


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Therefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, for whom she lusted.


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They uncovered her nakedness, took away her sons and daughters, and slew her with the sword; she became a byword among women, for they had executed judgment on her.


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Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry, more than her sister's harlotry.


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She lusted for the neighboring Assyrians, captains and rulers, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.


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But she added to her harlotry; she looked at men portrayed on the wall, images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,


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girded with waistbands around their waists, flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, in the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their birth.


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And the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their immorality; so she was defiled by them, and her soul was alienated from them.


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So she uncovered her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness. Then My soul was alienated from her, just as My soul was alienated from her sister.


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Yet she multiplied her harlotry in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, when she had committed adultery in the land of Egypt.


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For she lusted for her paramours, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.


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Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled your nipples because of your youthful breasts.


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Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you from every side:


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The Babylonians, all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, all the Assyrians with them, all of them desirable young men, governors and rulers, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.


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And they shall come against you with chariots, wagons, and wheels, with a company of people. They shall array against you buckler, shield, and helmet all around. I will entrust judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.


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I will set My jealousy against you, and they shall deal furiously with you; they shall remove your nose and your ears, and the rest of you shall fall by the sword; they shall take your sons and your daughters, and the rest of you shall be devoured by fire.


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Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not lift your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt anymore.


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For thus says the Lord Jehovah: Surely I will deliver you into the hand of those you hate, into the hand of those from whom your soul is alienated.


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They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your adultery shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry.


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I will do these things to you because you have gone whoring after the nations, because you have become defiled by their idols.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: You shall drink of your sister's cup, deep and wide; you shall be laughed to scorn and held in derision; for it contains much.


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You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of horror and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria.


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You shall drink and drain it, you shall break its shards, and tear off your own breasts; for I have spoken, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, therefore you shall bear the penalty of your lewdness and your harlotry.


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Jehovah also said to me: Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.


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For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them.


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Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths.


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For after they had slain their children to their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, this they have done in the midst of My house.


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Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and there they came. And you washed yourself for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.


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You sat on a stately couch, with a table prepared before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil.


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And the sound of a multitude at ease was with her, and drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.


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Then I said concerning her who was worn out in adulteries, Will they commit adultery with her now, and she with them?


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Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman of harlotry; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women.


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And righteous men will judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.


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For thus says the Lord Jehovah: Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to terror and plunder.


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And the company shall stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords. They shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire.


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Thus I will bring an end to lewdness from the land, that all women may be taught not to do according to your lewdness.


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And they shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. And you shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.


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Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,


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Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day; the king of Babylon has leaned against Jerusalem this very day.


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And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Put on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it.


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Gather pieces of meat into it, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with choice cuts;


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take the choice of the flock. Also pile bones under it, boil it to boiling, and let the cuts simmer in it.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is in it, and whose scum is not gone from it! Bring it out piece by piece. Let no lot fall on it.


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For her blood is in her midst; she set it on top of a rock; she did not pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust.


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That it may raise up fury and take vengeance, I have set her blood on top of a rock, that it may not be covered.


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Heap on the wood, kindle the fire; cook the flesh well, mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned.


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Then set the pot empty on the coals, that it may become hot and its bronze may burn, that its filthiness may be melted in it, that its scum may be consumed.


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She has grown weary with toil, and her great scum has not gone from her. Let her scum be in the fire!


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In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed, you will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore, till I have caused My fury to rest upon you.


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I, Jehovah, have spoken it; it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not hold back, nor will I spare, nor will I have compassion; according to your ways and according to your deeds they will judge you, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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Son of man, behold, I am taking away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down.


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Groan in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache, and do not eat the bread of men of sorrow.


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So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and in the morning I did as I was commanded.


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And the people said to me, Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?


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Speak to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword.


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And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your mustaches nor eat the bread of men of sorrow.


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Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall neither mourn nor weep, but you shall rot away in your iniquities and mourn with one another.


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Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.


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And you, son of man; will it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that upon which they set their hearts, their sons and their daughters.


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on that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you shall speak and no longer be mute. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am Jehovah.


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Say to the Ammonites, Hear the Word of the Lord Jehovah! Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because you said, Aha! against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity,


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behold, therefore, I will deliver you as a possession to the men of the East, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk.


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And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels and Ammon a resting place for flocks. And you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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For thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced in heart with all your contempt for the land of Israel,


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behold, therefore, I will stretch out My hand against you, and give you as plunder to the nations; I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish from the earth; I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because Moab and Seir say, Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,


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therefore, behold, I will clear the territory of Moab of cities, of the cities on its borders, the glory of the land, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kirjathaim.


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To the men of the East I will give it as a possession, along with the Ammonites, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because of what Edom did against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has become very guilty from avenging itself on them,


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therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will also stretch out My hand against Edom, cut off man and beast from it, and make it desolate. From Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword.


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I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, that they may do in Edom according to My anger and according to My fury; and they shall know My vengeance, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because the Philistines dealt with vengeance and took vengeance with spite in their heart, to destroy because of the old hatred,


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therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast.


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I will execute great vengeance on them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I lay My vengeance upon them.


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And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, that the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,


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Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now she is turned over to me; I shall be filled; she is laid waste.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.


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And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like a shiny rock.


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It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken, says the Lord Jehovah; it shall become plunder for the nations.


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And her daughters who are in the fields shall be slain by the sword. And they shall know that I am Jehovah.


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For thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings, with horses, with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company of many people.


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He will slay your daughters with the sword in the fields; he will heap up a mound against you, build a siege wall against you, and raise a shield against you.


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He will set his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers.


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Because of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls will shake at the sound of the horsemen, the wheels, and the chariots, when he enters your gates, as men enter a city that has been breached.


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With the hooves of his horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people by the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground.


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And they will plunder your riches and pillage your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; they will put your stones, your timber, and your soil in the midst of the water.


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And I will put an end to the noise of your songs, and the sound of your harps shall be heard no more.


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And I will make you like a shiny rock, you shall be a place for the spreading of nets, and you shall never be rebuilt; for I, Jehovah, have spoken, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah to Tyre: Will the coastlands not shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is slain in your midst?


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Then all the rulers of the sea will come down from their thrones, lay aside their robes, and take off their embroidered garments; they will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble every moment, and be astonished at you.


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And they will take up a lamentation for you, and say to you: How you have perished, O one inhabited by seafaring men, O renowned city, who was strong at sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all her inhabitants!


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Now the coastlands shall tremble in the day of your fall; Yes, the coastlands by the sea shall be troubled at your departure.


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For thus says the Lord Jehovah: When I make you a desolate city, like cities that are not inhabited, when I bring the deep upon you, and great waters cover you,


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then I will bring you down with those who descend into the Pit, with the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the lowest part of the earth, in places desolate from antiquity, with those who go down to the Pit, so that you may never be inhabited; and I shall establish glory in the land of the living.


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I will make you a terror, and you shall be no more; though you are sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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and say to Tyre, You who are situated at the entrance of the sea, merchant of the peoples on many coastlands, thus says the Lord Jehovah: O Tyre, you have said, I am perfect in beauty.


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They made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make you a mast.


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Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; the company of the Ashurites have inlaid your planks with ivory from the coasts of Kittim.


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Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was what you spread for your sail; violet and purple from the coasts of Elishah was what covered you.


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The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen; your wise men, O Tyre, were in you; they became your sailors.


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The elders of Gebal and its wise men were in you to caulk your seams; all the ships of the sea and their oarsmen were in you to exchange your merchandise.


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Those from Persia, Lydia, and Libya were in your army as men of war; they hung shield and helmet in you; they gave splendor to you.


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Men of Arvad with your army were on your walls all around, and the men of Gammad were in your towers; they hung their shields on your walls all around; they made your beauty perfect.


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Tarshish traded with you because of the multitude of your wealth. They gave you silver, iron, tin, and lead for your goods.


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Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you. They exchanged souls of men and vessels of bronze for your merchandise.


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The men of Dedan traded with you; many shores were the market of your hand. They brought you ivory tusks and ebony as payment.


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Syria traded with you because of the abundance of goods you made. They exchanged for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidery, fine linen, corals, and rubies.


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Judah and the land of Israel traded with you. They exchanged for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, millet, honey, oil, and balm.


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Damascus traded with you because of the abundance of goods you made, because of your great wealth, with the wine of Helbon and with white wool.


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Dan and Javan paid for your wares, traversing back and forth. Wrought iron, cassia, and cane were among your merchandise.


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Arabia and all the rulers of Kedar traded with you regularly. They traded with you in lambs, rams, and goats.


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The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you. They exchanged for your wares the choicest spices, all kinds of precious stones, and gold.


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These traded with you in choice items; in purple clothes, in embroidered work, in cedar chests of multicolored apparel, bound tightly with cords, which were in your marketplace.


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The ships of Tarshish traveled with your merchandise. You were filled and very glorious in the midst of the seas.


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Your oarsmen brought you into many waters, but the east wind has broken you in the midst of the seas.


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Your riches, wares, and merchandise, your mariners and pilots, your caulkers and merchandisers, all your men of war who are in you, and the entire company which is in your midst, will fall into the midst of the seas on the day of your ruin.


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All who handle the oar, the mariners, all the sailors of the sea will come down from their ships and stand on the land.


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They will make their voice heard because of you; they will cry bitterly and cast dust on their heads; they will wallow in ashes;


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and they will shave themselves completely bald because of you, gird themselves with sackcloth, and weep for you with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.


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And in their wailing for you they will take up a lamentation, and lament for you: What city is like Tyre, destroyed in the midst of the sea?


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When your wares went out by sea, you satisfied many people; you enriched the kings of the earth with the abundance of your wealth and your merchandise.


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But you are broken by the seas in the depths of the waters; your merchandise and the entire company will fall in your midst.


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All the inhabitants of many shores will be astonished at you; their kings will be in dread, and their countenance will be enraged.


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Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because your heart is lifted up, and you say, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas, yet you are a man, and not the Mighty God, though you set your heart as the heart of God


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With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself, and gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;


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by your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches).


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behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, the most terrifying of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and defile your splendor.


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They shall throw you down to the Pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the midst of the seas.


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Will you still think to say before him who slays you, I am God? But you are a man, and not a god, in the hand of him who slays you.


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You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers; for I have spoken, says the Lord Jehovah.


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Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: You seal the measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.


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You have been in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.


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You were the anointed cherub that covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.


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By the abundance of your trading they filled your midst with violence, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as profane out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones.


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Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. I have cast you to the ground, I have set you before kings, that they might observe you.


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You have defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading; therefore I bring fire from your midst; it has devoured you, and I consign you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who see you.


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All who know you among the peoples have been astonished at you; you shall become a terror, and shall be no more forever.


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and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against you, O Sidon; I will be glorified in your midst; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I execute judgments in her and have been sanctified in her.


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For I will send pestilence upon her, and blood into her streets; the slain shall fall in her midst by the sword which is against her on every side; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.


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And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn unto the house of Israel from all who surround them, who despise them. And they shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and have been sanctified in them in the eyes of the nations, then they will dwell in their land which I gave to My servant Jacob.


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And they shall dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God.


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In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,


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Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt.


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Speak, and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies in the midst of his rivers, who has said, My River is my own; I have made it for myself.


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But I will put hooks in your jaws, and cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales; I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, and all the fish in your rivers will stick to your scales.


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And I will leave you in the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers; you shall fall on the open field; you shall not be brought together nor gathered. I have given you as food to the beasts of the field and to the birds of the heavens.


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And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.


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When they took hold of you by the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins stand.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Surely I will bring a sword upon you and cut off from you man and beast.


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And the land of Egypt shall become desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, because he has said, The River is mine, and I have made it.


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Indeed, therefore, I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from Migdol to Syene, even to the border of Ethiopia.


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Neither foot of man shall pass through it nor foot of beast shall pass through it, and it shall be uninhabited forty years.


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And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the lands that are desolate; and among the cities that are laid waste, her cities shall be desolate forty years; and I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them throughout the earth.


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Yet, thus says the Lord Jehovah: At the end of forty years I will gather Egypt from the peoples there where they were scattered.


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I will bring back the captives of Egypt and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom.


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It shall be the lowliest of kingdoms; it shall never again exalt itself above the nations, for I will diminish them so that they will not rule over the nations anymore.


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No longer shall it be the confidence of the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity when they turned to follow them. And they shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.


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And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, that the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,


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Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to work hard against Tyre; every head was made bald, and every shoulder rubbed raw; yet neither he nor his army received wages from Tyre, for the labor which they expended on it.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Surely I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He shall take away her wealth, carry off her plunder, and remove her spoils; and that will be the wages for his army.


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I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor, because they worked for Me, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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In that day I will cause the horn of the house of Israel to spring forth, and I will open your mouth to speak in their midst. And they shall know that I am Jehovah.


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For the day is near, even the day of Jehovah is near; it will be a day of clouds, the time of the nations.


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And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they take away her wealth, and her foundations are broken down.


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Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all the mixed people, Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword.


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Thus says Jehovah: Those who support Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her power shall come down. From Migdol to Syene those within her shall fall by the sword, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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And they shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate lands, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are laid waste.


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And they will know that I am Jehovah, when I have set a fire in Egypt and all her helpers have been destroyed.


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In that day messengers shall go forth from Me in ships to make the confident Ethiopians afraid, and great anguish shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt; for indeed it is coming!


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will also bring an end to the multitude of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.


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He and his people with him, the most ruthless of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land; they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.


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I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of evil ones; I will make the land waste, and all that is in it, by the hand of strangers. I, Jehovah, have spoken.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will also destroy the idols, and remove the images from Noph; there shall no longer be a prince of the land of Egypt; and I will put fear in the land of Egypt.


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and set a fire in Egypt; Sin shall writhe in anguish, No shall be split open, and Noph shall be in daily distress.


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The young men of Aven and Pibeseth shall fall by the sword, and these cities shall go into captivity.


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At Tahpanhes the day shall also be darkened, when I break the yokes of Egypt there. And her arrogant strength shall come to an end in her; as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.


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And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, that the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,


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Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and see, it has not been bound up for healing, nor a bandage set to bind it, to make it strong to hold a sword.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both the strong one and the one that was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.


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And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; but I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he will groan before him with the groanings of a mortally wounded man.


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Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down. And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he shall have stretched it out against the land of Egypt.


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And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the earth. And they shall know that I am Jehovah.


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And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,


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Behold, Assyria was like a cedar in Lebanon, with fine branches that shaded the forest, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.


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The waters made it grow; the depths gave it height, with their rivers running around the place where it was planted, and sent out rivulets to all the trees of the field.


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Therefore its height was exalted above all the trees of the field; its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long because of the abundance of water, as it sent them out.


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All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young; and in its shadow all great nations made their home.


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Thus it was beautiful in greatness and in the length of its branches, because its roots reached to abundant waters.


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The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir trees were not like its boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like its branches; no tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty.


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I made it beautiful with a multitude of branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because you have increased in height, and it set its top among the thick boughs, and its heart was lifted up in its height,


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therefore I have delivered it into the hand of the Mighty God of the nations, and He shall surely deal with it; I have driven it out for its wickedness.


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And strangers, the most terrifying of the nations, have cut it down and left it; its branches have fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys; its boughs lie broken by all the ravines of the land; and all the peoples of the earth have gone from under its shadow and left it.


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On its ruin will dwell all the birds of the heavens, and all the beasts of the field shall be on its branches;


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so that no trees by the waters may ever again exalt themselves for their height, nor set their tops among the thick boughs, that no tree which drinks water may ever be high enough to reach up to them. For they have all been delivered to death, to the lower parts of the earth, among the sons of men who go down to the Pit.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: In the day when it went down to Sheol, I caused mourning. I covered the deep for it. I restrained its rivers, and the great waters were held back. I caused Lebanon to mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it.


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I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol together with those who descend into the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the depths of the earth.


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They also went down to Sheol with it, with those slain by the sword; and those who were its arm, who dwelt in its shadows among the nations.


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To which of the trees in Eden will you then be likened in glory and greatness? Yet you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the depths of the earth; you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, that the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,


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Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say to him: You are like a young lion among the nations, and you are like a monster in the seas, bursting forth in your rivers, stirring up the waters with your feet, and fouling their rivers.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will therefore spread My net over you with a company of many people, and they will draw you up in My net.


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Then I will leave you on the land; I will cast you out upon the open fields, and cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you. And I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with you.


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I will also water the land with the flow of your blood, even to the mountains; and the ravines will be full of you.


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When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.


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All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your ruin among the nations, into the lands which you have not known.


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Yes, I will make many peoples astonished at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid at you when I brandish My sword before them; and they shall tremble every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.


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By the swords of the mighty, all of them the most terrifying of the nations, I will cause your multitude to fall. They shall plunder the majesty of Egypt, and all its multitude shall be destroyed.


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I will also destroy all its animals from beside its great waters; the foot of man shall muddy them no more, nor shall the hooves of animals stir them up.


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When I make the land of Egypt desolate, and the land is destitute of all that once filled it, when I strike all who dwell in it, then they shall know that I am Jehovah.


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This is the lamentation with which they shall lament her; the daughters of the nations shall lament her; they shall lament for her, for Egypt, and for all her multitude, says the Lord Jehovah.


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It came to pass also in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, that the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying:


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Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down to the lowest parts of the earth, her and the daughters of the majestic nations, with those who go down to the Pit:


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They shall fall in the midst of those slain by the sword; she is delivered to the sword, drawing her and all her multitudes.


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The mighty among the strong shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him: they have gone down, they lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.


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Assyria is there, and all her company, with their graves all around her, all of them slain, fallen by the sword.


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Her graves are set in the recesses of the Pit, and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.


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There is Elam and all her multitude, all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living. Now they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.


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They have set her bed in the midst of the slain, with all her multitude, with her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit; it was put in the midst of the slain.


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There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitudes, with all their graves around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.


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They do not lie with the mighty of the uncircumcised who are fallen, who have gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war; they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities will be on their bones, though the terror of the mighty was in the land of the living.


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There is Edom, her kings and all her rulers, who with their might are laid beside those slain by the sword; they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the Pit.


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There are the rulers of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down with the slain, in shame at the terror which they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.


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Pharaoh will see them and be comforted over all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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For I have caused My terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with those slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their borders and make him their watchman,


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then whoever listens to hear the sound of the shofar and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head.


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He heard the sound of the shofar, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his soul.


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But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the shofar, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any soul from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity. But his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.


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So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear the Word from My mouth and warn them from Me.


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When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you shall die the death! and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.


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Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.


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Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus you say, If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?


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Say to them: As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, I take no delight in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, O house of Israel?


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Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression. As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.


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When I say to the righteous that he shall live life, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of all his righteousness shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has done, he shall die.


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Again, when I say to the wicked, You shall die the death; if he turns from his sin and does justice and righteousness,


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if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life, not committing iniquity, he shall live life; he shall not die.


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None of all his sins which he has sinned shall be remembered against him; he has done justice and righteousness; he shall live life.


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Yet the children of your people say, The way of Jehovah is not fair. But as for them, it is their way which is not fair!


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But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does justice and righteousness, he shall live because of it.


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Yet you say, The way of Jehovah is not fair. O house of Israel, I shall judge each one of you according to his ways.


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And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, The city has been struck!


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Now the hand of Jehovah had been upon me the evening before the man came who had escaped. And He had opened my mouth; so when he came to me in the morning, my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.


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Son of man, they who inhabit the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, Abraham was one, and he took possession of the land. But we are many; the land is given to us as a possession.


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Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: You eat meat with blood, you lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood. Shall you then possess the land?


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You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and you defile each one his neighbor's wife. Shall you then possess the land?


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Say thus to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and the one who is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and caves shall die of the pestilence.


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For I will make the land a desolate waste, her arrogant strength shall cease, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that no one will pass through.


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Then they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all their abominations which they have done.


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As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, Please come and hear what the Word is that comes from Jehovah.


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So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they act out love, but their hearts go after their unjust gain.


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Indeed you are to them as a singer of love songs, as one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.


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So when this comes to pass (surely it will come); then they will know that a prophet has been among them.


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Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?


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You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock.


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The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.


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So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.


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My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.


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As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.


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As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day.


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And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the lands, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the dwelling places of the land.


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I will feed them in a good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.


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I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them with judgment.


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And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and he goats.


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Is it a small thing for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet?


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And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.


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Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, thrust at all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad,


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therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.


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I will raise up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them; My servant David. He shall feed them and be their Shepherd.


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And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and My Servant David a prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken.


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I will make a covenant of peace with them, and remove the evil beasts out of the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the wooded forests.


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And I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.


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Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.


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And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid.


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I will raise up for them a notable plantation, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the nations any more.


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Thus they shall know that I, Jehovah their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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and say to it, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you; I will stretch out My hand against you, and make you most desolate;


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Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity had come to an end;


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therefore, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you. Since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you.


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Thus I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste, and cut off from it the one who passes through and the one who returns.


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And I will fill its mountains with the slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those who are slain by the sword shall fall.


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I will make you desolate forever, and your cities shall not again be inhabited; and you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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Because you have said, These two nations and these two lands shall be mine, and we will possess them (although Jehovah was there),


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therefore, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, I will do according to your anger and according to the envy which you showed in your hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.


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And you shall know that I am Jehovah. I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are desolate; they are given to us to consume.


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Thus with your mouth you have boasted against Me and multiplied your words against Me; I have heard them.


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As you rejoiced because the inheritance of the house of Israel was desolate, so I will do to you. You shall be desolate, O Mount Seir, as well as all of Edom; all of it! And they shall know that I am Jehovah.


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And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the Word of Jehovah!


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because the enemy has said of you, Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,


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therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because they made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you are taken up by the lips of talkers and slandered by the people;


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therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord Jehovah! Thus says the Lord Jehovah to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the valleys, the desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which became plunder and mockery to the rest of the nations all around;


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therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the rest of the nations and against Edom, all who gave My land to themselves as a possession, with whole-hearted joy and spiteful minds, in order to plunder its open land.


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Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and My fury, because you have borne the shame of the nations.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: I have raised My hand and sworn that surely the nations that are around you shall bear their shame.


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But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are drawing near to come.


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I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.


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I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and be fruitful; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. And you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, My people Israel; they shall take possession of you, and you shall be their inheritance; no more shall you bereave them.


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Nor will I let you hear the insults of the nations anymore, nor bear the reproach of the peoples anymore, nor shall you cause your nation to stumble anymore, says the Lord Jehovah.


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Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. To Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity.


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Therefore I poured out My fury on them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because of their idols with which they had defiled it.


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And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the earth. I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.


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When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name. They said of them, These are the people of Jehovah, and they have come out of His land.


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But I had compassion for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, there where they went.


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Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for the sake of My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, there where you went.


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And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, says the Lord Jehovah, when I am sanctified in you before their eyes.


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For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all the lands, and bring you into your own land.


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Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your defilement and from all your idols.


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I will also give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.


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And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and do them.


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And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. And you shall be My people, and I will be your God.


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I will deliver you from all your defilements. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you.


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And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the produce of your fields, so that you never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.


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Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.


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Let it be known to you that I do not do this for your sakes, says the Lord Jehovah. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt.


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And they will say, This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.


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Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, Jehovah, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and I will do it.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will also be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do this for them. I will increase their men like a flock.


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Like a holy flock, like the flock of Jerusalem on its appointed feasts, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of men. And they shall know that I am Jehovah.


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The hand of Jehovah was upon me and brought me out by the Spirit of Jehovah, and made me rest in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.


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Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry.


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Again He said to me, Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the Word of Jehovah!


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.


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I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. And you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a shaking; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.


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And as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.


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Then He said to me, Prophesy to the spirit; prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.


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So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the spirit came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.


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Then He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!


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Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.


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And you shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up out of your graves.


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I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. And you shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it and performed it, says Jehovah.


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Moreover, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions. Then take another stick and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel, his companions.


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And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these?


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say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.


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And say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, there where they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;


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and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.


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They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them out of all their dwelling places where they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Thus they shall be My people, and I will be their God.


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And David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one Shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and keep My statutes, and do them.


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And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children, always; and My servant David shall be their prince forever.


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Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.


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And the nations will know that I, Jehovah, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in their midst forever.


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Son of man, set your face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,


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and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.


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And I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.


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Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops; and many people with you.


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Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard to them.


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After many days you will be visited. In the last final years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many peoples on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.


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You will ascend, and come like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many people with you.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil plan.


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You shall say, I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a people at peace, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;


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to plunder the spoils and to steal a prize, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered out of the nations, who produce livestock and goods, who dwell in the center of the earth.


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Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, Have you come to plunder the spoils? Have you gathered your army to steal a prize, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to plunder a great spoils?


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Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it?


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And you shall come from your place out of the recesses of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army.


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And you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It shall be in the last final days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am sanctified in you, O Gog, before their eyes.


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Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?


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And it shall come to pass on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord Jehovah, that My fury shall arise in My face.


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For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken. Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel,


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so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall quake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.


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I will call for a sword against him throughout all My mountains, declares the Lord Jehovah. Every man's sword shall be against his brother.


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And I will judge him with pestilence and blood; I will rain down upon him, on his troops, and on the many people who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.


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Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. And they shall know that I am Jehovah.


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And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal;


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and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the recesses of the north, and bring you upon the mountains of Israel.


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And I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand.


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You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the people who are with you. I will give you to the birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.


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And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. And they shall know that I am Jehovah.


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Thus I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel.


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Behold, it is coming, and it shall be done, declares the Lord Jehovah. This is the day of which I have spoken.


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And those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they shall kindle fires with them for seven years.


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They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will kindle fires with the weapons; and they shall plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will stop the noses of travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog.


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Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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And they will assign men to continually pass through the land, traveling along, to bury those remaining on the face of the earth, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search.


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And any traveler passing through the land, when anyone sees a man's bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog.


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And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord Jehovah, Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field: Assemble yourselves and come; gather together from all sides to My sacrifice which I am sacrificing for you, a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.


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You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, drink the blood of the rulers of the earth, of rams and lambs, of goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.


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You shall eat fat till you are full, and drink blood till you are drunk, at My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.


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You shall be filled at My table with horses and riders, with mighty men and with all the men of war, says the Lord Jehovah.


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And I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgments which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them.


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And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.


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According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.


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Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name;


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after they have borne their shame, and all their treachery in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid.


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When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of the lands of their enemies, and I am sanctified in them in the eyes of many nations,


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then they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their own land, and left none of them there.


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And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord Jehovah.


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In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was captured, on the very same day the hand of Jehovah was upon me; and He brought me there.


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In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and rested me on a very high mountain; on which toward the south was something like the structure of a city.


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He brought me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the gate.


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And the man said to me, Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see.


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Now there was a wall all around the outside of the house. In the man's hand was a measuring rod six cubits long, each being a cubit and a handbreadth; and he measured the width of the structure, one rod; and the height, one rod.


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Then he went to the gate which faced east; and he went up its stairs and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one rod wide, and the other threshold was one rod wide.


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Each guardroom was one rod long and one rod wide; between the guardrooms was a space of five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the inside gate was one rod.


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Then he measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the pillars, two cubits. The porch of the gate was on the inside.


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And in the eastward gate were three guardrooms on one side and three on the other; the three were all the same size; also the pillars were of the same size on this side and that side.


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He measured the width of the entrance to the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.


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And the space in front of the guardrooms was one cubit on this side and one cubit on that side; the guardrooms were six cubits on this side and six cubits on that side.


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Then he measured the gate from the roof of one guardroom to the roof of the other; the width was twenty-five cubits, as door faces door.


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He measured the pillars, sixty cubits high, and the court all around the gate extended to the pillar.


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And there were shuttered windows in the guardrooms and in their pillars on the inside of the gate all around, and likewise in the arches. There were windows all around on the inside. And on each pillar were palm trees.


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Then he brought me into the outer court; and there were rooms and a pavement made all around the court; thirty rooms faced the pavement.


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The pavement was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement.


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Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gate to the front of the inner court exterior, one hundred cubits toward the east and the north.


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Its guardrooms, three on this side and three on that side, its pillars and its arches, had the same measurements as the first gate; its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.


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Its windows and those of its porches, and also its palm trees, had the same measurements as the gate facing east; they went up to it by seven steps, and its arches were in front of it.


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And the gate of the inner court was opposite the northern gate, just as the eastern gate; and he measured from gate to gate, one hundred cubits.


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After that he brought me toward the south, and there a gate was facing south; and he measured its pillars and arches according to these same measurements.


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There were windows in it and its arches all around like those windows; its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.


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Seven steps led up to it, and its arches were in front of them; and it had palm trees on its pillars, one on this side and one on that side.


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There was also a gate on the inner court, facing south; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, one hundred cubits.


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Then he brought me to the inner court through the southern gate; and he measured the southern gate according to these same measurements.


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And its guardrooms, its pillars, and its arches were according to these same measurements; there were windows in it and in its arches all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.


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And its arches faced the outer court, palm trees were on its pillars, and going up to it were eight steps.


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And he brought me into the inner court facing east; he measured the gate according to these same measurements.


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Also its guardrooms, its pillars, and its arches were according to these same measurements; and there were windows in it and in its arches all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.


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Its arches faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its pillars on this side and on that side; and going up to it were eight steps.


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also its guardrooms, its pillars, and its arches. It had windows all around; its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.


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Its pillars faced the outer court, palm trees were on its pillars on this side and on that side, and going up to it were eight steps.


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In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, on which to slay the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering.


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At the outer side of the porch, as one goes up to the entrance of the northern gate, were two tables; and on the other side of the porch of the gate were two tables.


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Four tables were on this side and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate, eight tables on which they slaughtered the sacrifices.


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There were also four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, one cubit and a half long, one cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high; on these they laid the instruments with which they slaughtered the burnt offering and the sacrifice.


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Inside were hooks, a handbreadth wide, fastened all around; and the flesh of the sacrifices was on the tables.


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Outside the inner gate were the rooms for the singers in the inner court, one facing south beside the northern gate, and the other facing north beside the southern gate.


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The room which faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar; these are the sons of Zadok, from the sons of Levi, who come near Jehovah to serve Him.


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And he measured the court, one hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide, foursquare. And the altar was in front of the house.


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And he brought me to the porch of the house and measured the pillars of the porch, five cubits on this side and five cubits on that side; and the width of the gate was three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side.


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The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the width eleven cubits; and by the steps which led up to it there were columns by the pillars, one on this side and another on that side.


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Then he brought me into the sanctuary and measured the pillars, six cubits wide on one side and six cubits wide on the other side; the width of the tent.


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And the width of the entryway was ten cubits, and the side walls of the entrance were five cubits on this side and five cubits on the other side; and he measured its length, forty cubits, and its width, twenty cubits.


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And he went inside and measured the doorposts, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits high; and the width of the entrance, seven cubits.


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He measured the length, twenty cubits; and the width, twenty cubits, beyond the sanctuary; and he said to me, This is the Holy of Holies.


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Next, he measured the wall of the house, six cubits. The width of each side room all around the house was four cubits on every side.


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The side rooms were in three stories, one above the other, thirty rooms in each story; they rested on ledges which were for the side rooms all around, that they might be supported, but not fastened to the wall of the house.


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As one went up from story to story, the side rooms became wider all around, because their supporting ledges in the wall of the house ascended like steps; therefore the width of the structure increased as one went up from the lowest story to the highest by way of the middle one.


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I also saw the height of the house all around; the foundation of the side rooms was a full rod, that is, six cubits high.


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The thickness of the outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits, and so was also the remaining area of the side rooms of the house.


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The doors of the side rooms opened toward the open area, one door toward the north and another toward the south; and the width of the open area was five cubits all around.


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The building that faced the separate area at its western end was seventy cubits wide; the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.


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So he measured the house, one hundred cubits long; and the separate area with the building and its walls was one hundred cubits long.


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And the width of the eastern face of the house, including the separate area, was one hundred cubits.


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And he measured the length of the building behind it, facing the separate area, with its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits, as well as the inner temple and the porches of the court,


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their thresholds and the shuttered windows. And the galleries all around their three stories opposite the threshold were paneled with wood from the ground to the windows (the windows were covered),


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from the space above the door, even to the inner room, as well as outside, and on every wall all around, inside and outside, by measure.


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And it was made with cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. And each cherub had two faces,


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so that the face of a man was toward a palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion toward a palm tree on the other side; thus it was made throughout the house all around.


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From the ground to the space above the door, and on the wall of the temple, cherubim and palm trees were carved.


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The doorposts of the temple were square, as was the front of the sanctuary; the appearance of the one was as the appearance of the other.


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The altar of wood, was three cubits high, and its length two cubits. Its corners, its length, and its sides were of wood. And he said to me, This is the table that is before Jehovah.


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And Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the doors of the temple just like the ones carved on the walls. And wooden planks were on the front of the porch outside.


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There were shuttered windows and palm trees on one side and on the other, on the sides of the porch; also on the side rooms of the house and on the planks.


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Then he brought me out into the outer court, by the way toward the north; and he brought me into the room which was opposite the separate area, and which was in front of the building toward the north.


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Opposite the inner court of twenty cubits, and opposite the pavement of the outer court, was gallery against gallery in three stories.


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And in front of the rooms, toward the inside, was a walkway ten cubits wide, at a distance of one cubit; and their doors faced north.


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Now the upper rooms were shorter, because the galleries took away space from them more than from the lower and middle stories of the building.


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For they were in three stories and did not have pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper level was shortened more than the lower and middle levels from the ground up.


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And a wall which was outside ran alongside the rooms, at the front of the rooms, toward the outer court; its length was fifty cubits.


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The length of the rooms toward the outer court was fifty cubits, whereas that facing the temple was one hundred cubits.


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And under these rooms was the entrance on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court.


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There were rooms in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, opposite the separate area and opposite the building.


