# verses

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So the Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, slaughtering, and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them.


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The king said to Queen Esther, ‘In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed five hundred people and also the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.’


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Esther said, ‘If it pleases the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day’s edict, and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.’


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So the king commanded this to be done; a decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged.


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The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed three hundred people in Susa; but they did not touch the plunder.


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Now the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and gained relief from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they laid no hands on the plunder.


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This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness.


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The Feast of Purim Inaugurated But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness.


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Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the open towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, a holiday on which they send gifts of food to one another.


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Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,


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enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year,


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as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.


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Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur—that is, ‘the lot’—to crush and destroy them;


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but when Esther came before the king, he gave orders in writing that the wicked plot that he had devised against the Jews should come upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.


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Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. Thus because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them,


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the Jews established and accepted as a custom for themselves and their descendants and all who joined them, that without fail they would continue to observe these two days every year, as it was written and at the time appointed.


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These days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every family, province, and city; and these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.


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Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with the Jew Mordecai, gave full written authority, confirming this second letter about Purim.


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Letters were sent wishing peace and security to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus,


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and giving orders that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as the Jew Mordecai and Queen Esther enjoined on the Jews, just as they had laid down for themselves and for their descendants regulations concerning their fasts and their lamentations.


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All the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honour of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Media and Persia?


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For Mordecai the Jew was next in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was powerful among the Jews and popular with his many kindred, for he sought the good of his people and interceded for the welfare of all his descendants.


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Job and His Family There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.


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He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.


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His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.


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And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt-offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, ‘It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.’ This is what Job always did.


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Attack on Job’s Character One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.


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The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’


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The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.’


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Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.


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The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.


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Job Loses Property and Children One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house,


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a messenger came to Job and said, ‘The oxen were ploughing and the donkeys were feeding beside them,


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and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.’


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While he was still speaking, another came and said, ‘The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.’


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While he was still speaking, another came and said, ‘The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.’


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While he was still speaking, another came and said, ‘Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house,


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and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.’


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He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’


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Attack on Job’s Health One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.


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The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.’


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Then Satan answered the Lord, ‘Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives.


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But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.’


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So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.


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But he said to her, ‘You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.


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Job’s Three Friends Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him.


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When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads.


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They sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.


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Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds settle upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.


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That night—let thick darkness seize it! let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.


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Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none; may it not see the eyelids of the morning—


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It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, then I heard a voice:


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how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth.


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Job Is Corrected by God ‘Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?


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Their children are far from safety, they are crushed in the gate, and there is no one to deliver them.


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The hungry eat their harvest, and they take it even out of the thorns; and the thirsty pant after their wealth.


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For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the wild animals shall be at peace with you.


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You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, as a shock of grain comes up to the threshing-floor in its season.


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For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.


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This would be my consolation; I would even exult in unrelenting pain; for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.


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Job: My Suffering Is without End ‘Do not human beings have a hard service on earth, and are not their days like the days of a labourer?


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When I lie down I say, “When shall I rise?” But the night is long, and I am full of tossing until dawn.


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‘Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.


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If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of humanity? Why have you made me your target? Why have I become a burden to you?


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Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be.’


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if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore to you your rightful place.


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If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?


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Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.


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The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the eyes of its judges— if it is not he, who then is it?


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Job: I Loathe My Life ‘I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.


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Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favour the schemes of the wicked?


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If I am wicked, woe to me! If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look upon my affliction.


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You renew your witnesses against me, and increase your vexation towards me; you bring fresh troops against me.


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and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For wisdom is many-sided. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.


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And you will have confidence, because there is hope; you will be protected and take your rest in safety.


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But the eyes of the wicked will fail; all way of escape will be lost to them, and their hope is to breathe their last.’


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But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?


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I am a laughing-stock to my friends; I, who called upon God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, I am a laughing-stock.


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The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hands.


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Will it be well with you when he searches you out? Or can you deceive him, as one person deceives another?


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Since their days are determined, and the number of their months is known to you, and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass,


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‘For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.


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so mortals lie down and do not rise again; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake or be roused out of their sleep.


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O that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!


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If mortals die, will they live again? All the days of my service I would wait until my release should come.


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the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of mortals.


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You prevail for ever against them, and they pass away; you change their countenance, and send them away.


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Their children come to honour, and they do not know it; they are brought low, and it goes unnoticed.


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They wander abroad for bread, saying, “Where is it?” They know that a day of darkness is ready at hand;


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they will live in desolate cities, in houses that no one should inhabit, houses destined to become heaps of ruins;


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they will not escape from darkness; the flame will dry up their shoots, and their blossom will be swept away by the wind.


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They will shake off their unripe grape, like the vine, and cast off their blossoms, like the olive tree.


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I also could talk as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you, and shake my head at you.


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And he has shrivelled me up, which is a witness against me; my leanness has risen up against me, and it testifies to my face.


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He has torn me in his wrath, and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.


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They have gaped at me with their mouths; they have struck me insolently on the cheek; they mass themselves together against me.


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I was at ease, and he broke me in two; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target;


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his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys, and shows no mercy; he pours out my gall on the ground.


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You who tear yourself in your anger— shall the earth be forsaken because of you, or the rock be removed out of its place?


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the guests in my house have forgotten me; my serving-girls count me as a stranger; I have become an alien in their eyes.


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be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, so that you may know there is a judgement.’


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They will fly away like a dream, and not be found; they will be chased away like a vision of the night.


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They will give back the fruit of their toil, and will not swallow it down; from the profit of their trading they will get no enjoyment.


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To fill their belly to the full God will send his fierce anger into them, and rain it upon them as their food.


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It is drawn forth and comes out of their body, and the glittering point comes out of their gall; terrors come upon them.


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Utter darkness is laid up for their treasures; a fire fanned by no one will devour them; what is left in their tent will be consumed.


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‘How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does calamity come upon them? How often does God distribute pains in his anger?


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You say, “God stores up their iniquity for their children.” Let it be paid back to them, so that they may know it.


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The clods of the valley are sweet to them; everyone will follow after, and those who went before are innumerable.


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How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.’


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Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?


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For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing.


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He will deliver even those who are guilty; they will escape because of the cleanness of your hands.’


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I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth.


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Job Complains of Violence on the Earth ‘Why are times not kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?


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Like wild asses in the desert they go out to their toil, scavenging in the waste-land food for their young.


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‘There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast, and take as a pledge the infant of the poor.


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From the city the dying groan, and the throat of the wounded cries for help; yet God pays no attention to their prayer.


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‘There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.


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The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, “No eye will see me”; and he disguises his face.


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For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.


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‘Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion in the land is cursed; no treader turns towards their vineyards.


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The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered; so wickedness is broken like a tree.


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They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they wither and fade like the mallow; they are cut off like the heads of grain.


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These are indeed but the outskirts of his ways; and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?’


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I hold fast my righteousness, and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.


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‘This is the portion of the wicked with God, and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:


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Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found ‘Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold to be refined.


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Miners put an end to darkness, and search out to the farthest bound the ore in gloom and deep darkness.


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They open shafts in a valley away from human habitation; they are forgotten by travellers, they sway suspended, remote from people.


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And he said to humankind, “Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”’


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I smiled on them when they had no confidence; and the light of my countenance they did not extinguish.


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I chose their way, and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.


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‘But now they make sport of me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.


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Terrors are turned upon me; my honour is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.


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if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands;


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‘If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves, when they brought a complaint against me;


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this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above.


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because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—


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O that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) O that I had the indictment written by my adversary!


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Elihu Rebukes Job’s Friends So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.


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Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became angry. He was angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God;


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he was angry also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, though they had declared Job to be in the wrong.


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Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite answered: ‘I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you.


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‘See, I waited for your words, I listened for your wise sayings, while you searched out what to say.


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I gave you my attention, but there was in fact no one that confuted Job, no one among you that answered his words.


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In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on mortals, while they slumber on their beds,


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Their flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen; and their bones, once invisible, now stick out.


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Then, if there should be for one of them an angel, a mediator, one of a thousand, one who declares a person upright,


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and he is gracious to that person, and says, “Deliver him from going down into the Pit; I have found a ransom;


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then he prays to God, and is accepted by him, he comes into his presence with joy, and God repays him for his righteousness.


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That person sings to others and says, “I sinned, and perverted what was right, and it was not paid back to me.


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in spite of being right I am counted a liar; my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.”


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‘Therefore, hear me, you who have sense, far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.


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For according to their deeds he will repay them, and according to their ways he will make it befall them.


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who shows no partiality to nobles, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?


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In a moment they die; at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.


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When he is quiet, who can condemn? When he hides his face, who can behold him, whether it be a nation or an individual?—


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Will he then pay back to suit you, because you reject it? For you must choose, and not I; therefore declare what you know.


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For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God.’


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If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?


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‘Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out; they call for help because of the arm of the mighty.


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How much less when you say that you do not see him, that the case is before him, and you are waiting for him!


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He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne he sets them for ever, and they are exalted.


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If they listen, and serve him, they complete their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasantness.


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He also allured you out of distress into a broad place where there was no constraint, and what was set on your table was full of fatness.


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Beware that wrath does not entice you into scoffing, and do not let the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.


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After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.


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They turn round and round by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world.


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Now, no one can look on the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them.


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The Almighty—we cannot find him; he is great in power and justice, and abundant righteousness he will not violate.


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What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?


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Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?


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It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own; though its labour should be in vain, yet it has no fear;


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When the trumpet sounds, it says “Aha!” From a distance it smells the battle, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.


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Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened; it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth.


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Any hope of capturing it will be disappointed; were not even the gods overwhelmed at the sight of it?


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“Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?” Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.


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Job’s Friends Are Humiliated After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: ‘My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.


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Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has done.’


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So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.


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Job’s Fortunes Are Restored Twofold And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.


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Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.


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The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys.


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In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.


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After this Job lived for one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children’s children, four generations.


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BOOK I (Psalms 1–41) Psalm 1 The Two Ways Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;


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They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.


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Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;


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The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed, saying,


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kiss his feet, or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Happy are all who take refuge in him.


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Psalm 3 Trust in God under Adversity A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom. O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;


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Rise up, O Lord! Deliver me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.


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Psalm 4 Confident Plea for Deliverance from Enemies To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.


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How long, you people, shall my honour suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies?Selah


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There are many who say, ‘O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!’


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Psalm 5 Trust in God for Deliverance from Enemies To the leader: for the flutes. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O Lord; give heed to my sighing.


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But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house, I will bow down towards your holy temple in awe of you.


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For there is no truth in their mouths; their hearts are destruction; their throats are open graves; they flatter with their tongues.


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Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of their many transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.


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But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you.


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Psalm 6 Prayer for Recovery from Grave Illness To the leader: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath.


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Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.


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I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.


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All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.


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Psalm 7 Plea for Help against Persecutors A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjaminite. O Lord my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,


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then let the enemy pursue and overtake me, trample my life to the ground, and lay my soul in the dust. Sela


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Rise up, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake, O my God; you have appointed a judgement.


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The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.


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O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God.


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I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.


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Psalm 8 Divine Majesty and Human Dignity To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.


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Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.


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When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;


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You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,


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Psalm 9 God’s Power and Justice To the leader: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David. I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.


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You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.


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The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins; their cities you have rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.


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And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.


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Be gracious to me, O Lord. See what I suffer from those who hate me; you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,


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so that I may recount all your praises, and, in the gates of daughter Zion, rejoice in your deliverance.


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The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.


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The Lord has made himself known, he has executed judgement; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.Higgaion. Selah


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Psalm 10 Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?


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For the wicked boast of the desires of their heart, those greedy for gain curse and renounce the Lord.


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In the pride of their countenance the wicked say, ‘God will not seek it out’; all their thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’


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Their ways prosper at all times; your judgements are on high, out of their sight; as for their foes, they scoff at them.


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They think in their heart, ‘We shall not be moved; throughout all generations we shall not meet adversity.’


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Their mouths are filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under their tongues are mischief and iniquity.


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They sit in ambush in the villages; in hiding-places they murder the innocent. Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;


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they lurk in secret like a lion in its covert; they lurk that they may seize the poor; they seize the poor and drag them off in their net.


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But you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands; the helpless commit themselves to you; you have been the helper of the orphan.


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O Lord, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear


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Psalm 11 Song of Trust in God To the leader. Of David. In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to me, ‘Flee like a bird to the mountains;


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for look, the wicked bend the bow, they have fitted their arrow to the string, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.


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The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind.


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On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and sulphur; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.


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Psalm 12 Plea for Help in Evil Times To the leader: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.


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‘Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,’ says the Lord; ‘I will place them in the safety for which they long.’


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The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.


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Psalm 13 Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies To the leader. A Psalm of David. How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever? How long will you hide your face from me?


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How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?


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Psalm 14 Denunciation of Godlessness To the leader. Of David. Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.


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The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.


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Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord?


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O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.


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Psalm 15 Who Shall Abide in God’s Sanctuary? A Psalm of David. O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?


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who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbours;


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in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honour those who fear the Lord; who stand by their oath even to their hurt;


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who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved.


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Psalm 16 Song of Trust and Security in God A Miktam of David. Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.


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Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink-offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips.


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You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.


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Psalm 17 Prayer for Deliverance from Persecutors A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry; give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit.


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If you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress.


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Wondrously show your steadfast love, O saviour of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.


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from mortals—by your hand, O Lord— from mortals whose portion in life is in this world. May their bellies be filled with what you have stored up for them; may their children have more than enough; may they leave something over to their little ones.


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As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.


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Psalm 18 Royal Thanksgiving for Victory To the leader. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, O Lord, my strength.


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The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.


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In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.


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Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.


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Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.


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Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.


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You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand has supported me; your help has made me great.


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They cried for help, but there was no one to save them; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.


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You delivered me from strife with the peoples; you made me head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.


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who delivered me from my enemies; indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries; you delivered me from the violent.


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Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants for ever.


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Psalm 19 God’s Glory in Creation and the Law To the leader. A Psalm of David. The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.


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yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,


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which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.


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Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hidden from its heat.


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The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple;


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the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes;


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the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring for ever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.


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More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.


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Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.


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Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.


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Psalm 20 Prayer for Victory To the leader. A Psalm of David. The Lord answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you!


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May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners. May the Lord fulfil all your petitions.


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Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand.


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Psalm 21 Thanksgiving for Victory To the leader. A Psalm of David. In your strength the king rejoices, O Lord, and in your help how greatly he exults!


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For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.


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You will make them like a fiery furnace when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.


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Psalm 22 Plea for Deliverance from Suffering and Hostility To the leader: according to The Deer of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?


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I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;


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my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.


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I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:


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You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!


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For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.


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The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live for ever!


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All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.


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To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.


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Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.


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You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.


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Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.


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Psalm 24 Entrance into the Temple Of David. A Psalm. The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it;


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Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.


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Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.


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Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.


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Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!


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All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.


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Psalm 26 Plea for Justice and Declaration of Righteousness Of David. Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.


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Psalm 27 Triumphant Song of Confidence Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?


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Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident.


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One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.


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For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.


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Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.


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Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation!


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Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence.


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Psalm 28 Prayer for Help and Thanksgiving for It Of David. To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, do not refuse to hear me, for if you are silent to me, I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.


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Hear the voice of my supplication, as I cry to you for help, as I lift up my hands towards your most holy sanctuary.


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Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who are workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbours, while mischief is in their hearts.


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Repay them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds; repay them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward.


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Because they do not regard the works of the Lord, or the work of his hands, he will break them down and build them up no more.


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The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.


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Psalm 29 The Voice of God in a Great Storm A Psalm of David. Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.


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The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’


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Psalm 30 Thanksgiving for Recovery from Grave Illness A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the temple. Of David. I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.


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O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.


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For his anger is but for a moment; his favour is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.


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By your favour, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.


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‘What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?


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so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you for ever.


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Psalm 31 Prayer and Praise for Deliverance from Enemies To the leader. A Psalm of David. In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me.


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Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.


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I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have taken heed of my adversities,


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Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.


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For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.


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I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbours, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.


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For I hear the whispering of many— terror all around!— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.


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Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord, for I call on you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.


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O how abundant is your goodness that you have laid up for those who fear you, and accomplished for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of everyone!


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In the shelter of your presence you hide them from human plots; you hold them safe under your shelter from contentious tongues.


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Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was beset as a city under siege.


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I had said in my alarm, ‘I am driven far from your sight.’ But you heard my supplications when I cried out to you for help.


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Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.


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Psalm 32 The Joy of Forgiveness Of David. A Maskil. Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.


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For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Sela


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Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’, and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Sela


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Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.


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You are a hiding-place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Sela


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Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you.


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Psalm 33 The Greatness and Goodness of God Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright.


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Psalm 34 Praise for Deliverance from Trouble Of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.


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Psalm 35 Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies Of David. Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!


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Let them be put to shame and dishonour who seek after my life. Let them be turned back and confounded who devise evil against me.


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Let ruin come on them unawares. And let the net that they hid ensnare them; let them fall in it—to their ruin.


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All my bones shall say, ‘O Lord, who is like you? You deliver the weak from those too strong for them, the weak and needy from those who despoil them.’


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But as for me, when they were sick, I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting. I prayed with head bowed on my bosom,


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as though I grieved for a friend or a brother; I went about as one who laments for a mother, bowed down and in mourning.


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But at my stumbling they gathered in glee, they gathered together against me; ruffians whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing;


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For they do not speak peace, but they conceive deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.


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Do not let them say to themselves, ‘Aha, we have our heart’s desire.’ Do not let them say, ‘We have swallowed you up.’


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Let all those who rejoice at my calamity be put to shame and confusion; let those who exalt themselves against me be clothed with shame and dishonour.


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Let those who desire my vindication shout for joy and be glad, and say evermore, ‘Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant.’


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Psalm 36 Human Wickedness and Divine Goodness To the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord. Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; there is no fear of God before their eyes.


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They plot mischief while on their beds; they are set on a way that is not good; they do not reject evil.


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Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgements are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.


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Psalm 37 Exhortation to Patience and Trust Of David. Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers,


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Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.


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Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.


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The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to kill those who walk uprightly;


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But the wicked perish, and the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.


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I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.


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For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his faithful ones. The righteous shall be kept safe for ever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.


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The Lord will not abandon them to their power, or let them be condemned when they are brought to trial.


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Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on the destruction of the wicked.


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The Lord helps them and rescues them; he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in him.


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Psalm 38 A Penitent Sufferer’s Plea for Healing A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering. O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath.


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There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.


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Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin, and meditate treachery all day long.


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Psalm 39 Prayer for Wisdom and Forgiveness To the leader: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, ‘I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; I will keep a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.’


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You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Sela


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Surely everyone goes about like a shadow. Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; they heap up, and do not know who will gather.


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‘You chastise mortals in punishment for sin, consuming like a moth what is dear to them; surely everyone is a mere breath. Sela


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‘Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not hold your peace at my tears. For I am your passing guest, an alien, like all my forebears.


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Psalm 40 Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for Help To the leader. Of David. A Psalm. I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.


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He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.


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He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.


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Happy are those who make the Lord their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods.


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You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts towards us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted.


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Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt-offering and sin-offering you have not required.


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I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.


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I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.


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Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe for ever.


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For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.


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Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonour who desire my hurt.


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But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, ‘Great is the Lord!’


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As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.


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Psalm 41 Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing To the leader. A Psalm of David. Happy are those who consider the poor; the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.


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The Lord protects them and keeps them alive; they are called happy in the land. You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.


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And when they come to see me, they utter empty words, while their hearts gather mischief; when they go out, they tell it abroad.


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BOOK II (Psalms 42–72) Psalm 42 Longing for God and His Help in Distress To the leader. A Maskil of the Korahites. As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.


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These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.


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Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help


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and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.


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Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts; all your waves and your billows have gone over me.


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By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.


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I say to God, my rock, ‘Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?’


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As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, ‘Where is your God?’


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Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.


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Psalm 43 Prayer to God in Time of Trouble Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; from those who are deceitful and unjust deliver me!


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For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you cast me off? Why must I walk about mournfully because of the oppression of the enemy?


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O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.


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Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.


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Psalm 44 National Lament and Prayer for Help To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil. We have heard with our ears, O God, our ancestors have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old:


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you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free;


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for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm give them victory; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, for you delighted in them.


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Psalm 45 Ode for a Royal Wedding To the leader: according to Lilies. Of the Korahites. A Maskil. A love song. My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.


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You are the most handsome of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you for ever.


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In your majesty ride on victoriously for the cause of truth and to defend the right; let your right hand teach you dread deeds.


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you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;


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your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;


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daughters of kings are among your ladies of honour; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.


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In the place of ancestors you, O king, shall have sons; you will make them princes in all the earth.


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I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you for ever and ever.


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Psalm 46 God’s Defence of His City and People To the leader. Of the Korahites. According to Alamoth. A Song. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.


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Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;


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He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.


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Psalm 47 God’s Rule over the Nations To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm. Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy.


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The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted.


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Psalm 48 The Glory and Strength of Zion A Song. A Psalm of the Korahites. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain,


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beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.


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As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God establishes for ever. Sela


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Your name, O God, like your praise, reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with victory.


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Psalm 49 The Folly of Trust in Riches To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm. Hear this, all you peoples; give ear, all inhabitants of the world,


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Their graves are their homes for ever, their dwelling-places to all generations, though they named lands their own.


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Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; straight to the grave they descend, and their form shall waste away; Sheol shall be their home.


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Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy —for you are praised when you do well for yourself—


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Psalm 50 The Acceptable Sacrifice A Psalm of Asaph. The mighty one, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.


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Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him.


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But to the wicked God says: ‘What right have you to recite my statutes, or take my covenant on your lips?


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These things you have done and I have been silent; you thought that I was one just like yourself. But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.


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‘Mark this, then, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver.


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Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God.’


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Psalm 51 Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.


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Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgement.


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Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.


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The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.


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then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.


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Psalm 52 Judgement on the Deceitful To the leader. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.’ Why do you boast, O mighty one, of mischief done against the godly? All day long


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But God will break you down for ever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Sela


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‘See the one who would not take refuge in God, but trusted in abundant riches, and sought refuge in wealth!’


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But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God for ever and ever.


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I will thank you for ever, because of what you have done. In the presence of the faithful I will proclaim your name, for it is good.


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Psalm 53 Denunciation of Godlessness To the leader: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts; there is no one who does good.


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Have they no knowledge, those evildoers, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?


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There they shall be in great terror, in terror such as has not been. For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them.


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O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.


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Psalm 54 Prayer for Vindication To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, ‘David is in hiding among us.’ Save me, O God, by your name, and vindicate me by your might.


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For the insolent have risen against me, the ruthless seek my life; they do not set God before them. Sela


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With a freewill-offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.


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Psalm 55 Complaint about a Friend’s Treachery To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God; do not hide yourself from my supplication.


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by the noise of the enemy, because of the clamour of the wicked. For they bring trouble upon me, and in anger they cherish enmity against me.


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It is not enemies who taunt me— I could bear that; it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me— I could hide from them.


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Let death come upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol; for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.


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God, who is enthroned from of old,Selah will hear, and will humble them— because they do not change, and do not fear God.


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with speech smoother than butter, but with a heart set on war; with words that were softer than oil, but in fact were drawn swords.


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Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.


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But you, O God, will cast them down into the lowest pit; the bloodthirsty and treacherous shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.


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Psalm 56 Trust in God under Persecution To the leader: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. Of David. A Miktam, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me; all day long foes oppress me;


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For you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling, so that I may walk before God in the light of life.


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Psalm 57 Praise and Assurance under Persecution To the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam, when he fled from Saul, in the cave. Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by.


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He will send from heaven and save me, he will put to shame those who trample on me. Sela God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.


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I lie down among lions that greedily devour human prey; their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords.


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They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my path, but they have fallen into it themselves. Sela


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Psalm 58 Prayer for Vengeance To the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam. Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge people fairly?


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Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.


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The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.


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People will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’


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Psalm 59 Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies To the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam, when Saul ordered his house to be watched in order to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me.


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Even now they lie in wait for my life; the mighty stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,


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You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel. Awake to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Sela


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There they are, bellowing with their mouths, with sharp words on their lips— for ‘Who’, they think, ‘will hear us?’


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Do not kill them, or my people may forget; make them totter by your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield.


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For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies that they utter,


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consume them in wrath; consume them until they are no more. Then it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob. Sela


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But I will sing of your might; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been a fortress for me and a refuge on the day of my distress.


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O my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.


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Psalm 60 Prayer for National Victory after Defeat To the leader: according to The Lily of the Covenant. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. O God, you have rejected us, broken our defences; you have been angry; now restore us!


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You have caused the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering.


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God has promised in his sanctuary: ‘With exultation I will divide up Shechem, and portion out the Vale of Succoth.


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Psalm 61 Assurance of God’s Protection To the leader: with stringed instruments. Of David. Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.


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From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I;


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Psalm 62 Song of Trust in God Alone To the leader: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.


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How long will you assail a person, will you batter your victim, all of you, as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?


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Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence. They take pleasure in falsehood; they bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Sela


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Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.


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Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.


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Psalm 63 Comfort and Assurance in God’s Presence A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.


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But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.


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Psalm 64 Prayer for Protection from Enemies To the leader. A Psalm of David. Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from the dread enemy.


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They hold fast to their evil purpose; they talk of laying snares secretly, thinking, ‘Who can see us?


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Who can search out our crimes? We have thought out a cunningly conceived plot.’ For the human heart and mind are deep.


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Psalm 65 Thanksgiving for Earth’s Bounty To the leader. A Psalm of David. A Song. Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; and to you shall vows be performed,


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Happy are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.


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By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.


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Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs; you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.


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You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it.


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You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.


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the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.


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Psalm 66 Praise for God’s Goodness to Israel To the leader. A Song. A Psalm. Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;


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Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds! Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.


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who rules by his might for ever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations— let the rebellious not exalt themselves. Sela


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you let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.


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I will offer to you burnt-offerings of fatlings, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Sela


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Psalm 67 The Nations Called to Praise God To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us,Selah


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Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Sela


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Psalm 68 Praise and Thanksgiving To the leader. Of David. A Psalm. A Song. Let God rise up, let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee before him.


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As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, let the wicked perish before God.


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Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds— his name is the Lord— be exultant before him.


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God gives the desolate a home to live in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious live in a parched land.


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the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel.


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though they stay among the sheepfolds— the wings of a dove covered with silver, its pinions with green gold.


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Why do you look with envy, O many-peaked mountain, at the mount that God desired for his abode, where the Lord will reside for ever?


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With mighty chariotry, twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands, the Lord came from Sinai into the holy place.


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You ascended the high mount, leading captives in your train and receiving gifts from people, even from those who rebel against the Lord God’s abiding there.


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But God will shatter the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of those who walk in their guilty ways.


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The Lord said, ‘I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,


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so that you may bathe your feet in blood, so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.’


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There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead, the princes of Judah in a body, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.


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Rebuke the wild animals that live among the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample under foot those who lust after tribute; scatter the peoples who delight in war.


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Awesome is God in his sanctuary, the God of Israel; he gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!


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Psalm 69 Prayer for Deliverance from Persecution To the leader: according to Lilies. Of David. Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.


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I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.


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More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; many are those who would destroy me, my enemies who accuse me falsely. What I did not steal must I now restore?


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Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me, O Lord God of hosts; do not let those who seek you be dishonoured because of me, O God of Israel.


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It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.


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But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me. With your faithful help


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Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.


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For they persecute those whom you have struck down, and those whom you have wounded, they attack still more.


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For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; and his servants shall live there and possess it;


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Psalm 70 Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies To the leader. Of David, for the memorial offering. Be pleased, O God, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me!


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Let those be put to shame and confusion who seek my life. Let those be turned back and brought to dishonour who desire to hurt me.


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Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation say evermore, ‘God is great!’


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But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!


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Psalm 71 Prayer for Lifelong Protection and Help In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.


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Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.


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Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed; let those who seek to hurt me be covered with scorn and disgrace.


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My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all day long, though their number is past my knowledge.


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I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God, I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.


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So even to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come. Your power


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and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?


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You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.


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I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.


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All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help, for those who tried to do me harm have been put to shame, and disgraced.


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Psalm 72 Prayer for Guidance and Support for the King Of Solomon. Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son.


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May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.


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May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts.


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Long may he live! May gold of Sheba be given to him. May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all day long.


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May there be abundance of grain in the land; may it wave on the tops of the mountains; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field.


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May his name endure for ever, his fame continue as long as the sun. May all nations be blessed in him; may they pronounce him happy.


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BOOK III (Psalms 73–89) Psalm 73 Plea for Relief from Oppressors A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart.


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If I had said, ‘I will talk on in this way’, I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.


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But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, to tell of all your works.


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Psalm 74 Plea for Help in Time of National Humiliation A Maskil of Asaph. O God, why do you cast us off for ever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?


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Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago, which you redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage. Remember Mount Zion, where you came to dwell.


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They set your sanctuary on fire; they desecrated the dwelling-place of your name, bringing it to the ground.


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They said to themselves, ‘We will utterly subdue them’; they burned all the meeting-places of God in the land.


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We do not see our emblems; there is no longer any prophet, and there is no one among us who knows how long.


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Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals; do not forget the life of your poor for ever.


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Psalm 75 Thanksgiving for God’s Wondrous Deeds To the leader: Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song. We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks; your name is near. People tell of your wondrous deeds.


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For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed; he will pour a draught from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.


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Psalm 76 Israel’s God—Judge of All the Earth To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song. In Judah God is known, his name is great in Israel.


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The stout-hearted were stripped of their spoil; they sank into sleep; none of the troops was able to lift a hand.


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Make vows to the Lord your God, and perform them; let all who are around him bring gifts to the one who is awesome,


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Psalm 77 God’s Mighty Deeds Recalled To the leader: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm. I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me.


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In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.


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The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook.


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Your way was through the sea, your path, through the mighty waters; yet your footprints were unseen.


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Psalm 78 God’s Goodness and Israel’s Ingratitude A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.


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We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.


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He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children;


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that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children,


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so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;


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and that they should not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.


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Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out and torrents overflowed, can he also give bread, or provide meat for his people?’


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Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of rage; a fire was kindled against Jacob, his anger mounted against Israel,


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the anger of God rose against them and he killed the strongest of them, and laid low the flower of Israel.


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Yet he, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; often he restrained his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath.


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He let loose on them his fierce anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels.


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He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague.


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He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.


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from tending the nursing ewes he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel, his inheritance.


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Psalm 79 Plea for Mercy for Jerusalem A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.


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They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the air for food, the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth.


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They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.


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Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.


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Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.


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Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake.


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Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’ Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes.


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Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power preserve those doomed to die.


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Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will give thanks to you for ever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.


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Psalm 80 Prayer for Israel’s Restoration To the leader: on Lilies, a Covenant. Of Asaph. A Psalm. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth


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They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.


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Psalm 81 God’s Appeal to Stubborn Israel To the leader: according to The Gittith. Of Asaph. Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob.


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He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known:


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In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Sela


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I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.


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Psalm 82 A Plea for Justice A Psalm of Asaph. God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgement:


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They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk around in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.


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Psalm 83 Prayer for Judgement on Israel’s Foes A Song. A Psalm of Asaph. O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!


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Psalm 84 The Joy of Worship in the Temple To the leader: according to The Gittith. Of the Korahites. A Psalm. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!


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My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.


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Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.


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As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.


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For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.


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For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favour and honour. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.


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Psalm 85 Prayer for the Restoration of God’s Favour To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm. Lord, you were favourable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.


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Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.


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Psalm 86 Supplication for Help against Enemies A Prayer of David. Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.


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All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.


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Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.


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O God, the insolent rise up against me; a band of ruffians seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.


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But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.


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Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant; save the child of your serving-maid.


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Show me a sign of your favour, so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame, because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.


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Psalm 87 The Joy of Living in Zion Of the Korahites. A Psalm. A Song. On the holy mount stands the city he founded;


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Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; Philistia too, and Tyre, with Ethiopia— ‘This one was born there,’ they say.


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And of Zion it shall be said, ‘This one and that one were born in it’; for the Most High himself will establish it.


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Psalm 88 Prayer for Help in Despondency A Song. A Psalm of the Korahites. To the leader: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. O Lord, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence,


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like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand.


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You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape;


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Psalm 89 God’s Covenant with David A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, for ever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.


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I declare that your steadfast love is established for ever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.


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The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it—you have founded them.


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Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.


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Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said: ‘I have set the crown on one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people.


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BOOK IV (Psalms 90–106) Psalm 90 God’s Eternity and Human Frailty A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling-place in all generations.


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Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.


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For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.


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The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.


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Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.


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Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands— O prosper the work of our hands!


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Psalm 91 Assurance of God’s Protection You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,


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he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.


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You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.


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When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honour them.


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Psalm 92 Thanksgiving for Vindication A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath Day. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;


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though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction for ever,


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Psalm 93 The Majesty of God’s Rule The Lord is king, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed, he is girded with strength. He has established the world; it shall never be moved;


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The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring.


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More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters, more majestic than the waves of the sea, majestic on high is the Lord!


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Psalm 94 God the Avenger of the Righteous O Lord, you God of vengeance, you God of vengeance, shine forth!


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He will repay them for their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the Lord our God will wipe them out.


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Psalm 95 A Call to Worship and Obedience O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!


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Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!


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For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice!


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For forty years I loathed that generation and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.’


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Psalm 96 Praise to God Who Comes in Judgement O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.


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Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.’


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before the Lord; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth.


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Psalm 97 The Glory of God’s Reign The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!


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Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.


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All worshippers of images are put to shame, those who make their boast in worthless idols; all gods bow down before him.


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The Lord loves those who hate evil; he guards the lives of his faithful; he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.


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Psalm 98 Praise the Judge of the World A Psalm. O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gained him victory.


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He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.


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at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.


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Psalm 99 Praise to God for His Holiness The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!


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Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.


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Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They cried to the Lord, and he answered them.


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O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.


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Psalm 100 All Lands Summoned to Praise God A Psalm of thanksgiving. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.


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Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.


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Psalm 101 A Sovereign’s Pledge of Integrity and Justice Of David. A Psalm. I will sing of loyalty and of justice; to you, O Lord, I will sing.


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I will study the way that is blameless. When shall I attain it? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;


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I will not set before my eyes anything that is base. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.


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One who secretly slanders a neighbour I will destroy. A haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not tolerate.


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I will look with favour on the faithful in the land, so that they may live with me; whoever walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me.


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No one who practises deceit shall remain in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue in my presence.


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Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all evildoers from the city of the Lord.


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Psalm 102 Prayer to the Eternal King for Help A prayer of one afflicted, when faint and pleading before the Lord. Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you.


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Do not hide your face from me on the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily on the day when I call.


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You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to favour it; the appointed time has come.


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‘O my God,’ I say, ‘do not take me away at the mid-point of my life, you whose years endure throughout all generations.’


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They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment. You change them like clothing, and they pass away;


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The children of your servants shall live secure; their offspring shall be established in your presence.


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Psalm 103 Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness Of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.


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For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;


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But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,


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Psalm 104 God the Creator and Provider Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honour and majesty,


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you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind,


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You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth,


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and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.


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O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.


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Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.


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when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.


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When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.


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Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord!


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Psalm 105 God’s Faithfulness to Israel O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples.


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Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold, and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.


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Psalm 106 A Confession of Israel’s Sins Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures for ever.


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that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory in your heritage.


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Our ancestors, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wonderful works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea.


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Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.


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they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.


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Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes, and were brought low through their iniquity.


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For their sake he remembered his covenant, and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.


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Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.


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Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say, ‘Amen.’ Praise the Lord!


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BOOK V (Psalms 107–150) Psalm 107 Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Many Troubles O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures for ever.


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They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their calamity;


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Psalm 108 Praise and Prayer for Victory A Song. A Psalm of David. My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make melody. Awake, my soul!


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I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to you among the nations.


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Psalm 109 Prayer for Vindication and Vengeance To the leader. Of David. A Psalm. Do not be silent, O God of my praise.


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May the iniquity of his father be remembered before the Lord, and do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.


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For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the broken-hearted to their death.


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He clothed himself with cursing as his coat, may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones.


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But you, O Lord my Lord, act on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me.


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For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save them from those who would condemn them to death.


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Psalm 110 Assurance of Victory for God’s Priest-King Of David. A Psalm. The Lord says to my lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’


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Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.


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The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.’


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He will execute judgement among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth.


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Psalm 111 Praise for God’s Wonderful Works Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.


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He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant for ever. Holy and awesome is his name.


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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practise it have a good understanding. His praise endures for ever.


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Psalm 112 Blessings of the Righteous Praise the Lord! Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments.


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Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.


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They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures for ever; their horn is exalted in honour.


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The wicked see it and are angry; they gnash their teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.


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Psalm 113 God the Helper of the Needy Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord.


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Psalm 114 God’s Wonders at the Exodus When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,


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Psalm 115 The Impotence of Idols and the Greatness of God Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.


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The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron;


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Psalm 116 Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.


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The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.


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O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid. You have loosed my bonds.


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For great is his steadfast love towards us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever. Praise the Lord!


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Psalm 118 A Song of Victory O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever!


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They surrounded me like bees; they blazed like a fire of thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!


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There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: ‘The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;


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The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.


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Psalm 119 The Glories of God’s Law Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.


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Let the arrogant be put to shame, because they have subverted me with guile; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.


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Psalm 120 Prayer for Deliverance from Slanderers A Song of Ascents. In my distress I cry to the Lord, that he may answer me:


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Psalm 121 Assurance of God’s Protection A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come?


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Psalm 122 Song of Praise and Prayer for Jerusalem A Song of Ascents. Of David. I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’


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To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.


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Psalm 123 Supplication for Mercy A Song of Ascents. To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!


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As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy upon us.


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Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.


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Psalm 124 Thanksgiving for Israel’s Deliverance A Song of Ascents. Of David. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side —let Israel now say—


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We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.


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Psalm 125 The Security of God’s People A Song of Ascents. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides for ever.


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As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time on and for evermore.


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For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous may not stretch out their hands to do wrong.


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But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways the Lord will lead away with evildoers. Peace be upon Israel!


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Psalm 126 A Harvest of Joy A Song of Ascents. When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.


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Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’


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Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.


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Psalm 127 God’s Blessings in the Home A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.


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It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.


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Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.


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Psalm 128 The Happy Home of the Faithful A Song of Ascents. Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways.


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You shall eat the fruit of the labour of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.


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Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.


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Psalm 129 Prayer for the Downfall of Israel’s Enemies A Song of Ascents. ‘Often have they attacked me from my youth’ —let Israel now say—


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while those who pass by do not say, ‘The blessing of the Lord be upon you! We bless you in the name of the Lord!’


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my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.


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O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.


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Psalm 131 Song of Quiet Trust A Song of Ascents. Of David. O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me.


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But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.


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Psalm 132 The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion A Song of Ascents. O Lord, remember in David’s favour all the hardships he endured;


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The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: ‘One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.


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If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, for evermore, shall sit on your throne.’


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Psalm 133 The Blessedness of Unity A Song of Ascents. How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!


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It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes.


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It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life for evermore.


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Psalm 134 Praise in the Night A Song of Ascents. Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord!


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Psalm 135 Praise for God’s Goodness and Might Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord; give praise, O servants of the Lord,


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He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.


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Psalm 136 God’s Work in Creation and in History O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever.


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Psalm 137 Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion.


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For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’


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Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.


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Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem’s fall, how they said, ‘Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!’


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Psalm 138 Thanksgiving and Praise Of David. I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;


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I bow down towards your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.


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Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.


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The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.


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Psalm 139 The Inescapable God To the leader. Of David. A Psalm. O Lord, you have searched me and known me.


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even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.


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I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.


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My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.


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Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.


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Psalm 140 Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies To the leader. A Psalm of David. Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers; protect me from those who are violent,


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Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent who have planned my downfall.


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The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net; along the road they have set snares for me. Sela


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Psalm 141 Prayer for Preservation from Evil A Psalm of David. I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me; give ear to my voice when I call to you.


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Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.


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Do not turn my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with those who work iniquity; do not let me eat of their delicacies.


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Let the righteous strike me; let the faithful correct me. Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head, for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.


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When they are given over to those who shall condemn them, then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.


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Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land, so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.


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But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenceless.


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Psalm 142 Prayer for Deliverance from Persecutors A Maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A Prayer. With my voice I cry to the Lord; with my voice I make supplication to the Lord.


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Look on my right hand and see— there is no one who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for me.


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Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low. Save me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.


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Bring me out of prison, so that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.


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Psalm 143 Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies A Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness.


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For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead.


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Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.


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Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.


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Psalm 144 Prayer for National Deliverance and Security Of David. Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;


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my rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under me.


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Stretch out your hand from on high; set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hand of aliens,


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Rescue me from the cruel sword, and deliver me from the hand of aliens, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false.


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May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace.


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May our barns be filled with produce of every kind; may our sheep increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields,


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and may our cattle be heavy with young. May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets.


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Psalm 145 The Greatness and the Goodness of God Praise. Of David. I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name for ever and ever.


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They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.


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Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds.


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My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name for ever and ever.


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who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;


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the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.


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The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.


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Psalm 147 Praise for God’s Care for Jerusalem Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.


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Psalm 148 Praise for God’s Universal Glory Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!


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Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven.


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He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the Lord!


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Psalm 149 Praise for God’s Goodness to Israel Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful.


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Psalm 150 Praise for God’s Surpassing Greatness Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament!


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Warnings against Evil Companions Hear, my child, your father’s instruction, and do not reject your mother’s teaching;


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‘How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?


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when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.


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Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.


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Admonition to Trust and Honour God My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;


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Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them round your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.


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God’s Wisdom in Creation The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;


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The True Security My child, do not let these escape from your sight: keep sound wisdom and prudence,


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Do not say to your neighbour, ‘Go, and come again; tomorrow I will give it’—when you have it with you.


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Parental Advice Listen, children, to a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight;


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Admonition to Keep to the Right Path Hear, my child, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many.


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For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.


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But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.


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Warning against Impurity and Infidelity My child, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding,


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and strangers will take their fill of your wealth, and your labours will go to the house of an alien;


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a lovely deer, a graceful doe. May her breasts satisfy you at all times; may you be intoxicated always by her love.


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Practical Admonitions My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbour, if you have bound yourself to another,


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So do this, my child, and save yourself, for you have come into your neighbour’s power: go, hurry, and plead with your neighbour.


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When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.


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For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,


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Right away he follows her, and goes like an ox to the slaughter, or bounds like a stag towards the trap


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until an arrow pierces its entrails. He is like a bird rushing into a snare, not knowing that it will cost him his life.


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The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.


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Wisdom’s Part in Creation The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago.


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when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,


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then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,


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Give instruction to the wise, and they will become wiser still; teach the righteous and they will gain in learning.


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Wise Sayings of Solomon The proverbs of Solomon. A wise child makes a glad father, but a foolish child is a mother’s grief.


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On the lips of one who has understanding wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of one who lacks sense.


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The righteousness of the blameless keeps their ways straight, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.


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The righteousness of the upright saves them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their schemes.


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With their mouths the godless would destroy their neighbours, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.


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When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; and when the wicked perish, there is jubilation.


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A gracious woman gets honour, but she who hates virtue is covered with shame. The timid become destitute, but the aggressive gain riches.


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Those who till their land will have plenty of food, but those who follow worthless pursuits have no sense.


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From the fruit of their words good people eat good things, but the desire of the treacherous is for wrongdoing.


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The appetite of the lazy craves, and gets nothing, while the appetite of the diligent is richly supplied.


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Those who despise the word bring destruction on themselves, but those who respect the commandment will be rewarded.


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Poverty and disgrace are for the one who ignores instruction, but one who heeds reproof is honoured.


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The good leave an inheritance to their children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.


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Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them.


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Wisdom is at home in the mind of one who has understanding, but it is not known in the heart of fools.


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The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.


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The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves the one who pursues righteousness.


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Those who are greedy for unjust gain make trouble for their households, but those who hate bribes will live.


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In the light of a king’s face there is life, and his favour is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.


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One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and one whose temper is controlled than one who captures a city.


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A slave who deals wisely will rule over a child who acts shamefully, and will share the inheritance as one of the family.


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One who forgives an affront fosters friendship, but one who dwells on disputes will alienate a friend.


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One who justifies the wicked and one who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.


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Even fools who keep silent are considered wise; when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent.


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If the poor are hated even by their kin, how much more are they shunned by their friends! When they call after them, they are not there.


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A violent-tempered person will pay the penalty; if you effect a rescue, you will only have to do it again.


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Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; reprove the intelligent, and they will gain knowledge.


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Those who do violence to their father and chase away their mother are children who cause shame and bring reproach.


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The dread anger of a king is like the growling of a lion; anyone who provokes him to anger forfeits life itself.


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Do not love sleep, or else you will come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.


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There is gold, and abundance of costly stones; but the lips informed by knowledge are a precious jewel.


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Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger; seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.


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When a scoffer is punished, the simple become wiser; when the wise are instructed, they increase in knowledge.


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One wise person went up against a city of warriors and brought down the stronghold in which they trusted.


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Sayings of the Wise The words of the wise: Incline your ear and hear my words, and apply your mind to my teaching;


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Do you see those who are skilful in their work? They will serve kings; they will not serve common people.


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When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes wings to itself, flying like an eagle towards heaven.


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for like a hair in the throat, so are they. ‘Eat and drink!’ they say to you; but they do not mean it.


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Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?


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‘They struck me’, you will say, ‘but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.’


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Wise warriors are mightier than strong ones, and those who have knowledge than those who have strength;


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if you say, ‘Look, we did not know this’— does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it? And will he not repay all according to their deeds?


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Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, you will find a future, and your hope will not be cut off.


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Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against the home of the righteous; do no violence to the place where the righteous live;


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Prepare your work outside, get everything ready for you in the field; and after that build your house.


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Do not say, ‘I will do to others as they have done to me; I will pay them back for what they have done.’


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and see, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.


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Further Wise Sayings of Solomon These are other proverbs of Solomon that the officials of King Hezekiah of Judah copied.


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take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.


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for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here’, than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. What your eyes have seen


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do not hastily bring into court; for what will you do in the end, when your neighbour puts you to shame?


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Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest are faithful messengers to those who send them; they refresh the spirit of their masters.


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Let your foot be seldom in your neighbour’s house, otherwise the neighbour will become weary of you and hate you.


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Like vinegar on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart. Like a moth in clothing or a worm in wood, sorrow gnaws at the human heart.


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If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink;


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when an enemy speaks graciously, do not believe it, for there are seven abominations concealed within;


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Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent; do not go to the house of your kindred on the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbour who is nearby than kindred who are far away.


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Whoever blesses a neighbour with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.


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Anyone who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and anyone who takes care of a master will be honoured.


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Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, but the folly will not be driven out.


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there will be enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household and nourishment for your servant-girls.


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Those who mislead the upright into evil ways will fall into pits of their own making, but the blameless will have a goodly inheritance.


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When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked prevail, people go into hiding.


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No one who conceals transgressions will prosper, but one who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.


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A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor; but one who hates unjust gain will enjoy a long life.


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If someone is burdened with the blood of another, let that killer be a fugitive until death; let no one offer assistance.


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Anyone who tills the land will have plenty of bread, but one who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.


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The faithful will abound with blessings, but one who is in a hurry to be rich will not go unpunished.


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When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan.


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A child who loves wisdom makes a parent glad, but to keep company with prostitutes is to squander one’s substance.


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When the wicked are in authority, transgression increases, but the righteous will look upon their downfall.


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To be a partner of a thief is to hate one’s own life; one hears the victim’s curse, but discloses nothing.


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Sayings of Agur The words of Agur son of Jakeh. An oracle. Thus says the man: I am weary, O God, I am weary, O God. How can I prevail?


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Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is the person’s name? And what is the name of the person’s child? Surely you know!


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Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need,


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or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or I shall be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God.


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there are those whose teeth are swords, whose teeth are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mortals.


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The leech has two daughters; ‘Give, give,’ they cry. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, ‘Enough’:


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The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.


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the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a girl.


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If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth.


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For as pressing milk produces curds, and pressing the nose produces blood, so pressing anger produces strife.


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The Teaching of King Lemuel’s Mother The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:


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It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to desire strong drink;


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or else they will drink and forget what has been decreed, and will pervert the rights of all the afflicted.


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She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and tasks for her servant-girls.


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The wind blows to the south, and goes round to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.


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All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow.


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All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing.


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What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.


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Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’? It has already been, in the ages before us.


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The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.


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applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with.


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I said to myself, ‘I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.’


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And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a chasing after wind.


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The Futility of Self-Indulgence I said to myself, ‘Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.’ But again, this also was vanity.


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I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, until I might see what was good for mortals to do under heaven during the few days of their life.


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I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.


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I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines.


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So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me.


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Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.


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Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.


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Wisdom and Joy Given to One Who Pleases God So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the one do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.


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The wise have eyes in their head, but fools walk in darkness. Yet I perceived that the same fate befalls all of them.


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Then I said to myself, ‘What happens to the fool will happen to me also; why then have I been so very wise?’ And I said to myself that this also is vanity.


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For there is no enduring remembrance of the wise or of fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How can the wise die just like fools?


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So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.


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I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me


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—and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.


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because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.


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For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.


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There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God;


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For to the one who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.


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a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;


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He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.


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I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live;


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I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.


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That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.


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Judgement and the Future Belong to God Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well.


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I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work.


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I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals.


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For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity.


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Who knows whether the human spirit goes upwards and the spirit of animals goes downwards to the earth?


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So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?


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Again I saw all the oppressions that are practised under the sun. Look, the tears of the oppressed—with no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power—with no one to comfort them.


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but better than both is the one who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.


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Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from one person’s envy of another. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.


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the case of solitary individuals, without sons or brothers; yet there is no end to all their toil, and their eyes are never satisfied with riches. ‘For whom am I toiling’, they ask, ‘and depriving myself of pleasure?’ This also is vanity and an unhappy business.


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For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.


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And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.


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there was no end to all those people whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.


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Reverence, Humility, and Contentment Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil.


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Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.


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When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Fulfil what you vow.


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Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake; why should God be angry at your words, and destroy the work of your hands?


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If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and right, do not be amazed at the matter; for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.


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The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.


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When goods increase, those who eat them increase; and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes?


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Sweet is the sleep of labourers, whether they eat little or much; but the surfeit of the rich will not let them sleep.


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There is a grievous ill that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owners to their hurt,


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and those riches were lost in a bad venture; though they are parents of children, they have nothing in their hands.


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As they came from their mother’s womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil, which they may carry away with their hands.


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This also is a grievous ill: just as they came, so shall they go; and what gain do they have from toiling for the wind?


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This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot.


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Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God.


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For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives, because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts.


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The Frustration of Desires There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy upon humankind:


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those to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honour, so that they lack nothing of all that they desire, yet God does not enable them to enjoy these things, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous ill.


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A man may beget a hundred children, and live for many years; but however many are the days of his years, if he does not enjoy life’s good things, or has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.


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Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to one place?


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For what advantage have the wise over fools? And what do the poor have who know how to conduct themselves before the living?


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Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire; this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.


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Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what human beings are, and that they are not able to dispute with those who are stronger.


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For who knows what is good for mortals while they live the few days of their vain life, which they pass like a shadow? For who can tell them what will be after them under the sun?


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A Disillusioned View of Life A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death, than the day of birth.


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It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for this is the end of everyone, and the living will lay it to heart.


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Better is the end of a thing than its beginning; the patient in spirit are better than the proud in spirit.


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Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.


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For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to the one who possesses it.


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On the day of prosperity be joyful, and on the day of adversity consider; God has made the one as well as the other, so that mortals may not find out anything that will come after them.


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The Riddles of Life In my vain life I have seen everything; there are righteous people who perish in their righteousness, and there are wicked people who prolong their life in their evildoing.


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It is good that you should take hold of the one, without letting go of the other; for the one who fears God shall succeed with both.


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I turned my mind to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the sum of things, and to know that wickedness is folly and that foolishness is madness.


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I found more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are fetters; one who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.


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which my mind has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.


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See, this alone I found, that God made human beings straightforward, but they have devised many schemes.


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Obey the King and Enjoy Yourself Who is like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? Wisdom makes one’s face shine, and the hardness of one’s countenance is changed.


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Do not be terrified; go from his presence, do not delay when the matter is unpleasant, for he does whatever he pleases.


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No one has power over the wind to restrain the wind, or power over the day of death; there is no discharge from the battle, nor does wickedness deliver those who practise it.


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All this I observed, applying my mind to all that is done under the sun, while one person exercises authority over another to the other’s hurt.


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God’s Ways Are Inscrutable Then I saw the wicked buried; they used to go in and out of the holy place, and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.


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Because sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the human heart is fully set to do evil.


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Though sinners do evil a hundred times and prolong their lives, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they stand in fear before him,


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but it will not be well with the wicked, neither will they prolong their days like a shadow, because they do not stand in fear before God.


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There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people who are treated according to the conduct of the wicked, and there are wicked people who are treated according to the conduct of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.


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So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun.


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When I applied my mind to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how one’s eyes see sleep neither day nor night,


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then I saw all the work of God, that no one can find out what is happening under the sun. However much they may toil in seeking, they will not find it out; even though those who are wise claim to know, they cannot find it out.


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Take Life as It Comes All this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hate one does not know. Everything that confronts them


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is vanity, since the same fate comes to all, to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to those who sacrifice and those who do not sacrifice. As are the good, so are the sinners; those who swear are like those who shun an oath.


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This is an evil in all that happens under the sun, that the same fate comes to everyone. Moreover, the hearts of all are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.


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The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no more reward, and even the memory of them is lost.


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Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished; never again will they have any share in all that happens under the sun.


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Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has long ago approved what you do.


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Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that are given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.


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Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.


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Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favour to the skilful; but time and chance happen to them all.


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For no one can anticipate the time of disaster. Like fish taken in a cruel net, and like birds caught in a snare, so mortals are snared at a time of calamity, when it suddenly falls upon them.


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Wisdom Superior to Folly I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed important to me.


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There was a little city with few people in it. A great king came against it and besieged it, building great siege-works against it.


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Now there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man.


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So I said, ‘Wisdom is better than might; yet the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heeded.’


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Miscellaneous Observations Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a foul odour; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honour.


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If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post, for calmness will undo great offences.


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There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as great an error as if it proceeded from the ruler:


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If the iron is blunt, and one does not whet the edge, then more strength must be exerted; but wisdom helps one to succeed.


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yet fools talk on and on. No one knows what is to happen, and who can tell anyone what the future holds?


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Happy are you, O land, when your king is a nobleman, and your princes feast at the proper time— for strength, and not for drunkenness!


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Do not curse the king, even in your thoughts, or curse the rich, even in your bedroom; for a bird of the air may carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter.


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The Value of Diligence Send out your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will get it back.


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When clouds are full, they empty rain on the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.


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Just as you do not know how the breath comes to the bones in the mother’s womb, so you do not know the work of God, who makes everything.


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In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hands be idle; for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.


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Even those who live for many years should rejoice in them all; yet let them remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.


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Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgement.


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Banish anxiety from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.


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Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’;


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before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with the rain;


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on the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working because they are few, and those who look through the windows see dimly;


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when the doors on the street are shut, and the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low;


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when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along and desire fails; because all must go to their eternal home, and the mourners will go about the streets;


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before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern,


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Epilogue Besides being wise, the Teacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs.


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The sayings of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings that are given by one shepherd.


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Of anything beyond these, my child, beware. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.


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The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone.


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Colloquy of Bride and Friends Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine,


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Draw me after you, let us make haste. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.


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I am black and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.


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Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has gazed on me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept!


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Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who is veiled beside the flocks of your companions?


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If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow the tracks of the flock, and pasture your kids beside the shepherds’ tents.


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Colloquy of Bridegroom, Friends, and Bride I compare you, my love, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.


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As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.


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I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the wild does: do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready!


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Springtime Rhapsody The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.


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My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.


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The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land.


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The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.


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O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.


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Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on the cleft mountains.


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A Dream of Love Upon my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.


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‘I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves.’ I sought him, but found him not.


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Scarcely had I passed them, when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.


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The Groom and His Party Approach What is that coming up from the wilderness, like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of the merchant?


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all equipped with swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh because of alarms by night.


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He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love. Daughters of Jerusalem,


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come out. Look, O daughters of Zion, at King Solomon, at the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.


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The Bride’s Beauty Extolled How beautiful you are, my love, how very beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, moving down the slopes of Gilead.


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Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them is bereaved.


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Your lips are like a crimson thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.


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Your neck is like the tower of David, built in courses; on it hang a thousand bucklers, all of them shields of warriors.


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Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will hasten to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.


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Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards.


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You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.


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How sweet is your love, my sister, my bride! how much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!


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Your lips distil nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.


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nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all chief spices—


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Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden that its fragrance may be wafted abroad. Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits.


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I come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I gather my myrrh with my spice, I eat my honeycomb with my honey, I drink my wine with my milk. Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love.


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Another Dream I slept, but my heart was awake. Listen! my beloved is knocking. ‘Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one; for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.’


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I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, upon the handles of the bolt.


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I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and was gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but did not find him; I called him, but he gave no answer.


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Making their rounds in the city the sentinels found me; they beat me, they wounded me, they took away my mantle, those sentinels of the walls.


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I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, tell him this: I am faint with love.


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Colloquy of Friends and Bride What is your beloved more than another beloved, O fairest among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you thus adjure us?


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His cheeks are like beds of spices, yielding fragrance. His lips are lilies, distilling liquid myrrh.


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His legs are alabaster columns, set upon bases of gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.


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His speech is most sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.


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Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Which way has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?


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My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies.


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The Bride’s Matchless Beauty You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.


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Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me! Your hair is like a flock of goats, moving down the slopes of Gilead.


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Your teeth are like a flock of ewes, that have come up from the washing; all of them bear twins, and not one among them is bereaved.


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My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the darling of her mother, flawless to her that bore her. The maidens saw her and called her happy; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.


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‘Who is this that looks forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army with banners?’


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I went down to the nut orchard, to look at the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vines had budded, whether the pomegranates were in bloom.


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Return, return, O Shulammite! Return, return, that we may look upon you. Why should you look upon the Shulammite, as upon a dance before two armies?


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Expressions of Praise How graceful are your feet in sandals, O queenly maiden! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a master hand.


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Your navel is a rounded bowl that never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is a heap of wheat, encircled with lilies.


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Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, overlooking Damascus.


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Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses.


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I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its branches. O may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples,


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let us go out early to the vineyards, and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.


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The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and over our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.


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O that you were like a brother to me, who nursed at my mother’s breast! If I met you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.


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I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother, and into the chamber of the one who bore me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranates.


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Homecoming Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in labour with you; there she who bore you was in labour.


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Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame.


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Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If one offered for love all the wealth of one’s house, it would be utterly scorned.


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We have a little sister, and she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister, on the day when she is spoken for?


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If she is a wall, we will build upon her a battlement of silver; but if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.


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Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he entrusted the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.


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My vineyard, my very own, is for myself; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred!


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The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.


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The Wickedness of Judah Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.


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The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.


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Ah, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who deal corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, who are utterly estranged!


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Why do you seek further beatings? Why do you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.


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From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and bleeding wounds; they have not been drained, or bound up, or softened with oil.


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Your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence aliens devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.


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And daughter Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a shelter in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.


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If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we would have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah.


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Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!


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What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.


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bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation— I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.


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Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.


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When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.


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Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil,


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Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.


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but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.


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The Degenerate City How the faithful city has become a whore! She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her— but now murderers!


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Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend the orphan, and the widow’s cause does not come before them.


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Therefore says the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I will pour out my wrath on my enemies, and avenge myself on my foes!


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I will turn my hand against you; I will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.


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And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counsellors as at the beginning. Afterwards you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.


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But rebels and sinners shall be destroyed together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.


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For you shall be ashamed of the oaks in which you delighted; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen.


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The strong shall become like tinder, and their work like a spark; they and their work shall burn together, with no one to quench them.


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In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.


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Many peoples shall come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.


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He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.


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For you have forsaken the ways of your people, O house of Jacob. Indeed they are full of diviners from the east and of soothsayers like the Philistines, and they clasp hands with foreigners.


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Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots.


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Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.


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Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty.


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The haughty eyes of people shall be brought low, and the pride of everyone shall be humbled; and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.


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For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up and high;


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The haughtiness of people shall be humbled, and the pride of everyone shall be brought low; and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.


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Enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from the terror of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.


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On that day people will throw away to the moles and to the bats their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship,


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to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts in the crags, from the terror of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.


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For now the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and staff— all support of bread, and all support of water—


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The people will be oppressed, everyone by another and everyone by a neighbour; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the base to the honourable.


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Someone will even seize a relative, a member of the clan, saying, ‘You have a cloak; you shall be our leader, and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule.’


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But the other will cry out on that day, saying, ‘I will not be a healer; in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; you shall not make me leader of the people.’


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For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence.


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The look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom, they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.


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My people—children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you, and confuse the course of your paths.


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The Lord enters into judgement with the elders and princes of his people: It is you who have devoured the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.


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What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord God of hosts.


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The Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet;


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the Lord will afflict with scabs the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.


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Instead of perfume there will be a stench; and instead of a sash, a rope; and instead of well-arranged hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a binding of sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.


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Seven women shall take hold of one man on that day, saying, ‘We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes; just let us be called by your name; take away our disgrace.’


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The Future Glory of the Survivors in Zion On that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel.


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Whoever is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem,


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once the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgement and by a spirit of burning.


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Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the glory there will be a canopy.


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It will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.


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The Song of the Unfruitful Vineyard Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.


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He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watch-tower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.


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What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?


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And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.


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I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.


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For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!


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Social Injustice Denounced Ah, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land!


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The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing: Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.


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Ah, you who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger in the evening to be inflamed by wine,


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whose feasts consist of lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine, but who do not regard the deeds of the Lord, or see the work of his hands!


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Therefore my people go into exile without knowledge; their nobles are dying of hunger, and their multitude is parched with thirst.


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Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure; the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down, her throng and all who exult in her.


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who say, ‘Let him make haste, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfilment, that we may know it!’


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Ah, you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!


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Foreign Invasion Predicted Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will become rotten, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.


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Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them; the mountains quaked, and their corpses were like refuse in the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.


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He will raise a signal for a nation far away, and whistle for a people at the ends of the earth; Here they come, swiftly, speedily!


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None of them is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a loincloth is loose, not a sandal-thong broken;


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their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind.


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Their roaring is like a lion, like young lions they roar; they growl and seize their prey, they carry it off, and no one can rescue.


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They will roar over it on that day, like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks to the land— only darkness and distress; and the light grows dark with clouds.


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A Vision of God in the Temple In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple.


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Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.


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And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’


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The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.


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And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’


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Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.


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The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’


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Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’


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And he said, ‘Go and say to this people: “Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.”


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Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.’


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Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’ And he said: ‘Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate;


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Even if a tenth part remains in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled.’ The holy seed is its stump.


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Isaiah Reassures King Ahaz In the days of Ahaz son of Jotham son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel went up to attack Jerusalem, but could not mount an attack against it.


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When the house of David heard that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.


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Then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field,


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and say to him, Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smouldering stumps of firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.


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Let us go up against Judah and cut off Jerusalem and conquer it for ourselves and make the son of Tabeel king in it;


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For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. (Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered, no longer a people.)


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The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.


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Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also?


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Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.


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For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.


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The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on your ancestral house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.’


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On that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the sources of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.


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And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thorn bushes, and on all the pastures.


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On that day the Lord will shave with a razor hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will take off the beard as well.


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and will eat curds because of the abundance of milk that they give; for everyone that is left in the land shall eat curds and honey.


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On that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns.


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and as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not go there for fear of briers and thorns; but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.


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Isaiah’s Son a Sign of the Assyrian Invasion Then the Lord said to me, Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz’,


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and have it attested for me by reliable witnesses, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.


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And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz;


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for before the child knows how to call ‘My father’ or ‘My mother’, the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.


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Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and melt in fear before Rezin and the son of Remaliah;


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therefore, the Lord is bringing up against it the mighty flood waters of the River, the king of Assyria and all his glory; it will rise above all its channels and overflow all its banks;


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it will sweep on into Judah as a flood, and, pouring over, it will reach up to the neck; and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.


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Band together, you peoples, and be dismayed; listen, all you far countries; gird yourselves and be dismayed; gird yourselves and be dismayed!


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Take counsel together, but it shall be brought to naught; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.


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For the Lord spoke thus to me while his hand was strong upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying:


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Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what it fears, or be in dread.


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But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.


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He will become a sanctuary, a stone one strikes against; for both houses of Israel he will become a rock one stumbles over—a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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See, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.


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Now if people say to you, ‘Consult the ghosts and the familiar spirits that chirp and mutter; should not a people consult their gods, the dead on behalf of the living,


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They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry; when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse their king and their gods. They will turn their faces upwards,


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or they will look to the earth, but will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness.


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The Righteous Reign of the Coming King But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.


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The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined.


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You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder.


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For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.


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For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.


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For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.


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His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onwards and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.


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and all the people knew it— Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria— but in pride and arrogance of heart they said:


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‘The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycomores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.’


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the Arameans in the east and the Philistines in the west, and they devoured Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger has not turned away; his hand is stretched out still.


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for those who led this people led them astray, and those who were led by them were left in confusion.


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That is why the Lord did not have pity on their young people, or compassion on their orphans and widows; for everyone was godless and an evildoer, and every mouth spoke folly. For all this, his anger has not turned away; his hand is stretched out still.


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For wickedness burned like a fire, consuming briers and thorns; it kindled the thickets of the forest, and they swirled upwards in a column of smoke.


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Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land was burned, and the people became like fuel for the fire; no one spared another.


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They gorged on the right, but still were hungry, and they devoured on the left, but were not satisfied; they devoured the flesh of their own kindred;


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Manasseh devoured Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, and together they were against Judah. For all this, his anger has not turned away; his hand is stretched out still.


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to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be your spoil, and that you may make the orphans your prey!


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What will you do on the day of punishment, in the calamity that will come from far away? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth,


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so as not to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain? For all this, his anger has not turned away; his hand is stretched out still.


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Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.


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But this is not what he intends, nor does he have this in mind; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few.


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As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols whose images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,


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When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride.


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For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and have plundered their treasures; like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.


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My hand has found, like a nest, the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened its mouth, or chirped.’


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Shall the axe vaunt itself over the one who wields it, or the saw magnify itself against the one who handles it? As if a rod should raise the one who lifts it up, or as if a staff should lift the one who is not wood!


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Therefore the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire.


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The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day.


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The glory of his forest and his fruitful land the Lord will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when an invalid wastes away.


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The Repentant Remnant of Israel On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on the one who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.


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For though your people Israel were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.


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Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: O my people, who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they beat you with a rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did.


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For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction.


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The Lord of hosts will wield a whip against them, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt.


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On that day his burden will be removed from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed from your neck. He has gone up from Rimmon,


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they have crossed over the pass, at Geba they lodge for the night; Ramah trembles, Gibeah of Saul has fled.


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This very day he will halt at Nob, he will shake his fist at the mount of daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.


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Look, the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the tallest trees will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low.


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He will hack down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon with its majestic trees will fall.


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The Peaceful Kingdom A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.


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The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.


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His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;


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but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.


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The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.


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The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.


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The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.


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They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.


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Return of the Remnant of Israel and Judah On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.


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On that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.


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He will raise a signal for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.


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The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, the hostility of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not be hostile towards Ephraim.


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But they shall swoop down on the backs of the Philistines in the west; together they shall plunder the people of the east. They shall put forth their hand against Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites shall obey them.


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And the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt; and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching wind; and will split it into seven channels, and make a way to cross on foot;


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so there shall be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that is left of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.


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Thanksgiving and Praise You will say on that day: I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, and you comforted me.


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Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.


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And you will say on that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted.


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On a bare hill raise a signal, cry aloud to them; wave the hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles.


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I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, have summoned my warriors, my proudly exulting ones, to execute my anger.


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Listen, a tumult on the mountains as of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together! The Lord of hosts is mustering an army for battle.


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They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the Lord and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole earth.


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and they will be dismayed. Pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labour. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.


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See, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation, and to destroy its sinners from it.


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For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.


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I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant, and lay low the insolence of tyrants.


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Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts on the day of his fierce anger.


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Like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with no one to gather them, all will turn to their own people, and all will flee to their own lands.


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Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives ravished.


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See, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold.


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Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children.


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And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendour and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.


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It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; Arabs will not pitch their tents there, shepherds will not make their flocks lie down there.


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But wild animals will lie down there, and its houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will live, and there goat-demons will dance.


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Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at hand, and its days will not be prolonged.


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Restoration of Judah But the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land; and aliens will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob.


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And the nations will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess the nations as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land; they will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them.


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Downfall of the King of Babylon When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve,


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you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased! How his insolence has ceased!


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that struck down the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows, that ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution.


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The cypresses exult over you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Since you were laid low, no one comes to cut us down.’


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Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations.


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All of them will speak and say to you: ‘You too have become as weak as we are! You have become like us!’


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Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your harps; maggots are the bed beneath you, and worms are your covering.


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How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!


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You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon;


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Those who see you will stare at you, and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms,


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who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who would not let his prisoners go home?’


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but you are cast out, away from your grave, like loathsome carrion, clothed with the dead, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the Pit, like a corpse trampled underfoot.


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You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people. May the descendants of evildoers nevermore be named!


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Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the guilt of their father. Let them never rise to possess the earth or cover the face of the world with cities.


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I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts, and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, offspring and posterity, says the Lord.


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And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts.


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An Oracle concerning Assyria The Lord of hosts has sworn: As I have designed, so shall it be; and as I have planned, so shall it come to pass:


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I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him under foot; his yoke shall be removed from them, and his burden from their shoulders.


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This is the plan that is planned concerning the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.


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For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?


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Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the root of the snake will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent.


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The firstborn of the poor will graze, and the needy lie down in safety; but I will make your root die of famine, and your remnant I will kill.


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Wail, O gate; cry, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in its ranks.


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What will one answer the messengers of the nation? ‘The Lord has founded Zion, and the needy among his people will find refuge in her.’


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An Oracle concerning Moab An oracle concerning Moab. Because Ar is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone; because Kir is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone.


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Dibon has gone up to the temple, to the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab wails. On every head is baldness, every beard is shorn;


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in the streets they bind on sackcloth; on the housetops and in the squares everyone wails and melts in tears.


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Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard as far as Jahaz; therefore the loins of Moab quiver; his soul trembles.


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My heart cries out for Moab; his fugitives flee to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishiyah. For at the ascent of Luhith they go up weeping; on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of destruction;


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the waters of Nimrim are a desolation; the grass is withered, the new growth fails, the verdure is no more.


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Therefore the abundance they have gained and what they have laid up they carry away over the Wadi of the Willows.


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For a cry has gone around the land of Moab; the wailing reaches to Eglaim, the wailing reaches to Beer-elim.


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For the waters of Dibon are full of blood; yet I will bring upon Dibon even more— a lion for those of Moab who escape, for the remnant of the land.


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Send lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela, by way of the desert, to the mount of daughter Zion.


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Like fluttering birds, like scattered nestlings, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.


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‘Give counsel, grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive;


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let the outcasts of Moab settle among you; be a refuge to them from the destroyer.’ When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and marauders have vanished from the land,


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then a throne shall be established in steadfast love in the tent of David, and on it shall sit in faithfulness a ruler who seeks justice and is swift to do what is right.


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We have heard of the pride of Moab —how proud he is!— of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; his boasts are false.


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Therefore let Moab wail, let everyone wail for Moab. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.


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For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vines of Sibmah, whose clusters once made drunk the lords of the nations, reached to Jazer and strayed to the desert; their shoots once spread abroad and crossed over the sea.


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Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vines of Sibmah; I drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for the shout over your fruit harvest and your grain harvest has ceased.


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Joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field; and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no shouts are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; the vintage-shout is hushed.


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When Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself upon the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.


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But now the Lord says, In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all its great multitude; and those who survive will be very few and feeble.


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An Oracle concerning Damascus An oracle concerning Damascus. See, Damascus will cease to be a city, and will become a heap of ruins.


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Her towns will be deserted for ever; they will be places for flocks, which will lie down, and no one will make them afraid.


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The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the children of Israel, says the Lord of hosts.


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And it shall be as when reapers gather standing grain and their arms harvest the ears, and as when one gleans the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.


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Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten— two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, says the Lord God of Israel.


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they will not have regard for the altars, the work of their hands, and they will not look to what their own fingers have made, either the sacred poles or the altars of incense.


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On that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the Hivites and the Amorites, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.


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For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and set out slips of an alien god,


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though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow; yet the harvest will flee away on a day of grief and incurable pain.


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Ah, the thunder of many peoples, they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations, they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!


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The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm.


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At evening time, lo, terror! Before morning, they are no more. This is the fate of those who despoil us, and the lot of those who plunder us.


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sending ambassadors by the Nile in vessels of papyrus on the waters! Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide.


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All you inhabitants of the world, you who live on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet is blown, listen!


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For thus the Lord said to me: I will quietly look from my dwelling like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.


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For before the harvest, when the blossom is over and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning-hooks, and the spreading branches he will hew away.


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They shall all be left to the birds of prey of the mountains and to the animals of the earth. And the birds of prey will summer on them, and all the animals of the earth will winter on them.


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At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord of hosts from a people tall and smooth, from a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts.


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An Oracle concerning Egypt An oracle concerning Egypt. See, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.


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I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, one against the other, neighbour against neighbour, city against city, kingdom against kingdom;


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the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their plans; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead and the ghosts and the familiar spirits;


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I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master; a fierce king will rule over them, says the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts.


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its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up; reeds and rushes will rot away.


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There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile; and all that is sown by the Nile will dry up, be driven away, and be no more.


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Those who fish will mourn; all who cast hooks in the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the water will languish.


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The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the wise counsellors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, ‘I am one of the sages, a descendant of ancient kings’?


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Where now are your sages? Let them tell you and make known what the Lord of hosts has planned against Egypt.


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The princes of Zoan have become fools, and the princes of Memphis are deluded; those who are the cornerstones of its tribes have led Egypt astray.


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The Lord has poured into them a spirit of confusion; and they have made Egypt stagger in all its doings as a drunkard staggers around in vomit.


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On that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts raises against them.


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And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the plan that the Lord of hosts is planning against them.


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Egypt, Assyria, and Israel Blessed On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of the Sun.


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On that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the centre of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border.


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It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a saviour, and will defend and deliver them.


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The Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians; and the Egyptians will know the Lord on that day, and will worship with sacrifice and burnt-offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them.


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The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing; they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their supplications and heal them.


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On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.


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whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my heritage.’


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Isaiah Dramatizes the Conquest of Egypt and Ethiopia In the year that the commander-in-chief, who was sent by King Sargon of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and took it—


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at that time the Lord had spoken to Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, ‘Go, and loose the sackcloth from your loins and take your sandals off your feet’, and he had done so, walking naked and barefoot.


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Then the Lord said, ‘Just as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Ethiopia,


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so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as captives and the Ethiopians as exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.


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On that day the inhabitants of this coastland will say, “See, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?”’


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Oracles concerning Babylon, Edom, and Arabia The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.


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A stern vision is told to me; the betrayer betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam, lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end.


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Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labour; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear, I am dismayed so that I cannot see.


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My mind reels, horror has appalled me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.


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They prepare the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink. Rise up, commanders, oil the shield!


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When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently.’


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Then the watcher called out: ‘Upon a watch-tower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed throughout the night.


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Look, there they come, riders, horsemen in pairs!’ Then he responded, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground.’


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O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you.


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The oracle concerning Dumah. One is calling to me from Seir, ‘Sentinel, what of the night? Sentinel, what of the night?’


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The sentinel says: ‘Morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; come back again.’


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The oracle concerning the desert plain. In the scrub of the desert plain you will lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.


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For they have fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the stress of battle.


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For thus the Lord said to me: Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end;


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and the remaining bows of Kedar’s warriors will be few; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.


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A Warning of the Destruction of Jerusalem The oracle concerning the valley of vision. What do you mean that you have gone up, all of you, to the housetops,


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you that are full of shoutings, tumultuous city, exultant town? Your slain are not slain by the sword, nor are they dead in battle.


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Your rulers have all fled together; they were captured without the use of a bow. All of you who were found were captured, though they had fled far away.


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Therefore I said: Look away from me, let me weep bitter tears; do not try to comfort me for the destruction of my beloved people.


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For the Lord God of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the valley of vision, a battering down of walls and a cry for help to the mountains.


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He has taken away the covering of Judah. On that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest,


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and you saw that there were many breaches in the city of David, and you collected the waters of the lower pool.


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You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or have regard for him who planned it long ago.


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On that day the Lord God of hosts called to weeping and mourning, to baldness and putting on sackcloth;


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but instead there was joy and festivity, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating meat and drinking wine. ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’


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The Lord of hosts has revealed himself in my ears: Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die, says the Lord God of hosts.


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Denunciation of Self-Seeking Officials Thus says the Lord God of hosts: Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is master of the household, and say to him:


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What right do you have here? Who are your relatives here, that you have cut out a tomb here for yourself, cutting a tomb on the height, and carving a habitation for yourself in the rock?


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whirl you round and round, and throw you like a ball into a wide land; there you shall die, and there your splendid chariots shall lie, O you disgrace to your master’s house!


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and will clothe him with your robe and bind your sash on him. I will commit your authority to his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.


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I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open.


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I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honour to his ancestral house.


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And they will hang on him the whole weight of his ancestral house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons.


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On that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way; it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will perish, for the Lord has spoken.


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An Oracle concerning Tyre The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your fortress is destroyed. When they came in from Cyprus they learned of it.


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and were on the mighty waters; your revenue was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile; you were the merchant of the nations.


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Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the fortress of the sea, saying: ‘I have neither laboured nor given birth, I have neither reared young men nor brought up young women.’


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Is this your exultant city whose origin is from days of old, whose feet carried her to settle far away?


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Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honoured ones of the earth?


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The Lord of hosts has planned it— to defile the pride of all glory, to shame all the honoured ones of the earth.


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He has stretched out his hand over the sea, he has shaken the kingdoms; the Lord has given command concerning Canaan to destroy its fortresses.


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He said: You will exult no longer, O oppressed virgin daughter Sidon; rise, cross over to Cyprus— even there you will have no rest.


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Look at the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people; it was not Assyria. They destined Tyre for wild animals. They erected their siege-towers, they tore down her palaces, they made her a ruin.


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From that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the lifetime of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song about the prostitute:


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Take a harp, go about the city, you forgotten prostitute! Make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.


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At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her trade, and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.


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Her merchandise and her wages will be dedicated to the Lord; her profits will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who live in the presence of the Lord.


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Impending Judgement on the Earth Now the Lord is about to lay waste the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.


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And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor.


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The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers; the heavens languish together with the earth.


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The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.


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Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth dwindled, and few people are left.


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The mirth of the timbrels is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, the mirth of the lyre is stilled.


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There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has reached its eventide; the gladness of the earth is banished.


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For thus it shall be on the earth and among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is ended.


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They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; they shout from the west over the majesty of the Lord.


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Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord; in the coastlands of the sea glorify the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.


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From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One. But I say, I pine away, I pine away. Woe is me! For the treacherous deal treacherously, the treacherous deal very treacherously.


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Whoever flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and whoever climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.


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The earth staggers like a drunkard, it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again.


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They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished.


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Then the moon will be abashed, and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his elders he will manifest his glory.


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Praise for Deliverance from Oppression O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you, I will praise your name; for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.


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For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the palace of aliens is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt.


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For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat. When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm,


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the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place, you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds; the song of the ruthless was stilled.


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On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.


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And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations;


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he will swallow up death for ever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.


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It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.


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For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain. The Moabites shall be trodden down in their place as straw is trodden down in a dung-pit.


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Though they spread out their hands in the midst of it, as swimmers spread out their hands to swim, their pride will be laid low despite the struggle of their hands.


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The high fortifications of his walls will be brought down, laid low, cast to the ground, even to the dust.


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Judah’s Song of Victory On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; he sets up victory like walls and bulwarks.


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For he has brought low the inhabitants of the height; the lofty city he lays low. He lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust.


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In the path of your judgements, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and your renown are the soul’s desire.


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My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.


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If favour is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness they deal perversely and do not see the majesty of the Lord.


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O Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them.


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The dead do not live; shades do not rise— because you have punished and destroyed them, and wiped out all memory of them.


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But you have increased the nation, O Lord, you have increased the nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged all the borders of the land.


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Like a woman with child, who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near her time, so were we because of you, O Lord;


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we were with child, we writhed, but we gave birth only to wind. We have won no victories on earth, and no one is born to inhabit the world.


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Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a radiant dew, and the earth will give birth to those long dead.


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Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the wrath is past.


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For the Lord comes out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no longer cover its slain.


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Israel’s Redemption On that day the Lord with his cruel and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.


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I, the Lord, am its keeper; every moment I water it. I guard it night and day so that no one can harm it;


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I have no wrath. If it gives me thorns and briers, I will march to battle against it. I will burn it up.


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In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit.


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Has he struck them down as he struck down those who struck them? Or have they been killed as their killers were killed?


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By expulsion, by exile you struggled against them; with his fierce blast he removed them on the day of the east wind.


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Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be expiated, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin: when he makes all the stones of the altars like chalkstones crushed to pieces, no sacred poles or incense altars will remain standing.


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For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness; the calves graze there, there they lie down, and strip its branches.


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When its boughs are dry, they are broken; women come and make a fire of them. For this is a people without understanding; therefore he that made them will not have compassion on them, he that formed them will show them no favour.


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On that day the Lord will thresh from the channel of the Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you will be gathered one by one, O people of Israel.


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And on that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.


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Judgement on Corrupt Rulers, Priests, and Prophets Ah, the proud garland of the drunkards of Ephraim, and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of those bloated with rich food, of those overcome with wine!


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See, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters; with his hand he will hurl them down to the earth.


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And the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of those bloated with rich food, will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer; whoever sees it, eats it up as soon as it comes to hand.


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On that day the Lord of hosts will be a garland of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people;


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and a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgement, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.


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These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are confused with wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in giving judgement.


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‘Whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from milk, those taken from the breast?


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For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.’


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to whom he has said, ‘This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose’; yet they would not hear.


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Therefore the word of the Lord will be to them, ‘Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little’; in order that they may go, and fall backwards, and be broken, and snared, and taken.


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Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement; when the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter’;


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therefore thus says the Lord God, See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: ‘One who trusts will not panic.’


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And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.


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Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through you will be beaten down by it.


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As often as it passes through, it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.


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For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it.


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For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim, he will rage as in the valley of Gibeon to do his deed—strange is his deed!— and to work his work—alien is his work!


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Now therefore do not scoff, or your bonds will be made stronger; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord God of hosts upon the whole land.


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Do those who plough for sowing plough continually? Do they continually open and harrow their ground?


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When they have levelled its surface, do they not scatter dill, sow cummin, and plant wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and spelt as the border?


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Dill is not threshed with a threshing-sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cummin; but dill is beaten out with a stick, and cummin with a rod.


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Grain is crushed for bread, but one does not thresh it for ever; one drives the cartwheel and horses over it, but does not pulverize it.


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The Siege of Jerusalem Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the festivals run their round.


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Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and Jerusalem shall be to me like an Ariel.


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And like David I will encamp against you; I will besiege you with towers and raise siege-works against you.


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Then deep from the earth you shall speak, from low in the dust your words shall come; your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost, and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.


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But the multitude of your foes shall be like fine dust, and the multitude of tyrants like flying chaff. And in an instant, suddenly,


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you will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.


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And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, all that fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.


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Just as when a hungry person dreams of eating and wakes up still hungry, or a thirsty person dreams of drinking and wakes up faint, still thirsty, so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion.


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Stupefy yourselves and be in a stupor, blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not from wine; stagger, but not from strong drink!


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For the Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep; he has closed your eyes, you prophets, and covered your heads, you seers.


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The vision of all this has become for you like the words of a sealed document. If it is given to those who can read, with the command, ‘Read this’, they say, ‘We cannot, for it is sealed.’


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The Lord said: Because these people draw near with their mouths and honour me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote;


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so I will again do amazing things with this people, shocking and amazing. The wisdom of their wise shall perish, and the discernment of the discerning shall be hidden.


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Ha! You who hide a plan too deep for the Lord, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, ‘Who sees us? Who knows us?’


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You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay? Shall the thing made say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or the thing formed say of the one who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?


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Hope for the Future Shall not Lebanon in a very little while become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be regarded as a forest?


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On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.


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The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the neediest people shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.


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For the tyrant shall be no more, and the scoffer shall cease to be; all those alert to do evil shall be cut off—


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those who cause a person to lose a lawsuit, who set a trap for the arbiter in the gate, and without grounds deny justice to the one in the right.


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Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: No longer shall Jacob be ashamed, no longer shall his face grow pale.


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For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.


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And those who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction.


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The Futility of Reliance on Egypt Oh, rebellious children, says the Lord, who carry out a plan, but not mine; who make an alliance, but against my will, adding sin to sin;


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who set out to go down to Egypt without asking for my counsel, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt;


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Therefore the protection of Pharaoh shall become your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt your humiliation.


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everyone comes to shame through a people that cannot profit them, that brings neither help nor profit, but shame and disgrace.


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An oracle concerning the animals of the Negeb. Through a land of trouble and distress, of lioness and roaring lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people that cannot profit them.


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A Rebellious People Go now, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, so that it may be for the time to come as a witness for ever.


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For they are a rebellious people, faithless children, children who will not hear the instruction of the Lord;


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who say to the seers, ‘Do not see’; and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions,


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Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: Because you reject this word, and put your trust in oppression and deceit, and rely on them;


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therefore this iniquity shall become for you like a break in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse, whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant;


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its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel that is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a sherd is found for taking fire from the hearth, or dipping water out of the cistern.


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For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you refused


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and said, ‘No! We will flee upon horses’— therefore you shall flee! and, ‘We will ride upon swift steeds’— therefore your pursuers shall be swift!


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A thousand shall flee at the threat of one, at the threat of five you shall flee, until you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill.


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God’s Promise to Zion Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.


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Truly, O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you.


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Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.


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And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’


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Then you will defile your silver-covered idols and your gold-plated images. You will scatter them like filthy rags; you will say to them, ‘Away with you!’


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He will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and grain, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. On that day your cattle will graze in broad pastures;


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and the oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat silage, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.


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On every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water—on a day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.


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Moreover, the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days, on the day when the Lord binds up the injuries of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.


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Judgement on Assyria See, the name of the Lord comes from far away, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is like a devouring fire;


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his breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck— to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads them astray.


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You shall have a song as in the night when a holy festival is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.


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And the Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and tempest and hailstones.


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And every stroke of the staff of punishment that the Lord lays upon him will be to the sound of timbrels and lyres; battling with brandished arm he will fight with him.


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For his burning-place has long been prepared; truly it is made ready for the king, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulphur, kindles it.


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Alliance with Egypt Is Futile Alas for those who go down to Egypt for help and who rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!


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Yet he too is wise and brings disaster; he does not call back his words, but will rise against the house of the evildoers, and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.


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The Egyptians are human, and not God; their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, the helper will stumble, and the one helped will fall, and they will all perish together.


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For thus the Lord said to me, As a lion or a young lion growls over its prey, and—when a band of shepherds is called out against it— is not terrified by their shouting or daunted at their noise, so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight upon Mount Zion and upon its hill.


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Like birds hovering overhead, so the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it, he will spare and rescue it.


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For on that day all of you shall throw away your idols of silver and idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.


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‘Then the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of mortals; and a sword, not of humans, shall devour him; he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be put to forced labour.


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His rock shall pass away in terror, and his officers desert the standard in panic,’ says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.


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Government with Justice Predicted See, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.


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Each will be like a hiding-place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.


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Then the eyes of those who have sight will not be closed, and the ears of those who have hearing will listen.


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The minds of the rash will have good judgement, and the tongues of stammerers will speak readily and distinctly.


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For fools speak folly, and their minds plot iniquity: to practise ungodliness, to utter error concerning the Lord, to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied, and to deprive the thirsty of drink.


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The villainies of villains are evil; they devise wicked devices to ruin the poor with lying words, even when the plea of the needy is right.


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Complacent Women Warned of Disaster Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, listen to my speech.


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In little more than a year you will shudder, you complacent ones; for the vintage will fail, the fruit harvest will not come.


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Tremble, you women who are at ease, shudder, you complacent ones; strip, and make yourselves bare, and put sackcloth on your loins.


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for the soil of my people growing up in thorns and briers; yes, for all the joyous houses in the jubilant city.


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For the palace will be forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watch-tower will become dens for ever, the joy of wild asses, a pasture for flocks;


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until a spirit from on high is poured out on us, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.


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The Peace of God’s Reign Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.


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The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust for ever.


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A Prophecy of Deliverance from Foes Ah, you destroyer, who yourself have not been destroyed; you treacherous one, with whom no one has dealt treacherously! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have stopped dealing treacherously, you will be dealt with treacherously.


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O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.


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he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.


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The highways are deserted, travellers have left the road. The treaty is broken, its oaths are despised, its obligation is disregarded.


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The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.


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The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: ‘Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting flames?’


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Those who walk righteously and speak uprightly, who despise the gain of oppression, who wave away a bribe instead of accepting it, who stop their ears from hearing of bloodshed and shut their eyes from looking on evil,


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they will live on the heights; their refuge will be the fortresses of rocks; their food will be supplied, their water assured.


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The Land of the Majestic King Your eyes will see the king in his beauty; they will behold a land that stretches far away.


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Your mind will muse on the terror: ‘Where is the one who counted? Where is the one who weighed the tribute? Where is the one who counted the towers?’


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No longer will you see the insolent people, the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a language that you cannot understand.


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Look on Zion, the city of our appointed festivals! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be pulled up, and none of whose ropes will be broken.


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But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor stately ship can pass.


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Your rigging hangs loose; it cannot hold the mast firm in its place, or keep the sail spread out. Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; even the lame will fall to plundering.


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Judgement on the Nations Draw near, O nations, to hear; O peoples, give heed! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it.


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For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their hordes; he has doomed them, has given them over for slaughter.


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Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood.


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All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall wither like a leaf withering on a vine, or fruit withering on a fig tree.


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When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, lo, it will descend upon Edom, upon the people I have doomed to judgement.


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The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood, it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.


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Wild oxen shall fall with them, and young steers with the mighty bulls. Their land shall be soaked with blood, and their soil made rich with fat.


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And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulphur; her land shall become burning pitch.


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Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up for ever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; no one shall pass through it for ever and ever.


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But the hawk and the hedgehog shall possess it; the owl and the raven shall live in it. He shall stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plummet of chaos over its nobles.


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Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches.


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Wildcats shall meet with hyenas, goat-demons shall call to each other; there too Lilith shall repose, and find a place to rest.


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There shall the owl nest and lay and hatch and brood in its shadow; there too the buzzards shall gather, each one with its mate.


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Seek and read from the book of the Lord: Not one of these shall be missing; none shall be without its mate. For the mouth of the Lord has commanded, and his spirit has gathered them.


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He has cast the lot for them, his hand has portioned it out to them with the line; they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation they shall live in it.


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The Return of the Redeemed to Zion The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus


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it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.


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Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.’


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then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;


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the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.


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A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveller, not even fools, shall go astray.


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No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.


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And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.


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Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.


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The king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. He stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field.


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And there came out to him Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder.


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See, you are relying on Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.


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But if you say to me, “We rely on the Lord our God”, is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”?


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Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.’


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Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, ‘Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.’


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But the Rabshakeh said, ‘Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the people sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?’


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Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah, ‘Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!


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Do not let Hezekiah make you rely on the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”


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Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: “Make your peace with me and come out to me; then every one of you will eat from your own vine and your own fig tree and drink water from your own cistern,


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until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.


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Do not let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, The Lord will save us. Has any of the gods of the nations saved their land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?


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Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?


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Who among all the gods of these countries have saved their countries out of my hand, that the Lord should save Jerusalem out of my hand?”’


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Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.


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It may be that the Lord your God heard the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’


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I myself will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’


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The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah; for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.


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Now the king heard concerning King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, ‘He has set out to fight against you.’ When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,


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‘O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.


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Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.


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and have hurled their gods into the fire, though they were no gods, but the work of human hands—wood and stone—and so they were destroyed.


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So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.’


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Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria,


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this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him: She despises you, she scorns you— virgin daughter Zion; she tosses her head—behind your back, daughter Jerusalem.


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By your servants you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, “With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses; I came to its remotest height, its densest forest.


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‘I know your rising up and your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against me.


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‘And this shall be the sign for you: This year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that; then in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.


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Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death Then the angel of the Lord set out and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; when morning dawned, they were all dead bodies.


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‘Remember now, O Lord, I implore you, how I have walked before you in faithfulness with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly.


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‘Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.


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See, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.’ So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.


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I said: In the noontide of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years.


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I said, I shall not see the Lord in the land of the living; I shall look upon mortals no more among the inhabitants of the world.


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My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent; like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end;


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I cry for help until morning; like a lion he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to an end.


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Like a swallow or a crane I clamour, I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upwards. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security!


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But what can I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. All my sleep has fled because of the bitterness of my soul.


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O Lord, by these things people live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. O restore me to health and make me live!


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Surely it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but you have held back my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.


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For Sheol cannot thank you, death cannot praise you; those who go down to the Pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.


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The living, the living, they thank you, as I do this day; fathers make known to children your faithfulness.


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The Lord will save me, and we will sing to stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the Lord.


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Now Isaiah had said, ‘Let them take a lump of figs, and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.’


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Envoys from Babylon Welcomed At that time King Merodach-baladan son of Baladan of Babylon sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.


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Hezekiah welcomed them; he showed them his treasure-house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armoury, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.


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Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and said to him, ‘What did these men say? From where did they come to you?’ Hezekiah answered, ‘They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.’


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Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘There will be peace and security in my days.’


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Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.


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A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.


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Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.


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Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’


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A voice says, ‘Cry out!’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’ All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field.


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The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass.


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Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’


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See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.


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He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.


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Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?


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Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?


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Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the scales; see, he takes up the isles like fine dust.


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All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.


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An idol? —A workman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts for it silver chains.


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As a gift one chooses mulberry wood —wood that will not rot— then seeks out a skilled artisan to set up an image that will not topple.


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Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?


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It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in;


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Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.


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Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.


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Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God’?


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Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.


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but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.


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Israel Assured of God’s Help Listen to me in silence, O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgement.


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Who has roused a victor from the east, summoned him to his service? He delivers up nations to him, and tramples kings under foot; he makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow.


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Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am first, and will be with the last.


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The coastlands have seen and are afraid, the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and come.


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The artisan encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smooths with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, ‘It is good’; and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved.


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you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, ‘You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off’;


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do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.


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Yes, all who are incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.


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You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.


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For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’


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Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you insect Israel! I will help you, says the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.


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Now, I will make of you a threshing-sledge, sharp, new, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff.


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You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. Then you shall rejoice in the Lord; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.


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When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.


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I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.


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I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together,


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so that all may see and know, all may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.


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The Futility of Idols Set forth your case, says the Lord; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.


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Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, so that we may consider them, and that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come.


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Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be afraid and terrified.


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I stirred up one from the north, and he has come, from the rising of the sun he was summoned by name. He shall trample on rulers as on mortar, as the potter treads clay.


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Who declared it from the beginning, so that we might know, and beforehand, so that we might say, ‘He is right’? There was no one who declared it, none who proclaimed, none who heard your words.


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But when I look there is no one; among these there is no counsellor who, when I ask, gives an answer.


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The Servant, a Light to the Nations Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.


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a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.


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He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.


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Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it:


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I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations,


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to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.


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See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.


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A Hymn of Praise Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth! Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants.


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Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the tops of the mountains.


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The Lord goes forth like a soldier, like a warrior he stirs up his fury; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.


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For a long time I have held my peace, I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labour, I will gasp and pant.


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I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbage; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools.


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I will lead the blind by a road they do not know, by paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.


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They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame— those who trust in carved images, who say to cast images, ‘You are our gods.’


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Who is blind but my servant, or deaf like my messenger whom I send? Who is blind like my dedicated one, or blind like the servant of the Lord?


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Israel’s Disobedience The Lord was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness, to magnify his teaching and make it glorious.


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But this is a people robbed and plundered, all of them are trapped in holes and hidden in prisons; they have become a prey with no one to rescue, a spoil with no one to say, ‘Restore!’


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Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey?


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So he poured upon him the heat of his anger and the fury of war; it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.


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Restoration and Protection Promised But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.


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When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.


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For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.


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Because you are precious in my sight, and honoured, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.


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Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you;


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I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’, and to the south, ‘Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth—


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Let all the nations gather together, and let the peoples assemble. Who among them declared this, and foretold to us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to justify them, and let them hear and say, ‘It is true.’


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You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.


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I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses, says the Lord.


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I am God, and also henceforth I am He; there is no one who can deliver from my hand; I work and who can hinder it?


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Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I will send to Babylon and break down all the bars, and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation.


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who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:


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I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.


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The wild animals will honour me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,


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You have not brought me your sheep for burnt-offerings, or honoured me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense.


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You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.


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Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary, I delivered Jacob to utter destruction, and Israel to reviling.


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Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you in the womb and will help you: Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.


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For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring.


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This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’, another will be called by the name of Jacob, yet another will write on the hand, ‘The Lord’s’, and adopt the name of Israel.


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Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.


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Who is like me? Let them proclaim it, let them declare and set it forth before me. Who has announced from of old the things to come? Let them tell us what is yet to be.


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Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.


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The Absurdity of Idol-Worship All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know. And so they will be put to shame.


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Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too are merely human. Let them all assemble, let them stand up; they shall be terrified, they shall all be put to shame.


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The blacksmith fashions it and works it over the coals, shaping it with hammers, and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry and his strength fails, he drinks no water and is faint.


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The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine.


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He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it.


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Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it.


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Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, ‘Ah, I am warm, I can feel the fire!’


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The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it, and worships it; he prays to it and says, ‘Save me, for you are my god!’


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They do not know, nor do they comprehend; for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand.


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No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, ‘Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals, I roasted meat and have eaten. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?’


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He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save himself or say, ‘Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?’


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Israel Is Not Forgotten Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you, you are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.


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I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.


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Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and will be glorified in Israel.


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Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by myself spread out the earth;


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who frustrates the omens of liars, and makes fools of diviners; who turns back the wise, and makes their knowledge foolish;


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who confirms the word of his servant, and fulfils the prediction of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited’, and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt, and I will raise up their ruins’;


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who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall carry out all my purpose’; and who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be rebuilt’, and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’


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Cyrus, God’s Instrument Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their robes, to open doors before him— and the gates shall not be closed:


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I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron,


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I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.


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For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me.


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I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god. I arm you, though you do not know me,


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so that they may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.


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Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the skies rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation may spring up, and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also; I the Lord have created it.


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Woe to you who strive with your Maker, earthen vessels with the potter! Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?


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Woe to anyone who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labour?’


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Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands?


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I made the earth, and created humankind upon it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.


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I have aroused Cyrus in righteousness, and I will make all his paths straight; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward, says the Lord of hosts.


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Thus says the Lord: The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, tall of stature, shall come over to you and be yours, they shall follow you; they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. They will make supplication to you, saying, ‘God is with you alone, and there is no other; there is no god besides him.’


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But Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity.


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For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it a chaos, he formed it to be inhabited!): I am the Lord, and there is no other.


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I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in chaos.’ I the Lord speak the truth, I declare what is right.


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Idols Cannot Save Babylon Assemble yourselves and come together, draw near, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge— those who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.


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Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? There is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is no one besides me.


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By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.’


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Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; all who were incensed against him shall come to him and be ashamed.


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Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols are on beasts and cattle; these things you carry are loaded as burdens on weary animals.


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Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from your birth, carried from the womb;


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even to your old age I am he, even when you turn grey I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.


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Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales— they hire a goldsmith, who makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship!


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They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries out to it, it does not answer or save anyone from trouble.


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remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me,


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declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My purpose shall stand, and I will fulfil my intention’,


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calling a bird of prey from the east, the man for my purpose from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have planned, and I will do it.


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I bring near my deliverance, it is not far off, and my salvation will not tarry; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.


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The Humiliation of Babylon Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter Chaldea! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate.


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Take the millstones and grind meal, remove your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers.


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Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one.


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Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter Chaldea! For you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.


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I was angry with my people, I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand, you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.


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You said, ‘I shall be mistress for ever’, so that you did not lay these things to heart or remember their end.


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Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children’—


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both these things shall come upon you in a moment, in one day: the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments.


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You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’


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But evil shall come upon you, which you cannot charm away; disaster shall fall upon you, which you will not be able to ward off; and ruin shall come on you suddenly, of which you know nothing.


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Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries, with which you have laboured from your youth; perhaps you may be able to succeed, perhaps you may inspire terror.


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You are wearied with your many consultations; let those who study the heavens stand up and save you, those who gaze at the stars and at each new moon predict what shall befall you.


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See, they are like stubble, the fire consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before!


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Such to you are those with whom you have laboured, who have trafficked with you from your youth; they all wander about in their own paths; there is no one to save you.


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God the Creator and Redeemer Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came forth from the loins of Judah; who swear by the name of the Lord, and invoke the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.


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For they call themselves after the holy city, and lean on the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is his name.


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The former things I declared long ago, they went out from my mouth and I made them known; then suddenly I did them and they came to pass.


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I declared them to you from long ago, before they came to pass I announced them to you, so that you would not say, ‘My idol did them, my carved image and my cast image commanded them.’


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You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forward I make you hear new things, hidden things that you have not known.


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They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, so that you could not say, ‘I already knew them.’


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You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and that from birth you were called a rebel.


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For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, so that I may not cut you off.


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For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for why should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.


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My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand at attention.


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Assemble, all of you, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.


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Draw near to me, hear this! From the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there. And now the Lord God has sent me and his spirit.


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Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own good, who leads you in the way you should go.


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O that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your prosperity would have been like a river, and your success like the waves of the sea;


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your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.


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Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it forth to the end of the earth; say, ‘The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!’


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They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split open the rock and the water gushed out.


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The Servant’s Mission Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.


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He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away.


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But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.’


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And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength—


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he says, ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’


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Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, ‘Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’


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Zion’s Children to Be Brought Home Thus says the Lord: In a time of favour I have answered you, on a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages;


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saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out’, to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They shall feed along the ways, on all the bare heights shall be their pasture;


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they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.


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Lo, these shall come from far away, and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.


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Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones.


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Can a woman forget her nursing-child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.


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Lift up your eyes all around and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall put all of them on like an ornament, and like a bride you shall bind them on.


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Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land— surely now you will be too crowded for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away.


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The children born in the time of your bereavement will yet say in your hearing: ‘The place is too crowded for me; make room for me to settle.’


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Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away— so who has reared these? I was left all alone— where then have these come from?’


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Thus says the Lord God: I will soon lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.


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Kings shall be your foster-fathers, and their queens your nursing-mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.


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But thus says the Lord: Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued; for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.


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I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Saviour, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.


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Thus says the Lord: Where is your mother’s bill of divorce with which I put her away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? No, because of your sins you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was put away.


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Why was no one there when I came? Why did no one answer when I called? Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? By my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert; their fish stink for lack of water, and die of thirst.


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The Servant’s Humiliation and Vindication The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.


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I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.


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The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame;


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he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.


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It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty? All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.


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Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of the Lord and relies upon his God?


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But all of you are kindlers of fire, lighters of firebrands. Walk in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that you have kindled! This is what you shall have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.


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Blessings in Store for God’s People Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.


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Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many.


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For the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.


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Listen to me, my people, and give heed to me, my nation; for a teaching will go out from me, and my justice for a light to the peoples.


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I will bring near my deliverance swiftly, my salvation has gone out and my arms will rule the peoples; the coastlands wait for me, and for my arm they hope.


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Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live on it will die like gnats; but my salvation will be for ever, and my deliverance will never be ended.


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Listen to me, you who know righteousness, you people who have my teaching in your hearts; do not fear the reproach of others, and do not be dismayed when they revile you.


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For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my deliverance will be for ever, and my salvation to all generations.


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Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago! Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?


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Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to cross over?


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So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.


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I, I am he who comforts you; why then are you afraid of a mere mortal who must die, a human being who fades like grass?


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You have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?


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The oppressed shall speedily be released; they shall not die and go down to the Pit, nor shall they lack bread.


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For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name.


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I have put my words in your mouth, and hidden you in the shadow of my hand, stretching out the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’


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Rouse yourself, rouse yourself! Stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl of staggering.


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There is no one to guide her among all the children she has borne; there is no one to take her by the hand among all the children she has brought up.


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These two things have befallen you —who will grieve with you?— devastation and destruction, famine and sword— who will comfort you?


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Your children have fainted, they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of the Lord, the rebuke of your God.


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Thus says your Sovereign, the Lord, your God who pleads the cause of his people: See, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; you shall drink no more from the bowl of my wrath.


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And I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, ‘Bow down, that we may walk on you’; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to walk on.


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Let Zion Rejoice Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for the uncircumcised and the unclean shall enter you no more.


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Shake yourself from the dust, rise up, O captive Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter Zion!


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For thus says the Lord God: Long ago, my people went down into Egypt to reside there as aliens; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause.


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Now therefore, what am I doing here, says the Lord, seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Their rulers howl, says the Lord, and continually, all day long, my name is despised.


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Therefore my people shall know my name; therefore on that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.


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How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’


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Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the Lord to Zion.


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Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.


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The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.


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Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the Lord.


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For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rearguard.


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The Suffering Servant See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.


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Just as there were many who were astonished at him —so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals—


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so he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.


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For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.


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He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.


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Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.


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But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.


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All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.


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He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.


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By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.


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They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.


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Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.


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Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.


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Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.


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The Eternal Covenant of Peace Sing, O barren one who did not bear; burst into song and shout, you who have not been in labour! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married, says the Lord.


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Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.


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For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will settle the desolate towns.


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Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.


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For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.


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For the Lord has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off, says your God.


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In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.


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This is like the days of Noah to me: Just as I swore that the waters of Noah would never again go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you and will not rebuke you.


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For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.


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O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, I am about to set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires.


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In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.


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If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you.


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See, it is I who have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and produces a weapon fit for its purpose; I have also created the ravager to destroy.


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No weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgement. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, says the Lord.


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An Invitation to Abundant Life Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.


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Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.


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Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.


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See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.


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let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.


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For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.


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For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,


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so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.


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For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.


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Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.


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The Covenant Extended to All Who Obey Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.


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Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil.


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Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely separate me from his people’; and do not let the eunuch say, ‘I am just a dry tree.’


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For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant,


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I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.


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And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant—


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these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.


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Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.


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The Corruption of Israel’s Rulers All you wild animals, all you wild animals in the forest, come to devour!


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Israel’s sentinels are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs that cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.


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The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. The shepherds also have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, to their own gain, one and all.


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‘Come,’ they say, ‘let us get wine; let us fill ourselves with strong drink. And tomorrow will be like today, great beyond measure.’


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Israel’s Futile Idolatry The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous are taken away from calamity,


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Whom are you mocking? Against whom do you open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, the offspring of deceit—


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you that burn with lust among the oaks, under every green tree; you that slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?


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Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; they, they, are your lot; to them you have poured out a drink-offering, you have brought a grain-offering. Shall I be appeased for these things?


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Behind the door and the doorpost you have set up your symbol; for, in deserting me, you have uncovered your bed, you have gone up to it, you have made it wide; and you have made a bargain for yourself with them, you have loved their bed, you have gazed on their nakedness.


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You journeyed to Molech with oil, and multiplied your perfumes; you sent your envoys far away, and sent down even to Sheol.


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You grew weary from your many wanderings, but you did not say, ‘It is useless.’ You found your desire rekindled, and so you did not weaken.


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Whom did you dread and fear so that you lied, and did not remember me or give me a thought? Have I not kept silent and closed my eyes, and so you do not fear me?


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When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them off, a breath will take them away. But whoever takes refuge in me shall possess the land and inherit my holy mountain.


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A Promise of Help and Healing It shall be said, ‘Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way.’


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For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.


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For I will not continually accuse, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirits would grow faint before me, even the souls that I have made.


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Because of their wicked covetousness I was angry; I struck them, I hid and was angry; but they kept turning back to their own ways.


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I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will lead them and repay them with comfort, creating for their mourners the fruit of the lips.


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False and True Worship Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins.


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Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practised righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgements, they delight to draw near to God.


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‘Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’ Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers.


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Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.


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Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?


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Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?


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Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?


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Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.


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Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,


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if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.


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The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.


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Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.


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If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honourable; if you honour it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;


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then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.


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Injustice and Oppression to Be Punished See, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.


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Rather, your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.


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For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness.


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No one brings suit justly, no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, conceiving mischief and begetting iniquity.


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They hatch adders’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web; whoever eats their eggs dies, and the crushed egg hatches out a viper.


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Their webs cannot serve as clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their works are works of iniquity, and deeds of violence are in their hands.


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Their feet run to evil, and they rush to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, desolation and destruction are in their highways.


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The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths. Their roads they have made crooked; no one who walks in them knows peace.


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Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us; we wait for light, and lo! there is darkness; and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.


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We grope like the blind along a wall, groping like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among the vigorous as though we were dead.


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We all growl like bears; like doves we moan mournfully. We wait for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.


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For our transgressions before you are many, and our sins testify against us. Our transgressions indeed are with us, and we know our iniquities:


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transgressing, and denying the Lord, and turning away from following our God, talking oppression and revolt, conceiving lying words and uttering them from the heart.


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Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands at a distance; for truth stumbles in the public square, and uprightness cannot enter.


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Truth is lacking, and whoever turns from evil is despoiled. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.


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He saw that there was no one, and was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm brought him victory, and his righteousness upheld him.


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He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in fury as in a mantle.


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According to their deeds, so will he repay; wrath to his adversaries, requital to his enemies; to the coastlands he will render requital.


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So those in the west shall fear the name of the Lord, and those in the east, his glory; for he will come like a pent-up stream that the wind of the Lord drives on.


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And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouths of your children, or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now on and for ever.


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The Ingathering of the Dispersed Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.


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For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.


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Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.


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Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.


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A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.


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All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall be acceptable on my altar, and I will glorify my glorious house.


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For the coastlands shall wait for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from far away, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.


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Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you; for in my wrath I struck you down, but in my favour I have had mercy on you.


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Your gates shall always be open; day and night they shall not be shut, so that nations shall bring you their wealth, with their kings led in procession.


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For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste.


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The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plane, and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will glorify where my feet rest.


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The descendants of those who oppressed you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.


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Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic for ever, a joy from age to age.


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You shall suck the milk of nations, you shall suck the breasts of kings; and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Saviour and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.


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Instead of bronze I will bring gold, instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will appoint Peace as your overseer and Righteousness as your taskmaster.


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Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.


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God the Glory of Zion The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.


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Your sun shall no more go down, or your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.


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Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land for ever. They are the shoot that I planted, the work of my hands, so that I might be glorified.


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The least of them shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the Lord; in its time I will accomplish it quickly.


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The Good News of Deliverance The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners;


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to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;


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to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.


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They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.


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but you shall be called priests of the Lord, you shall be named ministers of our God; you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory.


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Because their shame was double, and dishonour was proclaimed as their lot, therefore they shall possess a double portion; everlasting joy shall be theirs.


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For I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.


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Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.


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I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.


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For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.


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The Vindication and Salvation of Zion For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.


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The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give.


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You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.


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For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.


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Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted sentinels; all day and all night they shall never be silent. You who remind the Lord, take no rest,


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The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink the wine for which you have laboured;


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but those who garner it shall eat it and praise the Lord, and those who gather it shall drink it in my holy courts.


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Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up an ensign over the peoples.


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The Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to daughter Zion, ‘See, your salvation comes; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.’


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They shall be called, ‘The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord’; and you shall be called, ‘Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.’


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Vengeance on Edom ‘Who is this that comes from Edom, from Bozrah in garments stained crimson? Who is this so splendidly robed, marching in his great might?’ ‘It is I, announcing vindication, mighty to save.’


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‘I have trodden the wine press alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their juice spattered on my garments, and stained all my robes.


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I looked, but there was no helper; I stared, but there was no one to sustain me; so my own arm brought me victory, and my wrath sustained me.


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I trampled down peoples in my anger, I crushed them in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.’


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God’s Mercy Remembered I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, because of all that the Lord has done for us, and the great favour to the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.


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For he said, ‘Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely’; and he became their saviour


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in all their distress. It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.


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But they rebelled and grieved his holy spirit; therefore he became their enemy; he himself fought against them.


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Then they remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is the one who put within them his holy spirit,


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who caused his glorious arm to march at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name,


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Like cattle that go down into the valley, the spirit of the Lord gave them rest. Thus you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.


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A Prayer of Penitence Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and glorious habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The yearning of your heart and your compassion? They are withheld from me.


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For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our father; our Redeemer from of old is your name.


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Why, O Lord, do you make us stray from your ways and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you? Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage.


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Your holy people took possession for a little while; but now our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.


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O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence—


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as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!


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When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.


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From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.


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You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed.


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We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.


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There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.


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Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.


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Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity for ever. Now consider, we are all your people.


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Our holy and beautiful house, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins.


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After all this, will you restrain yourself, O Lord? Will you keep silent, and punish us so severely?


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The Righteousness of God’s Judgement I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am’, to a nation that did not call on my name.


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I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;


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a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and offering incense on bricks;


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who sit inside tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine’s flesh, with broth of abominable things in their vessels;


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who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.’ These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.


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See, it is written before me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their laps


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their iniquities and their ancestors’ iniquities together, says the Lord; because they offered incense on the mountains and reviled me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their actions.


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Thus says the Lord: As the wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it’, so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all.


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I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah inheritors of my mountains; my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall settle there.


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Sharon shall become a pasture for 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 who forsake the Lord, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,


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I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter; because, when I called, you did not answer, when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my sight, and chose what I did not delight in.


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Therefore thus says the Lord God: My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame;


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my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart, and shall wail for anguish of spirit.


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You shall leave your name to my chosen to use as a curse, and the Lord God will put you to death; but to his servants he will give a different name.


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Then whoever invokes a blessing in the land shall bless by the God of faithfulness, and whoever takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of faithfulness; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my sight.


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The Glorious New Creation For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.


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But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.


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I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress.


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No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.


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They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.


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They shall not labour in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord— and their descendants as well.


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The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent—its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.


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The Worship God Demands Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is my resting-place?


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All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look, to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at my word.


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Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who kills a human being; whoever sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain-offering, like one who offers swine’s blood; whoever makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol. These have chosen their own ways, and in their abominations they take delight;


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I also will choose to mock them, and bring upon them what they fear; because, when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my sight, and chose what did not please me.


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The Lord Vindicates Zion Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word: Your own people who hate you and reject you for my name’s sake have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, so that we may see your joy’; but it is they who shall be put to shame.


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Listen, an uproar from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord, dealing retribution to his enemies!


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Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be delivered in one moment? Yet as soon as Zion was in labour she delivered her children.


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Shall I open the womb and not deliver? says the Lord; shall I, the one who delivers, shut the womb? says your God.


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Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her—


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that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious bosom.


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For thus says the Lord: I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm, and dandled on her knees.


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The Reign and Indignation of God You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bodies shall flourish like the grass; and it shall be known that the hand of the Lord is with his servants, and his indignation is against his enemies.


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For the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to pay back his anger in fury, and his rebuke in flames of fire.


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For by fire will the Lord execute judgement, and by his sword, on all flesh; and those slain by the Lord shall be many.


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Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the centre, eating the flesh of pigs, vermin, and rodents, shall come to an end together, says the Lord.


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For I know their works and their thoughts, and I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory,


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and I will set a sign among them. From them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put, and Lud—which draw the bow—to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations.


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They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring a grain-offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.


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For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your descendants and your name remain.


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From new moon to new moon, and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord.


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And they shall go out and look at the dead bodies of the people who have rebelled against me; for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.


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to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.


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It came also in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah son of Josiah of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.


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‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’


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But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you.


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Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.


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See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’


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The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Jeremiah, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a branch of an almond tree.’


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The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, ‘What do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a boiling pot, tilted away from the north.’


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Then the Lord said to me: Out of the north disaster shall break out on all the inhabitants of the land.


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For now I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord; and they shall come and all of them shall set their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its surrounding walls and against all the cities of Judah.


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And I will utter my judgements against them, for all their wickedness in forsaking me; they have made offerings to other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.


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But you, gird up your loins; stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not break down before them, or I will break you before them.


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And I for my part have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall, against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land.


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They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.


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Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord: I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.


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Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruits of his harvest. All who ate of it were held guilty; disaster came upon them, says the Lord.


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Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?


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They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?’


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I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.


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The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit.


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Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing.


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Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit.


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for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.


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The lions have roared against him, they have roared loudly. They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.


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Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the Lord your God, while he led you in the way?


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What then do you gain by going to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria, to drink the waters of the Euphrates?


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Your wickedness will punish you, and your apostasies will convict you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God; the fear of me is not in you, says the Lord God of hosts.


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For long ago you broke your yoke and burst your bonds, and you said, ‘I will not serve!’ On every high hill and under every green tree you sprawled and played the whore.


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Yet I planted you as a choice vine, from the purest stock. How then did you turn degenerate and become a wild vine?


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Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, says the Lord God.


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How can you say, ‘I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley; know what you have done— a restive young camel interlacing her tracks,


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a wild ass at home in the wilderness, in her heat sniffing the wind! Who can restrain her lust? None who seek her need weary themselves; in her month they will find her.


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Keep your feet from going unshod and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is hopeless, for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.’


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As a thief is shamed when caught, so the house of Israel shall be shamed— they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets,


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who say to a tree, ‘You are my father’, and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to me, and not their faces. But in the time of their trouble they say, ‘Come and save us!’


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But where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them come, if they can save you, in your time of trouble; for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.


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In vain I have struck down your children; they accepted no correction. Your own sword devoured your prophets like a ravening lion.


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And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord! Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why then do my people say, ‘We are free, we will come to you no more’?


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Can a girl forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.


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How well you direct your course to seek lovers! So that even to wicked women you have taught your ways.


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Also on your skirts is found the lifeblood of the innocent poor, though you did not catch them breaking in. Yet in spite of all these things


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you say, ‘I am innocent; surely his anger has turned from me.’ Now I am bringing you to judgement for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’


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How lightly you gad about, changing your ways! You shall be put to shame by Egypt as you were put to shame by Assyria.


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From there also you will come away with your hands on your head; for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper through them.


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Unfaithful Israel If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her? Would not such a land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? says the Lord.


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Look up to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? By the waysides you have sat waiting for lovers, like a nomad in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your whoring and wickedness.


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Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore, you refuse to be ashamed.


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will he be angry for ever, will he be indignant to the end?’ This is how you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could.


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A Call to Repentance The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and played the whore there?


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And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me’; but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it.


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She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.


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Because she took her whoredom so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.


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Yet for all this her false sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but only in pretence, says the Lord.


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Go, and proclaim these words towards the north, and say: Return, faithless Israel, says the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, says the Lord; I will not be angry for ever.


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Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the Lord your God, and scattered your favours among strangers under every green tree, and have not obeyed my voice, says the Lord.


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Return, O faithless children, says the Lord, for I am your master; 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 when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It shall not come to mind, or be remembered, or missed; nor shall another one be made.


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At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will.


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In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors for a heritage.


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I thought how I would set you among my children, and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful heritage of all the nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.


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Instead, as a faithless wife leaves her husband, so you have been faithless to me, O house of Israel, says the Lord.


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A voice on the bare heights is heard, the plaintive weeping of Israel’s children, because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the Lord their God:


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Return, O faithless children, I will heal your faithlessness. ‘Here we come to you; for you are the Lord our God.


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Truly the hills are a delusion, the orgies on the mountains. Truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.


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‘But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our ancestors had laboured, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.


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Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonour cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our ancestors, from our youth even to this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.’


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If you return, O Israel, says the Lord, if you return to me, if you remove your abominations from my presence, and do not waver,


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and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives!’ in truth, in justice, and in uprightness, then nations shall be blessed by him, and by him they shall boast.


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For thus says the Lord to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.


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Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, remove the foreskin of your hearts, O people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else my wrath will go forth like fire, and burn with no one to quench it, because of the evil of your doings.


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Invasion and Desolation of Judah Threatened Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: Blow the trumpet through the land; shout aloud and say, ‘Gather together, and let us go into the fortified cities!’


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Raise a standard towards Zion, flee for safety, do not delay, for I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction.


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A lion has gone up from its thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant.


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Because of this put on sackcloth, lament and wail: ‘The fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us.’


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On that day, says the Lord, courage shall fail the king and the officials; the priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.


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Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God, how utterly you have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, “It shall be well with you”, even while the sword is at the throat!’


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At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert towards my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse—


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Look! He comes up like clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles— woe to us, for we are ruined!


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O Jerusalem, wash your heart clean of wickedness so that you may be saved. How long shall your evil schemes lodge within you?


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Tell the nations, ‘Here they are!’ Proclaim against Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah.


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They have closed in around her like watchers of a field, because she has rebelled against me, says the Lord.


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Your ways and your doings have brought this upon you. This is your doom; how bitter it is! It has reached your very heart.’


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Sorrow for a Doomed Nation My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent; for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.


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Disaster overtakes disaster, the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my curtains in a moment.


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‘For my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.’


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I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the Lord, before his fierce anger.


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Because of this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above grow black; for I have spoken, I have purposed; I have not relented nor will I turn back.


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At the noise of horseman and archer every town takes to flight; they enter thickets; they climb among rocks; all the towns are forsaken, and no one lives in them.


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And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in crimson, that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.


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For I heard a cry as of a woman in labour, anguish as of one bringing forth her first child, the cry of daughter Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands, ‘Woe is me! I am fainting before killers!’


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The Utter Corruption of God’s People Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look around and take note! Search its squares and see if you can find one person who acts justly and seeks truth— so that I may pardon Jerusalem.


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O Lord, do your eyes not look for truth? You have struck them, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to turn back.


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Then I said, ‘These are only the poor, they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the Lord, the law of their God.


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Let me go to the rich and speak to them; surely they know the way of the Lord, the law of their God.’ But they all alike had broken the yoke, they had burst the bonds.


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Therefore a lion from the forest shall kill them, a wolf from the desert shall destroy them. A leopard is watching against their cities; everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces— because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great.


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How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of prostitutes.


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Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord; and shall I not bring retribution on a nation such as this?


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Go up through her vine-rows and destroy, but do not make a full end; strip away her branches, for they are not the Lord’s.


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They have spoken falsely of the Lord, and have said, ‘He will do nothing. No evil will come upon us, and we shall not see sword or famine.’


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Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: Because they have spoken this word, I am now making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall devour them.


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I am going to bring upon you a nation from far away, O house of Israel, says the Lord. It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say.


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They shall eat up your harvest and your food; they shall eat up 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 destroy with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.


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And when your people say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘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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Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but do not see, who have ears, but do not hear.


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Do you not fear me? says the Lord; Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail, though they roar, they cannot pass over it.


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They do not say in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.’


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For scoundrels are found among my people; they take over the goods of others. Like fowlers they set a trap; they catch human beings.


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Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of treachery; therefore they have become great and rich,


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they have grown fat and sleek. They know no limits in deeds of wickedness; they do not judge with justice the cause of the orphan, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy.


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Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord, and shall I not bring retribution on a nation such as this?


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the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule as the prophets direct; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?


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The Imminence and Horror of the Invasion Flee for safety, O children of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem; for evil looms out of the north, and great destruction.


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Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her. They shall pitch their tents around her; they shall pasture, all in their places.


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‘Prepare war against her; up, and let us attack at noon!’ ‘Woe to us, for the day declines, the shadows of evening lengthen!’


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For thus says the Lord of hosts: Cut down her trees; cast up a siege-ramp against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her.


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As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her wickedness; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me.


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Take warning, O Jerusalem, or I shall turn from you in disgust, and make you a desolation, an uninhabited land.


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Thus says the Lord of hosts: Glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel; like a grape-gatherer, pass your hand again over its branches.


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To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? See, their ears are closed, they cannot listen. The word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.


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But I am full of the wrath of the Lord; I am weary of holding it in. Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the gatherings of young men as well; both husband and wife shall be taken, the old folk and the very aged.


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Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together; for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord.


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For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.


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They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, ‘Peace, peace’, when there is no peace.


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They acted shamefully, they committed abomination; yet they were not ashamed, they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the Lord.


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Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’


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Also I raised up sentinels for you: ‘Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not give heed.’


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Hear, O earth; I am going to bring disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not given heed to my words; and as for my teaching, they have rejected it.


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Of what use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.


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Therefore thus says the Lord: See, I am laying before this people stumbling-blocks against which they shall stumble; parents and children together, neighbour and friend shall perish.


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Thus says the Lord: See, a people is coming from the land of the north, a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.


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They grasp the bow and the javelin, they are cruel and have no mercy, their sound is like the roaring sea; they ride on horses, equipped like a warrior for battle, against you, O daughter Zion!


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‘We have heard news of them, our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labour.


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Do not go out into the field, or walk on the road; for the enemy has a sword, terror is on every side.’


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O my poor people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only child, most bitter lamentation: for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.


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They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron, all of them act corruptly.


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The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed.


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Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah, you that enter these gates to worship the Lord.


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Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and let me dwell with you in this place.


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Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’


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if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt,


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then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors for ever and ever.


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Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known,


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and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are safe!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?


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Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight? You know, I too am watching, says the Lord.


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Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.


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And now, because you have done all these things, says the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently, you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,


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therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your ancestors, just what I did to Shiloh.


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And I will cast you out of my sight, just as I cast out all your kinsfolk, all the offspring of Ephraim.


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The People’s Disobedience As for you, do not pray for this people, do not raise a cry or prayer on their behalf, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you.


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The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink-offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.


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Therefore thus says the Lord God: My anger and my wrath shall be poured out on this place, on human beings and animals, on the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.


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Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh.


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For on the day that I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to them or command them concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices.


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But this command I gave them, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk only in the way that I command you, so that it may be well with you.’


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Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but, in the stubbornness of their evil will, they walked in their own counsels, and looked backwards rather than forwards.


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From the day that your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day;


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yet they did not listen to me, or pay attention, but they stiffened their necks. They did worse than their ancestors did.


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So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.


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You shall say to them: This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.


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Cut off your hair and throw it away; raise a lamentation on the bare heights, for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation that provoked his wrath.


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For the people of Judah have done evil in my sight, says the Lord; they have set their abominations in the house that is called by my name, defiling it.


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And they go on building the high place of Topheth, 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, nor did it come into my mind.


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Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of Slaughter: for they will bury in Topheth until there is no more room.


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The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the animals of the earth; and no one will frighten them away.


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And I will bring to an end the sound of mirth and gladness, the voice of the bride and bridegroom in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for the land shall become a waste.


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At that time, says the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs;


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and they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have followed, and which they have inquired of and worshipped; and they shall not be gathered or buried; they shall be like dung on the surface of the ground.


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Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, says the Lord of hosts.


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The Blind Perversity of the Whole Nation You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: When people fall, do they not get up again? If they go astray, do they not turn back?


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Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They have held fast to deceit, they have refused to return.


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I have given heed and listened, but they do not speak honestly; no one repents of wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done!’ All of them turn to their own course, like a horse plunging headlong into battle.


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Even the stork in the heavens knows its times; and the turtle-dove, swallow, and crane observe the time of their coming; but my people do not know the ordinance of the Lord.


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How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’, when, in fact, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie?


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The wise shall be put to shame, they shall be dismayed and taken; since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what wisdom is in them?


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Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to conquerors, because from the least to the greatest everyone is greedy for unjust gain; from prophet to priest everyone deals falsely.


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They acted shamefully, they committed abomination; yet they were not at all ashamed, they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time when I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the Lord.


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When I wanted to gather them, says the Lord, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree; even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them.


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Why do we sit still? Gather together, let us go into the fortified cities and perish there; for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish, and has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.


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The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan; at the sound of the neighing of their stallions the whole land quakes. They come and devour the land and all that fills it, the city and those who live in it.


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See, I am letting snakes loose among you, adders that cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you, says the Lord.


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Hark, the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land: ‘Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?’ (‘Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols?’)


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Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?


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O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people!


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O that I had in the desert a traveller’s lodging-place, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, a band of traitors.


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They bend their tongues like bows; they have grown strong in the land for falsehood, and not for truth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, says the Lord.


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Beware of your neighbours, and put no trust in any of your kin; for all your kin are supplanters, and every neighbour goes around like a slanderer.


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They all deceive their neighbours, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongues to speak lies; they commit iniquity and are too weary to repent.


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Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: I will now refine and test them, for what else can I do with my sinful people?


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Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceit through the mouth. They all speak friendly words to their neighbours, but inwardly are planning to lay an ambush.


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Take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness, because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard; both the birds of the air and the animals have fled and are gone.


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I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of jackals; and I will make the towns of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.


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Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, so that they may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?


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And the Lord says: Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, or walked in accordance with it,


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but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.


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Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am feeding this people with wormwood, and giving them poisonous water to drink.


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I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.


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The People Mourn in Judgement Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider, and call for the mourning-women to come; send for the skilled women to come;


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let them quickly raise a dirge over us, so that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids flow with water.


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For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How we are ruined! We are utterly shamed, because we have left the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.’


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Hear, O women, the word of the Lord, and let your ears receive the word of his mouth; teach to your daughters a dirge, and each to her neighbour a lament.


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‘Death has come up into our windows, it has entered our palaces, to cut off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.’


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Speak! Thus says the Lord: ‘Human corpses shall fall like dung upon the open field, like sheaves behind the reaper, and no one shall gather them.’


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Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth;


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but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.


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The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will attend to all those who are circumcised only in the foreskin:


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Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all those with shaven temples who live in the desert. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.


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Thus says the Lord: Do not learn the way of the nations, or be dismayed at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them.


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For the customs of the peoples are false: a tree from the forest is cut down, and worked with an axe by the hands of an artisan;


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Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good.


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Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For that is your due; among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is no one like you.


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Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the artisan and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is blue and purple; they are all the product of skilled workers.


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But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.


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Thus shall you say to them: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.


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It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.


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When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and he brings out the wind from his storehouses.


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Everyone is stupid and without knowledge; goldsmiths are all put to shame by their idols; for their images are false, and there is no breath in them.


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Not like these is the Lord, the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name.


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For thus says the Lord: I am going to fling away the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress on them, so that they shall feel it.


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Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is severe. But I said, ‘Truly this is my punishment, and I must bear it.’


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My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken; my children have gone from me, and they are no more; there is no one to spread my tent again, and to set up my curtains.


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For the shepherds are stupid, and do not inquire of the Lord; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.


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Hear, a noise! Listen, it is coming— a great commotion from the land of the north to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.


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I know, O Lord, that the way of human beings is not in their control, that mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps.


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Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you, and on the peoples that do not call on your name; for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.


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You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed be anyone who does not heed the words of this covenant,


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which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron-smelter, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God,


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that I may perform the oath that I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day. Then I answered, ‘So be it, Lord.’


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And the Lord said to me: Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them.


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For I solemnly warned your ancestors when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice.


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Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of an evil will. So I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.


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And the Lord said to me: Conspiracy exists among the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors of old, who refused to heed my words; they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant that I made with their ancestors.


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Therefore, thus says the Lord, assuredly I am going to bring disaster upon them that they cannot escape; though they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.


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Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they will never save them in the time of their trouble.


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For your gods have become as many as your towns, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars to shame that you have set up, altars to make offerings to Baal.


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As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.


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What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done vile deeds? Can vows and sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult?


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The Lord once called you, ‘A green olive tree, fair with goodly fruit’; but with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed.


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The Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.


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Jeremiah’s Life Threatened It was the Lord who made it known to me, and I knew; then you showed me their evil deeds.


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But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, ‘Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!’


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But you, O Lord of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.


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Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the people of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, ‘You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand’—


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therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: I am going to punish them; the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine;


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and not even a remnant shall be left of them. For I will bring disaster upon the people of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.


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Jeremiah Complains to God You will be in the right, O Lord, when I lay charges against you; but let me put my case to you. Why does the way of the guilty prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?


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You plant them, and they take root; they grow and bring forth fruit; you are near in their mouths yet far from their hearts.


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But you, O Lord, know me; You see me and test me—my heart is with you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter.


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How long will the land mourn, and the grass of every field wither? For the wickedness of those who live in it the animals and the birds are swept away, and because people said, ‘He is blind to our ways.’


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God Replies to Jeremiah If you have raced with foot-runners and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you fall down, how will you fare in the thickets of the Jordan?


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For even your kinsfolk and your own family, even they have dealt treacherously with you; they are in full cry after you; do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you.


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I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my heart into the hands of her enemies.


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My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest; she has lifted up her voice against me— therefore I hate her.


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Is the hyena greedy for my heritage at my command? Are the birds of prey all around her? Go, assemble all the wild animals; bring them to devour her.


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Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trampled down my portion, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.


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They have made it a desolation; desolate, it mourns to me. The whole land is made desolate, but no one lays it to heart.


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Upon all the bare heights in the desert spoilers have come; for the sword of the Lord devours from one end of the land to the other; no one shall be safe.


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They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns, they have tired themselves out but profit nothing. They shall be ashamed of their harvests because of the fierce anger of the Lord.


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Thus says the Lord concerning all my evil neighbours who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: I am about to pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.


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And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again to their heritage and to their land, every one of them.


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And then, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives’, as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people.


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The Linen Loincloth Thus said the Lord to me, ‘Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth, and put it on your loins, but do not dip it in water.’


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‘Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go now to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.’


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And after many days the Lord said to me, ‘Go now to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.’


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Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. But now the loincloth was ruined; it was good for nothing.


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This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own will and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing.


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For as the loincloth clings to one’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the Lord, in order that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory. But they would not listen.


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Symbol of the Wine-Jars You shall speak to them this word: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Every wine-jar should be filled with wine. And they will say to you, ‘Do you think we do not know that every wine-jar should be filled with wine?’


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Then you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness.


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And I will dash them one against another, parents and children together, says the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion when I destroy them.


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Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings darkness, and before your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight; while you look for light, he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness.


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But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.


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Say to the king and the queen mother: ‘Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head.’


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The towns of the Negeb are shut up with no one to open them; all Judah is taken into exile, wholly taken into exile.


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


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What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you have trained to be your allies? Will not pangs take hold of you, like those of a woman in labour?


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And if you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things come upon me?’ it is for the greatness of your iniquity that your skirts are lifted up, and you are violated.


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Can Ethiopians change their skin or leopards their spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.


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This is your lot, the portion I have measured out to you, says the Lord, because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.


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I have seen your abominations, your adulteries and neighings, your shameless prostitutions on the hills of the countryside. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will it be before you are made clean?


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Judah mourns and her gates languish; they lie in gloom on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.


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Her nobles send their servants for water; they come to the cisterns, they find no water, they return with their vessels empty. They are ashamed and dismayed and cover their heads,


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because the ground is cracked. Because there has been no rain on the land the farmers are dismayed; they cover their heads.


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The wild asses stand on the bare heights, they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail because there is no herbage.


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Although our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name’s sake; our apostasies indeed are many, and we have sinned against you.


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O hope of Israel, its saviour in time of trouble, why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveller turning aside for the night?


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Why should you be like someone confused, like a mighty warrior who cannot give help? Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not forsake us!


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Thus says the Lord concerning this people: Truly they have loved to wander, they have not restrained their feet; therefore the Lord does not accept them, now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.


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Although they fast, I do not hear their cry, and although they offer burnt-offering and grain-offering, I do not accept them; but by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence I consume them.


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Denunciation of Lying Prophets Then I said: ‘Ah, Lord God! Here are the prophets saying to them, “You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.”’


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And the Lord said to me: The prophets are prophesying lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.


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Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name though I did not send them, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not come on this land’: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.


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And the people to whom they prophesy shall be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword. There shall be no one to bury them—themselves, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their wickedness upon them.


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You shall say to them this word: Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter—my people—is struck down with a crushing blow, with a very grievous wound.


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If I go out into the field, look—those killed by the sword! And if I enter the city, look—those sick with famine! For both prophet and priest ply their trade throughout the land, and have no knowledge.


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The People Plead for Mercy Have you completely rejected Judah? Does your heart loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us? We look for peace, but find no good; for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.


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We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord, the iniquity of our ancestors, for we have sinned against you.


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Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonour your glorious throne; remember and do not break your covenant with us.


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Can any idols of the nations bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Is it not you, O Lord our God? We set our hope on you, for it is you who do all this.


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Punishment Is Inevitable Then the Lord said to me: Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn towards this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!


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And when they say to you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: Those destined for pestilence, to pestilence, and those destined for the sword, to the sword; those destined for famine, to famine, and those destined for captivity, to captivity.


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And I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, says the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth to devour and destroy.


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I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what King Manasseh son of Hezekiah of Judah did in Jerusalem.


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Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, or who will bemoan you? Who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?


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You have rejected me, says the Lord, you are going backwards; so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— I am weary of relenting.


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I have winnowed them with a winnowing-fork in the gates of the land; I have bereaved them, I have destroyed my people; they did not turn from their ways.


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Their widows became more numerous than the sand of the seas; I have brought against the mothers of youths a destroyer at noonday; I have made anguish and terror fall upon her suddenly.


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She who bore seven has languished; she has swooned away; her sun went down while it was yet day; she has been shamed and disgraced. And the rest of them I will give to the sword before their enemies, says the Lord.


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Jeremiah Complains Again and Is Reassured Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.


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The Lord said: Surely I have intervened in your life for good, surely I have imposed enemies on you in a time of trouble and in a time of distress.


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Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory.


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I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn for ever.


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O Lord, you know; remember me and visit me, and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors. In your forbearance do not take me away; know that on your account I suffer insult.


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Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.


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I did not sit in the company of merrymakers, nor did I rejoice; under the weight of your hand I sat alone, for you had filled me with indignation.


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Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail.


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Therefore, thus says the Lord: If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth. It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them.


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


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For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who beget them in this land:


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They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried; they shall become like dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall become food for the birds of the air and for the wild animals of the earth.


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For thus says the Lord: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament, or bemoan them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, says the Lord, my steadfast love and mercy.


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Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them; there shall be no gashing, no shaving of the head for them.


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No one shall break bread for the mourner, to offer comfort for the dead; nor shall anyone give them the cup of consolation to drink for their fathers or their mothers.


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For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to banish from this place, in your days and before your eyes, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.


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And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’


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then you shall say to them: It is because your ancestors have forsaken me, says the Lord, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshipped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law;


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and because you have behaved worse than your ancestors, for here you are, every one of you, following your stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me.


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Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favour.


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God Will Restore Israel Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt’,


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but ‘As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their ancestors.


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I am now sending for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall catch them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.


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For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my presence, nor is their iniquity concealed from my sight.


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And I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.


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O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge on the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: Our ancestors have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.


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‘Therefore I am surely going to teach them, this time I am going to teach them my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord.’


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Judah’s Sin and Punishment The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen; with a diamond point it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts, and on the horns of their altars,


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while their children remember their altars and their sacred poles, beside every green tree, and on the high hills,


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on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your sin throughout all your territory.


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By your own act you shall lose the heritage that I gave you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn for ever.


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Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord.


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They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.


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They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.


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I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.


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Like the partridge hatching what it did not lay, so are all who amass wealth unjustly; in mid-life it will leave them, and at their end they will prove to be fools.


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O hope of Israel! O Lord! All who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be recorded in the underworld, for they have forsaken the fountain of living water, the Lord.


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Jeremiah Prays for Vindication Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for you are my praise.


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But I have not run away from being a shepherd in your service, nor have I desired the fatal day. You know what came from my lips; it was before your face.


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Let my persecutors be shamed, but do not let me be shamed; let them be dismayed, but do not let me be dismayed; bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction!


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Hallow the Sabbath Day Thus said the Lord to me: Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter 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 the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates.


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Thus says the Lord: For the sake of your lives, take care that you do not bear a burden on the sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.


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And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the sabbath or do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.


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Yet they did not listen or incline their ear; they stiffened their necks and would not hear or receive instruction.


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But if you listen to me, says the Lord, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but keep the sabbath day holy and do no work on it,


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then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall be inhabited for ever.


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And people shall come from the towns of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt-offerings and sacrifices, grain-offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank-offerings to the house of the Lord.


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But if you do not listen to me, to keep the sabbath day holy, and to carry in no burden through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates; it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.


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The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.


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Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.


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At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it,


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but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it.


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And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it,


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but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it.


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Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.


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Israel’s Stubborn Idolatry But they say, ‘It is no use! We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of our evil will.’


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Therefore, thus says the Lord: Ask among the nations: Who has heard the like of this? The virgin Israel has done a most horrible thing.


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Does the snow of Lebanon leave the crags of Sirion? Do the mountain waters run dry, the cold flowing streams?


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But my people have forgotten me, they burn offerings to a delusion; they have stumbled in their ways, in the ancient roads, and have gone into bypaths, not the highway,


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making their land a horror, a thing to be hissed at for ever. All who pass by it are horrified and shake their heads.


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Like the wind from the east, I will scatter them before the enemy. I will show them my back, not my face, on the day of their calamity.


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A Plot against Jeremiah Then they said, ‘Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah—for instruction shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us bring charges against him, and let us not heed any of his words.’


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Is evil a recompense for good? Yet they have dug a pit for my life. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.


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Therefore give their children over to famine; hurl them out to the power of the sword, let their wives become childless and widowed. May their men meet death by pestilence, their youths be slain by the sword in battle.


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May a cry be heard from their houses, when you bring the marauder suddenly upon them! For they have dug a pit to catch me, and laid snares for my feet.


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Yet you, O Lord, know all their plotting to kill me. Do not forgive their iniquity, do not blot out their sin from your sight. Let them be tripped up before you; deal with them while you are angry.


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The Broken Earthenware Jug Thus said the Lord: Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jug. Take with you some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests,


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and go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you.


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You shall say: Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.


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Because the people have forsaken me, and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent,


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and gone on building the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as burnt-offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it enter my mind;


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therefore the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of Slaughter.


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And in this place I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth.


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And I will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters.


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And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and all shall eat the flesh of their neighbours in the siege, and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.


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and shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended. In Topheth they shall bury until there is no more room to bury.


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And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Topheth—all the houses upon whose roofs offerings have been made to the whole host of heaven, and libations have been poured out to other gods.


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When Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, he stood in the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people:


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Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am now bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their necks, refusing to hear my words.


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Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur Now the priest Pashhur son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.


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Then Pashhur struck the prophet Jeremiah, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord.


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The next morning when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, The Lord has named you not Pashhur but ‘Terror-all-around.’


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For thus says the Lord: I am making you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall kill them with the sword.


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I will give all the wealth of this city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them, and seize them, and carry them to Babylon.


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


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Jeremiah Denounces His Persecutors O Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughing-stock all day long; everyone mocks me.


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For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, ‘Violence and destruction!’ For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.


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If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name’, then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.


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For I hear many whispering: ‘Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’ All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. ‘Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him.’


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But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonour will never be forgotten.


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O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.


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Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.


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Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, saying, ‘A child is born to you, a son’, making him very glad.


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Let that man be like the cities that the Lord overthrew without pity; let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm at noon,


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because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb for ever great.


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Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadrezzar This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, saying,


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‘Please inquire of the Lord on our behalf, for King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon is making war against us; perhaps the Lord will perform a wonderful deed for us, as he has often done, and will make him withdraw from us.’


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Thus you shall say to Zedekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I am going to turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls; and I will bring them together into the centre of this city.


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I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and mighty arm, in anger, in fury, and in great wrath.


