# verses

text:
After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Beth-zur, made strong in front of the Tombs of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty men.


text:
After him the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani made strong. On his hand Hashabiah the ruler of the half part of Keilah made strong in his part.


text:
After him their brothers Bavai the son of Henadad, the ruler of the half part of Keilah, made strong.


text:
And next to his hand Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, made strong another section before the going up to the armory at the corner.


text:
After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly made strong the other section from the corner to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.


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


text:
After them Benjamin and Hashub made strong across from their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah made strong by his house.


text:
After him Binnui the son of Henadad made strong another section, from the house of Azariah to the corner, even to the tower.


text:
Palal the son of Uzai made strong across from the corner, and the tower which sticks out from the king's high house, that was by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made strong.


text:
And the temple-slaves lived in Ophel, across from the Water Gate toward the east, and the tower that sticks out.


text:
After him the Tekoites made strong another section, opposite the great tower that sticks out, even to the wall of Ophel.


text:
After them Zadok the son of Immer made strong across from his house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, strengthened.


text:
After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph made strong another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah made strong across from his room.


text:
After him Malchiah the goldsmith's son made strong the place of the temple-slaves, and of the merchants, before the Miphkad Gate, and to the going up of the corner.


text:
And between the going up of the corner to the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made strong.


text:
And it happened, when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, he was angry, and it was greatly enraging to him, and he mocked the Jews.


text:
And he spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they bring to life the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?


text:
And Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox goes up, he will even break down their stone wall.


text:
O our God, hear. For we are despised. And turn their curse on their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity.


text:
And do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You. For they have provoked You to anger before the builders.


text:
So we built the wall, and all the wall was joined together to the half of it. For the people had a heart to work.


text:
And it happened, when Sanballat and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that repairing of the walls of Jerusalem had gone up, that the breaks were being closed up, it was very angering to them.


text:
And Judah said, The strength of the burden carriers is weakening, and there is much rubbish, so that we are not able to build the wall.


text:
And our foes have said, They shall not know or see until we come in the middle of them and kill them, and cause the work to cease.


text:
And it happened when the Jews who lived near them came in, they said to us ten times, From all places where you shall return, they will be against us.


text:
So I stationed from the lowest parts of the place, from the back of the wall, in the higher places; even, I stationed the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.


text:
And I saw. And I rose up and said to the nobles and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.


text:
And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had broken their counsel, all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.


text:
And it happened, from that time on, half of my servants worked in the work, and the other half of them were holding the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the scale-armor. And the rulers were behind all the house of Judah,


text:
the ones who built on the wall, and the ones who carried a burden; bearing with one of his hands, a worker in the work, and one, a holder of the weapon.


text:
For each man of the builders had his sword tied by his side, and built. And he who sounded the ram's horn was beside me.


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


text:
In whatever place you hear the sound of the ram's horn, gather there to us. Our God will fight for us.


text:
So we worked in the work. And half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars came out.


text:
Likewise at the same time I said to the people, Let each man with his servant stay inside Jerusalem, so that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor in the day.


text:
So neither I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us put off our clothes, though each had his vessel of water.


text:
For some were saying, With our sons and our daughters, we are many. Let us take up grain for them, so that we may eat and live.


text:
Some also were saying, We have mortgaged our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses; let us take up grain because of the famine.


text:
yet now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers; as their sons, so are our sons; and, behold, we are bringing our sons and our daughters into bondage, to be slaves; yea, there are some of our daughters brought into bondage. And there is no power for our hand, and our fields and our vineyards are in the possession of other men.


text:
Then my heart ruled within myself, and I contended with the nobles and the magistrates. And I said to them, You are each man lending at interest, from his brother. And I held a great assembly against them.


text:
And I said to them, According to our ability we have redeemed our brothers, the Jews who were sold to the nations. And will you yet sell your brothers? Or shall they be sold to us? Then they were silent, and did not find a word.


text:
Also I said, The thing you do is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?


text:
Likewise, my brothers and my servants are lending them silver and grain. Now let us leave off this interest.


text:
Now even today give back to them their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses; also the hundredth part of their silver, and of the grain, the wine, and the oil, that you have taken from them.


text:
And they said, We will restore, and will ask nothing from them. So we will do as you say. Then I called the priests and took an oath from them that they would do according to this word.


text:
Also I shook my lap, and I said, So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor, who does not lift up this thing; even may he be shaken out this way and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised Jehovah. And the people did according to this thing.


text:
And from the time that I was chosen to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I and my brothers did not eat the bread of the governor.


text:
The former governors that had been before me were too heavy on the people, and had taken bread and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people. But I did not do this, because of the fear of God.


text:
Yea, I also worked strongly in the work of this wall, nor did we buy a field. And all my servants were gathered there to the work.


text:
And at my table were a hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those who came to us from among the nations around us.


text:
And that which was prepared for me daily was one ox, six fat sheep. Also birds were prepared for me; and between ten days, in all of the wine plentifully. And with this I did not seek the bread of the governor, for the bondage was heavy on this people.


text:
And it happened, when it was heard by Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and to the rest of our enemies, that I had built the wall, and that no break was left in it though at that time I had not set up doors on the gates,


text:
Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come, let us meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do evil to me.


text:
And I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you?


text:
Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way the fifth time with an open letter in his hand, in which was written,


text:
It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says that you and the Jews plan to rebel; for which reason you are building the wall, so that you may be a king to them, according to these words.


text:
And you have also set up prophets to preach about you at Jerusalem, saying, A king in Judah! And now it shall be reported to the king according to these words. Therefore, come now and let us consult together.


text:
And I sent to him, saying, These things which you are saying are not happening, for you pretend them out of your own heart.


text:
For they all made us fear, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, and it will not be done. And now, make my hands strong.


text:
And I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up. And he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple. For they will come to kill you. Yea, in the night they will come to kill you.


text:
And I said, Should such a man as I flee? And who being as I am would go into the temple and live? I will not go in.


text:
And I understood that, behold, God had not sent him. For he spoke the prophecy against me, and Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.


text:
So he was hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and I should sin, and become for them for an evil name with which they might reproach me.


text:
O God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also to the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets who are my alarmers.


text:
And it happened when all our enemies heard, and all the nations who were around us saw, they were very much lowered in their own eyes. For they saw that this work was done by our God.


text:
And in those days the nobles of Judah were increasing their letters going to Tobiah, and those of Tobiah came to them.


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


text:
Also they reported his good deeds before me, and my words were going to him. Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.


text:
And it happened when the wall was built, I set up the doors, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed.


text:
I commanded that my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the fortress be over Jerusalem. For he was as a man of truth and feared God above many.


text:
And I said to them, Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are standing, let them shut and bar the doors. And make stand guards from the people of Jerusalem, each one in his watch, and each one to be across from his house.


text:
And the city was wide on both hands, and great, but the people in it few, and the houses not being built.


text:
And my God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, so that they might be counted by genealogy. And I found a register of genealogy of those who came up at the first. And I found written in it:


text:
These are the sons of the province who went up of the exiles, of the captivity, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had removed. And they came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, each man to his city.


text:
The ones coming with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel was:


text:
The sons of Pahath-moab, of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, were two thousand, eight hundred and eighteen.


text:
The gatekeepers: The sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai were a hundred and thirty eight.


text:
And these were they who went up from Tel-melah, Tel-haresha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer. But they were not able to manifest their father's house, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel:


text:
and of the priests, the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Koz, the sons of Barzillai, who took one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite to wife, and was called after their name.


text:
These sought their register among those who were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found. And they were polluted from the priesthood.


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


text:
Besides the male slaves and their slave-girls, these were seven thousand, three hundred and thirty seven. And they had two hundred and forty-five singing men and singing women.


text:
And some of the heads of the fathers gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury a thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, five hundred and thirty priests' garments.


text:
And some of the heads of the fathers gave to the treasury of the work twenty thousand drachmas of gold, and two thousand, two hundred pieces of silver.


text:
And what the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand drachmas of gold, and two thousand pieces of silver, and sixty seven priests' garments.


text:
So the priests, and the Levites, and the gatekeepers, and the singers, and some of the people, and the temple-slaves, and all Israel, lived in their cities. And when the seventh month came, the sons of Israel were in their cities.


text:
And all the people gathered as one man into the plaza before the Water Gate. And they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded to Israel.


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


text:
And he read in it before the plaza before the Water Gate, from the morning until noon, before the men and the women, and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people listened to the Book of the Law.


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


text:
And Ezra opened the book to the eyes of all the people, for he was above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up.


text:
And Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, lifting up their hands. And they bowed and worshiped to Jehovah with their noses to the ground.


text:
And Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the Law. And the people were in their place.


text:
And they read aloud clearly in the Book of the Law of God, and they gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.


text:
And Nehemiah the governor, and Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to Jehovah your God. Do not mourn or weep, For all the people wept when they heard the Words of the Law.


text:
Then he said to them, Go eat the fat, and drink of the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your fortress.


text:
And the Levites were silencing all the people, saying, Be quiet, for today is holy, and do not be grieved.


text:
And all the people went to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the Words which were made known to them.


text:
And on the second day the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe even to ponder the Words of the Law.


text:
And they found written in the Law which Jehovah had commanded by Moses, that the sons of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month:


text:
and that they should make heard and cause to pass the call in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth to the mountain and bring olive leaves and wild olive leaves, and myrtle leaves, and leaves of palm, and leaves of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.


text:
And the people went out and brought in, and made booths for themselves, each man on his roof and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the plaza of the Water Gate, and in the plaza of the Ephraim Gate.


text:
And all the congregation of those who had come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths. For since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day, the sons of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.


text:
Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read in the Book of the Law of God. And they performed the feast seven days, and on the eighth day was an assembly according to the Law.


text:
And on the twenty fourth day of this month the sons of Israel were gathered with fasting and with sackcloth, and with earth on them.


text:
And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all the sons of aliens, and they stood and confessed their sins and the sins of their fathers.


text:
And they stood up in their place and read in the Book of the Law of Jehovah their God a fourth part of the day. And a fourth part they confessed and worshiped Jehovah their God.


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


text:
Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, Stand up! Bless Jehovah your God forever and ever. And blessed be the Name of Your Glory, even He being exalted above all blessing and praise.


text:
You alone are He, O Jehovah; You have made the heavens, and Heaven of the heavens, and all their host; the earth and all which is on it; the seas, and all that is in them; and You shall preserve them all alive. And the host of the heavens bows down to You.


text:
You are Jehovah the God who chose Abram, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and appointed his name, Abraham.


text:
And You found his heart faithful before You, and cut with him the covenant to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his seed. And You have performed Your Words, for You are righteous.


text:
And You gave signs and wonders on Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of the land. For You knew that they were seething against them. And You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.


text:
And You divided the Sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the Sea on the dry land. And their pursuers You threw into the depths, like a stone into the mighty waters.


text:
And You led them in the day by a cloudy pillar, and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way in which they should go.


text:
And You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from the heavens, and gave them right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments.


text:
And You made Your holy sabbath known to them, and You commanded commandments, statutes, and laws, to them by the hand of Your servant Moses.


text:
And You gave them bread from the heavens for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst. And You said to them that they should go in to possess the land which You had lifted up Your hand to give them.


text:
But they and our fathers acted presumptuously, and hardened their necks, and did not listen to Your commands.


text:
And they refused to hear, and were not mindful of Your wonders which You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a leader to return them to their bondage. But You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and did not forsake them.


text:
Yea, when they had made a casted calf for themselves, and said, This is your god who brought you up out of Egypt, and had worked great blasphemies,


text:
yet You in Your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day to lead them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go.


text:
You also gave Your good Spirit to teach them, and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.


text:
Yea, forty years You sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.


text:
And You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and divided them into corners. And they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.


text:
You also multiplied their sons like the stars of the heavens and brought them into the land which You had promised to their fathers, that they should go in and possess it.


text:
And the sons went in and possessed the land, and You humbled the people of the land before them, the Canaanites. And You gave them into their hands, with their kings and the people of the land, to do with them as they desired.


text:
And they seized strong cities and a rich land, and occupied houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards and oliveyards and fruit trees in abundance. And they ate, and were filled, and became fat, and lived luxuriously in Your great goodness.


text:
But they were disobedient, and rebelled against You, and cast Your Law behind their backs. And they killed Your prophets who testified against them, to turn them to You. And they worked great blasphemies.


text:
And You gave them into the hand of their enemies, who distressed them. And in the time of their distress, they cried to You; and You heard from Heaven. And according to Your abundant mercies, You gave them deliverers, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.


text:
But after a rest to them, they turned to doing evil before You. And You left them in the hand of their enemies, and they ruled over them. But they came back and cried to You, and You heard them from Heaven, and You saved them according to Your mercies.


text:
And You testified against them to bring them again to Your Law, but they acted presumptuously, and did not listen to Your commands, but were against Your judgments; they sinned in them, which if a man does, he shall live in them. And they gave a rebellious shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.


text:
But many years You had patience with them, and testified against them by Your Spirit, by Your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. And You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.


text:
But for Your great mercies, You did not consume nor forsake them; for You are a gracious and merciful God.


text:
And now our God, the great, the mighty and the fearful God, keeping the covenant and the mercy, let it not seem little before You, all the trouble which has found us, to our kings, to our rulers, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers, and to all Your people, since the day of the kings of Assyria to this day.


text:
And our kings, our rulers, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your Law, nor attended to Your commands and Your testimonies with which You testified against them.


text:
And they have not served You in their kingdom, and in Your great goodness which You gave to them, and in the large and rich land which You gave before them. And they did not turn from their evil works.


text:
Behold, we are slaves today, even the land that You gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, behold, we are slaves in it.


text:
And it yields much increase to the kings whom You have given to be over us because of our sinning. And they rule over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure; and we are in great distress.


text:
And because of all this, we are cutting a sure covenant and writing it, and our rulers, Levites, and priests are sealing it.


text:
And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple-slaves, and all those who separated from the people of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all knowing and discerning ones,


text:
making strong their brothers, their honored ones; and were entering into a curse and into an oath, to walk in God's Law which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to keep and to do all the commandments of Jehovah our Lord, and His judgments and His statutes.


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


text:
And if the people of the land should bring goods or any food to sell on the Sabbath, we would not take from them on the Sabbath, or on the holy day. And they would forego the seventh year, and the interest of every hand.


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


text:
for the Bread of Arrangement, and for the continual food offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of God.


text:
And we made fall the lots among the priests, and the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn on the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is written in the Law;


text:
also to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house of Jehovah;


text:
also to bring the first-born of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law; and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God.


text:
And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all kinds of trees, of wine, and of oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; and they, the Levites, might have the tithes in all the cities we worked.


text:
And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites, tithing the Levites; and the Levites shall bring up the tithes of the tithes to the house of our God to the rooms, into the treasure house.


text:
For the sons of Israel, and the sons of Levi, shall bring the offering of the grain, of the new wine, and the oil, to the rooms, and there shall be the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests ministering, and the gatekeepers and the singers. And we will not forsake the house of our God.


text:
And the rulers of the people lived at Jerusalem. The rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of the ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine parts in other cities.


text:
And these are the rulers of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the cities of Judah, a man lived in his possession in their cities; Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the temple-slaves, and the sons of Solomon's servants.


text:
And in Jerusalem lived some of the sons of Judah, and of the sons of Benjamin. From the sons of Judah were Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalaleel, of the sons of Perez;


text:
and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Colhozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Jolarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of Shiloni.


text:
And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jesaiah.


text:
And Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer. And Judah the son of Hassenaah was second over the city.


text:
Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraiah, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God.


text:
And their brothers who did the work of the house were eight hundred and twenty two. And Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchiah,


text:
and his brothers, rulers of the fathers, two hundred and forty two. And Amashai the son of Azareel, the son of Ahasai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,


text:
and their brothers, mighty men, were a hundred and twenty-eight. And their overseer was Zabdiel, a son of one of the great men.


text:
Also from the Levites were Shemaiah the son of Hashub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni.


text:
And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the rulers of the Levites, had the oversight of the outward work of the house of God.


text:
And Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, was the leader of the beginning, he gave thanks with prayer. And Bakbukiah the second from his brothers, and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.


text:
And the gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers who kept the gates, a hundred and seventy two.


text:
And the rest of Israel, of the priests, the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each one in his inheritance.


text:
And the overseer of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micha. Of the sons of Asaph, the singers were over the work of the house of God.


text:
For it was the king's command concerning them, that a certain portion should be for the singers, the matter of the day in his day.


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


text:
And for the villages, with their fields some of the sons of Judah lived at Kirjath-arba, and in its villages; and at Dibon, and in its villages; and at Jekabzeel, and its villages;


text:
Zanoah; Adullam, and their villages; at Lachish, and its fields; at Azekah, and its daughter-villages. And they camped from Beer-sheba to the valley of Hinnom.


text:
And the sons of Benjamin from Geba were at Michmash; and Aija; and Bethel, and their daughter-villages;


text:
And these are the priests and the Levites who went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,


text:
Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the rulers of the priests and their brothers in the days of Jeshua.


text:
And the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah. Mattaniah was over the thanksgiving, he and his brothers.


text:
And in the days of Joiakim were priests, the rulers of the fathers, from the house of Seraiah was Meraiah; from Jeremiah was Hananiah;


text:
The Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, were written rulers of the fathers and the priests until the reign of Darius the Persian.


text:
The sons of the Levites, the rulers of the fathers, are written in the Book of the Matters of the Days, even until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib.


text:
And the rulers of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers next to them, to praise, to give thanks according to the command of David the man of God, watch by watch.


text:
Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were guards of the gates, the guard at the thresholds of the gates.


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


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


text:
And the sons of the singers gathered themselves, both out of the plain country around Jerusalem, and from the villages of the inhabitants of Netophah,


text:
and from the house of Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth (for the singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem).


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


text:
Then I brought up the rulers of Judah on the wall, and chose two great thanksgiving choirs. One went to the right on the wall toward the Dung Gate,


text:
and many of the priests' sons with trumpets, Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph,


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


text:
And at the Fountain Gate across from them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall above the house of David, even to the Water Gate eastward.


text:
And the other thanksgiving choir was going to the opposite side, and I after them, and half of the people on the wall, from beyond the Tower of Furnaces, even to the Broad Wall;


text:
and from above the Ephraim Gate, and above the Old Gate, and above the Fish Gate, and the Tower of Hananeel, and the Tower of Meah, even to the Sheep Gate. And they stood still in the Prison Gate.


text:
And the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah were with trumpets.


text:
And Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer; and the singers sang aloud with Jezrahiah as their overseer.


text:
And that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced. For God had made them rejoice with great joy. And the wives, and the children rejoiced so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even at a distance.


text:
And at that day some were chosen over the rooms for the treasuries, for the offerings for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gather to them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the Law for the priests and the Levites. For Judah rejoiced for the priests, and for the Levites who waited.


text:
And both the singers and the gatekeepers kept the watch of their God, and the watch of the cleansing, according to the command of David, of his son Solomon.


text:
For in the past days of David and Asaph, there were heads of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.


text:
And all Israel gave the portions of the singers and the gatekeepers, everyday its portion, in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah. And they set the holy things apart for the Levites; and the Levites set them apart for the sons of Aaron.


text:
On that day they read in the Book of Moses in the ears of the people. And it was found written in it that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God forever,


text:
because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. But our God turned the curse to a blessing.


text:
And before this, Eliashib the priest, who was set over the rooms of the house of our God, who was related to Tobiah,


text:
(and he had prepared for himself a large room and there before they were giving the food offering, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the offerings of the priests).


text:
But in all this time I was not at Jerusalem. For in the thirty second year of Artaxerxes the king of Babylon, I came to the king. And after some days I asked leave from the king.


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


text:
Then I commanded, and they purified the rooms. And I returned there the vessels of the house of God, with the food offering and the frankincense.


text:
And I was aware that the portions of the Levites had not been given, for the Levites and the singers who did the work had each one fled to his field.


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


text:
And I made treasurers over the treasuries: Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah. And next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah. For they were counted faithful, and on them was the duty to distribute to their brothers.


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


text:
In those days I saw in Judah ones treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves and loading asses; and also wine, grapes, and figs, and all burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I testified against them on the day they sold food.


text:
Men of Tyre also lived in it, who brought fish and all wares, and were selling on the Sabbath to the sons of Judah, even in Jerusalem.


text:
And I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, What is this evil thing that you do, defiling the Sabbath day?


text:
Did not your fathers do this, and did not our God bring all this evil on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by defiling the Sabbath.


text:
And it happened, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, so that there should be no burden brought in on the Sabbath day.


text:
Then I testified against them and said to them, Why are you staying around the wall? If you do it again, I will send a hand against you. From that time they did not come on the Sabbath.


text:
And I said to the Levites that they should be cleansing themselves, and they should come guarding the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. O my God, remember me for this also and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy.


text:
And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and to them there was no respecting to speak Jewish, but according to the language of each people.


text:
And I contended with them, and put a curse on them, and struck some of them, and I plucked their hair. And I made them swear by the name of God, saying, You shall not give your daughter to their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons, or for yourselves.


text:
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved by his God; and God made him king over Israel. But women from other lands caused even him to sin.


text:
Shall we then listen to you, to do this great evil, to sin against our God in living with foreign women?


text:
And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I chased him from me.


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


text:
And I cleansed them from all aliens, and appointed watches to the priests and the Levites, each one in his work,


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


text:
And it happened, in the days of Ahasuerus (he is Ahasuerus who reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over a hundred and twenty seven provinces)


text:
in the third year of his reign, he made a banquet for all his rulers and his servants. The power of Persia and Media, the nobles and the rulers of the provinces, were before him,


text:
when he made known the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the honor of his excellent greatness many days, even a hundred and eighty days.


text:
And when these days were fulfilled, the king made a banquet for all the peoples who were found in Shushan the palace, both to great and to small, for seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace.


text:
There was overlaying with white linen and violet, with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of white marble. The couches were of gold and silver, on a red and white and pearl and black marble pavement.


text:
And they gave out drink in vessels of gold, the vessels differing from one another, and royal wine in abundance, according to the hand of the king.


text:
And the drinking was according to the law, no one compelling; for so the king had ordered every first one of his house that they should do according to every man's pleasure.


text:
In the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he said to Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who served before the face of Ahasuerus the king,


text:
to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown, in order to make known to the people and the princes her beauty. For she was beautiful to look upon.


text:
But Vashti the queen refused to come at the king's command by his eunuchs. And the king was very angry, and his fury burned within him.


text:
And the king said to the wise men who knew the times (for so was the king's manner toward all who knew law and judgment;


text:
and the ones next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven rulers of Persia and Media who saw the king's face, who sat first in the kingdom),


text:
What shall be done with Queen Vashti according to law, because she has not done the command of King Ahasuerus by the eunuchs?


text:
And Memucan answered before the king and rulers, Vashti the queen has not only done wrong to the king, but also to all the rulers, and to all the people who are in all the provinces of Ahasuerus the king.


text:
For the matter of the queen shall go out to all women, to make their husbands despised in their eyes, in their saying that King Ahasuerus said to bring in Vashti the queen before him, but she did not come.


text:
And this day the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard the queen's word shall say the same to all the king's rulers and there shall be contempt and strife.


text:
If it please the king, let there be a royal decree from him, and let it be written among the laws of Persia and Media so that it shall not pass away, that Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal power to a neighbor who is better than she is.


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


text:
And he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to its writing, and to people and people, according to their language, so that every man should be ruling in his house; and speaking according to the language of his people.


text:
After these things, when King Ahasuerus' wrath had calmed down, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what he had decreed against her.


text:
And let the king choose officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, so that they may gather together every beautiful young virgin to Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, to the hand of Hegai the king's eunuch, keeper of the women, to give their purifications.


text:
And let the young woman who pleases the king rule instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king, and he did so.


text:
In Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, and his name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,


text:
who had been exiled from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been led away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had exiled.


text:
And he was rearing Hadassah (she is Esther) his uncle's daughter, for she had no father nor mother. And the young woman was fair of appearance and beautiful of form. And at the death of her father and mother, Mordecai took her for his daughter.


text:
And it happened, when the king's command and his order was heard, and when many young women had been gathered to Shushan the palace, into the hand of Hegai, Esther was taken into the king's house, into the hand of Hegai, keeper of the women.


text:
And the young woman was good in his eyes, and she rose in favor before him. And he hastened her purifiers, and her portions, to give them to her. And seven young women were seen to be given to her out of the king's house. And he moved her and her maids to the best place in the house of the women.


text:
Esther had not revealed her people or her kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her that she should not reveal it.


text:
And Mordecai walked to and fro every day in front of the court of the women's house in order to know Esther's welfare, and what would be done with her.


text:
And when the turn of each young woman had come to go in to King Ahasuerus, at the end of her being purified twelve months according to the law of the women, for so were fulfilled the days of their cleansings; six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with fragrances and with perfumes of the women.


text:
And in this way the young woman goes in to the king. All she says is given to her to go with her out of the house of the women to the king's house.


text:
She goes in the evening, and on the morning she returns to the second house of the women, into the hand of Shaashgaz the king's eunuch who kept the concubines. She does not come in to the king any more, unless the king delights in her, and she is called by name.


text:
And when the turn of Esther had come (she being the daughter of Abihail, Mordecai's uncle, whom he had taken to himself for his daughter) to go in to the king, she did not seek a thing except what Hegai the king's eunuch, the keeper of the women, said. And Esther had favor in the sight of all who looked on her.


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


text:
And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she rose in grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins. And he set the royal crown on her head, and made her to rule instead of Vashti.


text:
And the king made a great banquet for all his rulers and his servants, Esther's banquet. And he ordered a rest for the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.


text:
Esther had not revealed her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her. For Esther obeyed Mordecai's command, as she did when she was reared by him.


text:
In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, of those who guarded the threshold, were angry, and sought to stretch out a hand against King Ahasuerus.


text:
And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it to Esther the queen. And Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai.


text:
And when the matter was searched into, it was found out; and the two of them were hanged on a tree. And it was written in the Book of the Matters of the Days before the king.


text:
After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and raised him, and set his seat above all the rulers with him.


text:
And all the king's servants who were in the king's gate were bowing and worshiping Haman, for the king had so commanded for him. But Mordecai did not bow nor worship.


text:
And the king's servants who were at the gate of the king said to Mordecai, Why do you disobey the king's command?


text:
And it happened, when they spoke daily to him, and he did not listen to them, they told Haman, to see if Mordecai's matters would stand. For he had told them that he was a Jew.


text:
And it was light in his eyes to reach forth a hand against Mordecai alone; for they had revealed to him Mordecai's people. And Haman sought to destroy all the Jews in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus, the people of Mordecai.


text:
In the first month, it is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they made fall Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman day by day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, the month Adar.


text:
And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom. And their laws are different from every people, and they are not doing the king's laws. And it is not for the king's gain to let them alone.


text:
If it pleases the king, let it be written to destroy them; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king's treasuries.


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


text:
And the king said to Haman, The silver is given to you, also the people, to do with them as seems good to you.


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


text:
And the documents were sent by the runners into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take what they owned for a prize.


text:
A copy of the writing to be given as law in every province was published to all people to be ready for that day.


text:
The runners went out, being burned by the king's word. And the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink. But the city, Shushan, was perplexed.


text:
And Mordecai understood all that was done, and Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry.


text:
And he came until he was before the king's gate; for there was no entering into the king's gate in clothing of sackcloth.


text:
And in every province, wherever the king's word and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping and wailing. Sackcloth and ash were spread on many.


text:
And Esther's maids and her eunuchs came and told her. And the queen was exceedingly convulsed in pain. And she sent clothing to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him. But he did not accept.


text:
And Esther called for Hathach, of the king's eunuchs, who was made to stand before her. And she charged him as to Mordecai, to know what this was and why this was.


text:
And Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and of the sum of the silver which Haman had said to weigh into the king's treasuries for the Jews in order to destroy them.


text:
Also he gave him a copy of the writing of the law which was given at Shushan in order to destroy them, to show it to Esther, and to reveal to her, and to command her that she should go in to the king to make supplication to him, and to seek from him help for her people.


text:
for all the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that whoever, whether man or woman, shall come to the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his, to die; except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter so that he may live. But I have not been called to come into the king these thirty days.


text:
And Mordecai said to take back to Esther, Do not imagine within yourself to deliver yourself in the king's house more than all the Jews.


text:
For if you are completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall rise up to the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house shall perish. And who knows if you have attained to the kingdom for such a time as this?


text:
Go, gather all the Jews being found in Shushan, and fast for me. And do not eat or drink three days, night or day. My maidens and I will also fast in this way. And so I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law. And if I have perished, I have perished.


text:
And it happened on the third day that Esther put on royal clothing and stood in the inner court of the king's house, before the king's inner house. And the king was sitting on his royal throne in the royal house, in front of the gate of the house.


text:
And it happened, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she rose in favor in his eyes. And the king held out the golden scepter that was in his hand to Esther. And Esther drew near and touched the top of the scepter.


text:
And the king said to her. What shall be done to you, O Queen Esther, and what is your wish? It will be given to you also, even to half of the kingdom.


text:
And Esther answered, If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet which I have prepared for him.


text:
And the king said, Cause Haman to hurry to do the word of Esther. And the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared.


text:
And the king said to Esther at the banquet of wine, What is your petition, and it shall be granted to you? And what is your wish? And it will be done, to half of the kingdom.


text:
if I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow according to the word of the king.


text:
And Haman went out that day joyful and good of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the gate of the king, that he did not stand up or move for him, he was full of fury against Mordecai.


text:
But Haman held himself in, and came to his house, and sent for and brought in his friends, and his wife Zeresh.


text:
And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and his many sons, and all to which the king had promoted him, and how he lifted him up above the rulers and the servants of the king.


text:
And Haman said, Also, Esther the queen did not let anyone come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared, except me. And also tomorrow I am called to it with the king.


text:
And his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, Make a wooden gallows fifty cubits high, and tomorrow speak to the king and let them hang Mordecai on it; and go rejoicing in with the king to the banquet. And the thing was good in Haman's eyes. And he caused the wooden gallows to be made.


text:
On that night the king's sleep fled, and he said to bring in the Book of the Records of the Matter of the Days. And they were being read before the king.


text:
And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, the guards of the threshold, who sought to send forth a hand against King Ahasuerus.


text:
And the king said, What honor and dignity was done to Mordecai for this? And the king's young servants of his ministers said, Nothing has been done for him.


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


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


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


text:
let the royal clothing be brought, which the king puts on himself, and the horse on which the king rides, and the royal crown which is set on his head;


text:
and let this clothing and horse be given into the hand of men, one of the king's most noble rulers, and let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and cause him to ride on the horse through the street of the city, and call out before him, In this way shall be done to the man whom the king delights, in honoring him!


text:
And the king said to Haman, Hurry! Take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Do not fail to do any of all the things you have spoken.


text:
And Haman took the clothing and the horse, and dressed Mordecai, and caused him to ride through the street of the city, and called out before him, In this way shall be done to the man whom the king delights, in honoring him!


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


text:
And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, If Mordecai is of the seed of the Jews, before whom you have begun to fall, you shall not prevail against him, but falling shall fall before him.


text:
And while they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived, and they hurried to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.


text:
And the king said again to Esther on the second day of the banquet of wine, What is your petition, Queen Esther, and it shall be given to you. And what is your request? It shall be done, to the half of the kingdom.


text:
And Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request.


text:
For we are sold, my people and I, for destruction, for murder and for perishing. But if we had been sold for male slaves and slave-girls, I would have kept silent, though the adversary could not make up for the king's loss.


text:
And King Ahasuerus answered and said to Esther the queen, Who is he, this one? And where is this one, he who is filled with pride in his heart to do so?


text:
And Esther said, A man, an enemy, and a hating one, Haman! This evil one! And Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.


text:
And the king, rising from the banquet of wine in his wrath, went into the palace garden. And Haman stood to beg for his life from Esther the queen, for he saw that evil was fulfilled against him by the king.


text:
And the king returned out of the garden to the place of the banquet of wine. And Haman had fallen on the couch on which Esther lay. And the king said, Will he also ravish the queen with me in the house? The word went from the king's mouth, and they covered Haman's face.


text:
And Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said before the king, Also, look! The wooden gallows which Haman made for Mordecai, who had spoken good toward the king, is standing at Haman's house. And the king said, Hang him on it!


text:
And they hanged Haman on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai. And the king's wrath lay down.


text:
On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the one distressing the Jews, to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her.


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


text:
And Esther spoke yet again before the king and fell down at his feet. And she begged him with tears to put away the evil of Haman the Agagite, and his purpose which he had plotted against the Jews.


text:
and said, If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor before him, and the thing is right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to bring back the documents (a sly plot by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite) which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king's provinces.


text:
For how shall I be able to look on the evil that shall find my people? Or how shall I be able to look on the slaughter of my kindred?


text:
And King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Haman's house to Esther, and they have hanged him on the wooden gallows because he put forth his hand against the Jews.


text:
And you write to the Jews according to the good in your eyes, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring. For the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, there is no taking back.


text:
And the king's scribes were called at that time, in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the twenty third of it. And it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors, and the rulers of the provinces which were from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty seven provinces, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews; according to their writing and according to their language.


text:
And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed with the king's ring. And he sent letters by riders on horses, riders on stallions, mules, even sons of mares.


text:
In them the king gave to the Jews in every single city the right to assemble, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province, the ones compressing them, little ones and women, and to take what they owned for a prize,


text:
on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.


text:
The copy of the writing to be made law in every province was openly revealed to all peoples, even to the Jews being ready for this day, to avenge themselves on their enemies.


text:
The runners, riders on stallions, mules, went out, being hurried and pressed on by the king's command. And the order was given at Shushan the palace.


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


text:
And in every province and in every city, the place wherever the word of the king and his law touched, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell on them.


text:
And in the twelfth month, that is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and his order came to be done, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to take power over them (though it was turned around, so that the Jews ruled, they over the ones hating them),


text:
the Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to stretch out a hand against those seeking their evil. And no man stood in their presence, for their fear fell on all the peoples.


text:
And all the rulers of the provinces, and the satraps, and the governors, and those doing the king' business, were lifting up the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell on them.


text:
For Mordecai was great in the king's house and his fame went out into all the provinces, for this man Mordecai was going on and growing greater.


text:
And the Jews struck against all their enemies with a stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they desired to those who hated them.


text:
the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the one distressing the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the spoil.


text:
And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the provinces of the king? And what is your petition, and it is given to you? And what further request, and it will be done?


text:
And Esther said, If it pleases the king, let it be given to the Jews in Shushan to do tomorrow also according to this day's decree; and let Haman's ten sons be hanged on the wooden gallows.


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


text:
And the Jews in Shushan also assembled on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and killed three hundred men at Shushan; but they did not lay their hands on the spoil.


text:
But the rest of the Jews in the king's provinces gathered and stood for their lives, and a rest from their enemies, and to kill seventy five thousand of their foes. But they did not lay their hands on the spoil.


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


text:
And the Jews at Shushan assembled on the thirteenth day of it, and on the fourteenth day of it, and to rest on the fifteenth of the same, and to make it a day of feasting and gladness.


text:
On account of this the Jews of the villages who lived in the unwalled villages made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and a day of sending portions to one another.


text:
And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, near and far,


text:
to cause to rise among them to make a feast the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly;


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


text:
because Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the one distressing all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to torment them and to destroy them.


text:
But when Esther came to the king, he commanded by the letter, Let this evil plot which he plotted against the Jews return on his own head; and they hanged him and his sons on the wooden gallows.


text:
On account of this they called these days Purim, after the name of Pur. For on account of this all the words of this letter, and what they saw concerning this matter, and what had touched them,


text:
the Jews rose up and took on themselves and on their seed, and on all joining themselves to them, even not to pass, to be keeping those two days according to their writing, and according to their time every year;


text:
and that these days should be remembered and acted upon in generation and generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not pass from among the Jews, and their memory not perish from their seed.


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


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


text:
in order to confirm these days of Purim in their set times, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had caused to rise up on them, and as they caused to rise up on themselves and on their seed, the matters of the fastings and of their cry.


text:
And all the acts of his authority and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, with which the king made him great, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Media and Persia?


text:
For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and pleasing to the multitude of his brothers, seeking the welfare of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.


text:
There was a man in the land of Uz, his name was Job. And this man was perfect and upright, and fearing God, and turning away from evil.


text:
And his possessions were seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household, so that this man was greater than all the sons of the east.


text:
And his sons feasted in the house of each one on his day. And they sent and called their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.


text:
And it happened, when the day of feasting had gone around, Job would send and sanctify them. And he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt sacrifices according to all their number. For Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. This, Job always did.


text:
And a day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah. And Satan also came among them.


text:
And Jehovah said to Satan, From where have you come? And Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.


text:
And Jehovah said to Satan, Have you set your heart on My servant Job because there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil?


text:
Have You not made a hedge for him, and for his house, and for all that is his all around? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock have increased in the land.


text:
But put out Your hand now, and touch against all that is his, and see if he will not then curse You to Your face.


text:
And Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, all that is his is in your hand! Only, do not lay your hand on him. And Satan went out from the face of Jehovah.


text:
And a day came when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their brother's house, the first-born.


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


text:
And the Sabeans fell on them and took them away. And they killed the young men with the mouth of the sword; and I, I alone have escaped to tell you.


text:
While this one was still speaking, this other also came and said, The fire of God has fallen from the heavens and has burned up the sheep and the young men. And it has consumed them; and I, I alone have escaped to tell you.


text:
While this one was still speaking, this other also came and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands and swooped down on the camels. And they have taken them away. And they have killed the young men with the mouth of the sword; and I, I alone have escaped to tell you.


text:
While this one was still speaking, this other came and said, Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the first-born.


text:
And, behold! A great wind came from the wilderness and touched the four corners of the house. And it fell on the young men and they died; and I, I alone have escaped to tell you.


text:
And Job rose up and tore his robe, and shaved his head. And he fell down on the ground and worshiped.


text:
And he said, I came naked out of my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away. Blessed be the name of Jehovah.


text:
And it happened that a day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah. And Satan also came among them to present himself before Jehovah.


text:
And Jehovah said to Satan, From where have you come? And Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it.


text:
And Jehovah said to Satan, Have you set your heart on My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, fearing God, and turning away from evil? And he is still holding to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to swallow him for nothing.


text:
And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Skin for skin. Yea, all that a man has he will give for his life.


text:
But indeed put out Your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse You to Your face.


text:
And Satan went out from before the face of Jehovah. And he struck Job with bad burning ulcers from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.


text:
And he took a broken piece of pottery with which to scrape himself. And he sat down among the ashes.


text:
But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish ones speak. Also, shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.


text:
And three friends of Job heard of all this evil that had come on him. And they each one came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite; Bildad the Shuhite; and Zophar the Naamathite. And they had met together to come to lament with him, and to comfort him.


text:
And when they lifted up their eyes from a distance and did not recognize him, they lifted up their voice and wept then. And each one tore his robe. And they sprinkled dust on their heads toward the heavens.


text:
And they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights. And no one was speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.


text:
Let darkness and the shadow of death seize upon it. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that blackens the day terrify it.


text:
As for that night, let darkness seize it! Let it not be joined to the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of the months.


text:
Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it look for light, but have none, let it wait for eyelids of the dawn.


text:
For now I would have lain down and have been quiet; I would have slept. Then I would have been at rest,


text:
it stood still, but I could not discern its form; an image was before my eyes; there was silence; then I heard a voice:


text:
How much more those that dwell in houses of clay; whose foundation is in the dust; they crush them before the moth!


text:
who is doing great things, and there is no searching them; marvelous things to which is no numbering,


text:
You shall be hidden from the whip of the tongue; and you shall not be afraid of violence when it comes.


text:
For you shall be in covenant with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.


text:
And you shall know that your tent is in peace; and you shall visit your home and shall miss nothing.


text:
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; their fury is drinking my spirit; the terrors of God are set against me.


text:
And it is yet my comfort; and I would exult in pain not spared; for I have not hidden the words of the Holy One.


text:
Do you intend to criticize words, and the speeches of one who is caused to despair, that are as wind?


text:
When I lie down, I say, When shall I rise up? But the night is long, and I am full of tossings, until the twilight of the dawn.


text:
Therefore, I will not hold my mouth; I will speak in the distress of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.


text:
I have sinned; what do I do to You, O Watcher of man? Why have You set me as a target for You so that I am a burden on myself?


text:
And why do You not lift up my transgression, and make my iniquity pass away? For now I shall lie down in the dust, and You shall seek me; but I will not be.


text:
If your sons have sinned against Him, and if He has sent them away in the hand of their transgression,


text:
if you were pure and upright, surely now He would rise for you, and make whole the abode of your righteousness.


text:
He shall lean on his house, but it shall not stand; he shall hold fast to it, but it shall not endure.


text:
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?


text:
My soul loathes my life; I will leave my complaint on myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.


text:
Is it good to You that You should crush, that You should despise the work of Your hands, and You shine on the counsel of the wicked?


text:
If I am wrong, woe to me! And if I am righteous, I will not lift up my head, being filled with shame and seeing my pain.


text:
You renew Your witnesses against me, and increase Your anger with me; changes and warfare are with me.


text:
a land of obscurity, the darkness of the shadow of death, and without any order; even the shining is as darkness.


text:
and would tell you the secrets of wisdom, that counsel is double? Know then that God forgets some of your iniquity for you.


text:
surely then you shall lift up your face without blemish; and you will be steadfast, and you will not fear;


text:
And you shall trust, because there is hope. Yea, you shall look about and you shall lie down in safety.


text:
But the eyes of the wicked shall be consumed, and escape shall perish from them; and their hope shall be like the breathing out of the soul.


text:
I also have a heart as well as you; I do not fall short of you. And with whom are not things like these?


text:
I am a laughingstock to his friend; he calls on God, and He answers him; the just, the upright one is a mockery;


text:
a torch is despised in the thoughts of him who feels secure; it is ready for those with slipping feet.


text:
But now please ask the animals, and they will teach you; and the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;


text:
Behold, He holds back the waters, and they dry up; and He sends them out, and they overflow the earth.


text:
He gives greatness to the nations, and He destroys them; spreading out the nations, and He leads them out.


text:
He takes away the heart of the heads of the people of the land; and He causes them to wander in a waste in which is no path.


text:
You also put my feet in the stocks, and watch all my paths; You set a limit on the soles of my feet.


text:
Since his days are fixed, the number of his months is with You, and You have appointed his bounds, and he cannot pass over;


text:
For there is hope of a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and its shoot will not cease.


text:
even so man lies down and does not rise until the heavens are no more, they shall not awake, nor be roused out of their sleep.


text:
Who will grant that You would hide me in Sheol; You would conceal me until Your anger turns back; that You would set a limit for me and remember me?


text:
The waters wear away stones; its outpouring washes the dust of the earth; and You cause the hope of man to perish.


text:
All the days of the wicked he is laboring in pain; a number of years are stored up for the ruthless.


text:
He is wandering, for he seeks for bread. Where is it? He knows that the day of darkness is at his hand.


text:
He shall not be rich, nor shall his wealth hold out; nor shall he stretch out their gain on the earth.


text:
He shall not escape from darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches; and he shall turn at the breath of His mouth.


text:
I also could speak as you. If your soul were in the place of my soul, I could bind words against you and shake at you with my head.


text:
And You have plucked me; for it is a witness, and my failure rises up against me; and it answers to my face.


text:
His anger has torn, and hated me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; my enemy sharpens His eyes at me.


text:
They have gaped at me with their mouth, and scornfully struck my cheek; they gather themselves together against me.


text:
I was at ease, but He has shattered me; yea, He has also taken hold on my neck and broken me to bits; and He has set me up as a target for Him.


text:
His archers surround me; He splits my inward parts and has no pity; He pours out my gall on the ground.


text:
One tearing himself in his anger, shall the earth be forsaken for your sake? Or shall the rock move from its place?


text:
whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and no stranger; though my reins be exhausted in my bosom.


text:
Fear for yourselves because of the sword; for fury brings punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment.


text:
I have heard the instruction of my chastisement; and the spirit from my understanding makes me reply.


text:
In the fullness of his scorn, it is strait for him; the hand of every wretched one shall come upon him.


text:
It shall happen at the filling of his belly, He shall cast on him the fury of His wrath, and He shall rain on him while he is eating.


text:
All darkness is hidden for secret treasuring; fire not blown shall consume him; those left in his tent shall be broken.


text:
How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and their calamity comes on them! He shares out pangs in His anger;


text:
And the clods of the valley shall be sweet to him; and every man shall draw after him; and there is not any number before him.


text:
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways perfect?


text:
For you have taken a pledge from your brother for nothing, and you have stripped the naked of their clothing.


text:
nor have I departed from the command of His lips; I treasured the Words of His mouth more than my portion.


text:
Behold, like wild asses in the desert, they go out in their work, seeking early for prey; the desert yields food for him for their young.


text:
Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God does not charge unseemliness.


text:
They are among rebellers against light; they do not recognize His ways, nor do they stay in His paths.


text:
And the adulterer's eye keeps watch for twilight, saying, No eye will see me; and he puts a covering on his face.


text:
He is swift on the waters; their part is cursed in the earth; he does not face the way of the vineyards.


text:
The womb shall forget him; the worm shall suck on him; he shall be remembered no more; and injustice shall be broken like a tree.


text:
They are lifted up for a little while, but they are not; and they are brought low; they are gathered in like all others, and wither like the heads of ears of grain.


text:
Lo, these are the edges of His ways; yea, what a whisper of a word we hear of Him! And the thunder of His might who can understand?


text:
I hold fast by my righteousness, and I will not abandon it; my heart shall not shame me any of my days.


text:
This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the inheritance of ruthless men that they shall receive from the Almighty.


text:
If his sons become numerous, the sword is for them; and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.


text:
He sets an end to darkness, and to every extremity He searches out a stone of darkness and death-shade.


text:
He opens a shaft far from the visitor; they are forgotten by man's foot; they hang far from men; they swing to and fro.


text:
And to man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom! And to turn from evil is understanding.


text:
I chose out their way, and sat as chief; and I lived like a king among the troops; as the mourners, and he who comforts.


text:
But now the young in days laugh at me; those whose fathers I would have refused to set with the dogs of my flock.


text:
They are lifeless with want and hunger, those who gnaw the dry ground which was formerly waste and desolation;


text:
Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, they also have thrown off the bridle in my presence.


text:
Surely He will not stretch out His hand to the ruin heap; behold, they cry for help in their misfortune.


text:
If my step has turned aside out of the way, or my heart has walked after my eyes, and if any blot has held fast to my hands,


text:
then let me fear before a great multitude, and let the scorn of families frighten me and I will be silent, and not go out the door.


text:
Oh that I had one to hear me! See, my mark! Let the Almighty answer me, and let my Accuser write an indictment.


text:
let thorns come forth instead of wheat, and a weed instead of barley. The words of Job are finished.


text:
And then burned the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram; his wrath burned against Job, because he had justified himself rather than God.


text:
Also his wrath burned against his three friends, because they had not found any answer, yet they had condemned Job.


text:
And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and you are very aged; so I held back and was afraid to make my knowledge known to you.


text:
yea, I paid attention to you, and behold, not one of you proved Job wrong, nor answered his sayings;


text:
If there is a messenger for him, a mediator, one among a thousand, to declare for man his uprightness,


text:
then let Him be gracious to him and say, Deliver him from going down to the Pit, for I have found a ransom!


text:
He will pray to God, and He will accept him, and he will see His face with exultation; for He will restore to man his righteousness.


text:
He will observe to men and say, I have sinned, and I have perverted uprightness; and it was not equally repaid to me;


text:
So, O man of heart, listen to me; far be it from God to do wickedness; and the Almighty, to do evilly.


text:
How much less to Him who does not lift up the face of rulers, nor regard the rich before the poor; for all of them are the work of His hands.


text:
In a moment they die, and a people are shaken at midnight; yea, they pass away, and the mighty will be taken without a hand.


text:
And He gives rest; who then can condemn? And when He hides His face, who then can see Him? Even it may be against a nation and a man together,


text:
Must He repay you because you rejected it? For you must choose, and not I; therefore, speak what you know.


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


text:
If you sin, what do you do against Him? Or if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him?


text:
How much less when you say you do not regard Him! Judgment is before Him, and you are waiting for Him.


text:
He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous, but they are like kings on the throne; yea, He causes them to sit forever, and they are very high.


text:
And also He lured you from the mouth of distress to a wide place not cramped under; and the setting of your table would be full of fatness.


text:
After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice; and He will not hold them back when His voice is heard.


text:
For He says to the snow, Fall on the earth; also to the shower of rain, and the shower of heavy rains.


text:
and it is turned around by His guidance, so that they may do whatever He commands them on the face of the world of the earth.


text:
And now men cannot look upon the light when it is bright in the clouds; when the wind has passed and cleared them.


text:
We cannot find Him, the Almighty; He is exalted in power; and He does not violate justice and abundant righteousness.


text:
He swallows the ground with quivering and trembling, and he does not stand still for the sound of the ram's horn.


text:
When the ram's horn sounds, he says, Aha! And he smells the battle from a distance, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.


text:
Who is this hiding counsel without knowledge? So I declared, but did not understand things too wonderful for me; yea, I did not know.


text:
And it happened, after Jehovah spoke these words to Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My anger glows against you and your two friends. For You have not spoken the right about Me, as My servant Job.


text:
And now take for you seven young bulls and seven rams and go to My servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And My servant Job will pray for you. Surely I will lift up his face so as not to do with you according to your folly, in that you have not spoken the right about Me, as My servant Job.


text:
And Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as Jehovah spoke to them. And Jehovah lifted the face of Job.


text:
And when he prayed for his friends, Jehovah turned the captivity of Job; and Jehovah added to Job all which had been his, to double.


text:
And all his brothers and all his sisters came to him; and all knowing him before. And they ate bread with him in his house and consoled him and comforted him as to all the evil that Jehovah had brought on him. And they each gave him a piece of money, and each one a ring of gold.


text:
And Jehovah blessed the latter days of Job more than the earlier days. And to him were fourteen thousand sheep and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.


text:
And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Keziah; and the name of the third, Keren-happuch.


text:
And in all the land there were not found women as beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them inheritance among their brothers.


text:
After this Job lived a hundred and forty years. And he saw his sons, and his grandsons, even four generations.


text:
Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the seat of scorners.


text:
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivulets of waters, which will give its fruit in its seasons, and its leaf will not wither, and all which he does will prosper.


text:
On account of this the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.


text:
The kings of the earth set themselves; yea, the rulers have plotted together against Jehovah and His Anointed, saying,


text:
I will declare concerning the statute of Jehovah: He said to Me, You are My Son. Today I have begotten You.


text:
Ask of Me, and I will give the nations as Your inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the earth as Your possession.


text:
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Oh the blessings of all those who flee to Him for refuge!


text:
A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom O Jehovah, how my adversaries have multiplied! Many are the ones who rise against me.


text:
Arise, O Jehovah! Save me, O my God. For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone. You have broken the teeth of the wicked.


text:
To the chief musician, for stringed instruments, A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness. You gave room to me in distress. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.


text:
O sons of men, until when shall My glory be for a reproach? Will you love vanity? Will you run after a lie? Selah.


text:
To the chief musician, for flutes. A Psalm of David Give ear to my words, O Jehovah; consider my meditation.


text:
You will hear my voice in the morning, O Jehovah, I will set myself for You in the morning, and I will look up.


text:
But I, in the plenty of Your grace, I will come into Your house. I will worship in Your fear toward Your holy temple, O Jehovah.


text:
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is engulfing ruin; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.


text:
O God, hold them guilty; let them fall from their own counsels. Drive them away in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against You.


text:
But let all who put their trust in You rejoice; let them shout for joy forever, because You cover them. And let those who love Your name be joyful in You.


text:
To the chief musician, for eight-stringed instruments. A Psalm of David O Jehovah, do not rebuke me in Your anger; nor chasten me in the heat of Your fury;


text:
I am weary in my groaning; I shall make my bed swim in all the night; I melt my couch with my tears.


text:
A song of David, which he sang to Jehovah on the words of Cush the Benjamite. O Jehovah my God, I seek refuge in You; save me from all who pursue me, and deliver me,


text:
let the enemy pursue and overtake my soul; yea, trample down my life to earth, and lay my honor in the dust. Selah.


text:
Arise, O Jehovah, in Your anger; be lifted up at the rage of those distressing me; and awake for me! You have commanded judgment.


text:
Jehovah will judge the people. O Jehovah, judge me according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity on me.


text:
Oh let the evil of the wicked come to an end; and You will establish the just; for the righteous God is a trier of hearts and reins.


text:
To the chief musician, on the harp. A Psalm of David. O Jehovah, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth; You have set Your glory above the heavens!


text:
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, You have ordained strength, because of the ones distressing You, to cause the enemy and the avenger to cease.


text:
When I look upon Your heavens, the work of Your fingers: the moon and the stars which You have fixed;


text:
To the chief musician, To die for the Son. A Psalm of David. I will give thanks, O Jehovah, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful acts;


text:
You have rebuked the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have put out their name forever and ever.


text:
The desolations of the enemy are ended forever; and You have uprooted the cities; their memory has perished with them.


text:
And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Jehovah, have not forsaken those who seek You.


text:
Be gracious to me, O Jehovah; see my affliction from ones hating me, be lifting me up from the gates of death,


text:
so that I may declare all Your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion; I will rejoice in Your salvation.


text:
Jehovah has been known, He has executed judgment; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. A meditation, Selah.


text:
The wicked in his pride will pursue the poor; they will be caught in the schemes which they have devised.


text:
For the wicked boasts of his soul's desire, and he has blessed the covetous; he has despised Jehovah.


text:
His ways are perverted at all times. Your judgments are high from his sight; as for all distressing him, he puffs at them.


text:
He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved! From generation to generation never will I be in evil.


text:
He sits in the hiding places of the villages; in the secret places he murders the innocent; his eyes watch against the poor.


text:
He lies in wait secretly like a lion in his den; he lies in ambush to catch the poor; he seizes the poor, drawing him into his net;


text:
You have seen, for You take note of trouble and vexation, to give back with Your hand. The poor leaves himself to You; You are the helper of the orphan.


text:
O Jehovah, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; Your ear will hear.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. I sought refuge in Jehovah; how can you say to my soul, Flee like a bird to your hill.


text:
For behold! The wicked will tread the bow; they fixed their arrow on the string, in order to shoot with it at the upright of heart in the dark.


text:
Jehovah is in His holy temple; Jehovah, His throne is in the heavens; His eyes see; His eyelids will examine the sons of man.


text:
He shall rain snares on the wicked; fire and brimstone and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.


text:
To the chief musician, on eight. A Psalm of David. Help, O Jehovah, for the godly ceases to be; for the faithful fail from among the sons of men.


text:
For the pain of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, I will now rise up, says Jehovah; I will set in safety; he pants for it.


text:
The Words of Jehovah are pure Words, like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. Until when will You forget me, O Jehovah? Forever? Until when will You hide Your face from me?


text:
Until when shall I set counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? Until when shall my enemy be lifted up over me?


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. The fool has said in his heart, There is no God! They acted corruptly; they did hatefully in deeds; there is none doing good.


text:
Jehovah looked down from Heaven on the sons of mankind, to see if there were any discerning and seeking God:


text:
they have all turned aside; together they have become filthy; there is none doing good, not even one!


text:
Have all doers of iniquity not known, eating My people as they eat bread? They have not called on Jehovah.


text:
Who will bring the salvation of Israel out of Zion? When Jehovah brings back the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice; Israel shall be glad.


text:
A Psalm of David. O Jehovah, who shall dwell in Your tabernacle? Who shall live in Your holy mountain?


text:
He does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor lifts up a reproach against his neighbor.


text:
In his eyes, the reprobate has been despised, but he honors those who fear Jehovah: He has sworn to his hurt, and will not change it.


text:
He has not given his silver at interest; nor has he taken a bribe against the innocent; he who does these things shall not be shaken forever.


text:
Their sorrows shall multiply if they run after another god. I will not pour out their drink offering of blood; and I will not take their names on my lips.


text:
You will make Me know the way of life. In Your presence is fullness of joys; at Your right hand are pleasures forever.


text:
A Prayer of David. O Jehovah, hear righteousness; listen to my cry; give ear to my prayer, for it is not in lips of deceit.


text:
You will test my heart; You will visit in the night; You will refine me; You will find nothing; my thoughts do not pass beyond my mouth.


text:
Set out your wonderful loving-kindness by Your right hand, O Savior of those who trust in You, from those rising against them.


text:
Arise, O Jehovah, go before his face and bow him down! Deliver my soul from the wicked, by Your sword,


text:
from men, by Your hand, O Jehovah, from men of the world whose portion is in this life, and their belly You fill with Your treasure; they are satisfied with sons, and will leave their riches to their babes.


text:
As for me, in righteousness I will look upon Your face; when I awaken, I shall be satisfied by Your image.


text:
To the chief musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of Jehovah, who spoke the words of this song to Jehovah in the day that Jehovah delivered him from the hand of all his foes, and from the hand of Saul. And he said: I love You, O Jehovah, my strength.


text:
Jehovah is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; He is my God, my Rock; I seek refuge in Him; He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.


text:
In my distress I called on Jehovah and I cried to my God; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry went before Him, into His ears.


text:
Then the earth shook and quaked; and the foundations of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because it angered Him.


text:
A smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire devoured out of His mouth; coals were kindled from it.


text:
He made darkness His covering, His pavilion all around Him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.


text:
Jehovah also thundered in the heavens; and the Highest gave forth His voice, hailstones and coals of fire.


text:
Then the stream beds of waters were seen, and the foundations of the earth were bared at Your rebuke, O Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.


text:
Jehovah rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.


text:
And Jehovah has returned to me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands before His eyes.


text:
With the merciful You reveal Yourself as merciful; with an upright man You reveal Yourself as upright;


text:
As for God, His way is perfect; the Word of Jehovah is purified; He is a shield to all who seek refuge in Him.


text:
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; and Your right hand holds me up; and Your condescension has made me great.


text:
And You have girded me with strength for the battle; You have bowed under me those rising against me.


text:
You have delivered me from the strivings of the people; You have made me head of the nations; a people I have not known shall serve me.


text:
He delivers me from my enemies; yea, You lift me up from among those rising up against me. You have delivered me from the violent man.


text:
On account of this I will extol You, O Jehovah, among the nations, and I will sing praises to Your name,


text:
magnifying salvation to His king, and working mercy to His anointed, to David and to his Seed forever.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. The heavens are recounting the glory of God, and the expanse proclaiming His handiwork.


text:
Their measuring line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world; in them He has set up a dwelling-place for the sun,


text:
his going forth from the end of the heavens, and his orbit to their ends; and nothing is hidden from his heat.


text:
The Law of Jehovah is perfect, converting the soul. The Testimony of Jehovah is sure, making the simple wise.


text:
The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart. The commands of Jehovah are pure, giving light to the eyes.


text:
The fear of Jehovah is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of Jehovah are true, they are righteous altogether.


text:
They are more precious than gold, even much fine gold, and sweeter than honey and drops from the honeycomb.


text:
Also withhold Your servant from arrogant sins; do not let them rule over me; then I shall be upright, and I shall be innocent from great transgression.


text:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing before You, O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. May Jehovah answer you in the day of distress; the name of the God of Jacob set you on high.


text:
We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God set up banners; may Jehovah fulfill all your prayers.


text:
Now I know that Jehovah saves His anointed; He answers him from His holy Heaven with the saving strengths of His right hand.


text:
These trust in chariots, and these in horses, but we will make mention in the name of Jehovah our God.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. The king rejoices in Your strength, O Jehovah; and how greatly does he rejoice in Your salvation.


text:
You shall set them as a fiery furnace in the time of Your presence; Jehovah will swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire will devour them.


text:
for You shall make them turn the back; against their faces You shall make ready Your arrows on Your strings.


text:
To the Chief Musician, on the deer of the dawn. A Psalm of David. My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me, and are far from My deliverance, from the words of My groaning?


text:
I am poured out like waters, and all My bones are spread apart; My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels.


text:
and You appoint Me to the dust of death; for dogs have encircled Me; a band of spoilers have hemmed Me in, piercing My hands and My feet.


text:
You who fear Jehovah, praise Him; all the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and all the seed of Israel, fear Him.


text:
For He has not despised nor hated the affliction of the afflicted; and He has not hidden His face from Him, but when He cried to Him, He heard.


text:
The meek shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Jehovah shall praise Him; your heart shall live forever.


text:
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn back to Jehovah; and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.


text:
All the fat ones of the earth have eaten, and have worshiped; all those going down to the dust shall bow before Him; and He kept not His own soul alive.


text:
they shall come and shall declare His righteousness to a people that shall yet be born; for He has done it.


text:
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.


text:
Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah for as long as my days.


text:
A Psalm of David. The earth is Jehovah's, and the fullness of it; the world, and those who live in it.


text:
He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to vanity and has not sworn deceit.


text:
Lift up your heads, O gates; and be lifted up, O everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in.


text:
Lift up your heads, O gates; even lift up, O everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in.


text:
lead me in Your truth and teach me; for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day long.


text:
Do not remember the sins of my youth, or my transgressions. According to Your mercy, remember me, for Your goodness' sake, O Jehovah.


text:
A Psalm of David. Judge me, O Jehovah, for I have walked in my integrity; I also have trusted in Jehovah; I shall not slide.


text:
A Psalm of David. Jehovah is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?


text:
If an army should camp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war rises against me, in this I am trusting.


text:
One thing I have asked from Jehovah, it I will seek: my dwelling in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the delight of Jehovah, and to inquire in His temple.


text:
For in the day of evil He shall hide me in His shelter; in the secrecy of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me up on a rock.


text:
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies, my encirclers, and I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises to Jehovah.


text:
Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn away Your servant in anger; You have been my help, do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.


text:
Do not give me into the soul of my foes; for false witnesses have risen up against me, and the ones breathing out violence.


text:
I would have fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living.


text:
A Psalm of David. I will call to You, O Jehovah; my Rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if You be silent from me I may be compared with those going down into the Pit.


text:
Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity; who speak peace with their neighbors, yet evil is in their hearts.


text:
Give to them according to their deeds and according to the evil of their practices; as is the work of their hands, give to them, repay their deeds to them.


text:
Because they pay no attention to the works of Jehovah, and to the works of His hands, He will destroy them, and not build them up.


text:
Jehovah is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; yea, my heart greatly rejoices; and I will thank Him with my song.


text:
The voice of Jehovah causes the does to calve; and He uncovers the forests. And in His temple it all is saying, Glory!


text:
A Psalm; a Song of Dedication of the House of David. I will exalt You, O Jehovah; for You have lifted me up and have not allowed my foes to rejoice over me.


text:
O Jehovah, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, from going down into the Pit.


text:
For His anger is only a moment; in His favor is life. Weeping may endure in the evening, but joy comes in the morning.


text:
O Jehovah, in Your favor You have made my strong mountain to stand; You hid Your face; I was troubled;


text:
What profit is in my blood, in going down to the Pit? Shall the dust praise You? Shall it tell of Your truth?


text:
You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have loosed my sackcloth and have clothed me with gladness.


text:
So my glory shall praise You, and not be quiet; O Jehovah, my God, I will give thanks to You forever.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. In You, O Jehovah, I sought refuge; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness.


text:
Bow down Your ear to me; deliver me quickly, be a strong rock to me, for a house of fortresses to save me.


text:
And I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy; for You have seen my affliction; You have known the distresses in my soul;


text:
Be gracious to me, O Jehovah, for I am in trouble; my eye has wasted away with grief, my soul and my belly.


text:
For my life is ending with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones have wasted away.


text:
I was a reproach among all my foes, but exceedingly to my neighbors; and I was a dread to my friends; those seeing me fled outside from me.


text:
For I have heard the slander of many; fear is all around; because they are fixing plots together against me, they planned to take away my life.


text:
Let me not be ashamed, O Jehovah; for I have called upon You; let the wicked be ashamed; let them be silent in Sheol.


text:
How great is Your goodness which You have laid up for those who fear You; You have worked for those who trust in You before the sons of mankind.


text:
In the secrecy of Your presence You shall hide them from man's plots; You shall cover them in a booth, from the strife of tongues.


text:
For I said in my haste, I am cut off from Your eyes; surely You heard the voice of my prayers when I cried to You.


text:
O love Jehovah, all you saints of His; Jehovah preserves the faithful, and abundantly repays the proud doer.


text:
A Psalm of David. A Contemplation. Blessed is he whose transgression is lifted, whose sin is covered.


text:
For by day and by night Your hand was heavy on me; my sap was turned into the droughts of summer. Selah.


text:
I confessed my sin to You, and I have not hidden my iniquity; I said, I will confess over my transgression to Jehovah; and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.


text:
On account of this let every godly one pray to You, at a time of finding; surely, when great floods come they will not reach him.


text:
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.


text:
I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you, My eye shall be on you.


text:
Be not like the horse, like the mule, with no understanding; with bit and bridle his gear to be held in, that they do not come near you.


text:
Through the Word of Jehovah the heavens were made; and all their host were made by the breath of His mouth.


text:
A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech; and he drove him away, and he went. I will bless Jehovah at all times; His praise shall always be in my mouth.


text:
The young lions have lacked and been hungry; but they who seek Jehovah shall not lack any good thing.


text:
A Psalm of David. O Jehovah, contend with those who strive against me; fight those who fight against me.


text:
Let those who seek my soul be ashamed and disgraced; let them be turned back and brought to confusion, those who plot evil to me.


text:
Let destruction come on him; he will not know; and let his net which he concealed catch him; let him fall in it, into destruction.


text:
All my bones shall say: O Jehovah, who is like You, who delivers the poor from those stronger than he; yes, the poor and needy from his plunderer?


text:
But in their sickness, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fastings; and my prayer returned to my bosom.


text:
But they rejoiced in my limping; and assembling the defamers assembled themselves against me; and I did not know; they tore and were not silent;


text:
O Lord, how long will You look on? Draw back my soul from their desolations, my only one from the lions.


text:
Let them be ashamed and be confounded together, the ones who rejoice at my evil; let them be clothed with shame and dishonor, the ones who magnify themselves against me.


text:
Let those who delight in my justification shout and rejoice; and they shall say without ceasing, Jehovah be magnified, delighting in the peace of His servant.


text:
To the chief musician; of the servant of Jehovah; of David. The oracle utters transgression to the wicked within my heart, There is no fear of God before his eyes.


text:
Your righteousness is like the hills of God; Your judgments are a great deep; O Jehovah, You preserve animal and man.


text:
They shall be satisfied from the abundance of Your house; and You make them drink the torrent of Your pleasures.


text:
A Psalm of David. Do not inflame yourself with evildoers; and do not be envious against workers of perversity;


text:
Rest in Jehovah and wait patiently for Him; inflame not yourself with him who prospers in his way, with the man practicing evil wiles.


text:
It is but a little while and the wicked shall not be; yea, you shall consider his place, and he is not.


text:
The wicked have drawn out the sword and they have trodden their bow, to cause the poor and needy to fall, to kill those who walk uprightly.


text:
But the wicked shall perish; yea, the enemies of Jehovah shall be like the beauty of pastures; they are consumed; like smoke, they vanish.


text:
I have been young and am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his seed begging bread.


text:
For Jehovah loves judgment and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever; but the wicked's seed shall be cut off.


text:
Wait on Jehovah and keep His way; and He shall exalt you to inherit the earth; you shall see when the wicked are cut off.


text:
And Jehovah helps them and delivers them; He shall deliver them from the wicked and saves them, because they trust in Him.


text:
A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. O Jehovah, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, and do not chasten me in Your fury.


text:
And those seeking my life lay a snare; yea, those seeking my evil speak ruin, and they utter deceits all the day long.


text:
To the chief musician, to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, I will keep my ways from sinning with my tongue; I will keep my mouth with a muzzle while the wicked are before me.


text:
O Jehovah, make me to know my end and the limit of my days, what it is. Let me know how lacking I am.


text:
surely every man walks about in shadow; surely they are in an uproar in vain; he heaps up and does not know who is gathering them.


text:
You correct a man with rebukes over iniquity; and as a moth You melt away what he desires. Surely every man is vanity. Selah.


text:
Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and give ear to my cry. Do not be silent at my tears, for I am an alien with You, a pilgrim, as were all my fathers.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. Waiting I have waited on Jehovah; and He turned to me and heard my cry.


text:
And He drew me up from the pit of tumult, out of the miry clay; He lifted my feet on a rock; He directed my steps.


text:
And He put a new song of praise to our God in my mouth; many shall see and shall fear and shall trust in Jehovah.


text:
Blessed is the man who sets Jehovah as his trust, and does not turn to the proud, or to those who turn to a lie.


text:
Many things have You done, O Jehovah my God; Your works of wonder and Your purposes toward us; there is none to set them in order to You; I will declare and I will speak; they are more than can be counted.


text:
Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; You have opened ears to Me. You have not asked burnt offering and sin offering.


text:
I have announced righteousness in the great assembly; behold, I will not restrain My lips; O Jehovah You know.


text:
I have not concealed Your righteousness in My heart; I speak Your faithfulness and Your salvation. I have not hidden Your loving-kindness and Your truth from the great assembly.


text:
Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Jehovah; let Your lovingkindness and Your truth always watch over me.


text:
For evils have surrounded me until there is no number; my iniquities have taken hold on me and I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.


text:
Let those seeking my soul to destroy it, be ashamed and humbled together; let those delighting in my evil be driven back and disgraced.


text:
Let all who are seeking You be glad in You and always say, May Jehovah be magnified, those loving Your salvation.


text:
But I am poor and needy; the Lord will take thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.


text:
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Blessed is he who acts wisely toward the poor; Jehovah will deliver him in the day of evil.


text:
Jehovah will watch over him and keep him alive; he shall be blessed on the earth, and You will not deliver him to the soul of his enemies.


text:
And when he comes to see me he speaks vanity; his heart gathers iniquity to itself; he goes outside and speaks.


text:
Even a man desiring my welfare, I trusted in him, eating of my bread; this one has lifted up his heel against me.


text:
To the chief musician. A Contemplation for the sons of Korah. As the deer pants after the channels of water, so my soul pants after You, O God.


text:
My tears have been my food by day and by night, while they say to me all the day, Where is your God?


text:
When I remember these things and I pour out my soul on me (for I passed over with the throng; I led them to the house of God with the voice of rejoicing and praise, a host keeping the feast).


text:
O my soul, why are you cast down and moan within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet thank Him for the salvation of His presence.


text:
O my God, my soul is cast down within me; on account of this I remember You from the land of Jordan, and from the Hermonites, from Mount Mizar.


text:
Deep calls to deep through the voice of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and Your billows have passed over me.


text:
Jehovah will command His loving-kindness by day, and His song shall be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life.


text:
I will say to God my Rock, Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning when the enemy oppresses me?


text:
Ones vexing me reproach me with crushing in my bones, when they say to me every day, Where is your God?


text:
O my soul, why are you cast down? And why do you moan within me? Hope in God, for I yet thank Him for the salvation of my face and my God.


text:
Judge me, O God, and strive for my cause against a nation that is not godly. Deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.


text:
For You are the God of my strength. Why have You cast me off? Why do I go mourning when the enemy oppresses?


text:
O send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me and bring me to the mount of Your holiness and to Your tabernacles.


text:
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, the joy of my delight, and I will thank with the lyre, O God, my God.


text:
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why do you moan within me? Hope in God, for I will still thank Him, the salvation of my face, and my God.


text:
To the chief musician. A Contemplation for the Sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.


text:
You drove out nations with Your hand and planted them. You brought evil on peoples and sent them out.


text:
For they did not inherit the land with their own sword; yea, their own arm did not save them. But it was Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your face, because You favored them.


text:
Through You we will push our enemies; through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.


text:
To the Chief Musician, Concerning the Lilies. For the sons of Korah. A Poem; a Song of the Beloved. My heart is overflowing with a good matter. I am speaking of my works to the King; my tongue is the pen of a rapid writer.


text:
You are the fairest of the sons of man; grace has poured into Your lips; on this account God has blessed You forever.


text:
And ride prosperously in Your majesty, on the matter of truth and meekness and right, and Your right hand shall teach You fearful things.


text:
You love righteousness and hate wickedness; on account of this God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your fellows.


text:
All Your garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of ivory palaces; by strings of a harp they make You glad.


text:
King's daughters are among Your precious ones; the queen stands at Your right hand in gold of Ophir.


text:
She shall be led to the King in embroidered work; her companions, the virgins, shall be brought to You after her.


text:
I will make remembered Your name in every generation and generation; on this account people shall thank You forever and ever.


text:
To the chief musician. For the sons of Korah; A song. For the Virgins. God is our refuge and strength, very much found to be a help in distresses.


text:
On account of this we will not fear when the earth changes and when mountains are slipping into the heart of the seas.


text:
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be shaken; God will help her at the turning of the morning.


text:
causing wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts apart spears; He burns the chariots in the fire.


text:
Be still and know that I am God! I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm for the Sons of Korah. All the peoples clap the hand; shout aloud with a ringing cry of shouting.


text:
The nobles of peoples gather together, the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth are God's; He is greatly lifted up.


text:
A Song, A Psalm for the Sons of Korah. Great is Jehovah, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God, His holy mountain.


text:
Beautiful on high, the joy of all the earth, is Mount Zion, in the sides of the north, the city of the great King.


text:
As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of Jehovah of Hosts, in the city of our God. God establishes it forever. Selah.


text:
According to Your name, O God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness.


text:
set your heart on its ramparts; pass between its strongholds; in order that you may report to the coming generation.


text:
To the chief musician, A Psalm for the Sons of Korah. Hear this, all peoples, give ear, all those living in the world,


text:
For he sees wise men die; together the fool and the animal-like ones perish and leave their riches to others.


text:
Their inward thought is that their houses shall last forever, their dwelling-places to all generations; they call lands after their own names.


text:
Like sheep, they are appointed to Sheol. Death shall reign for them. And upright ones shall rule over them in the morning; and their form is for rotting; Sheol is home for him.


text:
A Psalm of Asaph God, Jehovah God, has spoken, and calls to the earth from the rising of the sun to its going in.


text:
Our God comes, and He is not silent; a fire shall devour before Him; and it shall be very stormy around Him.


text:
But to the wicked, God says, What is it to you to proclaim My statutes, and to take up My covenant on your mouth?


text:
You have done these things, and I have kept silence; you thought that surely I would be like you; but I will rebuke you and set in order before your eyes.


text:
Whoever offers thanks glorifies Me; and he who prepares a way, I will show the salvation of God to him.


text:
To the chief musician, A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness, according to the multitude of Your tender mercies; blot out my transgressions.


text:
Against You, You only, I have sinned, and done evil in Your eyes; that You might be justified in Your speaking and be clear when You judge.


text:
Deliver me from the guilt of shedding blood, O God, O God of my salvation; my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.


text:
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.


text:
Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole offering; then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.


text:
To the chief musician. A Contemplation. A Psalm of David when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said to him, David has come to the house of Ahimelech. Why do you boast yourself in evil, O hero? The mercy of God is all the day.


text:
God will likewise break you forever; He shall take you away, even pluck you from your tent and uproot you out of the land of the living. Selah.


text:
Behold, the man who did not set God as his strength; but he trusted in his many riches; he was strong in his destruction.


text:
I will thank You forever, because You have done it; and I will hope in Your name, for it is good before Your saints.


text:
To the Chief musician on Mahalath. A Contemplation; A Psalm of David. The fool has said in his heart, There is no God! They have done corruptly; they have committed abominable wickedness; there is none doing good!


text:
God looked down from Heaven on the sons of mankind, to see if there was any discerning, who was seeking God:


text:
Have the workers of evil not known, eating up My people as they eat bread? They have not called on God.


text:
There they dreaded with dread, where no dread was; for God has scattered the bones of the one who besieges you; you have put them to shame because God rejects them.


text:
Who gives from Zion the salvation of Israel? When God brings back the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice; Israel shall be glad.


text:
To the Chief Musician on Neginoth. A Contemplation; A Psalm of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, Does not David hide himself among us? Save me, O God, by Your name; and judge me by Your strength.


text:
For strangers have risen up against me; and terrifying men seek after my soul; they have not set God before them. Selah.


text:
To the Chief Musician on Neginoth. A Contemplation. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God; and do not hide Yourself from my cry.


text:
from the voice of the enemy, from the oppression of the wicked; for they shake trouble over me, and in anger they hate me.


text:
For it is not an enemy reproaching me, or I could bear it; it is not one who hates me who is magnifying himself against me; or I would hide myself from him.


text:
God shall hear and answer them, even He who is enthroned of old. Selah. There are no changes to them; yea, they do not fear God.


text:
The butterings of his mouth were smooth, and war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, but they were as drawn swords.


text:
Cast on Jehovah what He has given, and He will keep you; He will not give the righteous to waver, forever.


text:
But You, O God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; men of blood and deceit will not live out half their days; but I will trust in You.


text:
To the chief musician. Concerning the silent dove, those far off. Of David, a secret treasure (when the Philistines seized him in Gath). Favor me, O God, for man snuffs me up; all the day fighting oppresses me.


text:
For You have delivered my soul from death. Do You not keep my feet from falling, so that I may walk before God in the light of the living?


text:
To the chief musician. Do not destroy. A secret treasure of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave. Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for my soul trusts in You; yea, in the shadow of Your wings I will make my hiding place, until the great destruction passes by.


text:
He shall send from Heaven and save me; He will shame the one who crushes me. Selah. God shall send His mercy and His truth.


text:
My soul is among lions; I lie among those on fire, the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword.


text:
They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down; they have dug a pit before me; they have fallen into it. Selah.


text:
To the chief musician. Do not destroy. A secret treasure of David. Will you indeed speak righteousness in silence? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?


text:
Let them melt away like waters; they flow off to them; he treads his arrows; let them be as though they were cut off;


text:
The righteous shall rejoice when he sees vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.


text:
To the chief musician. Do not destroy. A secret treasure of David, when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; set me on high from the ones who rise up against me.


text:
For lo, they lie in wait for my soul, mighty ones gather against me; not for my transgression, and not for my sin, O Jehovah.


text:
And You, O Jehovah God of Hosts, the God of Israel: Awake to visit all the nations; be not merciful to any plotting evil. Selah.


text:
Do not kill them, lest my people forget; scatter them by Your power and bring them down, O Jehovah our shield.


text:
For the sin of their mouth is the word of their lips, even let them be captured in their pride, and for cursing and the lying which they utter.


text:
Consume them in Your anger; consume, so that they may not be; and they shall know that God is ruling in Jacob, to the ends of the earth. Selah.


text:
But I will sing of Your power; yes, I will sing of Your mercy in the morning. For You have been my strong tower, and my hiding place in the day of my trouble.


text:
To the chief musician. On the Lily of Testimony. A secret treasure of David, to teach; when he struggled with Aram-naharaim, and with Aram-zobah; when Joab returned, and struck twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt. O God! You cast us off; You broke us; You who were angry; take us back.


text:
God has spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth.


text:
To the chief musician. On stringed instruments. Of David. Hear my cry, O God, and attend to my prayer.


text:
From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart faints; Oh lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.


text:
To the chief musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. Only to God is my soul silent; from Him comes my salvation.


text:
Until when will you break in against a man? You will shatter him, all of you, like a bowing wall, a tottering fence.


text:
Surely, they plotted to cast him down from his excellent dignity; they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth, but they curse in their inward parts. Selah.


text:
Trust in Him at every time, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.


text:
Surely the sons of men are vanity, the sons of man are a lie; they go up in the scales; they are higher than vanity together.


text:
Trust not in oppression, and do not be vain in robbery; if riches increase to you, do not set your heart on them.


text:
A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; I earnestly seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You, as in a dry and weary land without water.


text:
My soul shall be satisfied, as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips,


text:
But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him shall glory, because the mouth of the one speaking a lie will be stopped.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. O God, hear my voice in my complaint; guard my life from the terror of the enemy.


text:
so that they may shoot at the innocent from a lurking place; suddenly they shoot at him, and fear not.


text:
They make themselves strong in an evil plan; they talk of laying snares secretly; they say, Who shall see them?


text:
They search into injustice, saying, We have finished a well laid plan. Yea, the inward part of man and the heart are deep!


text:
And all men shall fear and shall declare the work of God; yea, they shall in wisdom consider His work.


text:
The righteous shall rejoice in Jehovah, and shall trust in Him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm and Song of David. To You silence is praise, O God, in Zion; and to You is a vow paid.


text:
Blessed is the one You choose and cause to come near You; he shall dwell in Your courts; we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.


text:
You will answer us in righteousness by awesome things, O God of our salvation; the Confidence of all the ends of the earth and the sea, of those afar off.


text:
And those living in the uttermost parts are afraid of Your signs; You make the outgoings of the morning and the evening to rejoice.


text:
You visit the earth and water it; You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water. You provide their grain, for in this way You have prepared it.


text:
You fill its terraces with water. You deepen its furrows. You make it soft with showers. You bless the sprouting of it.


text:
The meadows are outfitted with flocks; the valleys are also covered with grain; they shout for joy and sing.


text:
Say to God, How much to be feared are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power, Your enemies pretend obedience to You.


text:
He rules by His power forever; His eyes search out the nations; let not the rebels exalt themselves. Selah.


text:
You have let men ride at our head; we went through fire and through water, but You brought us out to plenty.


text:
I will offer burnt sacrifices of fatlings to You, with the incense of rams; I will offer bulls with goats. Selah.


text:
To the chief musician, for stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song. May God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.


text:
Oh let the peoples be glad and sing for joy; for You shall judge the peoples uprightly and govern the peoples on earth. Selah.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. A Song. God rises up and His enemies are scattered; and those who hate Him flee from His face.


text:
As smoke is driven away, You drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked perish in God's presence.


text:
Sing to God, sing praise to His name; lift up a song for Him who rides in the deserts, by His name Jehovah; yea, exult in His presence.


text:
God causes the lonely to live at home; He brings out those who are bound with chains, while the rebellious dwell in a dry land.


text:
When you lie among the sheepfolds, the wings of a dove are covered with silver, and its feathers with gleaming gold.


text:
Why do you gaze in envy, O mountain range, at the mountain God desired for His dwelling? Yea, Jehovah will dwell in it forever.


text:
The chariots of God are myriads, thousands of thousands, the Lord is among them, in Sinai, in the holy place.


text:
You have gone up on high; You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men; yea, to dwell among the rebellious, O Jehovah God.


text:
The Lord said, I will bring back from Bashan; I will bring back My people from the depths of the sea;


text:
There is little Benjamin ruling them; the leaders of Judah in their crowd, and the leaders of Zebulun, the leaders of Naphtali.


text:
Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds, the herd of bulls, with the calves of the peoples, trampling down with pieces of silver. He scatters the people who delight in war.


text:
O God, You are awesome out of Your holy places; the God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to the people. Blessed be God!


text:
To the chief musician. Concerning the Lilies. Of David. Save me, O God, for the waters have come in to my soul.


text:
I sink in deep mire, and there is no standing; I have come into deep waters where the floods overflow me.


text:
They who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; they who would destroy me are mighty, my lying enemies; then I give back what I did not take away.


text:
O Jehovah of Hosts, do not let those who wait on You be ashamed for my sake; let not the ones who seek You be ashamed for my sake, O God of Israel.


text:
For the zeal of Your house has consumed Me; and the reproaches of the ones who reproach You have fallen on Me.


text:
But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Jehovah, at a time of favor, O God! in the plentitude of Your mercy answer me, in the truth of Your salvation.


text:
Deliver me out of the mire, that I may not sink; let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.


text:
Let not the flood waters overflow me, nor let the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut its mouth on me.


text:
Hear me, O Jehovah, for Your mercy is good; in the plentitude of Your tender mercies, turn toward me.


text:
Reproach has broken My heart, and I am faint; and I waited for one to show pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.


text:
For God will save Zion; and He will build the cities of Judah, and they shall live there and possess it.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. O God, deliver me! Hurry, O Jehovah, to help me!


text:
Let those who seek after my soul be ashamed and turned pale; let them be turned backward and shamed, those who desire my evil.


text:
Let all those who seek You rejoice, and be glad in You; and let those who love Your salvation forever say, Let God be magnified.


text:
But I am poor and needy, come quickly to me, O God; You are my help and my deliverer; O Jehovah, do not wait any longer.


text:
Be a rock of strength for me, to which I may always go; You have given a command to save me; for You are my rock and my fortress.


text:
O my God, deliver me out of the hand of the wicked, and out of the hand of the unjust and the ruthless.


text:
I have rested on You from the belly; You are He who took me out of my mother's womb; my praise shall be always of You.


text:
Let them be ashamed; let those who are enemies of my soul be consumed; let them be covered with reproach, and let those seeking evil for me be dishonored;


text:
My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day; for I do not know the numbers.


text:
I will come in the strength of the Lord Jehovah; I will speak of Your righteousness, of Yours alone.


text:
And even when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not leave me until I declare Your arm to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.


text:
And, Your righteousness, O God, is to the heights, You who have done great things. O God, who is like You,


text:
who has shown me great and evil distresses. You will turn me; You will make me live; and You will bring me up from the depths of the earth.


text:
I will also thank You with a harp, O my God; I will sing Your truth; I will sing to You with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.


text:
And my tongue shall muse on Your righteousness all the day; because those seeking my evil are disgraced; they are put to shame.


text:
He shall judge the poor of the people; and He shall save the sons of the needy; and He shall crush the oppressor.


text:
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.


text:
He shall redeem their souls from oppression and violence; and their blood shall be precious in His eyes.


text:
And He shall live, and the gold of Sheba shall be given to Him; and prayer shall be made for Him continually; He shall bless Him all the day.


text:
A fullness of grain shall be in the earth on top of the mountains; its fruit shall shake like Lebanon; and they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth.


text:
His name shall be forever; His name shall continue before the sun; and they shall bless themselves by Him; all nations shall call Him blessed.


text:
And blessed is His glorious name forever; and the whole earth is filled with His glory! Amen and amen!


text:
For, lo, those who are far from You shall be lost; You have cut off all who go whoring away from You.


text:
As for me, it is good for me to draw near to God; I have made my refuge in the Lord Jehovah, to declare all Your works.


text:
A Lesson, of Asaph. O God, have You cast us off forever; will Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?


text:
Remember Your congregation; You bought them in days before; You redeemed us as the rod of Your inheritance, this Mount Zion in which You have dwelt.


text:
Those distressing You have roared in the middle of Your congregation; they set up their own signs for signs.


text:
They have cast fire in Your sanctuary; they have polluted the place where Your name dwells on the earth.


text:
They said in their hearts, Let us rage against them together; they have burned up all the meeting-places of God in the land.


text:
Do not give the soul of Your turtledove to the wild beasts; You will not forever forget the life of Your afflicted ones.


text:
Do not forget the voice of those distressing to You; the noise of those rising up against You is going up continually.


text:
To the chief musician. Do not destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song. We have given thanks to You, O God; we have given thanks; for Your name is near; Your wonderful works have been told.


text:
For a cup is in the hand of Jehovah; and the wine foams; it is fully mixed, and He pours out from it; surely all the wicked of the earth must drain its dregs and drink.


text:
To the chief musician. For stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song of Praise. God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel.


text:
The stouthearted have been stripped; they slept their sleep; and none of the men of might have found their hands.


text:
To the chief musician. On Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. My voice is to God, and I cry; my voice is to God, and He gave ear to me.


text:
In the day of my distress I sought the Lord; my hand was open in the night and did not grow numb; my soul refused to be comforted.


text:
I will remember my song in the night; I will speak with my own heart, and my spirit carefully searches.


text:
The voice of Your thunder in the tempest; lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked!


text:
We will not hide them from their sons; to declare to the coming generation the praises of Jehovah; yea, His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.


text:
For He raised a Testimony in Jacob, and He set a Law in Israel; which He commanded our fathers to make them known to their sons;


text:
so that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.


text:
And they shall not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that prepared not its heart; yea, whose spirit was not faithful with God.


text:
Behold! He struck the rock and the waters gushed out, and the torrents were overflowing. Can He also give bread? Will He provide flesh for His people?


text:
So Jehovah heard and He passed over, and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and also anger went up against Israel,


text:
and God's wrath came on them and killed the fattest of them; and He struck down the choice ones of Israel.


text:
But He being merciful, atoned for iniquity and did not destroy; and He added to turn away His anger, and did not stir up all his wrath.


text:
He sent the heat of His anger on them, fury and indignation and distress, a sending of angels of evils.


text:
He leveled a path for His anger; He did not keep back their soul from death, but gave their life over to the plague.


text:
And He cast out the nations before them; and by a line He made a possession fall to them; and He made the tribes of Israel to live in their tents.


text:
For they enraged Him with their high places; and they provoked Him to jealousy with their molten images.


text:
He brought him in from the suckling ewes; He brought him to feed His people Jacob, and His inheritance, Israel.


text:
A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in heaps.


text:
They have given the bodies of Your servants as food for the birds of the heavens; the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.


text:
Pour out Your wrath on the nations who have not known You, and on the kingdoms who have not called on Your name.


text:
Do not remember for us the former sins of our fathers; let Your tender mercies meet us speedily, for we have been brought very low.


text:
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the matter of the glory of Your name; and deliver us and atone for our sins, for Your name's sake.


text:
Why should the nations say, Where is their God? Let Him be known among the nations before our eyes, the avenging of the blood of Your servants that has been poured out.


text:
Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You. According to the greatness of Your arm, preserve the sons of death.


text:
And reward our neighbors sevenfold. Give into their bosom their curse with which they have cursed You, O Lord.


text:
Then we Your people, and sheep of Your pasture, will give thanks to You forever; we will declare Your praise to all generations.


text:
To the chief musician. A Testimony. Concerning the Lilies. A Psalm of Asaph. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You leading Joseph like a flock; shine forth, You dwelling between the cherubs.


text:
Let Your hand be on the man of Your right hand; on the son of man whom You have made strong for Yourself.


text:
To the chief musician. On Gittith. Of Asaph. Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob.


text:
This He ordained as a testimony in Joseph, when He went out over the land of Egypt; I heard a lip I did not understand.


text:
You called in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.


text:
I am Jehovah your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.


text:
I would have subdued their enemies in a little while; and I would have turned My hand against their foes.


text:
Yea, He would have caused them to eat from the fat of the wheat; and I would have satisfied you with honey out of the rock.


text:
They neither know nor will understand; they walk in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.


text:
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph. O God do not keep silence to Yourself; do not be speechless; yea, do not be still, O God.


text:
They have said, Come, and we will cut them off from being a nation; and, The name of Israel will not be recalled again.


text:
To the chief musician. On Gittith. A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How lovely are Your dwellings, O Jehovah of Hosts!


text:
My soul longs and even faints for the courts of Jehovah; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.


text:
Even the sparrow has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even on Your altars, O Jehovah of Hosts, my King and my God.


text:
Passing through the valley of weeping, they will make it a fountain; even the early rain covers with blessings.


text:
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand; I have chosen to stand at the threshold in the house of my God rather than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.


text:
For Jehovah God is a sun and shield; Jehovah will give grace and glory; He will withhold nothing good from those who walk in integrity.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm for the sons of Korah. O Jehovah, You have been gracious to Your land; You have turned back the captivity of Jacob.


text:
I will hear what Jehovah God will say; for He will speak peace to His people, and His saints; but let them not turn again to folly.


text:
All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You; yea, Lord, they shall glorify Your name.


text:
O God, the proud have risen against me; and the assembly of the violent have sought after my life, and have not set You before their eyes.


text:
O turn to me and be gracious to me; give Your strength to Your servant, and save the son of Your handmaid.


text:
Show me a token for good, that those who hate me may see and be ashamed, O Jehovah, because You have helped me and comforted me.


text:
I will mention Rahab and Babylon to those who know me; behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia; this man was born there.


text:
And it shall be said to Zion, This man and that man was born in her; and the Highest Himself shall establish her.


text:
A Song. A Psalm for the Sons of Korah, to the chief musician on Mahalath, to make humble. A Poem of Heman the Ezrahite. O Jehovah God of my salvation, I have cried in the day, in the night before You.


text:
free among the dead, as pierced ones lying in the grave, whom You remember no more; yea by Your hand they are cut off.


text:
You have taken ones knowing me away from me; You have made me a hateful thing to them; I am shut up, I will not go out.


text:
My eye mourns because of affliction; O Jehovah, I have called on You every day; I have spread out my hands to You.


text:
A Poem of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of Jehovah forever; I will speak with my mouth Your faithfulness to all generations.


text:
For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever; You shall establish Your faithfulness in the heavens.


text:
And the heavens shall thank Your wonders, O Jehovah; also Your faithfulness in the assembly of the saints.


text:
You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one slain; You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.


text:
Blessed is the people knowing the joyful sound; O Jehovah, they shall walk in the light of Your face.


text:
Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one; and You said, I have laid help on a mighty one. I have exalted a chosen one from the people.


text:
Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants, my bearing in my bosom the insults of the many peoples


text:
with which Your enemies have cursed, O Jehovah; with which they have cursed the footsteps of Your anointed.


text:
Before the mountains were born, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting You are God.


text:
For a thousand years in Your eyes are as a day, yesterday, when it passes, and as a watch in the night.


text:
The days of our years are seventy; and if any by strength live eighty years, yet their pride is labor and sorrow; for it soon passes, and we fly away.


text:
And let the delight of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish the works of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands, establish it!


text:
With His feathers He will cover you, and under His wings you shall seek refuge; His truth is a shield and buckler.


text:
Because He has set His love on Me, therefore I will deliver Him; I will set Him on high because He has known My name.


text:
He shall call on Me and I will answer Him; I will be with Him in distress; I will rescue Him and honor Him.


text:
A Psalm, A Song for the Sabbath Day. It is good to give thanks to Jehovah, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;


text:
When the wicked flourish like grass, and all the evildoers blossom, it is for them to be destroyed forever.


text:
For, lo, Your enemies, O Jehovah; for, lo, Your enemies shall perish; all the evildoers shall be scattered.


text:
Jehovah reigns! He is clothed with majesty; Jehovah is clothed with strength; He girded Himself; and the world is established; it shall not be shaken.


text:
The floods have lifted up; O Jehovah, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods have lifted their roaring waves.


text:
Who will rise up for Me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for Me against the workers of evil?


text:
They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the blood of the innocent.


text:
And He shall turn their own iniquity upon them; and He shall cut them off in their evil, Jehovah our God shall exterminate them!


text:
For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice,


text:
For forty years I was disgusted with this generation; and I said, They are a people who err in heart; and, They do not know My ways,


text:
Say among the nations, Jehovah reigns; and, The world shall be established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples in uprightness.


text:
before Jehovah; for He comes; for He comes to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His faithfulness.


text:
Clouds and darkness are all around Him; righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne.


text:
The mountains melted like wax before the face of Jehovah, before the face of Jehovah of the whole earth.


text:
All who serve graven images are shamed, those who boast themselves in idols; all gods bow down before Him.


text:
You who love Jehovah, hate evil. He keeps the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.


text:
A Psalm. O sing to Jehovah a new song, for He has done wondrous things; His right hand and His holy arm has saved Him.


text:
He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.


text:
before Jehovah; for He comes to judge the earth; with righteousness He shall judge the world, and the peoples in uprightness.


text:
The king's strength also loves judgment; You establish uprightness; You worked judgment and righteousness in Jacob.


text:
Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel was among those who called on His name; they called to Jehovah, and He answered them.


text:
You answered them, O Jehovah our God; to them You were a God who forgives them, but taking vengeance on their doings.


text:
Know that Jehovah, He is God; He has made us, and not we ourselves, His people and the sheep of His pasture.


text:
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise; be thankful to Him; bless His name.


text:
I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way; O when will You come to me? I will walk in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.


text:
I will set no wicked thing before my eyes; I have hated the work of those who turn aside; it shall not fasten upon me.


text:
Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, I will cut him off; I will not endure him who has high eyes and a proud heart.


text:
My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, so that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a perfect way shall serve me.


text:
He who works deceit shall not live inside my house; he who speaks lies shall not be established before my eyes.


text:
In the mornings I will cut off all the wicked of the land, so that I may cut off all the evil workers from the city of Jehovah.


text:
A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before Jehovah. Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and let my cry come to You.


text:
Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; bow down Your ear to me in the day I call; answer me quickly.


text:
I said, O my God, do not take me up in the half of my days; Your years are through the generation of generations.


text:
They shall perish, but You shall endure; yea, all of them shall wear out like a garment; You shall change them like clothing, and they shall be changed.


text:
But the mercy of Jehovah is from everlasting, even to everlasting, on those who fear Him; yea, His righteousness is to the sons of sons;


text:
Bless Jehovah, O angels of His; mighty in strength; doing His Word; listening to the voice of His Word.


text:
who lays beams in the waters of His upper rooms; setting thick clouds as His chariots; walking on the wings of the wind.


text:
He causes the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for the service of man, to bring food out of the earth.


text:
O Jehovah, how many are Your works! You have made all of them in wisdom; the earth is full of Your riches.


text:
This is the sea, great and wide on both hands; there are creeping things even without number; living things, small and great.


text:
You hide Your face, and they are troubled; You gather their breath, and they expire and return to their dust.


text:
Let sinners be consumed out of the earth and let the wicked be no more; bless Jehovah, O my soul; praise Jehovah!


text:
to see the good of joy, Your elect to rejoice in the joy of Your nation, to glory with Your inheritance.


text:
Our fathers did not ponder Your wonders in Egypt; they did not remember Your many mercies, and they rebelled at the sea, at the Sea of Reeds.


text:
And He rebuked the Sea of Reeds; and it dried up; and He made them go through the depths as through the wilderness.


text:
And He said to destroy them; except Moses His elect had stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath from destroying them.


text:
and they shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. And the land was polluted with the blood.


text:
Save us, O Jehovah our God, and gather us from the nations, to give thanks to Your holy name, to exult in Your praise.


text:
Blessed is Jehovah God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, Amen! Praise Jehovah!


text:
they go up to the heavens; they go down to the depths; their soul is melted because they are in evil;


text:
He also blesses them, so that they multiply greatly; and He does not allow their cattle to diminish;


text:
A Song. A Psalm of David. O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing; yea, I will sing songs even with my glory.


text:
God has spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice; I will portion out Shechem; and I will measure out the valley of Succoth.


text:
for the mouth of the wicked, and the deceitful mouth, are opened against me; they spoke against me with a lying tongue.


text:
let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered to Jehovah; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out;


text:
because he did not remember to do mercy; and he persecuted the poor and needy man, even to kill the broken of heart.


text:
Yea, he loved cursing, and it came to him; he also had no pleasure in blessing, and it was far from him.


text:
And he put on cursing as his robe, and it came like water in his inward parts, and like oil into his bones.


text:
But You, O Jehovah the Lord, work with me for Your name's sake; deliver me because Your mercy is good.


text:
A Psalm of David. A declaration of Jehovah to my Lord: Sit at My right hand, until I place Your enemies as Your footstool.


text:
Your people shall have willingness in the day of Your might; in the majesties of holiness; from the womb of the dawn, to You is the dew of Your youth.


text:
Jehovah has sworn and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.


text:
He shall judge among the nations; He shall fill with dead bodies; He shall shatter heads over much land.


text:
Praise Jehovah! I will thank Jehovah with all my heart; in the council of the upright, and of the assembly.


text:
He sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever; holy and awesome is His name.


text:
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; all who do them have a good understanding; His praise is standing forever!


text:
He has scattered; he has given to the needy; his righteousness is standing forever; his horn shall be lifted up with honor.


text:
The wicked shall see and be vexed; he shall gnash his teeth and melt; the desire of the wicked shall perish.


text:
Not to us, O Jehovah, not to us, but to Your name give glory; on account of Your mercy, on account of Your truth.


text:
Jehovah remembers us; He will bless; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron;


text:
O Jehovah, truly I am Your servant now; I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid; You have loosed my bonds.


text:
They surround me like bees; they are quenched like the fire of thorns; for surely I will cut them off in the name of Jehovah.


text:
The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; the right hand of Jehovah works mightily.


text:
There the tribes go up, the tribes of Jehovah; to the testimony of Israel; to give thanks to the name of Jehovah.


text:
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters; as the eyes of a maiden to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait on Jehovah our God, until He shows grace to us.


text:
Our soul is exceedingly filled for itself with the contempt of those who are at ease, the scorn of the proud.


text:
Our soul has escaped like a bird out of the fowlers' snare; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.


text:
A Song of Ascents. They who trust in Jehovah shall be like Mount Zion; it is not shaken; it remains forever.


text:
The mountains are all around Jerusalem; and Jehovah is all around His people, from this time and forever.


text:
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the lot of the righteous; that the righteous not put forth their hands to evil.


text:
And those who turn aside to their devious ways, Jehovah shall lead them forth with doers of evil. Peace be upon Israel.


text:
Then our mouth was full of laughter, and our tongue with joyful shouting; then they said among the nations, Jehovah will work great things with these.


text:
Surely he who walks and weeps, bearing a trail of seed, shall come again with joyful shouting, bearing his sheaves.


text:
A Song of Ascents, for Solomon. If Jehovah does not build the house, they who build it labor in vain; if Jehovah does not keep the city, the one keeping it stays awake in vain.


text:
It is in vain for you to rise early, sit up late, to eat the bread of toils; for so He gives His beloved sleep.


text:
Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them; they shall not be ashamed, for they shall speak with their enemies in the gate.


text:
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine by the sides of your house; your sons shall be like olive plants around your table.


text:
Jehovah shall bless you out of Zion; and you shall see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life.


text:
And those who pass by have never said, The blessing of Jehovah be on you; we bless you in the name of Jehovah.


text:
A Song of Ascents. Of David. O Jehovah, my heart is not proud, nor have my eyes been lofty; nor have I walked in great things, nor in things too wondrous for me.


text:
Surely I have set myself and have quieted my soul, like one weaned by its mother; my soul on me is like one weaned.


text:
Jehovah has sworn to David in truth; He will not turn from it; I will set one of the fruit of your body on the throne for you.


text:
If your sons will keep My covenant and My testimonies which I will teach them, their sons shall also sit on the throne for You forever.


text:
A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold! How good and how pleasant is the living of brothers, even in unity.


text:
It is like the precious oil on the head that ran down on the beard, Aaron's beard, going down to the mouth of his garments;


text:
like the dew of Hermon coming down on the mountains of Zion; for there Jehovah commanded the blessing: life till everlasting.


text:
A Song of Ascents. Behold, bless Jehovah, all servants of Jehovah; who stand in the house of Jehovah at night.


text:
Every thing which Jehovah was pleased to do, He did, in the heavens and in the earth, and in the seas and all deep places.


text:
He causes the vapors to rise from the end of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain; He brings the wind out of His storehouses;


text:
For there our captors asked us the words of a song; yea, our plunderers asked joy, saying, Sing to us a song of Zion.


text:
let my tongue cleave to my palate, if I do not remember you, if I do not bring up Jerusalem above the head of my joy.


text:
O Jehovah, remember for the sons of Edom the day of Jerusalem; who said, Make it bare! Make it bare even to its foundation!


text:
O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one! Blessed is he who shall repay to you your recompence which you dealt to us.


text:
I will worship toward Your holy temple, and give thanks to Your name for Your mercy, and for Your truth; for You have magnified Your Word above all Your name.


text:
All the kings of the earth shall thank You, O Jehovah, because they have heard the Words of Your mouth.


text:
If I walk in the midst of distress, You give me life; You send out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand delivers me.


text:
Jehovah will perfect His work in me; O Jehovah, Your mercy endures forever; You will not forsake the works of Your hands.


text:
Even the darkness will not be dark from You, but the night shines as the day; as is the darkness, so is the light.


text:
I will thank You, for with awesome ways I am distinguished; Your works are marvelous, and my soul knows it very well.


text:
My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret; when I was woven in the depths of the earth.


text:
Your eyes saw my embryo; and in Your book all my members were written the days they were formed, and not one was yet among them.


text:
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. O Jehovah, deliver me from the evil man; keep me from the violent man,


text:
O Jehovah, keep me from the hands of the wicked; keep me from the violent man who plots to trip up my steps.


text:
The proud have hidden cords and a trap for me; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set snares for me. Selah.


text:
O Jehovah, do not grant the desires of the wicked; do not promote his plan, lest they be exalted. Selah.


text:
Let burning coals fall on them; let them fall on coals of fire; make them fall into deep pits so that they do not rise again.


text:
Do not let a man of tongue be established in the earth; evil shall hunt the violent man, thrust upon thrust.


text:
Let my prayer be established before You as incense; the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.


text:
Do not let my heart turn aside to any evil thing, to practice deeds in wickedness with men who practice iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies.


text:
Let the righteous strike me; it is a mercy; and he rebuking me, it is oil of the head, let not my head refuse it; for yet my prayer also shall be against their evils.


text:
An Instruction of David, a Prayer, in his being in the cave. I cry to Jehovah with my voice; I pray to Jehovah with my voice.


text:
When my spirit faints within me, then You have known my path; they have hidden a snare for me in the path in which I walk.


text:
I look to the right hand and see, and no one recognizes me; every escape is hidden from me; no one inquires for my soul.


text:
Attend to my cry; for I am brought very low; deliver me from those who pursue me; for they are stronger than I.


text:
Bring my soul out from prison to give thanks to Your name; the righteous shall gather around me; for You shall deal bountifully with me.


text:
A Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O Jehovah give ear to my supplications; answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness;


text:
For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has beaten my life to the ground; he has made me dwell in darkness like those who died long ago.


text:
O Jehovah, answer me quickly; my spirit is spent; do not hide Your face from me lest I be like the ones who go down to the Pit.


text:
Cause me to hear Your mercy in the morning, for I do trust in You; cause me to know the way I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.


text:
Teach me to do Your will; for You are my God; Your Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.


text:
And in Your mercy cut off my enemies; and exterminate all those who distress my soul; for I am Your servant.


text:
He is my mercy and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield, and in Him I take refuge, in Him who humbles my people under me.


text:
Send Your hand from above; rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of a foreigner's sons,


text:
Rescue me and deliver me from the foreigners' sons, those whose mouths have spoken vanity; and their right hand is a right hand of lies;


text:
so that our sons may be like plants grown up in their youth; and our daughters like corner-stones, hewn like a palace building;


text:
and our storehouses may be full, furnishing kind to kind; our flocks may breed thousands and ten thousands outside,


text:
A Psalm of Praise, of David. I will exalt you, my God, O King; and bless Your name forever and ever.


text:
My mouth shall speak the praise of Jehovah; and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever.


text:
who executes judgment for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry; Jehovah sets free the prisoners;


text:
Jehovah watches over the strangers; He relieves the orphan and the widow, but He warps the way of the wicked.


text:
Praise Jehovah; for it is good to sing praise to our God; because praise is delightful and becoming.


text:
who covers the heavens with clouds; who prepares rain for the earth; who makes grass to grow on the mountains.


text:
Let them praise the name of Jehovah; for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heavens.


text:
He also lifts up the horn of His people, the praise of all His saints, of the sons of Israel, a people near to Him, Praise Jehovah.


text:
If they say, Walk with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us secretly lurk for the innocent without cause,


text:
she calls at the head of places of commotion; in the opening of the gates, in the city she utters her words:


text:
Until when will you love to be simple, you simple ones? And will scorners desire scorn for themselves? And will fools hate knowledge?


text:
Turn back at my warning; behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.


text:
when your dread comes like a storm; and your calamity arrives like a tempest, when distress and anguish come on you.


text:
Then they shall call on me, and I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me.


text:
Mercy and truth will not forsake you, tie them on your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart,


text:
she is more precious than rubies, and all the things you can desire are not to be compared with her.


text:
Do not say to your neighbor, Go and come back again, or, Tomorrow I will give, when you have it beside you.


text:
For they do not sleep if they have done no evil, and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall.


text:
she is a loving deer, a graceful doe; let her breasts satisfy you every time, and always be ravished in her love.


text:
My son, do this then, and deliver yourself when you come into the hand of your friend: go lower yourself and be bold to your friend.


text:
When you go, it shall lead you; when you sleep, it shall watch over you; and when you awaken, it will meditate with you.


text:
For on account of a woman, a harlot, a man comes to the last loaf of bread, and another man's wife hunts for the precious soul.


text:
With the sum of her persuasion she turned him aside; with the flattering of her lips she forced him.


text:
He goes after her immediately, as an ox goes to the slaughter; or as one in fetters goes to the correction of a fool,


text:
until an arrow strikes through his liver, as a bird hastens to the snare, and not knowing that it is for his soul.


text:
The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil; I hate pride and loftiness, and the evil way, and the perverse mouth.


text:
when He gave to the sea its limit, that the waters should not pass beyond His command; when He decreed the foundations of the earth,


text:
then I was at His side, like a master workman; and I was His delights day by day, rejoicing before Him at every time;


text:
The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son makes a father rejoice, but the foolish son is his mother's sorrow.


text:
Jehovah will not allow the soul of the righteous to go hungry, but He pushes away the desire of the wicked.


text:
Wisdom is found in the lips of him who has understanding, but a rod is waiting for the back of him who lacks heart.


text:
The lips of the righteous know what is pleasing, but the mouth of the wicked knows only perversities.


text:
The righteousness of the perfect shall make his way right, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.


text:
In the death of a wicked man, his expectation shall perish, and the hope of the unjust shall be lost.


text:
In the transgression of the lips is the snare of evil, but the righteous will come out from distress.


text:
A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of the mouth, and the dealing of a man's hand shall be given back to him.


text:
The sluggard's soul is craving, but is not getting, but the soul of the hard workers shall be made fat.


text:
There are those who act rich, yet have nothing at all; and those who act poor, yet have great wealth.


text:
Poverty and shame shall be to him who refuses instruction, but he who keeps to correction shall be honored.


text:
A good man leaves an inheritance to his son's sons, but the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.


text:
The king's favor is toward a servant who acts prudently, but his wrath takes place on one causing shame.


text:
The sacrifice of the wicked is a hateful thing to Jehovah, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.


text:
Everyone proud in heart is disgusting to Jehovah; though hand join in hand he shall not be innocent.


text:
Better is a dry piece of bread, and quietness with it, than a house full of sacrifices with fighting.


text:
A servant who acts prudently shall rule over a son who causes shame, and he shall have part of the inheritance among the brothers.


text:
A bribe is a precious stone in the eyes of him who possesses it; everywhere he turns, he is prudent.


text:
The beginning of strife is like the releasing of water, therefore leave off fighting before it breaks out.


text:
He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, even both of them are disgusting to Jehovah.


text:
The words of a slanderer are greedily swallowed; yea, they go down into the innermost chambers of the belly.


text:
An offended brother is worse than a fortified city; yea, their contentions are like the bars of a castle.


text:
A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; he shall be satisfied with the produce of his lips.


text:
All the poor man's brothers hate him, and his friends also surely leave him; he pursues them with words, yet they are not.


text:
He who assaults his father and chases his mother away, he is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.


text:
Take the garment of the one who is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge from one who guarantees for strangers.


text:
It is better to dwell on a corner of a housetop, than with a contentious woman, and to share a house.


text:
The simple is made wise when the scorner is punished, and when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.


text:
Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he himself shall also call, and shall not be answered.


text:
to cause you to know the certainty of the words of truth, to return the words of truth to those who send to you?


text:
Do you see a man who is prompt in his work? He shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before obscure men.


text:
Will your eyes fly on it? And it is not! For surely it makes wings for itself, it flies into the heavens like an eagle.


text:
for as he reasons in his heart, so is he! He says to you, Eat and drink, but his heart is not with you.


text:
The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise one shall even be glad in him.


text:
Who has woe, who sorrow? Who has contentions, who has babbling? Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness of eyes?


text:
Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it gives its color in the cup, when it goes down smoothly,


text:
yes, you shall be as one who lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he who lies on the top of a mast,


text:
saying, They struck me! I was not sick! They beat me, yet I did not know. When I awaken I will add to it, I will still seek it.


text:
For you say, Behold, we did not know this. Does not He who weighs the heart consider it? And the One who keeps your soul, does He not know? Yea, He repays to a man according to his work.


text:
so shall knowledge of wisdom be to your soul when you have found there is a future and your hope is not cut off.


text:
Oh wicked one, do not lie in wait against the dwelling of the righteous; do not violate his resting place,


text:
Prepare your work outside, and make it fit for yourself in the field, and afterwards build your house.


text:
and, lo, it was all risen up with thistles; nettles had covered its surface, and its stone wall was broken down.


text:
For it is better that he shall say to you, Come up here! than that you should be put lower before a noble whom your eyes have seen.


text:
Do not go out to fight hastily, lest you know not what to do in the end of it, when your neighbor has put you to shame.


text:
Like the cold of snow in harvest time, so is a faithful messenger to those sending him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters.


text:
As he who takes away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar on soda, so is he who sings songs on a heart in misery.


text:
One passing by, crossing himself over strife that is not his own, is like one who grabs a dog's ears.


text:
Do not forsake your friend, nor your father's friend, and do not go into your brother's house in the day of your calamity, for a near neighbor is better than a brother far away.


text:
Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger, and hold him in pledge who is surety for a strange woman.


text:
He who rises early in the morning and blesses his friend with a loud voice, it is counted as cursing to him.


text:
The refining pot tries silver, and the furnace tries gold, but a man is tried by the mouth of his praise.


text:
If you pound a fool in the mortar with a pestle amidst grain, his foolishness will not turn away from him.


text:
and there will be goat's milk enough for your food, for the food of your household, and for the life of your maidens.


text:
Because of transgression in a land, many are its rulers, but it is prolonged by a man who has understanding, who knows right.


text:
He who causes the upright to go astray in an evil way shall fall into his own pit, and the blameless shall inherit good.


text:
The ruler that lacks understanding even adds oppressions, but he who hates unjust gain prolongs his days.


text:
He who cultivates his ground shall have plenty of bread, but one pursuing vanities shall have much poverty.


text:
He who robs his father or his mother, and says, It is not a transgression, he shall be a partner to a man who corrupts.


text:
An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and the upright of way are an abomination to the wicked.


text:
The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the burden: The man spoke to Ithiel, even to Ithiel and Ucal, saying,


text:
Who has gone up to Heaven, and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in His garments? Who has made all the ends of the earth to rise? What is His name, and what is His Son's name? Surely you know.


text:
Remove vanity and a lying word far from me, do not give me poverty or riches; tear for me my portion of bread,


text:
that I not become satisfied and deceive, and say, Who is Jehovah? Or that I not become poor and steal, and violate the name of my God.


text:
a generation whose teeth are like swords, and its jaw teeth like knives, to devour the poor from the earth, and the needy from among men.


text:
The leech has two daughters crying, Give! Give! Three things are not satisfied, four never have said, Enough!


text:
Sheol, and the barren womb, the earth not filled with water, and the fire, these never said, Enough!


text:
The eye that mocks its father and despises to obey its mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the sons of the eagle shall eat it.


text:
The way of an eagle in the heavens, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship in the heart of the sea, and the way of a man with a virgin.


text:
If you have been foolish in lifting yourself up, or if you have thought evil, lay your hand on your mouth!


text:
Surely, the squeezing of milk brings curds, and the squeezing of the nose brings blood, so the squeezing of wrath brings out strife.


text:
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes to lust for fermented drink,


text:
She also rises while it is still night and gives game to her household, and a portion to her maidens.


text:
The wind goes toward the south, and turning around to the north; the wind is going around and around. And the wind returns on its circuits.


text:
All the rivers are going to the sea; yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers are going, there they are returning to go again.


text:
All words are wearisome; a man is not able to utter it. The eye is not satisfied to see, nor is the ear filled from hearing.


text:
That which has been, it is that which shall be. And that which has been done, it is that which will be done. And there is no new thing under the sun.


text:
Is there a thing of which one might say, See this, it is new? It has already been for the ages which were before us.


text:
There is no memory of former things; yea, nor is there any memory for them of things which will be afterward, with those who will be at the last.


text:
And I gave my heart to seek and to investigate by wisdom concerning all which is done under the heavens. It is an evil task God has given to the sons of men, to be afflicted by it.


text:
I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and striving after wind!


text:
I spoke with my heart, saying, Lo, I have become great and have increased wisdom over all that have been over Jerusalem before me. Yea, my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.


text:
And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness, and folly. I know that this also, it is striving after wind.


text:
I said in my heart, Come now, I will test you with mirth. Therefore, consider with goodness. And behold, this also is vanity.


text:
I sought in my heart how to drag my flesh with wine, and leading my heart in wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, until I might see where the good for the sons of men is, that which they should do under the heavens the number of days of their life.


text:
I bought slaves and slave girls, and the sons of the house were mine. Also livestock, a herd and a great flock were mine, above all that were before me in Jerusalem.


text:
I also gathered to me silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and of provinces. I made ready male singers and female singers for myself; and the delights of the sons of men, a concubine, and concubines.


text:
And I became great and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom stayed with me.


text:
And all that my eyes desired, I did not set aside from them. I withheld not my heart from all joy; for my heart rejoiced from all my labor; and this was my part from all my labor.


text:
Then I faced on all my works that my hands had done, and on the labor that I had labored to do. And, lo, all is vanity and striving after wind, and there is no profit under the sun.


text:
And I turned to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly. For what can a man do who comes after the king, when they have already done it?


text:
Then I saw that there is advantage to wisdom above folly, even as light has advantage over darkness.


text:
The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and I also know that one event happens with all of them.


text:
And I said in my heart, As the event of the stupid one, even so it will happen to me; and why then was I more wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.


text:
For there is not a memory of the wise more than with the fool forever, in that already the days to come will be forgotten. And how does the wise die above the fool?


text:
So then I hated life; because the work that is done under the sun is evil to me; for all is vanity and striving after wind.


text:
Yes, I, a laborer, hated all my labor under the sun, that I must leave it to the man who will be after me.


text:
And who knows if he will be wise or a fool? Yet he shall rule among all my labor in which I labored, and acted wisely under the sun. This is also vanity.


text:
When there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with advantage; yet he shall give it to a man who has not labored with it, for his share; this also is vanity and a great evil.


text:
For what is there for man in all his labor, and in striving of his heart, which he did as a laborer under the sun?


text:
For all his days are pains, and his task is grief; his heart does not even take rest in the night. Even this also is vanity.


text:
Is it not good that he should eat and drink and make his soul see good in his labor? This I also saw, that it was from the hand of God.


text:
For God gives wisdom, and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight. But to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and to heap up, to give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and striving after wind.


text:
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;


text:
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has set eternity in their heart, without which man cannot find out the work that God makes from the beginning even to the end.


text:
I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever; nothing is to be added to it, and nothing is to diminish from it. And God does it so that they fear before Him.


text:
That which has been, it already is; and that which is to be, it already has been. And God seeks what has gone by.


text:
And again I saw under the sun the place of justice: wickedness is there; and the place of righteousness, wickedness is there.


text:
I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every good purpose and for every work.


text:
I said in my heart concerning the issue of the sons of men, that God may test them and see that they by themselves are beasts.


text:
For that which happens to the sons of men, and that which happens to beasts, even one event is to them. As this one dies, so that one dies; yea, one breath is to all; so that there is to the man no advantage over the beast; for all is vanity.


text:
Who knows the spirit of the sons of man, whether it goes upward; and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth?


text:
And I have seen that nothing is better than that the man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion; for who can bring him to see what shall be after him?


text:
So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter! And at the hand of those who oppressed them was power; but there was no comforter to them.


text:
Yea, better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.


text:
And I considered every labor, and every advantage of the work, that it is the envy of a man against his neighbor; this is also vanity and striving after wind.


text:
There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he has neither son nor brother; and there is no end to all his labor; even his eyes are not satisfied with riches; and he says, For whom do I labor, and take good from my soul? This is also vanity. Yes, it is an evil task.


text:
For if they fall, this one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him, the one that falls, and there is not another to lift him up.


text:
A poor and a wise child is better than the old and stupid king who does not know to be warned any more.


text:
For from the house of the imprisoned he goes forth to reign, although in his kingdom he was born poor.


text:
I saw all the living who walk about under the sun, with the second child who shall stand up in his place.


text:
There is no end to all the people, to all who have been before them; they also who come after shall not rejoice with him. Surely this is also vanity and striving after wind.


text:
Guard your feet when you go to the house of God, and draw near to hear, more than to give a sacrifice, as do the fools. For they do not know that they are doing evil.


text:
Do not be hasty with your mouth, and do not let your heart hurry to bring forth a word before God. For God is in Heaven, and you are on earth; on account of this, let your words be few.


text:
For the dream comes through the greatness of the task; and the voice of the fool is known by the many words.


text:
When you vow a vow to God, do not wait to fulfill it. For He has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill that which you have vowed.


text:
Do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin; do not say before the angel that it was an error. Why should God be angry over your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?


text:
If you see the oppression of the poor, or the removing of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be amazed at the purpose. For a high one over a high one is watching; and high ones are over them.


text:
He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; and he who loves abundance does not gain. This is also vanity.


text:
When the good thing increases, those who devour it increase; then what profit is it to its owners, except to see it with his eyes?


text:
The sleep of the laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much. But the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.


text:
There is a painful evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being kept for their owner to his evil;


text:
As he came forth from his mother's womb naked, he shall return to go as he came. And from his labor he may not carry anything that may go in his hand.


text:
And this also is a painful evil, that in all, as he came, so shall he go. And what profit is to him who has labored for the wind?


text:
See what I have seen: It is good which a laborer does to eat and to drink and to see good in all his labor which as a laborer does under the sun, the number of the days of his life which God gives to him, for it is his portion.


text:
Also every man to whom God has given riches and treasures, and gives him power to eat of it, and to take his share, and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.


text:
For he shall not much remember the days of his life, because God answers him in the joy of his heart.


text:
A man to whom God has given riches, and wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires; yet God does not give him the power to eat of it, but a stranger eats it; this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.


text:
If a man fathers a hundred, and lives many years, and the days of his years are many, and his soul is not satisfied from the good, and also there is no burial for him; I say, a miscarriage is better than he.


text:
For what is the advantage to the wise more than the fool? What advantage is to the poor who knows how to walk before the living?


text:
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the soul. This is also vanity and striving after wind.


text:
That which has been is named already, and it is known that he is man; and he is not able to contend with Him who is stronger than he.


text:
For who knows what is good for man in this life, the number of the days of his life of vanity? Even he makes them like the shadow. For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?


text:
It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for it is the end of every man; and the living will lay it to his heart.


text:
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of the stupid one is in the house of mirth.


text:
For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the stupid one. And this also is vanity.


text:
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning; the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.


text:
Do not say, Why was it that the former days were better than these? For you do not ask from wisdom concerning this.


text:
For wisdom is in a shadow; and silver is in a shadow; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.


text:
In the good day, be in good spirit, but also see in the evil day, that God has made one along with the other, so that man should not find anything after him.


text:
All things I have seen in the days of my vanity; there is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked one who prolongs his life in his evil.


text:
It is good that you should take hold of this; yea, also from this do not let your hand rest; for he who fears God shall come forth with all of them.


text:
Also, do not give your heart to all the words they speak, that you not hear your servant cursing you.


text:
And I turned my heart about, to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, and the foolishness of madness:


text:
and I found more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets; her hands are bonds. He who is good before God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be captured by her.


text:
that my soul still seeks, but I have not found; one man among a thousand I have found, but a woman among all those I have not found.


text:
See, this only I have found, that God has made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.


text:
Who is as the wise? And who knows the meaning of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the boldness of his face is changed.


text:
do not be hasty to go from before him. Do not take a stand in an evil thing, for he does whatever he pleases.


text:
Whoever keeps the command shall know no evil thing. A wise man's heart knows both time and judgment.


text:
Man is not a ruler over the spirit, to restrain the spirit; nor has he power in the day of death. And there is no discharge in that war, nor shall wickedness deliver its possessors.


text:
All this I have seen. I gave my heart to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which a man rules over a man for his evil.


text:
And so I saw the wicked buried; and they came and went from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city, these things that they had done. This is also vanity.


text:
Where sentence on an evil work is not executed speedily, on account of this the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.


text:
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged to him, yet surely I know that it shall be well to those who fear God, who fear before Him.


text:
But it shall not be well for the wicked; and he shall not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.


text:
There is a vanity which is done on the earth: There are just ones to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; and there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.


text:
Then I praised mirth, because nothing is good for man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be glad. For that shall go with him in his labor for the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.


text:
When I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth; for even by day and by night he does not see sleep in his eyes.


text:
Then I looked at all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun; because though a man labors to seek it out, yet he shall not find it. And even if the wise speaks of knowing, he shall not be able to find it.


text:
For all this I gave to heart, even to explain all this, that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. Whether love or hatred, man does not know all that is before them.


text:
All happens alike to all; one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him who sacrifices, and to him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; he who swears is as he that fears an oath.


text:
This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event to all. Yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they are alive, and after that they go to those who died.


text:
For one who is chosen to be among all the living, there is hope. For a living dog is better than a dead lion.


text:
For the living know that they shall die; but the dead do not know anything; nor do they have any more a reward, for their memory is forgotten.


text:
Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has now perished; nor do they any longer have a part forever in all that is done under the sun.


text:
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God now is pleased with your works.


text:
Look on life with the wife whom you love all the days of the life of your vanity, which He gave you under the sun, all the days of your vanity. For that is your share in this life, and in your labor which you as a laborer do under the sun.


text:
All that your hand finds to do, do it with your strength. For there is no work, or planning, or knowledge, or wisdom, in Sheol, there where you go.


text:
I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the mighty; nor even bread to the wise; nor even riches to the men of discernment; nor even favor to knowing men. For time and occurrence happen to them all.


text:
For man also does not know his time. As the fish that are taken in the evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the trap, like them are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly on them.


text:
There was a little city, and few men in it. And a great king came against it, and besieged it, and built huge siege works against it.


text:
And there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom saved the city. Yet no man remembered that poor man!


text:
And I said, Wisdom is better than strength; but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.


text:
As dead flies cause the perfumer's ointment to stink and ferment; so a little foolishness is heavier than wisdom and than honor.


text:
And also, in the way in which a stupid one walks, his heart fails, and he says to all that he is a fool.


text:
If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, do not leave your place; for composure quiets great offenses.


text:
If the iron is blunt, and he does not whet the mouths, then he must put more strength to it. But wisdom is an advantage giving success.


text:
Yet the stupid one makes many words; a man knows not what they shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?


text:
Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your leaders eat in due time, in strength, and not in drinking.


text:
Also, do not curse a king in your thought; and do not curse the rich in your bedrooms; for a bird of the heavens may carry the voice; yea, the lord of wings may tell the matter.


text:
If the clouds are full of rain, they empty on the earth. And if the tree falls in the south, or in the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall be.


text:
As you do not know what is the way of the wind, as the bones in the pregnant woman's womb, even so you do not know the works of God who makes all.


text:
Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hand until evening; for you do not know what shall be blessed, this or that; or whether they both shall be good as one.


text:
But if the man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, and remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that may come is vanity.


text:
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth. And make your heart glad in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.


text:
So then remove vexation from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh. For childhood and prime of life are vanity.


text:
Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days do not come, or the years strike when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them;


text:
while not yet the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, are darkened, or the clouds return after rain;


text:
in the day when those keeping the house shall tremble, and the strong men are bowed, and the grinders cease because they are few; and those looking out the windows are darkened;


text:
and the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the mill is low, and one rises up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music are silenced;


text:
also they shall be afraid of a high place, and terrors in the way; and the almond tree shall blossom, and the locust makes himself a burden; and desire breaks, because man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about in the street;


text:
while the silver cord is not yet loosed, or the golden bowl is crushed, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern;


text:
And more than that, the Preacher was wise; he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he listened, and looked, and set in order many proverbs.


text:
The words of the wise are as goads; yea, as nails driven by the masters of collections, they are given from one Shepherd.


text:
And more than these, my son, be warned: The making of many books has no end, and much study is the weariness of the flesh.


text:
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this applies to every man.


text:
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with all that is hidden, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.


text:
For Your ointments have a lovely fragrance; Your name is as ointment poured out; on account of this the virgins love You.


text:
Draw me; we will run after You. The King has brought me into His chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in You; we will remember Your loves more than wine; the upright love You.


text:
I am black, but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.


text:
Do not look at me, that I am black, that the sun has looked on me. My mother's sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard I have not kept.


text:
Tell me, You whom my soul loves, where do You feed; where do You lie down at noon? For why should I be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of Your companions?


text:
If you yourself do not know, most beautiful among women, go in the footsteps of the flock. And feed your kids beside the tents of the shepherds.


text:
As the apple among the trees of the forest, so is my Beloved among the sons. I delighted in His shadow, and I sat down; and His fruit was sweet to my taste.


text:
I adjure you by the gazelles, and by the does of the field, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you do not stir up and do not awaken the Love until it pleases.


text:
My Beloved is likened to a gazelle, or to a young deer, the stag. Behold, He stands behind our wall, looking from the windows, peering from the lattice.


text:
The flowers are seen on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.


text:
The fig tree spices her unripe figs, and the vines give a fragrance by the blossom. Arise, My love; come, My beautiful one, and come yourself.


text:
My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secrecy of the steep place, let Me see your form. Let Me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your form is beautiful.


text:
Until when does the day blow, and the shadows flee away? Turn, my Beloved, and be like a gazelle, or a young deer, the stag, on the cleft mountains.


text:
I will rise now and go about in the city, in the streets and in the broad places. I will seek Him whom my soul loves. I sought Him, but I did not find Him.


text:
When I had passed on from them, it was a little while until I found Him whom my soul loves. I seized Him, and I did not let Him go until I had brought Him into my mother's house, and into the room of her who conceived me.


text:
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, that you do not stir up, even that you not awaken the Love until it pleases.


text:
Who is this who comes up out of the wilderness like columns of smoke, sacrificing as incense myrrh and frankincense, from all powders of the merchant?


text:
They all hold the sword, instructed in war; each man has his sword on his thigh from dread in the night.


text:
He made its poles of silver; its back of gold; its seat of purple; its middle was paved with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.


text:
Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and see King Solomon with the crown with which his mother crowned him on his wedding day, even on the day of the gladness of his heart.


text:
Behold, you are beautiful, My love. Behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are as doves' from behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats which lie down from Mount Gilead.


text:
Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep which come up from the washing place; of which they all are bearing twins; and a bereaved one is not among them.


text:
Your lips are like a cord of scarlet, and your speech is becoming; your temples are like a piece of pomegranate behind your veil.


text:
Your neck is like the tower of David, built for an armory; a thousand bucklers hang on it, all the shields of the mighty men.


text:
Until when the day blows, and the shadows flee away, I myself will go to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hills of frankincense.


text:
Come with Me from Lebanon, My spouse; with Me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.


text:
You have ravished My heart, My sister, My spouse; you have ravished My heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck.


text:
How beautiful are your loves, My sister, My spouse! How much better are your loves than wine, and the scent of your ointments than all spices!


text:
Your lips, My spouse, drip like the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue. And the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.


text:
spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon; with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes; with all the chief balsam spices;


text:
Awake, north wind; yea, come, south wind; blow on my garden; let its spices flow out. Let my Beloved come into His garden and eat its excellent fruits.


text:
I have come into My garden, My sister, My spouse; I have gathered My myrrh with My spice. I have eaten My honeycomb with My honey; I have drunk My wine with My milk. Eat and drink, O friends; yea, drink fully, beloved ones.


text:
I sleep, but my heart is awake. It is the sound of my Beloved that knocks, saying, Open to Me, My sister, My love, My dove, My undefiled. For My head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.


text:
I rose up to open to my Beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh; yea, my fingers flowing with myrrh on the handles of the bolt.


text:
I opened to my Beloved, but my Beloved had left; He passed on. My soul went out when He spoke; I sought Him, but I could not find Him. I called Him, but He did not answer me.


text:
The ones watching who went about the city found me and struck me; they wounded me; those keeping the walls lifted my veil from me.


text:
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my Beloved, what do you tell Him? That I am sick with love.


text:
What is your Beloved more than another beloved, most beautiful among women? What is your Beloved more than another beloved, that you adjure us so?


text:
His cheeks are like a bed of spices, a raised bed of aromatic herbs. His lips are like lilies dropping flowing myrrh.


text:
His hands are like rings of gold filled with jewels; His body an ivory plate overlaid with sapphires.


text:
His legs are like pillars of marble founded on bases of fine gold; His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.


text:
His mouth is most sweet, and He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.


text:
Where has your Beloved gone, most beautiful among women? Where has your Beloved turned? For we seek Him along with you.


text:
My Beloved has gone down to His garden, to the terraces of spices, to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies.


text:
Turn away your eyes from Me, because they have overcome Me. Your hair is like a flock of goats that lie down from Gilead.


text:
Your teeth are like a flock of ewes which come up from the washing place, of which they all are bearing twins, and a bereaved one is not among them.


text:
But My dove, My perfect one is one alone. She is the only one to her mother; she is the choice of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed; the queens and the concubines saw her, and they praised her.


text:
Who is she who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome as bannered armies?


text:
I went down to the garden of nut trees, to see the greenery of the ravine, to see whether the vine flowered and the pomegranates budded.


text:
Return, return, O Shulamite! Return, return, that we may gaze upon you. What will you see in the Shulamite? As it were the dance of two army camps.


text:
How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O prince's daughter! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of an artisan.


text:
Your navel is like a round goblet; it never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies.


text:
Your neck is like an ivory tower; your eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, peering toward the face of Damascus.


text:
Your head is like Carmel, and the hair of your head like purple cloth; the King is held captive in its tresses.


text:
I said, I will go up in the palm tree; I will take hold of its stalk. And please let your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your nose like apples,


text:
and your palate like the best wine going down for my Beloved in smoothness, flowing softly over the lips of sleeping ones.


text:
Let us rise up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flowers and the blossom opens, and the pomegranates bud forth. There I will give my loves to You.


text:
The love apples give a scent, and over our doors are all excellent fruits; new, also old, I have laid up for You, my Beloved.


text:
Who can give You to me, as my brother, who sucked the breasts of my mother? When I find You outside, I would kiss You. They also would not despise me.


text:
I would lead You; I would bring You into my mother's house, that You might teach me; I would cause You to drink the spiced wine from the juice of my pomegranate.


text:
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem; why do you awaken; yea, why do you awaken my Love until it pleases?


text:
Who is this that comes up from the wilderness, leaning on her Beloved? I awakened you under the apple tree; there your mother travailed with you; there she travailed; she bore you.


text:
Set me as a seal on Your heart, as a seal on Your arm. For love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as Sheol; its flames are flames of fire, a flame of Jehovah.


text:
Many waters cannot quench love, nor will the rivers overflow it. If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, they surely would despise him.


text:
We have a little sister, and she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister in the day she shall be spoken for?


text:
If she is a wall, we will build a turret of silver on her. And if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.


text:
Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased the vineyard to keepers; for its fruit everyone was to bring a thousand of silver.


text:
My vineyard which is mine is before me; the thousand is for you, O Solomon, and two hundred for the keepers of its fruit.


text:
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.


text:
Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth! For Jehovah has spoken: I have nursed and brought up sons, but they have rebelled against Me.


text:
The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's manger, but Israel does not know; My people have not understood.


text:
Woe, sinful nation, a people heavy with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, sons who corrupt! They have forsaken Jehovah; they have scorned the Holy One of Israel. They are estranged backward.


text:
Why will you be stricken any more? Will you continue the revolt? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint.


text:
From the sole of the foot even to the head, no soundness is in it; only a wound and a stripe and a fresh blow; they have not been closed, nor bound up; nor was it softened with oil.


text:
Your land is a desolation; your cities burned with fire. Foreigners devour your land before you; and behold, ruin, as overthrown by foreigners.


text:
And the daughter of Zion is left a booth in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.


text:
Except Jehovah of Hosts had left a remnant for us, a few, we would be as Sodom; we would be as Gomorrah.


text:
What good to Me are your many sacrifices, says Jehovah? I am sated with burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fattened cattle, and the blood of bulls; nor do I delight in the blood of lambs and he goats.


text:
Do not add to bringing vain sacrifice; its incense is an abomination to Me. I cannot endure the new moon and sabbath, the going to meeting, and the evil assembly.


text:
My soul hates your new moons and your appointed feasts. They are a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them.


text:
And when you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you. Yea, when you multiply prayer, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.


text:
Wash yourselves, purify yourselves. Put away the evil of your doings from My sight; stop doing evil.


text:
Come now and let us reason together, says Jehovah: Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as the crimson, they shall be like wool.


text:
But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.


text:
Oh how the faithful city has become a harlot! She was full of justice; righteousness lodged in it. But now, murderers!


text:
Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe, and is pursuing rewards. They do not judge the orphan, nor does the cause of the widow come to them,


text:
and says the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Alas! I will be eased of My foes, and avenge Myself of My enemies.


text:
And I will return My hand on you, and refine your dross, as with lye, and turn aside all your alloy.


text:
And I will return your judges as at the first; and your advisors, as at the beginning; then you shall be called the city of righteousness, a faithful city.


text:
And the ruin of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together. And those who forsake Jehovah shall be consumed.


text:
For they shall be ashamed of the trees which you lusted after; and you shall be ashamed of the gardens that you have chosen.


text:
And the strong shall be for tow, and his work for a spark; and they shall burn both together; and no one shall quench them.


text:
And it shall be in the last days, the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it.


text:
And many people shall go and say, Come and let us go up to the mount of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob. And He will teach from His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion the Law will go forth, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.


text:
And He shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more.


text:
For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled from the east, and are spirit-knowers like the Philistines. And they clap hands with children of foreigners.


text:
And his land is filled with silver and gold. There is no end of his treasures. And his land is full of horses; his chariots also do not have an end.


text:
And his land is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.


text:
The lofty eyes of man shall be humbled, and the pride of men shall be bowed down; but Jehovah, He alone, will be exalted in that day.


text:
For the day of Jehovah of Hosts shall be on all the proud and lofty ones, and on all that is lifted up; and it will be abased;


text:
And the pride of man shall be humbled; and the loftiness of men shall be abased; and Jehovah alone will be exalted in that day.


text:
And they shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, for dread of Jehovah, and from the glory of His majesty; when He rises up to make the earth quake.


text:
In that day a man shall throw his silver, and his golden idols which they made for him to worship to the hole of the burrower and to bats;


text:
to go into the crevices of the rocks, and into the clefts of the cliffs, from the dread of Jehovah, and from the glory of His majesty; when He rises up to make the earth quake.


text:
For, behold, the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, takes away the stay and the staff from Jerusalem and from Judah; the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water;


text:
the commander of fifty and the exalted of face; the counselor and the skilled craftsman; and the expert enchanter.


text:
And the people shall be crushed, man against man, and a man on his neighbor. The boy will be insolent against the elder, and the despised against the honorable.


text:
When a man shall take hold of his brother, at his father's house, saying, A cloak! Come, you be a ruler for us; let this ruin be under your hand.


text:
In that day he shall swear, saying, I will not be one who binds up; for there is no bread nor a cloak in my house; you shall not make me a ruler of the people.


text:
For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen; because their tongue and their doings toward Jehovah are to rebel against the eyes of His glory.


text:
The expression of their faces witnesses against them; they have declared their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have dealt evil to themselves.


text:
As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over him. Oh My people, those leading you cause you to go astray, and they swallow the way of your paths.


text:
Jehovah will enter into judgment with the elders of His people, and their kings. For you have eaten up the vineyard, the plunder of the poor is in your houses.


text:
What do you mean that you crush My people, and grind the faces of the poor, says the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts?


text:
And Jehovah says, Because the daughters of Zion are proud, and walk with stretched out necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and make a tinkling with their feet;


text:
So Jehovah will make the crown of the daughter of Zion scabby; and Jehovah will lay their secret parts bare.


text:
In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of the ankle bracelets, and the headbands, and the crescents,


text:
And it shall be, instead of a smell of perfume, there shall be an odor of decay. And instead of a sash, a rope. And instead of well set hair, baldness. And instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; burning instead of beauty.


text:
And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing, only let your name be called on us; collect our shame.


text:
In that day the Branch of Jehovah will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth for pride and for glory for the survivors of Israel.


text:
And it shall be, he remaining in Zion, and he who is left in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, every one who is written among the living in Jerusalem;


text:
when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and the blood of Jerusalem shall have been rinsed away from its midst by a spirit of judgment, and by a spirit of burning.


text:
Then Jehovah will create a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, over all the site of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies; for on all the glory will be a canopy.


text:
And there shall be a booth for a shade from the heat, and for a refuge, and for a hiding place from storm and rain.


text:
Now I will sing to my Beloved a song of my Beloved concerning His vineyard: My Beloved has a vineyard in a fruitful horn.


text:
And He dug it, and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in its midst, and also hewed out a wine vat in it. And He waited for it to produce grapes, but it produced rotten grapes.


text:
What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Who knows? I waited for it to yield grapes, but it yielded rotten grapes.


text:
And now I will make known to you what I will do then to My vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be burned. I will breach its wall, and it will become a trampling ground.


text:
And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed; but briers and thorns shall come up. And I will command the clouds from raining rain on it.


text:
For the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is His delightful plant. And He waited for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry!


text:
Woe to those touching house to house, bringing near field to field until the end of space, and you are made to dwell alone in the middle of the land!


text:
Jehovah of Hosts has sworn in my ears, If not, many houses shall be a waste, large and beautiful ones without one living in them.


text:
Woe to those who rise early in the morning to go after fermented drink, tarrying in the twilight while wine inflames them!


text:
And the lyre and the harp, the timbrel and flute, and wine are at their feasts; but they do not regard the work of Jehovah; yea, they do not see the work of His hands.


text:
For this My people go into exile without knowledge, and his men of glory into famine; and his multitude is parched with thirst.


text:
So Sheol has enlarged its appetite, and opened its mouth without measure, and her glory and her multitude, and her uproar, he who exults in her, shall come down in it.


text:
Then the lambs shall feed as in their pasture, and strangers shall eat the waste places of the fatlings.


text:
who say, Let Him hurry and hasten His work, so that we may see; and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, so that we may know!


text:
Woe to those who say to evil, good; and to good, evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!


text:
So, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and the flame burns up the chaff; their root shall be like rottenness, and their blossoms shall go up like dust, because they have rejected the Law of Jehovah of Hosts; and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel.


text:
On account of this the anger of Jehovah is kindled on His people, and He has stretched out His hand against them, and has struck them; and the mountains quaked, and their dead bodies were as filth in the midst of the streets. In all this His anger does not turn away, but His hand is stretched out still.


text:
And He will lift up a banner to distant nations, and will hiss to them from the ends of the earth; and, behold, it shall come with swift speed!


text:
None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none will slumber nor sleep; nor shall the waist cloth of their loins be opened, nor the thong of their sandals broken;


text:
whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hooves shall appear as flint, and their wheels like a hurricane.


text:
Their roaring shall be like a lion; they shall roar like young lions. Yea, they roar and seize the prey and carry it away; and no one shall deliver.


text:
And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; when one looks to the land, and lo, darkness! Distress! And light shall be darkened by its clouds.


text:
In the year that King Uzziah died, then I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. And His train filled the temple.


text:
Above it stood the seraphs. Each one had six wings; with two he covered his face; and with two he covered his feet; and with two he flew.


text:
And one cried to the other and said, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory!


text:
Then I said, Woe is me! For I am cut off; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live amongst a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of Hosts.


text:
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, snatched with tongs from the altar.


text:
And he touched it on my mouth, and said, See, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is covered.


text:
And I heard the voice of Jehovah, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? Then I said, Behold me. Send me!


text:
And He said, Go and say to this people, Hearing you hear, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not know.


text:
Make the heart of this people fat, and make his ears heavy, and shut his eyes, that he not see with his eyes, and hear with his ears, and understand with his heart, and turn back, and one heals him.


text:
Then I said, Until when, O Lord? And He said, Until cities lie desolate without one living in them, and the houses without man, and the land is laid waste, a desolation;


text:
But yet a tenth shall be in it, and it shall return and be consumed like the terebinth and like the oak that in being felled yet has its stump (the holy seed is its stump).


text:
And it happened in the days of Ahaz: the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but were not able to do battle against it.


text:
And the house of David was told, saying, Syria is allied with Ephraim, and his heart and the heart of his people shook, as the trees of the forest shake from the wind.


text:
And Jehovah said to Isaiah, Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shearjashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, to the highway of the Fuller's Field.


text:
And say to him, Be on guard and be calm. Do not fear nor be timid of heart because of the two tails of these smoking firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.


text:
Let us go up against Judah and make her to dread, and break her for ourselves, and set a king in her midst, the son of Tabeal.


text:
For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty five years Ephraim shall be broken from being a people.


text:
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not be firm, surely you will not be established.


text:
And He said, Hear now, O house of David, is it too little that you weary men, but will you also weary my God?


text:
So, The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold! The virgin will conceive and will bring forth a son; and she shall call His name Immanuel.


text:
For before the boy shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you hate will be forsaken before both her kings.


text:
Jehovah shall bring the king of Assyria on you, and on your people, and on your father's house, days which have not come since the days Ephraim turned aside from Judah.


text:
And it shall be in that day Jehovah shall hiss for the fly that is in the end of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee in the land of Assyria.


text:
And they shall come, and they shall all rest in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and in all the thorn bushes, and in all the pastures.


text:
In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired, beyond the River, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet, and also it shall sweep away the beard.


text:
And it shall be, he shall eat curds from the plenty of milk making; for everyone who is left in the land shall eat curds and honey.


text:
And it shall be in that day, every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand pieces of silver, it shall be for briers and thorns.


text:
And all the hills which were hoed with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending out of the ox, and for trampling of sheep.


text:
And Jehovah said to me, Take a big tablet and write in it with a man's pen: Make haste to plunder! Hurry to the spoil!


text:
And I took faithful witnesses to record for me, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.


text:
And I drew near the prophetess. And she conceived, and bore a son. Then Jehovah said to me, Call his name, Make haste to plunder! Hurry to the spoil!


text:
For before the boy knows to cry, My father, or, My mother, the riches of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria shall be lifted up before the king of Assyria.


text:
Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow softly, and rejoices in Rezin and Remaliah's son,


text:
Behold, therefore the Lord also brings on them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And he shall come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.


text:
And he shall pass through Judah. He shall overflow and go over. He shall reach to the neck; and his wings will be stretching out, filling the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.


text:
O peoples, suffer evil, and be broken! And listen, all from the far places of the earth; gird yourselves, and be broken. Gird yourselves and be broken!


text:
For so Jehovah spoke to me with a strong hand, and taught me against walking in the way of this people, saying,


text:
Do not say, A conspiracy, to everything of which this people says, A conspiracy! And do not fear its fear, and do not dread.


text:
And He shall be for a sanctuary, and for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of falling to the two houses of Israel; for a trap and for a snare to the ones living in Jerusalem.


text:
Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah has given to me are for signs and wonders in Israel from Jehovah of Hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion.


text:
And when they say to you, Seek to the mediums, and to spirit-knowers who peep and mutter; should not a people seek to its God, than for the living to seek the ones who died?


text:
To the Law and to the Testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no dawn to them!


text:
And they shall pass through it, hard pressed and hungry. And it shall be, they shall be hungry; he will rave and curse his king and his God, and face upward.


text:
And they shall look to the land. And, behold, trouble and darkness and gloom of anguish; and they are driven to darkness.


text:
Yet there shall not be gloom for which anguish is to her; as in the former time when He degraded the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, so afterwards He will glorify the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.


text:
The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. The ones who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, light has shone on them.


text:
You have not multiplied the nation; You have not increased the joy. They rejoice before You as in the joy of harvest, as men shout when they divide the plunder.


text:
For You have broken his burdensome yoke and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his taskmaster, as in the day of Midian.


text:
For every boot of the trampler is with shaking, and a coat rolled in blood shall be burning fuel for the fire.


text:
For a Child is born; to us a Son is given; and the government is on His shoulder; and His name is called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.


text:
There is no end to the increase of His government and of peace on the throne of David, and on His kingdom, to order it, and to sustain it with justice and with righteousness, from now and forever. The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts will do this.


text:
And all the people shall know, Ephraim and the ones living in Samaria, who say in pride and greatness of heart,


text:
Bricks have fallen, but we will build with cut stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will use cedars instead.


text:
Syrians in front, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with all the mouth. In all this His anger does not turn away, but His hand is still stretched out.


text:
The elder and the exalted of face; he is the head. And the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.


text:
For this the Lord shall not rejoice over their young men, nor have pity on their orphans and widows; for everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer; and every mouth speaks foolishness. In all this His anger does not turn away, but His hand is still stretched out.


text:
For wickedness burns like a fire; it shall devour the briers and thorns and shall kindle the thickets of the forest; and they shall roll upward, like the going up of smoke.


text:
The land is scorched by the wrath of Jehovah of Hosts, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire; no man shall spare his brother.


text:
And he shall cut off on the right hand, yet be hungry. And he shall eat on the left, but not be satisfied. Each man shall eat the flesh of his own arm;


text:
Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; together they are against Judah. In all this His anger does not turn away, but His hand is still stretched out.


text:
to turn aside the poor from judgment, and to steal justice from the poor of My people; that widows may be their prey; that they may rob orphans.


text:
And what will you do in the day of visitation and of destruction? It comes from far away. To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory?


text:
Surely, he will grovel under the prisoners, and they will fall under the slain. In all this His anger does not turn away, but His hand is still stretched out.


text:
I will send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath. I will command him to plunder, and to strip off spoil, and to trample them like the mud of the streets.


text:
Yet he does not purpose this, nor does his heart think so. For it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.


text:
As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols (for their carved images excelled Jerusalem's and Samaria's);


text:
And it will be, when the Lord has broken off all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will visit on the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, and on the glory of his lofty eyes.


text:
For he says, I have worked by the strength of my hand and by my wisdom; for I am wise. And I take away the borders of peoples, and have robbed their treasures. And like a mighty one, I put down ones living in it.


text:
And my hand has found the riches of the people. Like a nest, I also have gathered all the earth, as forsaken eggs are gathered. And there was not one moving a wing, or opening a mouth, or one chirping.


text:
Shall the axe glorify itself over him chopping with it? Or shall the saw magnify itself over him moving it? As if a rod could wave those who lift it. As if a staff could raise what is not wood!


text:
So the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts shall send leanness among his fat ones. And under His glory will kindle a burning like the burning of fire.


text:
And the Light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day.


text:
And He shall consume the glory of his forest and his fruitful field, even from soul to flesh; and it shall be as a sick man melts away.


text:
And it shall be in that day, the remnant of Israel, and the escaped ones from the house of Jacob, shall not any more lean on him who struck him. But they will truly lean on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel.


text:
For though Your people Israel is like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of it shall return; a decisive end, overflowing with righteousness.


text:
So the Lord Jehovah of Hosts says this: Oh My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria. He shall strike you with the rod, and he shall lift up his staff against you in the way of Egypt.


text:
And Jehovah of Hosts shall stir up a whip on him, according to the striking of Midian at the rock Oreb; and as His rod was on the sea, and He lifted it up in the way of Egypt.


text:
And it shall be in that day, his burden shall turn away from on your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.


text:
They have crossed the ford; they have bedded down at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul has fled.


text:
Yet he remains in Nob today; he will shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.


text:
Behold, the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, shall lop the bough of terror! And the lofty ones shall be cut down, and the proud shall be humbled.


text:
And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest on Him; He will have the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and power, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah.


text:
And He is made to breathe in the fear of Jehovah. But He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears.


text:
But He shall judge the poor in righteousness, and shall decide rightly for the meek of the earth. And He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and He shall cause the wicked to die with the breath of His lip.


text:
And the wolf shall live with the lamb; and the leopard shall lie with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy shall lead them.


text:
The cow and the bear shall feed, their young shall lie together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.


text:
And the infant shall play on the hole of the asp; yea, the weaned child shall put his hand on the viper's den.


text:
They shall not do evil, nor destroy in all My holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.


text:
And it shall be in that day, the Root of Jesse stands as a banner of peoples; nations shall seek to Him; and His resting place shall be glory.


text:
And it shall be in that day, the Lord shall again set His hand, the second time, to recover the remnant of His people that remains, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the coasts of the sea.


text:
And He shall lift up a banner for the nations, and shall gather the outcasts of Israel, and gather those dispersed from Judah, from the four wings of the earth.


text:
And the envy of Ephraim shall turn off; and Judah's foes shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not trouble Ephraim.


text:
But they shall fly onto the shoulder of the Philistines to the west; together they shall plunder the sons of the east, the stretching of the hand on Edom and Moab and the sons of Ammon; they will obey them.


text:
And Jehovah shall utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt; and with His scorching wind He shall wave His hand over the River, and shall strike it into seven torrents, and make one tread it with shoes.


text:
And there shall be a highway for the remnant of His people, those left from Assyria, as it was to Israel in the day when he came up out of the land of Egypt.


text:
And in that day you shall say, O Jehovah, I will thank You. Though You were angry with me, turn away Your anger and You shall comfort me.


text:
Behold, God is my salvation! I will trust and not be afraid, for my strength and song is Jah Jehovah; yea, He has become my salvation.


text:
And in that day you shall say, Praise Jehovah! Call on His name; declare His doings among the peoples; make mention that His name is exalted.


text:
Lift up a banner on a bare mountain; make the voice rise to them; wave the hand that they may enter the gates of nobles.


text:
I have commanded My holy ones; I have also called My warriors for My anger, those exultant at My majesty.


text:
The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people! A noise of tumult of the kingdoms of nations gathered together; Jehovah of Hosts is calling up an army for the battle.


text:
They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, Jehovah and the weapons of His wrath, to destroy all the land.


text:
and they shall be afraid. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain like one giving birth; they shall be amazed, each man to his neighbor; faces of flames shall be their faces.


text:
Behold, the day of Jehovah comes, cruel and with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land waste. And He shall destroy its sinners out of it.


text:
For the stars of the heavens and their constellations shall not give light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not reflect its light.


text:
And I will visit evil on the world, and their iniquity on the wicked. And I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease; and I will humble the pride of tyrants.


text:
So I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall move out of its place, in the wrath of Jehovah of Hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger.


text:
And it shall be as a gazelle driven away, and as a sheep no one gathers; each man shall look to his own people, and each one shall flee to his land.


text:
Everyone who is found shall be pierced through; yea, everyone who is swept away shall fall by the sword.


text:
And their children shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be robbed, and their wives raped.


text:
Behold! I stir up the Medes against them, who shall not value silver. And they shall not delight in gold.


text:
And bows shall also smash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare sons.


text:
And Babylon, the glory of the kingdoms, the beauty of the pride of the Chaldeans, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.


text:
It shall not be lived in forever, nor shall it be lived in from generation to generation. And the Arabian shall not pitch a tent there, nor shall the shepherds make flocks lie down there.


text:
But the desert creatures shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of howling creatures; and daughters of ostriches shall dwell there; and he goats shall skip there.


text:
And hyenas shall cry along with his widows; and jackals in palaces of delight. Yea, her time to come is near, and her days shall not be prolonged.


text:
For Jehovah will have pity on Jacob, and will yet choose among Israel, and set them in their own land. And the stranger shall be joined to them; and they shall cling to the house of Jacob.


text:
And the peoples shall take them and bring them to their own place. And the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of Jehovah for slaves and slave girls. And they shall be captives of their captors; and they shall rule over their oppressors.


text:
And it shall be, in the day that Jehovah shall give you rest from your sorrow, and from your trouble, and from the hard bondage which was pressed on you,


text:
you shall lift up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: How the exacter, the gold gatherer, has ceased!


text:
who struck the peoples in wrath, a blow without turning away, ruling the nations in anger, dealing out persecution without restraint.


text:
Yea, the fir trees rejoice over you; the cedars of Lebanon say, Since you have lain down, no one hewing will come up against us.


text:
Sheol from below is stirred for you, to meet you at your coming; it stirs up the departed spirits for you, all the he goats of the earth. It has raised all the kings of the nations from their thrones.


text:
Your majesty is lowered into Sheol; the noise of your harps. The maggot is spread under you; yea, the worms cover you.


text:
Oh shining star, son of the morning, how you have fallen from the heavens! You weakening the nations, you are cut down to the ground.


text:
For you have said In your heart, I will go up to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit in the mount of meeting, in the sides of the north.


text:
They that see you shall stare and closely watch you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth tremble, shaking kingdoms,


text:
making the world like a wilderness, and who tore down its cities; he did not open a house for his prisoners?


text:
But you are thrown from your grave like a despised branch, like the covering of the slain, those pierced by the sword, those who go down into the stones of the Pit, like a dead body trampled under foot.


text:
You shall not be united with them in burial, because you ruined your land; you have slain your people; the seed of evildoers shall never be named.


text:
Prepare for the slaughter of his sons, for the iniquity of their fathers; that they may not rise and possess the land and fill the face of the earth with cities.


text:
For I will rise against them, says Jehovah of Hosts, and I will cut off the name and remnant, the son and grandson, from Babylon, declares Jehovah.


text:
Also I will make it a possession of the hedgehog and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the broom of ruin, says Jehovah of Hosts.


text:
Jehovah of Hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so it shall be; and as I have purposed, it shall rise up;


text:
to break Assyria in My land, and trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden shall depart from his shoulders.


text:
This is the purpose that is purposed on all the earth; and this the hand that is stretched out on all the nations.


text:
For Jehovah of Hosts has purposed. And who shall reverse it? And His hand is stretched out. Who shall turn it back?


text:
Do not rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, for the rod of your striking is broken, because a viper comes forth from the root of a snake, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.


text:
And the first-born of the poor shall eat; and the needy shall lie down in safety; and I will kill your root with famine; and it shall kill your remnant.


text:
Howl, O gate! Cry, O city! Philistia is melted away, all of you. For a smoke comes from the north, and not one is alone in his ranks.


text:
What then shall one answer to the messengers of the nation? That Jehovah has founded Zion, and the poor of His people shall trust in it.


text:
The burden of Moab: Because in a night Ar of Moab is laid waste; it is cut off; because in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste; it is cut off.


text:
One goes up to the house, even to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab shall howl over Nebo and over Medeba; all its heads shall be bald, every beard shorn.


text:
They shall put on sackcloth in the streets; everyone shall howl on their housetops and in their plazas, melting in tears.


text:
And Heshbon and Elealeh shall cry; their voice shall be heard as far as Jahaz; so the warriors of Moab shall shout; his life is broken to him.


text:
My heart shall cry to Moab; her fugitives to Zoar, a heifer of three years; he goes up the ascent of Luhith with weeping, for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of ruin.


text:
For Nimrim's waters are desolations; for the hay is dried up; the grass fails; there is not a green thing.


text:
On account of this one made up the remainder, and their store; they shall carry them over the torrent of the willows.


text:
For the cry has gone around Moab's borders; his howling even to Eglaim; and his howling even to the Well of Elim.


text:
For Dimon's waters are full of blood; for I will put more on Dimon, a lion on him who escapes from Moab, and for the remnant of the land.


text:
Send a lamb to the ruler of the land, from the rock of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Zion.


text:
For it is as a fleeing bird cast out of the nest; the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.


text:
Take counsel; do judgment; make your shadow as the night in midday; hide the outcasts; do not uncover the fugitive!


text:
Let My outcasts stay with you, Moab. Be a hiding place to them from the face of the destroyer. For the exacter has ceased, destruction has failed; the trampler is ended out of the land.


text:
And in mercy the throne shall be founded; and he shall sit on it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice, and swift in righteousness.


text:
We have heard of the pride of Moab, very proud; of his pride, his arrogance, and his rage; not so are his babblings.


text:
So Moab shall howl for Moab; everyone shall howl; all of it shall howl for the foundations of Kir-hareseth; surely they are stricken.


text:
For the fields of Heshbon droop, the vine of Sibmah. The masters of the nations have crushed its choice plants. They have come to Jazer; they wander in the desert; her branches are spread out; they have crossed the sea.


text:
On account of this I will weep with the weeping of Jazer, the vine of Sibmah; I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for shouting has fallen on your fruit and on your harvest.


text:
And gladness and joy is gathered up from the fruitful field; and there is no singing and no shouting in the vineyards; the one treading shall not tread out wine in the presses. I have made the shout to cease.


text:
And it shall be, when it is seen that Moab shall be wearied on the high place, then he shall come to his shrine to pray, and he shall not be able.


text:
But now Jehovah has spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of a hireling, then the glory of Moab will be abased, with all the great host; and the remnant shall be few; small, not mighty.


text:
The burden of Damascus: Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruined heap.


text:
And the fortress shall cease from Ephraim; and the kingdom from Damascus and the rest of Syria. They shall be as the glory of the sons of Israel, declares Jehovah of Hosts.


text:
And it shall be in that day, Jacob's glory shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall be made lean.


text:
And it shall be as the reaping of the harvest grain, and his arm reaps the ears. And it shall be as he who gathers ears in the Valley of the Giants.


text:
Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree; two or three ripe olives in the top of the uppermost branch; four or five in the fruit tree branches, declares Jehovah God of Israel.


text:
And he shall not gaze to the altars, the work of his hands; and he will not see what his fingers have made, even the Asherahs, and the sun pillars.


text:
In that day his fortified cities shall be as a thing left in the forest, or the branch that they leave, from before the sons of Israel. And it will become a desolation.


text:
Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and you did not remember the Rock of your strength. On account of this you shall plant pleasing plants, and shall sow it a foreign shoot.


text:
In the day of your planting you fence it in; in the morning you make your seed sprout; the harvest is a heap in the day of sickness and incurable pain.


text:
Woe to the multitude of many peoples; they roar like the roar of seas; and the crash of nations, they crash like the crash of mighty waters!


text:
The nations shall crash like the crashing of many waters, but He rebukes it, and it flees far away; yea, it is driven like the chaff of mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before a tempest.


text:
At the time of evening, behold, terror! Before it is morning, it shall not be. This is the portion of those robbing us, and the lot of those plundering us.


text:
which sends envoys by the sea, even in ships of papyrus on the face of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a dreadful people from it and onwards; and a nation mighty and trampling down, whose land the rivers have divided!


text:
All you inhabitants of the world and those living on the earth, as one lifts a banner on the peaks, you will see. And you will hear as the blowing of a ram's horn.


text:
For so Jehovah said to me, I will rest, and I will watch My dwelling place; as the glowing heat on light; as the cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.


text:
For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and cut down and take away the branches.


text:
They shall be left together to the birds of the hills, and to the beasts of the earth. And the birds shall summer on them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter on them.


text:
Then shall be brought in that time to Jehovah of Hosts a present from a tall and smooth people, and a terrifying people, from it and onward; a mighty and trampling nation whose land the rivers have divided, to the place of the name of Jehovah of Hosts: Mount Zion.


text:
The burden of Egypt: Behold! Jehovah rides on a light cloud and comes into Egypt. And the idols of Egypt shall tremble from before Him; and the heart of Egypt shall melt in its midst.


text:
And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians; and they each man shall fight against his brother; and each against his neighbor; city against city, kingdom against kingdom.


text:
And the spirit of the Egyptians shall be empty in its midst; and I will swallow its counsel. And they shall seek to idols, and to the enchanters, and to the mediums, and to the spirit-knowers.


text:
And I will shut up the Egyptians into the hand of cruel lords; and a fierce king shall rule them, declares the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.


text:
And rivers shall be fouled; and the Nile of Egypt will languish and dry up; the reed and the rush shall decay.


text:
Bare places shall be at the Nile, by the mouth of the Nile, and everything sown by the Nile shall dry up, driven away, and be no more.


text:
The fishermen shall mourn; and all who cast a hook into the Nile shall wail; and those who spread nets on the surface of the waters shall droop.


text:
Surely the rulers of Zoan are fools; the advice of Pharaoh's wise counselor has become stupid. How can you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of wise ones, the son of kings of old?


text:
Where are your wise ones now? Yea, let them tell you now, that they may know what Jehovah of Hosts has planned against Egypt.


text:
The rulers of Zoan are fools; the rulers of Noph are deceived; they also have led Egypt astray, the cornerstone of her tribes.


text:
Jehovah has mixed a perverse spirit in her midst; and they led astray Egypt in all his work; as a drunkard strays in his vomit.


text:
In that day Egypt shall be like women; and it will tremble and dread from before the shaking of the hand of Jehovah of Hosts, which He shakes over it.


text:
And the land of Judah shall be a terror to Egypt; everyone who mentions it shall dread to it, from before the counsel of Jehovah of Hosts, which He counsels against it.


text:
In that day five cities in the land of Egypt shall speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Jehovah of Hosts. One shall be called, City of Ruin.


text:
Then an altar to Jehovah shall be in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Jehovah at its border.


text:
And it shall be for a sign and for a witness to Jehovah of Hosts in the land of Egypt. For they shall cry to Jehovah because of the oppressors; and He shall send them a deliverer, even a great one, and will deliver them.


text:
And Jehovah shall be known to Egypt. Egypt shall know Jehovah in that day. And they shall offer sacrifice and offering, and vow a vow to Jehovah, and repay it.


text:
And Jehovah shall strike Egypt. He shall strike and heal. Then they shall return to Jehovah, and He shall be entreated for them and will heal them.


text:
In that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria. And Assyria shall come into Egypt; and Egypt into Assyria; and Egypt shall serve with Assyria.


text:
In that day Israel shall be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,


text:
whom Jehovah of Hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be My people Egypt, and Assyria, the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.


text:
In the year Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and fought against Ashdod, and took it;


text:
at that time Jehovah spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loosen the sackcloth from your loins, and take your shoe off from your foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.


text:
And Jehovah said, Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years (a sign and a wonder on Egypt and on Ethiopia)


text:
so shall the king of Assyria lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old; naked and barefoot, and with uncovered buttocks; to the nakedness of Egypt.


text:
And he who lives in this coast shall say in that day, Behold, this has become of our hope to which we fled for help there, to be delivered from before the king of Assyria; and, How shall we escape?


text:
The burden of the desert of the sea: As tempests in the Negeb pass, it comes from the desert from a terrifying land.


text:
A harsh vision is revealed to me; the one betraying betrays, and the one ravaging ravages. Go up, O Elam! Besiege, O Media! I have caused all her sighing to cease.


text:
Because of this my loins are filled with pain; pangs have taken hold on me like the pangs of a travailing woman. I am bowed from hearing; I am troubled from seeing.


text:
And he sees a chariot, a couple of horsemen; a chariot of an ass; a chariot of a camel; and let him bow attentively, very attentively.


text:
And he cried, A lion! My lord, I always stand on my watchtower by day; and I am stationed at my post all the nights.


text:
And, behold, here comes a chariot of a man, a pair of horses. And he answered and said, Babylon has fallen, has fallen! And He has smashed the graven images of her gods to the earth.


text:
Oh my threshing, and the grain of my floor! That which I have heard of Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, I have told to you.


text:
The burden of Dumah: He calls to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?


text:
The people of the land of Tema bring water to him who is thirsty; they went to meet the fugitive with his bread.


text:
For they fled from before swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the press of battle.


text:
For so the Lord has said to me, Within a year, as the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall be ended,


text:
and the rest of the number of the archers, the warriors of the sons of Kedar, shall be few. For Jehovah God of Israel has spoken.


text:
Crashings fill the noisy city, the joyous city. Your slain ones are not slain by the sword, nor died in battle.


text:
All your rulers fled together; they were bound without the bow; all found in you were bound together; they have fled from afar.


text:
On account of this I said, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly; do not hurry to comfort me over the ruin of the daughter of my people.


text:
for it is a day of trouble, and of trampling down, and of perplexity, by the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, in the valley of vision; digging down a wall, and crying to the mountain.


text:
And it happened; your choicest valleys were full of chariots; and the horsemen surely set in order at the gate.


text:
And he removed Judah's covering; and you looked in that day to the armor of the house of the forest.


text:
You have also seen the breaks in the city of David, that they are many; and you gathered the waters of the lower pool.


text:
And you made a reservoir between the walls, for the water of the old pool. But you have not looked to its Maker, nor did you see its Former from long ago.


text:
And in that day the Lord Jehovah of Hosts called to weeping and mourning; and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth.


text:
Then, lo, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and slaughtering sheep; eating flesh and drinking wine, saying, Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!


text:
And Jehovah of Hosts revealed in my ears, Surely this iniquity shall not be covered for you until you die, says the Lord Jehovah of Hosts.


text:
What is to you here? And who is here to you, that you have carved a tomb for yourself here, as one having cut out his tomb on high, having carved out a home for himself in the rock?


text:
Whirling, He will whirl you like a ball, into a land wide of hands. You shall die there, and there are the chariots of your glory, the shame of your lord's house.


text:
And I will clothe him with your robe and will fasten your sash on him. And I will give your authority into his hand. And he shall be a father to the ones living in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.


text:
And the key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder, so that he opens, and no one shuts; and he shuts, and no one opens.


text:
And I will drive him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father's house.


text:
And they shall hang on him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the offshoots, all small vessels, from vessels of cups even to all vessels of jars.


text:
In that day, says Jehovah of Hosts, the nail that is driven in the sure place shall be removed, and be cut down, and fall. And the burden that was on it shall be cut off. Jehovah has spoken.


text:
The burden of Tyre: Howl, ships of Tarshish! For it is ruined, without house, without entrance. It is revealed to them from the land of Kittim.


text:
And by great waters, the seed of Sihor and the harvest of the river Nile was her revenue; and she a mart of nations.


text:
Be ashamed, Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the strength of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, I have not nourished young men nor raised up virgins.


text:
Who has counseled this against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are rulers, whose traders are the weighty of the earth?


text:
Jehovah of Hosts has counseled it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring all the honored of the earth into contempt.


text:
He stretched His hand over the sea; He shook kingdoms. Jehovah has made a decree against the merchant city, to destroy its forts.


text:
And He said, You shall rejoice no more, oppressed one, virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, cross over to Cyprus, even there is no rest to you.


text:
Behold, the land of the Chaldeans! This people did not exist! Assyria founded it for those who live in the desert. They set up their siege towers; they lay bare its palaces; they appointed it to be a ruin.


text:
And it shall be in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will be as the song of a harlot to Tyre.


text:
Take a harp; go about the city, O forgotten harlot. Do well to play; make many songs, that you may be remembered.


text:
And it will be, after the end of seventy years, Jehovah will visit Tyre; and she shall return to her hire, and will fornicate with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the earth.


text:
And her goods and her wages shall be holiness to Jehovah; it shall not be hoarded nor stored; for her goods shall be for those who dwell before Jehovah, to eat enough, and for a choice covering.


text:
Lo, Jehovah empties the land and makes it bare, and distorts its face, and scatters those living in it.


text:
And as it is with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with the 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.


text:
The land mourns and languishes; the world droops and languishes; the proud people of the earth droop.


text:
And the earth is profaned under those living in it, because they transgress laws and violate a statute, and break the everlasting covenant.


text:
On account of this a curse has devoured the land; and they who live in it are held guilty. For this those living in the land are consumed, and few men are left.


text:
The exultation of timbrels ceases; the noise of those who revel ends; the exultation of the harp ceases.


text:
For it is thus in the midst of the land, among the peoples, it shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as gleanings when the grape harvest is completed.


text:
On account of this, glorify Jehovah in the flames, the name of Jehovah God of Israel, in the coasts of the sea.


text:
We have heard songs from the end of the earth, Honor to the Righteous. But I said, Leanness to me! Leanness to me! Woe to me! Traitors betray, even with treachery; traitors betray!


text:
And it shall be, he who flees from the sound of dread shall fall into the pit. And he who comes up out of the middle of the pit shall be taken in the snare. For the windows from on high are opened, and the earth's foundations quake.


text:
The earth is breaking, breaking! The earth is crashing, crashing! The earth is tottering, tottering.


text:
Like a drunkard, the earth is staggering, staggering! And it rocks to and fro like a hut. And its trespass is heavy on it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.


text:
And it shall be in that day, Jehovah shall punish the army of the high place on high, and on the kings of the land on the land.


text:
And they will be gathered, a gathering of prisoners in a dungeon. And they shall be shut up in a prison; and after many days they will be visited.


text:
Then the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, when Jehovah of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem; and before His elders is His glory.


text:
O Jehovah, You are my God. I will exalt You; I will thank Your name; for You have done a wonderful thing: counsels from afar; faithful faithfulness.


text:
Because You have made a heap from a city, a fortified city into a ruin; a citadel of foreigners not to be a city, not to be built, to forever.


text:
For You are a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from storm, a shadow from heat; because the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall.


text:
You shall lay low the noise of foreigners, like the heat in a dry place, the heat with the shadow of cloud; the shouting of the terrifying ones shall be laid low.


text:
And Jehovah of Hosts shall make a feast of fat things for all the peoples in this mountain; a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, refined wine on the lees.


text:
And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering which covers all people, and the veil that is woven over all nations.


text:
He will swallow up death in victory! And the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from all faces. And He shall reprove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for Jehovah has spoken.


text:
And one shall say in that day, Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.


text:
For the hand of Jehovah shall rest in this mountain; and Moab shall be trampled under Him, even as straw is trampled in the water of a dung pit.


text:
And He shall spread His hands in his midst, as he who swims strokes to swim. And He shall lay low his pride with the skill of His hands.


text:
And He shall bow down the fortress of the height of your walls; He will lay low, touch to the earth, even to the dust.


text:
In that day this song shall be sung in the land of Judah: A strong city is ours; He sets up salvation as our walls and rampart.


text:
For He bows the dwellers on high; He lays low the lofty city; He lays it low to the ground; He makes it touch even to the dust.


text:
Yea, Jehovah, in the path of Your judgments we awaited You; for Your name and for Your memory is the desire of our soul.


text:
With my soul I desire You in the night; yea, with my spirit within me I diligently seek You. For when Your judgments are in the earth, those living in the world learn righteousness.


text:
The wicked finds favor; he does not learn righteousness; he deals perversely in the land of honesty, and does not see the majesty of Jehovah.


text:
Jehovah, Your hand is high; they do not see; they see and are ashamed of the zeal of the people. Yea, the fire of Your foes devours them.


text:
Dead ones do not live; departed spirits do not rise; because of this You visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.


text:
You have added to the nation, Jehovah; You have added to the nation, You are glorified; You have put far off all the ends of the land.


text:
As a woman with child draws near to bear, she writhes and cries out in her pangs. So are we before You, Jehovah.


text:
We conceived; we writhe; as it were, we gave birth to wind. We have not worked salvation for the earth; and those living in the world have not fallen.


text:
Your dead ones shall live, my dead body, they shall rise up. Awake and sing, dust dwellers; for the dew of lights is your dew; and the earth shall cast out departed spirits.


text:
Come, My people, go in your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide for a little moment, until the fury passes.


text:
For, behold, Jehovah comes out of His place to visit his iniquity on those dwelling on the earth. The earth shall also reveal her blood, and shall no more cover over her slain ones.


text:
In that day Jehovah shall visit the sea monster, the darting serpent, with His great and fierce and strong sword; even on the sea monster, the twisting serpent; and He shall slay the monster that is in the sea.


text:
I, Jehovah, keep it; I will water it every moment, that no one punish it; I will guard it night and day.


text:
Fury is not in Me. Who will give Me briers and thorns in the battle? I will step through it; I would burn it at once.


text:
Those coming in shall take root; Jacob shall blossom and Israel shall bud, and they will fill the face of the world with fruit.


text:
You will contend with her by driving her away, by sending her away. He shall take away by His harsh wind, in the day of the east wind.


text:
By this, then, the iniquity of Jacob will be covered, and this is all the fruit, to take away his sin; when he makes all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in pieces; Asherahs and sun pillars shall not rise.


text:
For the fortified city shall be lonely, a forsaken pasture, and left like a wilderness. The calf shall feed there, and he shall lie there, and eat up its branches.


text:
When its boughs dry up, they are broken off. Women shall come and kindle them, for it is a people with no understanding. On account of this His Maker shall not pity him, and His Former will not favor him.


text:
And it shall be in that day, Jehovah shall thresh from the channel of the River to the torrent of Egypt; and you shall be gathered one by one, sons of Israel.


text:
And it shall be in that day, the great ram's horn shall be blown; and those perishing in the land of Assyria and the outcasts in the land of Egypt shall come and shall worship Jehovah in the holy mountain in Jerusalem.


text:
Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower on the head of the fat valley of those who are overcome with wine!


text:
Behold, the Lord is a mighty and strong one; like a hailstorm, a destroying storm; like a storm of mighty waters overflowing; He sets down to the earth with His hand.


text:
And the glorious beauty which is on the head of the fat valley shall be a fading flower, like the first ripe fig before summer which the seeing one sees; while it is yet in his hand, he swallows it.


text:
In that day Jehovah of Hosts shall become a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the rest of His people,


text:
and a spirit of justice to him who sits on the judgment seat; and for might to those turning back the battle toward the gate.


text:
But they also have gone astray by wine, and have erred through fermented drink; priest and prophet have erred through fermented drink; they have been swallowed by wine; they strayed from fermented drink; they err in vision; they stumble in judgment;


text:
To whom shall He teach knowledge? And to whom shall He explain the message? Those weaned from milk, those moving from breasts?


text:
For precept must be on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little.


text:
to whom He said, This is the rest; cause the weary to rest. Also, This is the repose. But they willed not to hear.


text:
Yet the Word of Jehovah was to them, precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they might go, and stumble, and be broken, and snared, and taken.


text:
Because you have said, We have cut a covenant with death; and, We have made a vision with Sheol, when the overwhelming rod passes through it will not come to us for we have made the lie our refuge, and we have hidden in falsehood.


text:
So, the Lord Jehovah says this: Behold, I place in Zion a Stone for a foundation, a tried Stone, a precious Cornerstone, a sure Foundation; he who believes shall not hasten.


text:
And I will lay justice for a line, and righteousness for a plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of the lie; and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.


text:
And your covenant with death shall be covered; and your vision with Sheol shall not rise up. When the overwhelming whip passes through, then you shall be for a trampling to it.


text:
As often as it passes, it shall take you; for morning by morning it shall pass; and by day and by night, it shall only be a terror to understand the message.


text:
For the bed is shorter than one can stretch himself on; and the cover is narrower than one can wrap himself in.


text:
For Jehovah shall rise up, as at Mount Perazim; He shall be stirred as in the Gibeon Valley; to do His work, His strange work; and to perform His task, His alien task.


text:
So, then, do not be mockers, that your bonds not be made strong. For I have heard from the Lord Jehovah of Hosts that a full end is decreed on all the earth.


text:
When he has leveled its surface, does he not strew black cummin, and scatter cummin, and place wheat in rows, and barley in its place, and spelt in its border?


text:
For black cummin is not threshed with the sledge; nor is a cartwheel turned on cummin. But black cummin is beaten out with the staff, and cummin with the rod.


text:
Bread is crushed, but not always does one thresh it with threshing; and he drives the wheel of his cart; and his horses do not beat it small.


text:
And I will camp as a circle on you, and will lay siege work on you; and I will raise up ramparts on you.


text:
And you shall be brought low; you shall speak from the ground; and your speech shall be bowed down; and your voice shall be from the ground, like a medium; and your speech shall chirp out of the dust.


text:
And the host of your strangers shall be as fine powder, and as chaff passing, the host of terrifying ones; and it will be suddenly, instantly;


text:
you shall be visited from Jehovah of Hosts; with thunder and earthquake, and great noise, tempest and storm, and flame of devouring fire.


text:
And the multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, even all battling her and compressing her and her stronghold, shall be like a dream of a night vision.


text:
It shall even be as when a hungry one dreams; and, behold, he is eating; but when he awakes, his soul is empty. Or it shall be as when a thirsty one dreams; and, behold, he is drinking, but when he awakes, he is faint, and his soul is longing. So shall be the multitude of all the nations who fight against Mount Zion.


text:
Wait and wonder! Blind yourselves, and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine! They stagger, but not with fermented drink!


text:
For Jehovah has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes. He has covered the prophets and your heads, the seers.


text:
And the whole vision to you is like the words of a sealed book which they give to one knowing books, saying, Please read this. Then he says, I am not able, for it is sealed.


text:
And the book is given to one who does not know books, saying, Please read this. Then he says, I do not know books.


text:
And the Lord says, Because this people draws near with its mouth, and they honor Me with its lip; but its heart is far from Me, and their fear of Me is taught by the commandments of men;


text:
So, behold, I am adding to do wonderfully with this people, the wonder, even a wonder. For the wisdom of his wise ones shall perish, and the wit of his witty ones shall be hidden.


text:
Woe to those who go deep to hide their purposes from Jehovah; yea, their works are in the dark; and they say, Who sees us? And, Who knows us?


text:
Oh your perversity! Shall the former be counted as the clay? For shall the work of its maker say, He did not make me? Or shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, He does not understand?


text:
Is it not yet a little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field; and the fruitful field shall be counted for the forest?


text:
And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and the eyes of the blind shall see out of their gloom and out of darkness.


text:
And the humble ones shall increase joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.


text:
For the terrible one is brought to nothing; and the scorner is ended; and all that watch for iniquity are cut off;


text:
those who make a man sin by a word, even laying a trap for the reprover in the gate, and turn aside the just for a worthless thing.


text:
So Jehovah says this: He who redeemed Abraham, as to the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not be ashamed now, nor shall his face become pale now.


text:
But when he sees his children in his midst, the work of My hands, they shall sanctify My name. They shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.


text:
Those who erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and those who murmured shall learn the instruction.


text:
Woe to rebellious sons, declares Jehovah, to make counsel, but not from Me; and to weave a covering web, but not of My Spirit, in order to add sin on sin;


text:
who are walking to go down to Egypt, but have not asked at My mouth, to take refuge in the stronghold of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt.


text:
And the stronghold of Pharaoh shall become a shame to you; and relying on the shadow of Egypt shall be a disgrace.


text:
Every one is ashamed over a people who do not profit them; they are not for a help, and not for profiting, but for a shame; yea, also for a reproach.


text:
The burden of the beasts of the south: Into the land of trouble and constraint. The lioness and the lion are from them; the viper and fiery flying serpent. They carry their riches on the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people who cannot profit them.


text:
Now come, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a book, so that it may be for the latter day, until forever;


text:
who say to the seers, Do not see; and to visioners, Do not have a vision for right things to us; speak smooth things to us; have a vision of trifles.


text:
Turn aside from the way; stretch from the path; cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.


text:
For this reason, so says the Holy One of Israel, Because of your rejection of this Word, and your trust in oppression and perversity, even resting on it;


text:
So this iniquity shall be to you as a broken section falling, like the bulging out of a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly, in an instant.


text:
And its smashing is as the smashing of a potter's vessel; when broken in pieces, he has no pity; for in its breaking there is not found a shard to carry fire from the hearth, nor to skim water from a well.


text:
For so says the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest you shall be saved; and in quietness and hope shall be your strength. But you were not willing.


text:
For you said, No! For we will flee on horseback. On account of this you shall flee. Also, you say, We will ride on swift ones. On account of this, those who pursue you shall be swift.


text:
One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one. You shall flee from the rebuke of five, until you are left like a pole on the top of the mountain, and like a sign on a hill.


text:
And so Jehovah waits to be gracious to you. And for this He is exalted to have mercy on you; for Jehovah is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him.


text:
For the people shall live in Zion, at Jerusalem; you shall surely cry no more. He surely will be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. When He hears, He will answer you.


text:
And the Lord gives you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction; but your teachers shall not be hidden any more; but your eyes shall be able to see your teachers.


text:
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, when you go right, or when you go left.


text:
And you shall defile the covering of your carved images of silver; and the covering of your molten images of gold. You shall strew them as a menstruous cloth; you shall say to it, Go out!


text:
Then He shall give rain for your seed, with which you sow the ground. And the bread of the produce of the earth also shall be fat and plentiful. In that day your livestock shall feed in a pasture made wide.


text:
Also, the oxen and the young asses that till the ground shall eat seasoned fodder which one winnows with the shovel and with the fork.


text:
And on every high mountain, and on every high hill, shall be rivulets lifted up, streams of water, in a day of great slaying, when towers fall.


text:
And the moonlight shall be like the light of the sun. And the sun's light shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day of binding up, Jehovah binding the break of His people, and healing the wound of His blow.


text:
Behold, the name of Jehovah comes from afar; His anger burns; and is heavy as the uplifting of smoke; His lips are full of fury, and His tongue like a devouring fire.


text:
And like an overflowing torrent, His breath shall divide to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity, and a misleading bridle on the jaws of the peoples.


text:
The song shall be to you, as the night when the feast is sanctified, and gladness of heart, as one going with the flute, to come into the mount of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel.


text:
And Jehovah shall make the majesty of His voice heard; and He causes His arm to be seen coming down with raging anger and flame of consuming fire, cloudburst and storm, and hailstones.


text:
And every passage of the appointed staff that Jehovah causes to rest on him will be with timbrels and with harps. And in brandishing battles He fights with her.


text:
For Topheth is ordained from yesterday. Also, it is prepared for the king; He deepened; He widened its pyre; He makes great with fire and wood. The breath of Jehovah burns in it like a torrent of brimstone.


text:
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and lean on horses, and trust on chariotry, because it is great; and in horsemen because they are very strong! But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek Jehovah.


text:
And He also is wise, and brings evil, and will not turn aside His Words, but will rise against the house of evildoers, and against the help of those who work iniquity.


text:
And Egypt is a man, and not God. And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. And Jehovah stretches out His hand, and both he who helps shall fall, and he who is helped shall fall; and they shall all cease together.


text:
For so Jehovah has said to me: As the lion roars, even the young lion on his prey when the multitude of shepherds are gathered against him, he will not fear their voice, nor fret himself because of their noise. So Jehovah of Hosts shall go down to fight on Mount Zion, and on its hill.


text:
As birds that fly, so Jehovah of Hosts will shield over Jerusalem; shielding and delivering, and passing over, He will save it.


text:
For in that day each shall despise his silver idols and his golden idols, which your hands have made for you; a sin.


text:
Then Assyria shall fall by a sword, not of man; yea, a sword, not of man, shall devour him. For he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become forced labor.


text:
And his rock will pass away from fear; and his commanders shall tremble at the banner, declares Jehovah, whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem.


text:
And a man shall be a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place; like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.


text:
And the heart of the hurrying shall discern knowledge; and the tongue of those that stutter shall hurry to speak clear things.


text:
For the fool speaks foolishness, and his heart works iniquity, to do ungodliness; and to speak error against Jehovah, to make the hungry soul empty; and he causes the drink of the thirsty to fail.


text:
And the weapons of the miser are evil; he devises wicked plots to destroy the poor with lying words, even the needy when he speaks right.


text:
You will shake for days on a year, confident women; for the vintage fails; the gathering will not come.


text:
Tremble, women at ease; shake, confident women; strip and make yourselves bare, and bind on sackcloth on your loins;


text:
Thorns and briers shall spring up on the land of My people; even over all the houses of joy in the jubilant city,


text:
because the palace is forsaken; the crowd of the city is forsaken; mound and tower are instead caves, until forever; a joy of wild asses; pasture for flocks;


text:
until is poured out on us the Spirit from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field; and the fruitful field is reckoned as a forest.


text:
And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the service of righteousness shall be quietness and hope forever.


text:
Woe to one destroying, and you not being destroyed, betraying and they did not betray you! When you finish destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, they will betray you.


text:
O Jehovah, be gracious to us. We have hoped in You; be their arm in the mornings, our salvation also in time of distress.


text:
And Your prey shall be gathered as the stripping locust gathers; as locusts run to and fro, he also runs about on it.


text:
And He will be the security of your times, strength of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of Jehovah is His treasure.


text:
The highways are desolated; the path crosser ceases. He has broken the covenant; he has rejected cities; he has not respected man.


text:
The land mourns and droops; Lebanon is ashamed; Sharon withers like a wilderness; Bashan is shaken out; also Carmel.


text:
The sinners of Zion are afraid; terror has seized profane ones; who of us shall tarry with consuming fire? Who of us shall tarry with everlasting burnings?


text:
He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly; he who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands free from taking the bribe, who stops his ear from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil.


text:
He shall live on high; strongholds of rocks will be his retreat; his bread shall be given; his waters are faithful.


text:
Your heart shall ponder terror: Where is he counting? Where is he weighing? Where is he counting the towers?


text:
You shall not see the fierce people, from hearing a people of a deep lip, of a foreign tongue, that none understands.


text:
Behold, Zion, the city of our appointed meetings! Your eyes shall see Jerusalem, a quiet home, a tent that shall not be moved; its stakes shall not be pulled up forever, nor shall any of its cords be pulled off.


text:
But majestic Jehovah will place there for us a place of rivers and streams, broad on both hands; a ship with oars shall not go in it, and a majestic boat shall not pass through it.


text:
Your ropes are loosened; they do not hold the base of their mast; they could not spread the sail. Then the prey of much plunder shall be divided; the lame shall seize on the spoil.


text:
Nations, come near to hear; and peoples, listen! Let the earth hear, and its fullness, the world and all its offspring.


text:
For the wrath of Jehovah is on all the nations, and fury on all their army; He has devoted them; He gave them to slaughter.


text:
And their slain shall be thrown out; and the stench from their carcasses shall go up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.


text:
And all the host of the heavens shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together like a scroll. Then all their host shall droop, as a leaf drooping from the vine, and as the drooping from a fig tree.


text:
For My sword is drenched in the heavens. Behold, it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment.


text:
A sword is to Jehovah; it is filled with blood; it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For Jehovah has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.


text:
And wild oxen shall come down with them, and bulls with strong bulls; and their land is drenched with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.


text:
And its torrents shall be turned to pitch, and its dust to brimstone; and its land shall become burning pitch.


text:
It shall not be put out night or day; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation, it shall lie waste; no one shall pass through it forever and forever.


text:
But the owl and the hedgehog shall possess it; and the eared owl and the raven shall live in it. And He shall stretch out on it the line of shame, and the stones of emptiness.


text:
They shall call its nobles to a kingdom, but none shall be there; and all her rulers shall be nothing.


text:
And thorns shall grow in her palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it shall be a home for jackals, a court for daughters of ostriches.


text:
The desert creatures shall also meet with the howlers; and the shaggy goat shall cry to his fellow. The screech owl shall also settle there, and find a place of rest for herself.


text:
The snake shall nest there, and shall lay, and hatch, and shall gather in her shadow. Vultures shall also be gathered together, each with its mate.


text:
Search and read from the Book of Jehovah; not one of these misses, each not lacking her mate; for He has commanded my mouth, and by His Spirit He has assembled them.


text:
And He has made fall a lot for them, and His hand divided it to them by line. They shall possess it until forever, from generation to generation they shall live in it.


text:
The wilderness and dry land shall rejoice for them; and the desert shall exult and bloom like the crocus.


text:
Blooming, it shall bloom and exult, even with joy and singing. Lebanon's glory shall be given to it, the honor of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the majesty of our God.


text:
Say to those of a hasty heart, Be strong! Do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance; with the full dealing of God, He will come and save you.


text:
Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. For waters shall break out in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.


text:
And the mirage shall become a pool, and the thirsty land shall become springs of waters, in the home of jackals, in its lair, and a place for the reed and rush.


text:
And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called, The Way of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it. And it is for them, the one going in the way; yea, fools shall not go astray.


text:
No lion shall be there; and no violent beast shall go up on it; it shall not be found there. But redeemed ones shall walk there.


text:
And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return and enter Zion, with singing and everlasting joy on their head; gladness and joy shall reach them; and sorrow and sighing shall flee.


text:
And it happened in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.


text:
And the king of Assyria sent the chief of the cupbearers from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the Fuller's Field.


text:
And Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Asaph's son Joah, the recorder, came out to him.


text:
And the chief of the cupbearers said to them, Say now to Hezekiah, The great king says this, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this in which you trust?


text:
I say, Are only words of the lips counsel and strength for war? Now, in whom have you trusted that you rebelled against me?


text:
Behold, you trust on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which if a man leans on it, it goes into his hand and pierces it; so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.


text:
But if you say to me, We trust in Jehovah our God; is it not He whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed? And He said to Judah and Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar.


text:
Now, then, please exchange pledges with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to set riders on them for you.


text:
How then will you turn away the face of one commander of the least of my master's servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariotry and horsemen?


text:
And now have I come up against this land to destroy it without Jehovah? Jehovah said to me, Go up to this land and destroy it.


text:
And Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the chief of the cupbearers, Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we hear. But do not speak to us in Judean, in the ears of the people on the wall.


text:
But the chief of the cupbearers said, Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words? Is it not on the men who sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink the water of their feet with you?


text:
And the chief of the cupbearers stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, and said, Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.


text:
And let not Hezekiah make you trust in Jehovah, saying, Jehovah saving will save us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.


text:
Do not listen to Hezekiah. For the king of Assyria says this, Make peace with me and come out to me. Then let each eat of his own vine, and each of his own fig tree, and each drink the waters of his own well,


text:
until I come and take you to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.


text:
Let not Hezekiah persuade you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us. Have the gods of the nations delivered a man of his land from the king of Assyria's hand?


text:
Where are the gods of Hamath, and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And when have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?


text:
Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered their land out of my hand, that Jehovah should keep Jerusalem out of my hand?


text:
But they were silent, and did not answer him a word; for this was the king's order, saying, Do not answer him.


text:
And Eliakim, Hilkiah's son who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Asaph's son Joah, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their garments torn. And they reported to him the words of the chief of cupbearers.


text:
And it happened when King Hezekiah heard, he tore his garments and was covered with sackcloth. And he went into the house of Jehovah.


text:
And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.


text:
And they said to him, So says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, and reproach, and contempt. For sons have come to the breach and there is no strength to give birth.


text:
It may be Jehovah your God will hear the words of the chief of the cupbearers whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and rebuke against the words which Jehovah your God has heard. And you shall lift up prayer for the remnant that is found.


text:
And Isaiah said to them, You shall say this to your master, So says Jehovah: Do not fear the words which you have heard, with which the followers of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me


text:
Behold, I am giving into him a spirit, and he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land. And I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.


text:
So the chief of the cupbearers returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he had pulled up stakes from Lachish.


text:
And he heard about Tirhakah the king of Ethiopia, saying, He has come out to fight with you. And he heard and sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,


text:
So you shall say to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying, Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the king of Assyria's hand.


text:
Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, to destroy them utterly. And shall you be delivered?


text:
Have the gods of the nations saved those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden in Telassar?


text:
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the couriers, and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the house of Jehovah and spread it before Jehovah.


text:
O Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, who dwells between the cherubs, You are He, God, You alone to all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth.


text:
Bow down Your ear, O Jehovah, and hear. Open Your eye, O Jehovah, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib which he has sent, to reproach the living God.


text:
and have given their gods into the fire (for they were not gods, only the work of men's hands, wood and stone; so they have destroyed them).


text:
And now, O Jehovah our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are Jehovah, You alone.


text:
And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, So says Jehovah, God of Israel, Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib the king of Assyria,


text:
this is the Word Jehovah has spoken about him: The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you, laughing you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken the head behind you.


text:
Whom have you mocked and reviled? And against whom have you lifted your voice, and lifted your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel!


text:
By your servants, you have mocked the Lord, and said, By my many chariots I have come up to the tops of mountains, the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down its tall cedars, its choice fir trees; and I will go to its greatest height, the forest of its fruitful field.


text:
Have you not heard it from afar? I have made it from days of old, even I formed it. Now I have caused it to come, and you are to cause fortified cities to crash into heaps, ruins.


text:
And those living in it were short of hand, dismayed and ashamed. They were as the field grass and the green herbs; like the grass of the housetops, even blasted before it has risen.


text:
Because of your raging against Me, and your arrogance has come up to My ears, even I will put My hook in your nose, and My bridle in your lips; and I will turn you back by the way you came in.


text:
And this shall be the sign to you: You shall eat self-sown grain this year; and the second year, that which springs up; and in the third year you shall sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.


text:
The remnant of the house of Judah that has escaped shall again take root downward, and it produces fruit upward.


text:
For a remnant shall go out of Jerusalem, and the escaped ones out of Mount Zion; the zeal of Jehovah of Hosts shall do this.


text:
So Jehovah says this to the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with a shield, nor pour out a siege mound on it.


text:
He shall return by the same way that he came in, and he shall not come into this city, says Jehovah.


text:
Then the Angel of Jehovah went out and struck a hundred and eighty five thousand in the camp of Assyria. And they rose early in the morning; and, behold! They were all dead corpses.


text:
And it happened as he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, even his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword. And they escaped into the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.


text:
In those days Hezekiah was sick to death. And Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet, came to him and said to him, So says Jehovah, Command your house, for you are dying, and shall not live.


text:
and said, O Jehovah, I beg You to remember now that I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart; and I have done the good in Your eyes. And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping.


text:
Go and say to Hezekiah, So says Jehovah the God of your father David, I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your days.


text:
And I will deliver you and this city out of the king of Assyria's hand. And I will shield over this city.


text:
Behold, I will bring back the shadow of the steps which has gone down in the steps of Ahaz with the sun, backward ten steps. So the sun went back up ten steps, by which steps it had gone down!


text:
I said in the cessation of my days, I shall go to the gates of Sheol; I am called to account for the rest of my years.


text:
I said, I shall not see Jah Jehovah in the land of the living; I shall no longer look on man with those dwelling in the death-rest.


text:
My generation is plucked up and carried away from me, like a shepherd's tent; I have cut off my life like the weaver. He will cut me off from the threads; from day to night You will make an end of me.


text:
I leveled my soul until morning. Like a lion, so He shatters all my bones. From day until night You make an end of me.


text:
Like a swift or a crane, so I chatter. I moan as the dove; my eyes look weakly to the heights, O Jehovah; it presses me down; be surety for me!


text:
What shall I say? For He speaks to me, and He has acted. I shall go softly all my years over the bitterness of my soul.


text:
O Lord, on them they live, and for all in them is the life of my spirit. And You heal me, and make me live.


text:
Behold, for peace was bitter to me, most bitter; but You loved my soul from the pit of destruction; You have cast all my sins behind Your back.


text:
For Sheol cannot thank You; death cannot praise You; the ones going down to the Pit cannot hope for Your truth.


text:
The living, the living is the one thanking You; as I do today. The father makes known Your truth to his sons.


text:
For Jehovah will save me; and we will play my songs on stringed instruments all the days of our life, at the house of Jehovah.


text:
At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he had heard that he was ill, and was made strong.


text:
And Hezekiah was glad because of them and let them see the house of his treasure, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the good oil, and all his weapons, and all that was found in his treasuries; there was nothing in his house or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not let them see.


text:
And Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say? And from where did they come to you? And Hezekiah said, They have come from a distant land to me, from Babylon.


text:
Then he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah said, They have seen all that is in my house; there is not a thing among my treasures that I have not made them see.


text:
Behold, days come when all that is in your house, even what your fathers have treasured up until now, shall be borne away to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says Jehovah.


text:
And they shall take of your sons who shall issue from you, which you shall father; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.


text:
Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, The Word of Jehovah that you have said is good. And he said, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.


text:
Speak lovingly to the heart of Jerusalem; yea, cry to her that her warfare is done, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has taken from the hand of Jehovah double for all her sins.


text:
The voice of him who cries in the wilderness: Prepare the way of Jehovah; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.


text:
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the knoll shall be a level place, and the rough places a plain.


text:
And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.


text:
A voice said, Cry! And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its grace as the flower of the field!


text:
The grass withers, the flower fades because the Spirit of Jehovah blows on it. Surely the people is grass.


text:
Go up for yourself on the high mountain, one bearing good news to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, one bearing good news to Jerusalem. Lift up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, Behold! Your God!


text:
Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come with strength, and His arm rules for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His wage before Him.


text:
He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather lambs with His arm; and carry them in His bosom; those with young He will lead;


text:
He who has measured in His hand the waters and the heavens by a span meted out; and enclosed in the measure the dust of the earth, and weighed in the balance the mountains, and the hills in the scales,


text:
With whom did He take counsel, and who trained Him and taught Him in the path of justice; and taught Him knowledge, and made known to Him the way of discernment?


text:
Lo, nations are as a drop from a bucket, and are reckoned as dust of the scales. Lo, He takes up coasts as a little thing.


text:
All the nations are as nothing before Him; to Him they are reckoned less than nothing and emptiness.


text:
The craftsman pours out the casted image, the smelter spreads it with gold; and he casts the chains of silver.


text:
He too poor for that offering chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks a skilled artisan for him, to prepare a carved image that will not be shaken.


text:
Have you not known? Have you not heard? Was it not told to you from the beginning? Did you not discern from the foundations of the earth?


text:
He who sits on the circle of the earth, even those living in it are like grasshoppers; He who stretches the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in;


text:
Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they are not sown; yea, their stem is not taking root in the earth. And He shall also blow on them, and they shall wither, and the tempest shall lift them up like stubble.


text:
Lift up your eyes on high and look: Who has created these? Who brings out their host by number? By greatness of vigor, and might of power, He calls them all by names; not one is lacking.


text:
Why will you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel; My way is hidden from Jehovah, and my judgment is passed over by my God?


text:
Have you not known? Have you not heard? Jehovah, the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth; He is not faint, nor does He grow weary; there is no searching to His understanding.


text:
but the ones waiting for Jehovah shall renew power; they shall go up with wings as the eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not be faint!


text:
Be quiet before Me, O coasts; and let peoples renew their power. They come near; then they speak: Let us draw near together for judgment.


text:
Who raised up the righteous one from the east? He called him to His foot; He gives nations before him, and subdues kings; He gives them as dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow;


text:
Who has planned and done it, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I Jehovah am the first and the last; I am He.


text:
So the carver strengthens the refiner; and he smoothing with the hammer, him who struck the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good. And he made it strong with nails; it will not totter.


text:
whom I have made strong from the ends of the earth, and called you from its sides; and I said to you, You are My servant. I elected you, and have not rejected you.


text:
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not gaze about, for I am your God; I will make you strong; yea, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness.


text:
Behold, they all shall be humiliated, all who are provoked with you; they shall be as nothing; men who contend with you shall perish.


text:
You shall seek them and shall not find them; men of your strife shall be as nothing, even men of your battle as ceasing.


text:
For I, Jehovah your God am strengthening your right hand, who says to you, Do not fear I will help you.


text:
Fear not, worm of Jacob, men of Israel; I will help you, states Jehovah, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.


text:
Behold! I have made you a new sharp threshing instrument, a master of teeth; you shall thresh mountains and beat them small, and shall make hills like the chaff.


text:
You shall winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the tempest will scatter them. And you shall rejoice in Jehovah; you shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.


text:
The poor and the needy seek water, and there is none; their tongue is parched for thirst. I, Jehovah will hear them; the God of Israel will not leave them.


text:
I will open rivers in bare places, and fountains in the midst of valleys; I will make the desert for a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.


text:
I will plant cedar in the wilderness, acacia, and myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set fir, pine and boxwood together in the desert;


text:
so that they may see, and know, and set up, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah has done this; and the Holy One of Israel has created it.


text:
Let them draw near and tell us what shall happen; the former things, let them reveal what they are, that we may set our heart and know their end; or declare to us the coming things.


text:
Reveal the near things hereafter, so that we may know that you are gods. Yea, do good, or do evil, that we may gaze and see together.


text:
I have raised up one from the north; and he shall come from the east; he will call on My name. And he shall come upon rulers as on mortar, and as a potter tramples clay.


text:
Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know; and before, that we may say, He is right? Yea, no one declares; yea, no one proclaims; yea, there is no one who hears your words.


text:
At first to Zion, I say, Behold! Behold them! And I will give to Jerusalem one proclaiming good news.


text:
But I saw, and there was not a man; and of these, there was not a counselor, that I may ask them, and they could return a word.


text:
Behold My Servant; I will uphold Him; My Elect in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit on Him; He shall bring forth justice to the nations.


text:
A bruised reed He shall not break, and a smoking wick He shall not quench; He shall bring forth justice to truth.


text:
He shall not fail nor be crushed until He has set justice in the earth; and the coasts shall wait for His Law.


text:
So says Jehovah God, creating the heavens and stretching them out; spreading out the earth and its offspring, giving breath to the people on it, and spirit to those walking in it.


text:
I, Jehovah, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand, and will keep You, and give You for a covenant of the people, for a Light of the nations;


text:
to open blind eyes, to lead out the prisoner from the prison; those who sit in darkness from the prison.


text:
I am Jehovah; that is My name; and I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to engraved images.


text:
Behold, the former things have come to pass, and I declare new things before they happen, I cause you to hear.


text:
Sing a new song to Jehovah; His praise from the end of the earth, you who go to sea, and all that is in it; the coasts and their people.


text:
Let the wilderness and its cities lift up, the villages where Kedar lives. Let those dwelling in the rock sing; let them shout from the top of the mountains.


text:
Jehovah shall go out as a warrior; and He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war; He shall shout, yea, roar; He shall act mightily on His enemies.


text:
I have forever kept silence; I have been quiet and refrained Myself; I will groan like a woman in travail; I will pant and gasp at once.


text:
I will make mountains and hills become a waste, and dry up all their plants. And I will make the rivers coastlands, and I will dry up pools.


text:
And I will make the blind go by a way that they did not know. I will make them go in paths they never knew. I will make darkness go into light before them, and crooked places a level place. I do these things to them and do not forsake them;


text:
they are turned back; they are ashamed with shame, those trusting in the carved image, who say to cast images, You are our gods.


text:
Who is blind but My servant? Or deaf, as My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is at peace, and blind as Jehovah's servant?


text:
But it is a people robbed and spoiled; they shall all be snared in holes; they were hidden in prison houses. They were for spoil, and no one delivers; a prey, and no one says, Return!


text:
Who gave Jacob to the plunderer, and Israel to the robbers? Did not Jehovah, He against whom we have sinned? For they willed not to walk in His ways, and they did not obey His Law.


text:
And He poured on him the fury of His anger, and the strength of battle; and it has set him on fire all around, yet he did not know; and it burned him, yet he did not lay it on his heart.


text:
But now so says Jehovah who formed you, O Jacob; and He who made you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I called you by your name; you are Mine.


text:
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk in the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame kindle on you.


text:
For I am Jehovah your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt for your atonement; Ethiopia and Seba instead of you.


text:
Since you were precious in My eyes, you are honored, and I love you; and I give men instead of you; and peoples instead of your soul.


text:
Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your seed from the east, and I will gather you from the west.


text:
I will say to the north, Give up! And to the south, Do not hold back! Bring My sons from afar, and bring My daughters from the ends of the earth;


text:
everyone who is called by My name, and I have created him for My glory; I have formed him; yea, I have made him.


text:
Let all the nations be assembled, and let the peoples be gathered. Who among them can declare this and cause us to hear former things? Let them give their witnesses, that they may be justified. Or let them hear and say, It is true.


text:
You are My witnesses, says Jehovah; and My servant whom I have elected; that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed; nor shall any be after Me.


text:
I declared, and I saved, and I proclaimed; and there is not an alien god among you. And you are My witnesses, says Jehovah, and I am God.


text:
So says Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought all of them down as ones fleeing, even the Chaldeans, whose shout is in the ships.


text:
who brings out chariot and horse, force and power. They shall lie down together; they shall not rise; they are put out; they are snuffed out like the wick.


text:
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall sprout. Shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.


text:
The beast of the field shall honor Me, jackals and daughters of ostriches; because I give waters in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My elect.


text:
You have not brought Me the lamb of your burnt offerings; even your sacrifices have not honored Me. I have not caused you to serve with an offering, nor wearied you with incense.


text:
You have not bought calamus for Me with silver, nor have you filled Me with fat of your sacrifices; but you made Me serve by your sins; you wearied Me by your iniquities.


text:
Cause Me to remember; let us enter into judgment together; sum up for yourself, that you may be justified.


text:
And I will defile the rulers of the sanctuary, and will give Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reviling.


text:
So says Jehovah, who made you and formed you from the womb. He helps you. Do not fear, My servant Jacob; and you, Jeshurun whom I have elected.


text:
For I will pour water on a thirsty place, and floods on the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit on your seed, and My blessing on your offspring.


text:
This one shall say, I am Jehovah's; and this one will call himself by the name of Jacob; and this one shall write with his hand, For Jehovah, and be surnamed by the name of Israel.


text:
So says Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts: I am the First, and I am the Last; and there is no God except Me.


text:
And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare this, and set it in order before Me, since I placed the people of old? And as to things to come, even which shall come, let them declare concerning them.


text:
Do not dread, nor be afraid. Have I not declared and made you hear since then? So you are My witnesses: Is there a God besides Me? Yea, there is none. I have not known a Rock.


text:
Those who form a carved image are all of them vanity. And their delights do not profit; and they are their own witnesses. They do not see, nor know, that they may be ashamed.


text:
Behold, all his companions shall be ashamed; and the craftsmen, they are from men. They shall assemble, all of them shall stand; they shall dread; they shall be shamed together.


text:
He carves iron with a tool; he works in the coals and forms it with hammers, and works it with his powerful arm; then he is hungry, and has no strength; he drinks no water and is weary.


text:
He fashions wood, and stretches a line; he marks it with a stylus; he shapes it with a carving tool, and he marks it with a compass. And he makes it according to the figure of a man, as the beauty of a man, to sit in the house.


text:
He cuts down cedars and takes cypress and oak, and he makes the trees of the forest strong for him. He plants a tree, and rain makes it grow.


text:
And it shall be for a man to burn; yea, he takes of them and is warmed; and he kindles it and bakes bread. Yea, he makes a god and worships; he makes a carved image and bows to it.


text:
He burns half of it in the fire; he eats flesh on half of it; he roasts roast, and is satisfied. Then he warms himself and says, Ah, I am warm; I have seen the fire.


text:
And he makes a god of the rest, his carved image; he bows to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, Deliver me, for you are my god.


text:
They do not know nor discern; for He has smeared their eyes from seeing, their hearts from understanding.


text:
And not one turns back to his heart, nor has knowledge nor discernment to say, I have burned half of it in the fire; and I also have baked bread on its coals. I have roasted flesh and have eaten it; and I have made the rest of it into an idol. Shall I bow to a product of a tree?


text:
Feeding on ashes, a deceived heart turns him aside, and he does not deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?


text:
Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel. For you are My servant; I have formed you; you are My servant, O Israel; you shall not forget Me.


text:
I have blotted out your transgressions like a thick cloud; and your sins like a cloud. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.


text:
Sing, O heavens, for Jehovah has done it. Shout, O lower parts of the earth; burst forth into praise, O mountains. O forest and every tree in it, sing praise, because Jehovah has redeemed Jacob, and He glorifies Himself in Israel.


text:
So says Jehovah, your Redeemer and your Former from the womb; I am Jehovah who makes all things; stretching out the heavens, I alone spreading out the heavens. Who was with Me,


text:
frustrating the signs of liars; yea, He makes divining ones mad, turning wise ones backward, and making their knowledge foolish.


text:
He confirms the word of His servant, and completes the counsel of His messengers. He says to Jerusalem, You will be filled; and to the cities of Judah, You shall be built; and, I will raise up its ruins.


text:
He says to Cyrus, You are My shepherd; and he shall complete all My pleasure, even for Me to say to Jerusalem, You are built; and to the temple, You are founded.


text:
So says Jehovah to His anointed, to Cyrus, whom I have seized by his right hand, to subdue nations before him. Yea, I will open the loins of kings, to open the two leaved doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut.


text:
I will go before you and make hills level; I will tear apart the bronze doors, and cut the iron bars in two.


text:
And I will give you the treasures of darkness, even treasures in secret places, that you may know that I am Jehovah, who calls you by your name, the God of Israel.


text:
For My servant Jacob's sake, and for Israel My elect, I entitle you. I name you, but you do not know Me.


text:
I am Jehovah, and there is none else; there is no God except Me. I will clothe you, though you do not know Me,


text:
that they may know from the rising of the sun, and to its going down, that there is none besides Me; I am Jehovah, and there is none else;


text:
forming light, and creating darkness; making peace, and creating evil. I, Jehovah, do all these things.


text:
Drop down from above, O heavens; and let the clouds pour down righteousness. Let the earth open and let salvation bear fruit; and let righteousness spring up together. I, Jehovah have created it.


text:
Woe to him who fights with the One who formed him! A potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to its former, What are you making? Or does your work say, He has no hands?


text:
Woe to him who says to a father, What are you fathering? Or to the woman, What are you laboring over?


text:
So says Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and the One who formed him, Do you ask Me of the things to come? Do you give command to Me about My sons, and about the work of My hands?


text:
I have made the earth, and created man on it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands; and I have set all their host in order.


text:
I raised him up in righteousness, and have made straight all his ways. He shall build My city, and he will release My captives; not for price, nor for reward, says Jehovah of Hosts.


text:
So says Jehovah, The labor of Egypt, and the goods of Ethiopia, and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come to you; and they shall be yours. They shall come after you; they shall cross in chains; and they shall bow to you; they shall plead to you. Surely God is in you, and there is none else, no other God.


text:
They shall be ashamed, and also are disgraced, all of them. Together they go into disgrace, carvers of images.


text:
Israel is saved in Jehovah with everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed nor disgraced to the forevers of eternity.


text:
For so says Jehovah, Creator of the heavens; He is God, forming the earth and making it; He makes it stand, not creating it empty, but forming it to be lived in. I am Jehovah, and there is none else.


text:
I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth. I did not say to Jacob's seed, Seek Me in vain. I Jehovah speak righteousness, declaring right things.


text:
Gather yourselves and come; draw near together, escaped ones of the nations; the ones who set up the wood of their carved image, and the ones who pray to a god who cannot save; they know nothing.


text:
Declare and bring near; yea, let them consult together. Who has revealed this of old; who has told it from then? Is it not I, Jehovah? And there is no God other than Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none except Me.


text:
I have sworn by Myself, the Word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.


text:
He shall say, Only in Jehovah do I have righteousness and strength; to Him he comes; and they are ashamed, all who are angry with Him.


text:
Bel has bowed; Nebo stoops; their idols are for the beast, and for the cattle; your things carried are loads; a burden for the weary.


text:
They stoop; they bow together; they are not able to deliver the burden; and their soul has gone into captivity.


text:
Listen to me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel; who are borne from the belly, who are lifted from the womb:


text:
Even to old age I am He; and I will bear to gray hair; I made, and I will carry; and I will bear and deliver.


text:
Those who lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver on the measuring rod; they hire a refiner and he makes it a god. They fall down; yea, they worship.


text:
They carry it on the shoulder; they bear it and set it in its place, and it stands; it shall not move from its place. Yes, he cries to it, but it does not answer, it does not save him from his distress.


text:
declaring the end from the beginning, and from the past those things which were not done, saying, My counsel shall rise; and, I will do all My desire;


text:
calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My counsel from a far off land. Yes, I have spoken; yes, I will cause it to come; I have formed; yes, I will do it.


text:
I bring near My righteousness; it shall not be far off, and My salvation shall not wait; I will place salvation in Zion, My glory for Israel.


text:
Go down and sit on the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the earth; a throne is not to the daughter of the Chaldeans; for they shall not again call you tender and delicate.


text:
Take millstones and grind meal; uncover your veil; strip off the skirt; uncover the leg; pass over rivers.


text:
Your nakedness shall be uncovered; yea, your shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance and I will not meet a man.


text:
Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for they shall no more call you the mistress of kingdoms.


text:
I was angry with My people; I defiled My inheritance and gave them into your hand. You gave them no mercy; you made your yoke on the aged very heavy.


text:
And you said, I shall be a mistress forever, until you did not set these things on your heart, and did not remember its end.


text:
Now, then, hear this, O pleasure seeker, who lives carelessly; who says in her heart, I am, and none else is; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children.


text:
But these two things shall suddenly come to you, in one day: loss of children, and widowhood; according to completeness they come on you, for your many sorceries, for the multitude of your great spells.


text:
For you trusted in your evil; you said, No one sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge; it is turning you back, and you said in your heart, I am and none else is.


text:
For this, evil shall come on you; you shall not know its origin. And mischief shall fall on you; you shall not be able to cover it. And ruin shall come on you suddenly, you shall not know.


text:
Stand now among your spells, and with your many sorceries, in which you have wearied yourself since your youth. Perhaps you will be able to profit; perhaps you may cause quaking.


text:
You are exhausted by your many plans; let those dividing the heavens stand up now and save you, the stargazers, making known what is coming on you into the new moons.


text:
Behold, they are as stubble; the fire burns them; they shall not save their soul from the flame's hand; there is no coal to warm them; nor fire, to sit before it.


text:
So they are to you with whom you have labored, your traders from your youth; each one wanders to his own way; no one saves you.


text:
Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and have come out from the waters of Judah, who swear by Jehovah's name and profess by the God of Israel, not in truth or in righteousness.


text:
For they are called of the holy city, and rest themselves on the God of Israel; Jehovah of Hosts is His name.


text:
I have declared the former things from then; and they went out of My mouth; and I made them hear; suddenly I acted, and they came about.


text:
And I declared to you from then; before it came I made you hear, lest you should say, My idol did them; and my image and my casted image commanded them.


text:
You heard; see it all; and will you not declare? I made you hear new things from now, even hidden things, and you did not know them.


text:
They are created now, and not from then; even before today, but you did not hear them; lest you should say, See, I knew them.


text:
Yea, you did not hear; yea, you did not know; yea, from then your ear was not opened; for I know that betraying you will betray and revolt from the womb; it was called to you.


text:
For My name's sake I will put off My anger; and for My praise I will hold back for you, so as not to cut you off.


text:
For My sake, for My sake, I will act; for how is it defiled? And I will not give My glory to another.


text:
My hand surely founded earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens; I called to them, they stood up together.


text:
All of you gather and hear: Who among them has declared these things? Jehovah has loved him. He will do His pleasure on Babylon; yea, His arm shall be on the Chaldeans.


text:
Come near to Me; hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From its being, I was there; and now the Lord Jehovah, and His Spirit, has sent Me.


text:
So says Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.


text:
Oh that you had listened to My commands! Then your peace would have been like the river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.


text:
And your seed would have been like the sand, and your offspring of your bowels like its grain; his name would not have been cut off nor destroyed from My presence.


text:
Go out of Babylon; flee from the Chaldeans. Tell this with the voice of rejoicing; let this be heard, let it go out to the end of the earth; say, Jehovah has redeemed His servant Jacob.


text:
And they did not thirst; He led them in the deserts; He made waters flow out of rock for them. And He cut open the rock and the water gushed out.


text:
Hear Me, coastlands, and you people from afar, and prick up your ear, Jehovah called Me from the womb; He mentioned My name from My mother's belly.


text:
And He made My mouth like a sharp sword; He hid Me in the shadow of His hand, and made Me a polished arrow; He hid Me in His quiver;


text:
Then I said, I have labored in vain; I have spent My strength for nothing, and in vain; yet surely My judgment is with Jehovah, and My work with My God.


text:
And now, says Jehovah who formed Me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him: Though Israel is not gathered, yet I am honored in the eye of Jehovah, and My God is My strength.


text:
And He said, It is too little that You should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You for a light of the nations, that You may be My salvation to the end of the earth.


text:
So says Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, to the despised of soul, to the hated of the nation, the servant of rulers, Kings shall see and rise up; and chiefs shall worship; because of Jehovah who is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel; and He chose You.


text:
So says Jehovah: In a favorable time I have answered You, and in a day of salvation I have helped You. And I will preserve You, and give You for a covenant of the people; to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolated inheritances;


text:
to say to the prisoners, Go out! To those who are in darkness, Reveal yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.


text:
They shall not hunger nor thirst; and the heat and sun shall not strike them. For He who has mercy on them shall lead them; and He shall guide them by the springs of water.


text:
Behold, these shall come from afar; and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.


text:
Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; break out into singing, O mountains. For Jehovah has comforted His people and will have pity on His afflicted.


text:
Can a woman forget her suckling child, from pitying the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will surely not forget you.


text:
Lift up your eyes all around and see! They all gather and come to you. As I live, says Jehovah, you shall surely wear all of them as an ornament, and bind them on as a bride.


text:
For your wastes and your deserted places, and your land of ruins shall even now be too narrow to live there; and they who swallow you shall be far away.


text:
The sons of your bereavement shall yet say in your ears, The place is too narrow for me; come near for me so that I may have place to live.


text:
Then you shall say in your heart, Who has borne these to me, for I am bereaved and desolate, turned aside and an exile; who then has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone. From where do these come?


text:
So says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and will set up My banner to peoples. And they shall bring your sons in the bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on the shoulder.


text:
And kings shall be supporting you, and their princesses your nurses. They shall bow to you, faces down to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. And you shall know that I am Jehovah, by whom they who wait for Me shall not be ashamed.


text:
But so says Jehovah, Even the captives of the warrior shall be taken, and the plunder of the terrifying ones shall be delivered. For I will strive with him who contends with you; and I will save your sons.


text:
And those who oppress you, I will feed with their own flesh: and they shall be drunk by their own blood, as with fresh wine. And all flesh shall know that I Jehovah am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.


text:
So says Jehovah, Where is the scroll of your mother's divorce whom I have put away? Or who of My creditors that I have sold you to him? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and your mother was put away for your trespasses.


text:
Who knows why I have come, and no one is here? I called, and not one answered. Is My hand truly cut short from ransom? Or is there not power in Me to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea; I make rivers a wilderness; their fish stink because of no water, and die in thirst.


text:
The Lord Jehovah has given to Me the tongue of learned ones, to know to help the weary with a word. He arouses in the morning; He wakens the ear to Me, to hear as the learned.


text:
I gave My back to strikers, and My cheeks to pluckers; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.


text:
And the Lord Jehovah will help Me. On account of this I was not ashamed. On account of this I set My face like flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.


text:
My Justifier is near. Who will contend with Me? Let us stand up together. Who is master of My judgment? Let him come near to Me.


text:
Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help Me; who is He who will condemn Me? Behold, like a garment they shall wear out; the moth shall eat them.


text:
Who among you fears Jehovah, obeying the voice of His Servant, who walks in darkness, and no light is in him? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and lean on his God.


text:
Behold, all of you who kindle fire, who are surrounded by sparks; walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you are burning. This shall be to you from My hand; you shall lie down in pain.


text:
Hear Me, pursuers of righteousness, seekers of Jehovah: Look to the rock from which you were cut, and to the hollow of the pit from which you were dug.


text:
Look to your father Abraham, and to Sarah who bore you. For he being but one, I called him and blessed him and increased him.


text:
For Jehovah comforts Zion. He comforts all her desolations, and He makes her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of singing praise.


text:
Hear Me, My people; yea, give ear to Me, My nation. For a law shall go out from Me, and My justice I will make rest as light to peoples.


text:
My righteousness is near; My salvation went out; and My arms shall judge peoples; coastlands shall wait on Me, and they shall hope on My arm.


text:
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look to the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, and the earth shall wear out like a garment; and those living in it shall die in the same way, but My salvation shall be forever, and My righteousness shall not be broken.


text:
Hear Me, those knowing righteousness, the people of My Law in their heart; do not fear the reproach of man, and do not be bowed from their blasphemings.


text:
For the moth shall eat them like a garment; yea, the moth worm shall eat them like wool. But My righteousness shall be forever, and My salvation shall be from generation to generation.


text:
Awake! Awake! Arm of Jehovah, put on strength. Awake, as in days of old, everlasting generations. Was it not You cutting in pieces Rahab, and piercing the sea monster?


text:
Was it not You drying up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who set the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass?


text:
Yea, the ransomed of Jehovah shall return and come to Zion with singing, and everlasting joy shall be on their head; gladness and joy shall overtake them; sorrow and sighing shall flee.


text:
I, I am He comforting you. Who are you, that you should fear from man? He shall die! And from the son of man? He is given as grass.


text:
And you forget your Maker Jehovah, who has stretched out the heavens and founded the earth. And you dread continually, every day, from the fury of the oppressor, since he was ready to destroy. And where is the fury of the oppressor?


text:
But I am Jehovah your God, stirring up the sea and making its waves roar; Jehovah of Hosts is His name.


text:
And I have put My Words in your mouth, and covered you in the shade of My hand, to plant the heavens and found the earth, and to say to Zion, You are My people.


text:
Awake! Awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, who drank the cup of His fury from the hand of Jehovah; you drank the bowl of the cup of reeling; you fully drained it.


text:
No guide is for her among all the sons she has borne; and of all the sons she made to grow none makes strong her hand.


text:
Those two things came to you; who shall grieve for you? Ruin and shattering and famine and the sword, who but I shall comfort you?


text:
Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in a net, filled with the fury of Jehovah, the rebuke of your God.


text:
So says your Lord Jehovah and your God, He strives for His people. Behold, I have taken the cup of reeling out of your hand, the bowl of the cup of My fury; you shall not yet again drink it.


text:
But I will put it into the hand of those oppressing you, who have said to your soul, Bow down that we may cross, and, Put your back to the ground, and as the street to those who cross.


text:
Awake! Awake! Put on your strength, Zion; put on your beautiful robes, O Jerusalem, the holy city. For never again shall uncircumcised and unclean ones come to you.


text:
Shake yourself from the dust; rise up! Sit, Jerusalem; free yourself from your neck bands, O captive daughter of Zion.


text:
For so says the Lord Jehovah: My people went down to Egypt at the first, to reside there, and without cause Assyria oppressed him.


text:
So then what is to Me here, declares Jehovah? For My people is taken for nothing; those ruling howl, declares Jehovah. And My name is continually despised, every day.


text:
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him proclaiming good news, making peace heard, bearing tidings of good, making heard salvation, saying to Zion, Your God reigns.


text:
The voice of your watchmen, they lift the voice together, they sing aloud. For they shall see eye to eye when Jehovah brings back Zion.


text:
Break out, sing together, waste places of Jerusalem; for Jehovah comforts His people; He has redeemed Jerusalem.


text:
Jehovah has bared His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.


text:
Turn! Turn! Go out from there! Touch not the unclean! Go out of her midst, purify yourselves, bearers of the vessels of Jehovah.


text:
For you shall not go out with haste, nor will you go by flight; for Jehovah is going before you, and the God of Israel gathers you.


text:
Just as many were astonished over You, so much was the disfigurement from man, His appearance and His form from sons of mankind.


text:
So He sprinkles from many nations. At Him kings shall shut their mouths; for they will see that which was not told to them; yea, what they had not heard, they will understand.


text:
For He comes up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form nor magnificence that we should see Him; nor form that we should desire Him.


text:
He is despised and abandoned of men, a Man of pains, and acquainted with sickness. And as it were hiding our faces from Him, He being despised, and we did not value Him.


text:
Surely He has borne our sicknesses, and He carried our pain; yet we esteemed Him plagued, smitten by God, and afflicted.


text:
But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His wounds we ourselves are healed.


text:
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have each one turned to his own way; and Jehovah made meet in Him the iniquity of all of us.


text:
He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, but He did not open His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a ewe before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.


text:
He was taken from prison and from justice; and who shall consider His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living; from the transgression of My people, the stroke was to Him.


text:
And He appointed Him His grave with the wicked, but He was with a rich man in His death; though He had done no violence, and deceit was not in His mouth.


text:
But Jehovah pleased to crush Him, to make Him sick, so that If He should put His soul as a guilt offering, He shall see His seed; He shall prolong His days; and the will of Jehovah shall prosper in His hand.


text:
He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul; He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge the righteous One, My Servant, shall justify for many, and He shall bear their iniquities.


text:
Because of this I will divide to Him with the great, and with the strong He shall divide the spoil; because He poured out His soul to death; and He was counted with those transgressing; and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for those transgressing.


text:
Sing out, barren one who never bore; break out a song and shout, you who never travailed. For the sons of the desolate one are more than the sons of the married woman, says Jehovah.


text:
Make the place of your tent larger, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.


text:
For you shall break forth on the right hand and on the left. And your seed shall possess nations, and people will inhabit ruined cities.


text:
Do not fear, for you shall not be shamed, nor shall you be abashed, for you shall not be wounded. For you shall forget the shame of your youth, and you shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.


text:
For your Maker is your husband; Jehovah of Hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of all the earth.


text:
For Jehovah has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of young men when she is rejected, says your God.


text:
In a flood of wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but I will have pity on you with everlasting kindness, says Jehovah your Redeemer.


text:
For this is the waters of Noah to Me; for as I swore to refrain from passing over the waters of Noah over the earth again, so I have sworn from being angry with you and rebuking you.


text:
For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My mercy shall not depart from you; nor shall the covenant of My peace be removed, says Jehovah who has pity on you.


text:
Afflicted one, storm tossed and not comforted! Behold, I am laying your stones with antimony, and have founded you with sapphires.


text:
And I will make your battlements of ruby, and your gates carbuncle stones, and all your borders pleasing stones;


text:
You shall be established in righteousness; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.


text:
Behold, gathering they shall gather, but not from Me. Who has gathered against you? By you he shall fall.


text:
Behold, I have created the smith who blows the coal in the fire, and who brings out a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.


text:
Every weapon formed against you shall not prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness is from Me, says Jehovah.


text:
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the water; and he who has no silver, come buy grain and eat. Yes, come buy grain, wine and milk without silver and with no price.


text:
Why do you weigh out silver for that which is not bread, and your labor for what never satisfies? Listen carefully to Me and eat the good; and let your soul delight itself in fatness.


text:
Bend your ear and come to Me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will cut an everlasting covenant with you, the faithful mercies of David.


text:
Behold, You shall call a nation You do not know; yea, a nation not knowing You shall run to You, because of Jehovah Your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified You.


text:
Let the wicked forsake his way and the man of vanity his thoughts, and let him return to Jehovah, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.


text:
For as the heavens are high from the earth, so My ways are high from your ways, and My thoughts from your thoughts.


text:
For as the rain and the snow comes down from the heavens and do not return there, except it waters the earth and make it bring forth and bud, and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,


text:
so shall My Word be, which goes out of My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in what I sent it to do!


text:
For you shall go out with joy and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break out into song before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap the hand.


text:
Instead of the thornbush, the fir tree shall come up; instead of the brier, the myrtle shall come up; and it shall be for a name to Jehovah, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.


text:
So says Jehovah: Keep justice and do righteousness, for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed.


text:
Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; keeping sabbath, from defiling it; and keeping his hand from doing every evil.


text:
And do not let the son of the foreigner speak, he who joins himself to Jehovah, saying, Separating Jehovah separates me from His people; and not do let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dried tree.


text:
For so says Jehovah to the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths and choose things I am pleased with, and take hold of My covenant:


text:
I, even I will give to them in My house and in My walls a hand and a name better than sons and than daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which shall not be cut off.


text:
And the sons of the alien who join themselves on Jehovah to serve Him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from defiling the sabbath, and takes hold of My covenant:


text:
even them I will bring to My holy mount and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the peoples,


text:
states the Lord Jehovah, who gathers the outcasts of Israel; I will yet gather beside him his gathered ones.


text:
His watchmen are blind; they all do not know; they are all dumb dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber;


text:
yea, dogs greedy of soul; they do not know satisfaction. And they are shepherds; they do not know to discern; they all look to their own way, each one for his own gain, from his own end, saying:


text:
Come, and let me bring wine, and let us gulp down fermented drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, great, exceedingly abundant.


text:
The righteous one perishes, and no one lays it to heart; yea, merciful men are gathered, with no one discerning that the righteous is gathered from the face of evil.


text:
On whom are you making sport? On whom do you make a wide mouth and draw out the tongue? Are you not children of transgression, a lying seed,


text:
being inflamed with idols under every green tree, slaughtering the children in the torrent beds, under the clefts of the rocks?


text:
In the torrent's smoothness is your portion; they, they are your lot; even to them you have poured a drink offering; you have offered a food offering. Should I be consoled over these?


text:
You have set your couch on a lofty and high mountain; yea, you went up there to sacrifice a sacrifice.


text:
And you have set up your memorial behind the door and post. For you uncovered yourself from Me and went up; you enlarged your couch; and you cut covenant with them; you loved their couch; at a hand you looked.


text:
And you went to the king with oil and multiplied your perfume. And you sent your messengers far away, and lowered yourself to Sheol.


text:
You were wearied in the length of your way; you did not say, Despair! You found the life of your hand, so you were not sick.


text:
And whom have you dreaded and feared? You have lied and have not remembered Me, not laying it on your heart. Have I not been silent, even from forever, and you have not feared Me?


text:
When you cry, let your assembly deliver you; but the wind shall bear away all of them; vanity takes them. But he who takes refuge in Me shall inherit the land and possess My holy mountain.


text:
And he shall say, Raise up! Raise up! Clear the way! Make the stumbling block rise from the way of My people.


text:
For so says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, and His name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, even with the contrite and humble of spirit; to make live the spirit of the humble and to make live the heart of the contrite ones.


text:
For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry, for the spirit would faint before Me, even the breaths I have made.


text:
For I was angry and struck him for the iniquity of his gain; I hid Myself and was angry; yet he went, turning in his heart's way.


text:
His ways I have seen, but I will heal him, and will lead him and complete comforts to him and to his mourners.


text:
I create the fruit of the lips: peace, peace, to the ones far off and near, says Jehovah, and I will heal him.


text:
Call out with the throat! Do not spare. Lift up your voice like the ram's horn! And declare to My people their rebellion, and their sins to the house of Jacob.


text:
Yet they seek Me day by day, and desire knowledge of My ways. As a nation that has done right, and not forsaking the judgment of their God, they ask Me about judgments of righteousness; they desire to draw near to God.


text:
They say, Why have we fasted, and You did not see? We have afflicted our soul, and You did not acknowledge. Behold, on the day of your fast you find pleasure; and you drive all your laborers hard.


text:
Look! You fast for strife, and for debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. Do not fast as today, to sound your voice in the high place.


text:
Is this like the fast I will choose, a day for a man to afflict his soul? To bow his head down like a bulrush, and he spreads sackcloth and ashes? Will you call to this as a fast and a day of delight to Jehovah?


text:
Is this not the fast I have chosen: to open bands of wickedness, to undo thongs of the yoke, and to send out the oppressed ones free; even that you pull off every yoke?


text:
Is it not to break your bread to the hungry, that you should bring the wandering poor home? When will you see the naked and cover him, and you will not hide yourself from your flesh?


text:
Then your light shall break as the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Jehovah shall gather you.


text:
Then you shall call, and Jehovah will answer; you shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If you put the yoke away from among you, the sending out of the finger, and the speaking of iniquity;


text:
and if you let out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom shall be as the noonday.


text:
And Jehovah shall always guide you, and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.


text:
And those who come of you shall build the old ruins; you shall rear the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called, The repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to live in.


text:
If you turn your foot away because of the sabbath, from doing what you please on My holy days, and call the sabbath a delight, to the holiness of Jehovah, glorified; and shall glorify Him, to the holiness of not doing your own ways, from finding your own pleasure or speaking your word;


text:
then you shall delight yourself in Jehovah. And I will cause you to ride on the heights of the earth, and make you eat with the inheritance of your father Jacob. For the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.


text:
But your iniquities are coming between you and your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, from hearing.


text:
For your hands are defiled by blood; yea, your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken falsehood; your tongue murmurs perverseness.


text:
No one calls for righteousness; and no one pleads with truth. Trusting emptiness, and speaking vanity, they conceive mischief, and give birth to iniquity.


text:
They hatch adders' eggs, and weave the spider's web; he who eats their eggs dies; and that which is crushed hatches out a viper.


text:
Their webs shall not become clothing, nor shall they cover themselves with their works. Their works are works of evil, and the act of violence is in their hands.


text:
Their feet run to evil, and they hurry to pour out innocent blood. Thoughts of iniquity are their thoughts; wasting and ruin are in their ways.


text:
They do not know the way of peace; and no justice is in their tracks. They have made crooked paths for themselves; everyone going in them does not know peace.


text:
For this reason justice is far from us; and righteousness does not overtake us. We wait for light, but, behold, dimness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.


text:
We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as in the twilight, in deserted places like ones dying.


text:
We all of us roar like bears, and moaning we moan like doves. We look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.


text:
For our rebellions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us. For our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities;


text:
transgressing and lying against Jehovah, and backsliding from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and murmuring words of falsehood from the heart.


text:
And justice is driven back; and righteousness stands far off; for truth stumbles in the plaza, and right is not able to enter.


text:
And the truth is lacking; and whoever turns from evil makes himself a prey. And Jehovah saw; and it was evil in His eyes, that there was no justice.


text:
And He saw that there was no man, and He was astonished that there was no intercessor. And His own arm saved for Him; and His righteousness sustained Him.


text:
For He put on righteousness like armor, and a helmet of salvation on His head. And He put on robes of vengeance as clothing; and He put on zeal like a mantle.


text:
According to works, so He will repay; fury to His foes; recompense to His foes; He will repay recompense to the coasts.


text:
So they shall fear Jehovah's name from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the foe comes like a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah shall cause him to flee.


text:
And the Redeemer comes to Zion, and to those in Jacob who turn back from their rebellion, declares Jehovah.


text:
As for Me, this is My covenant with them, says Jehovah: My Spirit who is on you, and My Words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your seed, or out of the mouth of your seed's seed, from now on and forever, says Jehovah.


text:
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples. But Jehovah shall rise on you, and His glory shall be seen on you.


text:
Lift up your eyes all around and see; they are all assembling; they are coming to you. Your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be supported on the side.


text:
Then you shall fear and be bright; and your heart shall dread and swell. For the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you; the wealth of nations shall come to you.


text:
A host of camels shall cover you, young camels of Midian and Ephah. All of them shall come from Sheba, they shall bear gold and incense; and they shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah.


text:
All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; rams of Nebaioth shall serve you; they shall come up for acceptance on My altar; and I will glorify the house of My glory.


text:
For the coastlands shall wait for Me, and the ships of Tarshish at the first, to bring your sons from far away, their silver and their gold to them, to the name of Jehovah your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you.


text:
And the sons of the foreigner shall build your walls; and their kings shall serve you. For I struck you in My wrath, but I pitied you in My favor.


text:
So your gates shall be always open; they shall not be shut day or night, so that men may bring to you the force of nations, and that their kings may be led.


text:
For the nations and the kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yea, the nations shall be utterly destroyed.


text:
The glory of Lebanon shall come to you: the juniper, the box tree, and the cypress together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; yea, I will glorify the place of My feet.


text:
Also the sons of ones afflicting you shall come bowing to you. And all who despised you shall fall at the soles of your feet. And they shall call you, The City of Jehovah, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.


text:
Instead of your being forsaken and hated, so that no one passes through, I will make you for everlasting majesty, a joy of many generations.


text:
You shall also suck the milk of nations, and you shall suck the breast of kings. And you shall know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.


text:
Instead of bronze, I will bring gold; and instead of iron, I will bring silver. And instead of timber, bronze; and instead of stones, iron. And I will make your governors peace, and your exacters righteousness.


text:
Violence shall not still be heard in your land, or wasting and ruin within your borders; but you shall call your walls, Salvation, and your gates, Praise.


text:
The sun shall not still be your light by day, or the brightness of the moon give you light; but Jehovah shall be for everlasting light to you, and your God for your beauty.


text:
Your sun shall not go in any more, and your moon shall not be removed; for Jehovah will become your everlasting light; and the days of your mourning shall end.


text:
And your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the earth forever, a branch of My planting, a work of My hands, to beautify Myself.


text:
A little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation. I, Jehovah, will hasten it in its time.


text:
The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is on Me, because Jehovah has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the meek. He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and complete opening to the bound ones;


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


text:
to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of the spirit of infirmity, so that one calls them trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, in order to beautify Himself.


text:
And they shall build old ruins; they shall raise up former desolations; and they shall restore the waste cities, ruins of generations and generations.


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


text:
But you shall be called, Priests of Jehovah; it will be said of you, Ministers of our God. You shall eat the wealth of the nations, and you shall revel in their glory.


text:
Instead of your shame and disgrace, double. They rejoice in their portion; for they shall possess a second time in their land; everlasting joy shall be theirs.


text:
For I, Jehovah, love judgment, hating plunder in burnt offering. And I will give their work in truth; and I will cut an everlasting covenant for them.


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


text:
Rejoicing I will rejoice in Jehovah. My soul shall be joyful in my God. For He clothed me with garments of salvation; He put on me the robe of righteousness, even as a bridegroom dons as a priest his head-dress, and as a bride wears her ornaments.


text:
For as the earth comes out with her buds, and as a garden causes that which is sown to grow, so the Lord Jehovah will make righteousness and praise to grow before all the nations.


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


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


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


text:
You no longer shall be called Forsaken; nor shall your land any longer be called Desolate. But you shall be called, My Delight is in Her; and your land, Married. For Jehovah delights in you, and your land is married.


text:
For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you. And as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God shall rejoice over you.


text:
I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem. All the day and all the night they shall not always be silent; you who remember Jehovah, do not let a pause be to you.


text:
Jehovah has sworn by His right hand, and by the might of His arm: Surely I will no longer give your grain as food for your enemies; and the sons of a stranger shall not drink your new wine for which you have labored.


text:
But those who have gathered it shall eat it, and praise Jehovah. And they who have collected it shall drink it in My holy courts.


text:
Pass! Pass through the gates; prepare the way of the people! Raise up! Raise up the highway; clear it from stones; lift up a banner over the peoples.


text:
Behold, Jehovah has made it to be heard to the end of the earth; Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold! Your salvation comes! Behold! His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.


text:
And they shall call them, The Holy People, the Redeemed of Jehovah. And to you it shall be called, Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.


text:
Who is this who comes from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah, this One adorned in His clothing, bending in His great power? It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save!


text:
I have trodden the winepress, I alone, and no man of the peoples was with Me. And I will tread them in My anger, and trample them in My fury; and their juice shall be spattered on My garments; and I will pollute all My clothes.


text:
And I looked, and no one was helping. And I wondered that no one was upholding. Then My own arm saved for Me, and My fury upheld Me.


text:
And I tread down peoples in My anger, and made them drunk in My fury. And I poured their juice to the earth.


text:
I will mention the mercies of Jehovah, the praises of Jehovah, according to all that Jehovah has benefited us, and the great good to the house of Israel, by which He benefited them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His loving-kindness.


text:
In all their affliction, He was not a foe; and the Angel of his Face saved them. In His love and in His pity He redeemed them. And He bore them up, and lifted them up all the days of old.


text:
But they rebelled, and provoked His Holy Spirit, so He was turned to be their enemy; He fought against them.


text:
Then His people remembered the days past of Moses and His people, saying, Where is He who brought us up from the sea with the shepherd of His flock. Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within him;


text:
who led them by Moses' right hand, with His glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make for Him an everlasting name?


text:
As the cattle go down into the valley, so the Spirit of Jehovah caused him to rest; so You led Your people, to make a glorious name for Yourself.


text:
Look down from Heaven and peer from the place of Your holiness and Your glory. Where is Your zeal and Your might? The roaring of Your bowels and Your mercies toward me, are they held back?


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


text:
O Jehovah, why do You make us wander from Your ways? You harden our heart from Your fear. For Your servants' sake, return the tribes of Your inheritance.


text:
As the brushwood fire burns and fire causes water to boil, make known Your name to Your foes, that nations might tremble before You.


text:
When You did terrifying things which we did not look for, You came down; mountains flowed down before You.


text:
And from forever they have not heard; they did not give ear. Eye has not seen a God except You, who works for him who waits for Him.


text:
You meet him who rejoices and works righteousness; they recall You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned. In them is eternity, we shall be saved.


text:
But we are all as the unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as a menstruation cloth. And we all fade as a leaf, and like the wind our iniquities take us away.


text:
And there is not one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us, and have melted us away into the hand of our iniquities.


text:
But now, Jehovah, You are our Father. We are the clay, and You are our Former; yea, we all are Your handiwork.


text:
Be not angry, Jehovah, until exceeding, and do not remember iniquity forever. Behold! look, please; all of us are Your people.


text:
The house of our holiness and our beauty where our fathers praised You has become a burning of fire, and all our pleasant things have become a ruin.


text:
I have been sought, not by those who asked. I have been found, not by those who sought Me. To a nation not calling on My name, I said, Behold Me! Behold Me!


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


text:
a people who continually provoke Me to My face; who sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense on the bricks;


text:
who sit among the graves and lodge in the towers; who eat swine's flesh, and broth of unclean things in their pots;


text:
who say, Keep to yourself! Do not come near me, for I am holier than you! These are a smoke in My nose, a fire burning all the day.


text:
Behold! It is written before Me: I will not be silent, except I repay; yea, I will repay to their bosom,


text:
your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together, says Jehovah; they that burned incense on the mountains, and have blasphemed Me on the hills. And I will return their former work into their bosom.


text:
So says Jehovah: As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it; so I will do for the sake of My servants, not to destroy the whole.


text:
And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah one to inherit My mountains. And My elect shall inherit, and My servants shall live there.


text:
And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks; and the valley of Achor a resting place of herds for My people who have sought Me.


text:
But you are those who forsake Jehovah, who forget My holy mountain; who array a table for Fortune, and who fill mixed wine for Fate.


text:
And I will number you to the sword; and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because I called and you did not answer. I spoke, and you did not hear; and you did the evil in My eyes; and you chose that in which I had no pleasure.


text:
So the Lord Jehovah says this: Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry. Behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty. Behold, My servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed.


text:
Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry from heartbreak, and howl from breaking of spirit.


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


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


text:
For, behold, I create new heavens and new earth. And the former things shall not be recalled, and they shall not go up on the heart.


text:
However, be glad and rejoice forever in what I create. For, behold, I create in Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.


text:
And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people. And the voice of weeping and the voice of crying shall no longer be heard in her.


text:
There shall not still be an infant of days, or an old man that has not filled his days. For the youth shall die the son of a hundred years, but the sinner the son of a hundred years shall be accursed.


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


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


text:
The wolf and the lamb shall feed as one; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And dust is the food of the snake. They shall not do evil nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says Jehovah.


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


text:
And My hand has made all these things, even all these things exist, declares Jehovah. But I will look toward this one, to the afflicted, and to the contrite of spirit, even trembling at My Word.


text:
He who kills an ox is as if he struck a man; he who sacrifices a lamb is as if he broke a dog's neck; he who offers a present is as if it were swine's blood; he making mention of incense is as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their way, and their soul delights in their abominations.


text:
I also will choose their vexations; and I will bring their fears to them; because I called, and no one answered; I spoke, and they did not hear. But they did the evil in My eyes, and chose that in which I had no pleasure.


text:
Hear the Word of Jehovah, those who tremble at His Word. Your brothers who hate you, who drive you out for My name's sake, have said, Jehovah is glorified. But He shall appear in your joy, and they shall be ashamed.


text:
A roaring sound from the city! A sound from the temple! It is the sound of Jehovah repaying retribution to His enemies.


text:
Who has heard a thing like this? Who has seen things like these? Shall the earth be brought forth in one day? Shall a nation be born in one step? For Zion travailed and also brought forth her sons.


text:
Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? says Jehovah. Surely I cause birth, and hold back, says your God.


text:
Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all who love her. Rejoice a rejoicing with her, all who mourn for her;


text:
that you may suck and be satisfied with her comforting breasts; that you may milk out and delight yourselves with the fullness of her glory.


text:
For so says Jehovah: Behold, I stretch out peace to her like a river, and glory of nations like an overflowing torrent. And you shall suck; you shall be carried on the side and be dandled on knees.


text:
And you will see, and your heart shall rejoice; and your bones shall flourish like the grass. And the hand of Jehovah shall be known toward His servants, and He shall be indignant with His enemies.


text:
For, behold, Jehovah will come with fire, and His chariots like the tempest, to return His wrath in fury, and His rebuke in flames of fire.


text:
For by fire and by His sword Jehovah will execute judgment with all flesh; and the slain of Jehovah shall be many.


text:
Those who sanctify themselves, and purify themselves to the gardens, each one in the midst, eaters of swine's flesh, and the hateful thing, and the mouse, these are cut off together, says Jehovah.


text:
For I know their works and their thoughts; it comes to gather all the nations and the tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.


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


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


text:
For as the new heavens and the new earth which I make stand before Me, declares Jehovah, so your seed and your name shall stand.


text:
And it will be, from new moon to its new moon, and from sabbath to its sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says Jehovah.


text:
And they shall go out and see the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm shall not die, nor shall their fire be put out; and they shall be an object of disgust to all flesh.


text:
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who resided in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,


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


text:
It also came in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.


text:
I knew you before I formed you in the belly; and before you came out of the womb, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.


text:
But Jehovah said to me, Do not say, I am a boy; for you shall go to all that I shall send you. And whatever I command you, you shall speak.


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


text:
Behold, I have today appointed you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to tear down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.


text:
And the Word of Jehovah was to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see an almond rod.


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


text:
For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, declares Jehovah. And they shall come, and they will give to each his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against its walls all around, and against the cities of Judah.


text:
And I will speak My judgments against them regarding all their evil, those who have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, and have worshiped the works of their hands.


text:
And you must gird up your loins, and rise up and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be terrified before their faces, that I not prostrate you before them.


text:
For, behold, today I have made you a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against her princes, against her priests, and to the people of the land.


text:
And they shall fight against you; but they shall not overcome you. For I am with you to deliver you, declares Jehovah.


text:
Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, So says Jehovah, I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals, your going after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.


text:
Israel was holy to Jehovah, the firstfruits of His increase. All that devour him become guilty; evil shall come on them, declares Jehovah.


text:
So says Jehovah, What iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they went far from Me and have walked after vanity, and have become vain?


text:
Nor did they say, Where is Jehovah who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and of pits, in a dry land and death shade, in a land that no man has passed through, and not a man has lived there?


text:
And I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you went in, you defiled My land and made My inheritance an abomination.


text:
The priests did not say, Where is Jehovah? And they who handle the Law did not know Me. And the shepherds rebelled against Me; and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things not profitable.


text:
For go to the isles of Kittim and see, and send to Kedar, and carefully consider and see if there is any like this.


text:
Has a nation changed its gods, and they were not gods? But My people have changed their Glory without profiting.


text:
For My people have done two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, to hew out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.


text:
The young lions roared against him; they gave their voice. And they made his land a waste; his cities are ruined, without inhabitant.


text:
And now what is for you toward the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or what for you toward Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?


text:
Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your apostasies shall reprove you. Know, then, and see that your forsaking Jehovah your God is evil and bitter; and My fear is not in you, declares the Lord Jehovah of Hosts.


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


text:
Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly a true seed. How then have you turned into the deviant shoots of an alien vine to Me?


text:
Though you wash yourself with potash, and multiply soap for yourself, your iniquity is stained before Me, declares the Lord Jehovah.


text:
How can you say, I am not defiled; I have not gone after Baals? See your way in the valley; know what you have done! You are a swift camel criss-crossing her ways;


text:
a wild ass used to the wilderness. In the passion of her desire she snuffs up the wind in her time. Who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not tire themselves; in her month they will find her.


text:
Withhold your foot from being bare and your throat from thirst. But you said, It is hopeless! For I love strangers, and after them I will go.


text:
As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed. They, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets are


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


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


text:
In vain I have stricken your sons; they received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.


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


text:
Can a virgin forget her finery, a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.


text:
What? Do you trim your ways to seek love? For this reason you have even taught the evil women your ways.


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


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


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


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


text:
They say, If a man sends away his wife, and she goes from him and will be for another man, will he return to her again? Would not that land be greatly defiled? But you play the harlot with many lovers; yet would you come back to Me, says Jehovah.


text:
Lift up your eyes on the bare heights and see. Where have you not been lain with? By the highways you have sat for them, like an Arab in the desert. And you have defiled the land with your fornications and with your evil.


text:
And the showers are withheld, and there has been no latter rain. And the forehead of a woman, a harlot, was to you; you refused to be ashamed.


text:
Will He keep His anger forever? Or will He guard it to the end? Behold, you have spoken, and you have done all the evil things that you could.


text:
Jehovah also said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen what the apostate Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree, and has fornicated there.


text:
And after she had done all these, I said, She will return to Me; but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.


text:
And I watched. When for all the causes for which the apostate Israel committed adultery, I sent her away and I gave the writ of her divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and fornicated.


text:
And it happened, from the wantonness of her harlotry she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with pieces of wood.


text:
And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, says Jehovah.


text:
Go and cry these words toward the north, and say, Return, O apostate Israel, says Jehovah. I will not cause My face to fall on you, for I am merciful, says Jehovah; I will not keep anger forever.


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


text:
Return, O apostate sons, declares Jehovah; for I am Lord over you. And I will take you, one from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.


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


text:
And it will be, when you multiply and increase in the land in those days, says Jehovah, they will no longer say, The ark of the covenant of Jehovah! Nor shall it come to the heart, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they miss it, nor shall it be made any more.


text:
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah. And all nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem. And they shall not walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.


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


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


text:
Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her lover, so you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, declares Jehovah.


text:
A voice was heard weeping on the bare heights, pleadings of the sons of Israel; for they have perverted their way; they have forgotten Jehovah their God.


text:
Return, O apostate sons; I will heal your apostasies. Behold, we come to You, for You are Jehovah our God.


text:
Truly, for delusion comes from the hills, tumult on the mountains. Truly, in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.


text:
For the shameful thing has eaten up the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.


text:
We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covers us. For we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.


text:
If you will return, O Israel, says Jehovah, return to Me. And if you will turn away from your hateful idols out of My face and will not waver,


text:
and you will swear, As Jehovah lives, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness; even the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they will glory.


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


text:
Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and take away the foreskin of your heart, O men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, that My fury not go forth like fire and burn, so that no one can put it out; because of the evil of your doings.


text:
Declare in Judah, and make it heard in Jerusalem, and say, Blow the ram's horn in the land. Cry, fulfill and say, Assemble yourselves and go into the fortified cities.


text:
Lift up a banner toward Zion. Flee for safety and do not wait. For I will bring evil from the north and a great ruin.


text:
The lion has come up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to make your land a waste. Your cities will fall into ruins without one living in them.


text:
Clothe yourselves with sackcloth for this, wail and howl. For the fierce anger of Jehovah has not turned back from us.


text:
And it will be on that day, says Jehovah, the king's heart and the heart of the rulers shall perish. And the priests shall be amazed; and the prophets shall be astounded.


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


text:
At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare hills in the desert toward the daughter of My people, not to sift nor to cleanse!


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


text:
O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart from evil so that you may be saved. Until when will your vain thoughts lodge within you?


text:
Tell it to the nations: Behold, proclaim against Jerusalem, Besiegers are coming from a distant land and will set their voice against the cities of Judah.


text:
Like the ones watching a field, they are against her all around because she has rebelled against Me, says Jehovah.


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


text:
My bowels! My bowels! I convulse in pain. O walls of my heart! My heart is restless within me. I cannot be silent, for I have heard, O my soul, the sound of the ram's horn, the alarm of war!


text:
Ruin on ruin has been called; for the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment.


text:
For My people are foolish. They do not know Me. They are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but they do not know to do good.


text:
I looked on the earth, and, behold! It was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light.


text:
I looked, and, behold! The fruitful place was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down before the face of Jehovah, before His glowing anger.


text:
The earth shall mourn for this, and the heavens above shall grow black, because I have seen, I have purposed and I will not repent, nor will I turn back from it.


text:
Every city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and shooters of the bow. They shall go into thickets and go up in the rocks. Every city shall be forsaken, and not a man shall live in them.


text:
And you, O stripped one, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, though you make large your eyes with paint, you beautify yourself in vain. Lovers despise you; they will seek your life.


text:
For I have heard a voice as of a sick woman, the anguish as one bearing her first child, the voice of Zion's daughter gasping and spreading her hands, saying, Woe is to me now, for my soul faints because of murderers.


text:
Roam around in Jerusalem's streets and see now, and know, and seek in her plazas if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.


text:
O Jehovah, are not Your eyes for the truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You consumed them, yet they refused to take correction. They made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.


text:
So I said, Surely they are poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God.


text:
I will go up for myself to the great men and will speak to them. For they have known the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God. Surely these have joined in breaking the yoke; they have torn off the bonds.


text:
On account of this a lion out of the forest shall strike them; a wolf of the desert shall destroy them; a leopard is watching over their cities. Everyone who goes out from them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many; their rebellions are multiplied.


text:
Why should I pardon you for this? Your sons have forsaken Me and have sworn by No-gods. When I adjured them, they then committed adultery and gathered themselves by troops in a harlot's house.


text:
They were like lusty, well fed stallions in the morning, everyone neighing after the wife of his neighbor.


