# verses

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 God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, What ails you, Hagar? Don't be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.


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 God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the bottle with water, and gave the boy drink.


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 God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and as he grew up he became an archer.


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 It happened at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, God is with you in all that you do.


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 Now therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.


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 Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.


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 Abimelech said, I don't know who has done this thing. You didn't tell me, neither did I hear of it, until today.


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 He said, You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well.


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 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.


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 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God.


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 It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham! He said, Here I am.


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 He said, Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.


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 Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.


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 Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you.


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 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together.


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 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, My father? He said, Here I am, my son. He said, Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?


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 Abraham said, God will Himself provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. So they both went together.


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 They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood.


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 He said, Don't lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me. God's Promise to Abraham 


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 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.


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 Abraham called the name of that place "Yahweh Will Provide'. As it is said to this day, On Yahweh's mountain, it will be provided.


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 and said, I have sworn by Myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,


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 that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the sky, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies.


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 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba.


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 It happened after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she also has borne children to your brother Nahor:


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 Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.


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 I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.


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 Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead.


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 He talked with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,


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 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me for a possession among you of a burying-place.


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 Now Ephron was sitting in the middle of the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying,


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 No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.


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 He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.


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 My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead. 


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 Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants' standard.


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 So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded


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 to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.


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 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan.


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 The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the children of Heth.


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 Abraham's Concern about a Wife for Isaac Abraham was old, and well stricken in age. Yahweh had blessed Abraham in all things.


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 Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, Please put your hand under my thigh.


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 I will make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live.


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 The servant said to him, What if the woman isn't willing to follow me to this land? Must I bring your son again to the land you came from?


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 Yahweh, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house, and from the land of my birth, who spoke to me, and Who swore to me, saying, "I will give this land to your seed', He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.


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 If the woman isn't willing to follow you, then you shall be clear from this my oath. Only you shall not bring my son there again.


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 The servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.


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 The servant took ten camels of his master's camels, and departed, having a variety of good things of his master's with him. He arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.


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 He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the evening time, the time that women go out to draw water.


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 He said, Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.


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 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water. The daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.


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 Let it happen, that the young lady to whom I will say, "Please let down your pitcher, that I may drink', and she will say, "Drink, and I will also give your camels drink'--let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. By this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master. Rebekah's Choice 


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 It happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder.


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 The young lady was very beautiful to look at, a virgin, neither had any man known her. She went down to the spring, filled her pitcher, and came up.


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 When she had done giving him drink, she said, I will also draw for your camels, until they have done drinking.


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 She hurried, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.


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 The man looked at her amazed, remaining silent, to know whether Yahweh had made his journey prosperous or not.


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 So it happened, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold,


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 and said, Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room in your father's house for us to lodge in?


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 He said, Blessed be Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His loving kindness and His truth toward my master. As for me, Yahweh has led me in the way to the house of my master's relatives.


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 It happened, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, This is what the man said to me, that he came to the man. Behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.


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 He said, Come in, you blessed of Yahweh. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.


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 The man came into the house, and he unloaded the camels. He gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.


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 Food was set before him to eat, but he said, I will not eat until I have told my message. He said, Speak on. Abraham's Servant Makes a Speech 


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 Yahweh has blessed my master greatly. He has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, and camels and donkeys.


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 Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master when she was old. He has given all that he has to him.


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 My master made me swear, saying, "You shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live,


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 He said to me, "Yahweh, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you, and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son of my relatives, and of my father's house.


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 Then will you be clear from my oath, when you come to my relatives. If they don't give her to you, you shall be clear from my oath'.


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 I came this day to the spring, and said, "Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, if now You do prosper my way which I go--


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 behold, I am standing by this spring of water. Let it happen, that the maiden who comes out to draw, to whom I will say, Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,


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 and she will tell me, 'Drink, and I will also draw for your camels' - let her be the woman whom Yahweh has appointed for my master's son.


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 Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. She went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, "Please let me drink'.


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 She hurried and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, "Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink'. So I drank, and she also gave the camels a drink.


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 I asked her, and said, "Whose daughter are you?' She said, "The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him'. I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands.


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 I bowed my head, and worshiped Yahweh, and blessed Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter for his son.


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 Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left. 


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 Then Laban and Bethuel answered, The thing proceeds from Yahweh. We can't speak to you bad or good.


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 Behold, Rebekah is before you. Take her, and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as Yahweh has spoken.


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 It happened that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth to Yahweh.


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 The servant brought out jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and her mother.


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 They ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed all night. They rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away to my master.


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 Her brother and her mother said, Let the young lady stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that she will go.


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 He said to them, Don't hinder me, since Yahweh has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.


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 They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your seed possess the gate of those who hate them.


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 Rebekah arose with her ladies. They rode on the camels, and followed the man. The servant took Rebekah, and went his way.


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 Isaac went out to pray in the field at the evening. He lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, there were camels coming.


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 She said to the servant, Who is the man who is walking in the field to meet us? The servant said, It is my master. She took her veil, and covered herself.


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 Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. He loved her. Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.


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 Jokshan became the father of Sheba, and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.


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 The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.


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 but to the sons of Abraham's concubines, Abraham gave gifts. He sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, to the east country.


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 These are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years.


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 Abraham gave up the spirit, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people.


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 Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre,


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 the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth. Abraham was buried there with Sarah, his wife.


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 It happened after the death of Abraham that God blessed Isaac, his son. Isaac lived by Beer Lahai Roi. 


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 Now this is the history of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bore to Abraham.


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 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to the order of their birth: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,


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 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments: twelve princes, according to their nations.


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 These are the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years. He gave up the spirit and died, and was gathered to his people.


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 They lived from Havilah to Shur that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He lived opposite all his relatives. 


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 This is the history of the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham became the father of Isaac.


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 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian, to be his wife.


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 Isaac entreated Yahweh for his wife, because she was barren. Yahweh was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.


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 The children struggled together within her. She said, If it be so, why do I live? She went to inquire of Yahweh.


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 Yahweh said to her, Two nations are in your womb. Two peoples will be separated from your body. The one people will be stronger than the other people. The elder will serve the younger.


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 After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau's heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. 


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 The boys grew. Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a perfect man, living in tents.


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 Esau said to Jacob, Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am famished. Therefore his name was called Edom.


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 Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.


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 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.


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 Yahweh appeared to him, and said, Don't go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about.


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 Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For to you, and to your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.


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 I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and will give to your seed all these lands. In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed,


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 because Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My requirements, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws. 


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 The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, She is my sister, for he was afraid to say, My wife, lest, he thought, the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at.


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 It happened, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah his wife.


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 Abimelech called Isaac and said, Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, "She is my sister?' Isaac said to him, Because I said, "Lest I die because of her'.


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 Abimelech said, What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!


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 Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.


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 Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Yahweh blessed him.


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 He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him.


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 Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth.


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 Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father. For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them.


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 The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours! He called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.


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 He left that place, and dug another well. They didn't argue over that one. He called it Rehoboth. He said, For now Yahweh has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.


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 Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham your father. Don't be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your seed for My servant Abraham's sake.


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 He built an altar there, and called on the name of Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac's servants dug a well.


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 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army.


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 They said, We saw plainly that Yahweh was with you. We said, "Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you,


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 that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace'. You are now the blessed of Yahweh.


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 They rose up some time in the morning, and swore one to another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.


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 It happened the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, We have found water.


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 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.


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 It happened, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, My son? He said to him, Here I am.


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 Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison.


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 Make me savoury food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.


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 Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.


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 Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying,


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 "Bring me venison, and make me savoury food, that I may eat, and bless you before Yahweh before my death'.


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 Go now to the flock, and get me from there two good young goats. I will make them savoury food for your father, such as he loves.


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 What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing.


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 His mother said to him, Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me.


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 He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savoury food, such as his father loved.


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 Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son.


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 Jacob said to his father, I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me.


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 Isaac said to his son, How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son? He said, Because Yahweh your God gave me success.


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 Isaac said to Jacob, Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.


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 Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.


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 He didn't recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau's hands. So he blessed him.


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 He said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless you. He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank.


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 He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.


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 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers. Let your mother's sons bow down to you.  Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you. Esau's Anger 


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 It happened, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.


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 He also made savoury food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that your soul may bless me.


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 Isaac trembled violently, and said, Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed.


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 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said to his father, Bless me, even me also, my father.


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 He said, Isn't he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing. He said, Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?


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 Isaac answered Esau, Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers have I given to him for servants. With grain and new wine have I sustained him. What then will I do for you, my son?


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 Esau said to his father, Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father. Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.


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 Isaac his father answered him, Behold, of the fatness of the earth will be your dwelling, and of the dew of the sky from above.


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 By your sword will you live, and you will serve your brother. It will happen, when you will break loose, that you shall shake his yoke from off your neck.


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 Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.


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 The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.


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 until your brother's anger turn away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?


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 Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?


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 Isaac called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.


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 Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father. Take a wife from there from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.


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 May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples,


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 and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you, and to your seed with you, that you may inherit the land where you travel, which God gave to Abraham.


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 Isaac sent Jacob away. He went to Paddan Aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, Rebekah's brother, Jacob's and Esau's mother.


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 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram, to take him a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a command, saying, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,


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 Esau went to Ishmael, and took, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife. Jacob's Vision of the Ladder 


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 He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep.


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 He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it.


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 Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed.


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 Your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed.


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 Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.


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 Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, Surely Yahweh is in this place, and I didn't know it.


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 He was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other than God's house, and this is the gate of heaven.


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 Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on its top.


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 Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on,


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 then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God's house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give the tenth to you.


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 He looked, and behold, a well in the field, and, behold, three flocks of sheep lying there by it. For out of that well they watered the flocks. The stone on the well's mouth was large.


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 There all the flocks were gathered. They rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again on the well's mouth in its place.


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 He said to them, Is it well with him? They said, It is well. See, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep.


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 He said, Behold, it is still the middle of the day, not time to gather the livestock together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.


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 They said, We can't, until all the flocks are gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well's mouth. Then we water the sheep.


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 It happened, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.


text:
 Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he was Rebekah's son. She ran and told her father. 


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 It happened, when Laban heard the news of Jacob, his sister's son, that he ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things.


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 Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?


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 Laban said, It is better that I give her to you, than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.


text:
 Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.


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 It happened in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him. He went in to her.


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 It happened in the morning that, behold, it was Leah. He said to Laban, What is this you have done to me? Didn't I serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?


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 Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me yet seven other years.


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 He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.


text:
 Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction. For now my husband will love me.


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 She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, Because Yahweh has heard that I am hated, He has therefore given me this son also. She named him Simeon.


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 She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, Now this time will my husband be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons. Therefore his name was called Levi.


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 She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, This time will I praise Yahweh. Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.


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 Jacob's Children and Domestic Problems When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, Give me children, or else I will die.


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 Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, Am I in God's place, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?


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 She said, Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her.


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 Rachel said, God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son. Therefore called she his name Dan.


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 Rachel said, With mighty wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed. She named him Naphtali.


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 When Leah saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah, her handmaid, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.


text:
 Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Please give me some of your son's mandrakes.


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 She said to her, Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes, also? Rachel said, Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes.


text:
 Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, You must come in to me; for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes. He lay with her that night.


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 Leah said, God has given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid to my husband. She named him Issachar.


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 Leah said, God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons. She named him Zebulun.


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 It happened, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country.


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 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service with which I have served you.


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 Laban said to him, If now I have found favour in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that Yahweh has blessed me for your sake.


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 For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. Yahweh has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will I provide for my own house also?


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 He said, What shall I give you? Jacob said, You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it.


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 I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. This will be my hire.


text:
 So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that might be with me, will be counted stolen.


text:
 That day, he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.


text:
 Jacob took to himself rods of fresh poplar, almond, plane tree, peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.


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 He set the rods which he had peeled opposite the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs where the flocks came to drink. They conceived when they came to drink.


text:
 Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the black in the flock of Laban: and he put his own droves apart, and didn't put them into Laban's flock.


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 It happened, whenever the stronger of the flock conceived, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods;


text:
 but when the flock were feeble, he didn't put them in. So the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.


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 The man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.


text:
 Jacob's Family Escape from Laban He heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob has taken away all that was our father's. From that which was our father's, has he gotten all this wealth.


text:
 Yahweh said to Jacob, Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you.


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 and said to them, I see the expression on your father's face, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.


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 If he said this, "The speckled will be your wages', then all the flock bore speckled. If he said this, "The streaked will be your wages', then all the flock bore streaked.


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 It happened during mating season that I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which leaped on the flock were streaked, speckled, and grizzled.


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 He said, "Now lift up your eyes, and behold, all the male goats which leap on the flock are streaked, speckled, and grizzled, for I have seen all that Laban does to you.


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 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your birth'.


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 Rachel and Leah answered him, Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house?


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 Aren't we accounted by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also quite devoured our money.


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 For all the riches which God has taken away from our father, that is ours and our children's. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.


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 and he took away all his livestock, and all his possessions which he had gathered, including the livestock which he had gained in Paddan Aram, to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan.


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 So he fled with all that he had. He rose up, passed over the River, and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead. 


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 He took his relatives with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey. He overtook him in the mountain of Gilead.


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 God came to Laban the Syrian, in a dream of the night, and said to him, Take heed to yourself that you don't speak to Jacob either good or bad.


text:
 Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain, and Laban with his relatives encamped in the mountain of Gilead.


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 Laban said to Jacob, What have you done, that you have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword?


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 Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and didn't tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourine and with harp;


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 It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, "Take heed to yourself that you don't speak to Jacob either good or bad'.


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 Now you want to be gone, because you greatly longed for your father's house, but why have you stolen my gods?


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 Jacob answered Laban, Because I was afraid, for I said, "Lest you should take your daughters from me by force'.


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 Anyone you find your gods with shall not live. Before our relatives, discern what is yours with me, and take it. For Jacob didn't know that Rachel had stolen them.


text:
 Laban went into Jacob's tent, into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two female servants; but he didn't find them. He went out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.


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 Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them in the camel's saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt about all the tent, but didn't find them.


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 She said to her father, Don't let my lord be angry that I can't rise up before you; for I'm having my period. He searched, but didn't find the teraphim.


text:
 Jacob was angry, and argued with Laban. Jacob answered Laban, What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me?


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 Now that you have felt around in all my stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, that they may judge between us two.


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 These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven't eaten the rams of your flocks.


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 That which was torn of animals, I didn't bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.


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 This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes.


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 These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.


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 Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked you last night.


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 Laban answered Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine: and what can I do this day to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne?


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 Jacob said to his relatives, Gather stones. They took stones, and made a heap. They ate there by the heap.


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 If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, no man is with us; behold, God is witness between me and you.


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 May this heap be a witness, and the pillar be a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and that you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.


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 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us. Then Jacob swore by the fear of his father, Isaac.


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 Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread. They ate bread, and stayed all night in the mountain.


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 Early in the morning, Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them. Laban departed and returned to his place.


text:
 Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.


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 He commanded them, saying, This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: "This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now.


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 I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favour in your sight'.


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 The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau. Not only that, but he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him.


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 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies;


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 and he said, If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape.


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 Jacob said, God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, "Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good',


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 I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which You have shown to Your servant; for with just my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.


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 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and strike me, and the mothers with the children.


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 You said, "I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which can't be numbered because there are so many'.


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 He lodged there that night, and took from that which he had with him, a present for Esau, his brother:


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 He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd.


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 He commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, "Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?'


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 Then you shall say, "They are your servant, Jacob's. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us'.


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 He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him.


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 You shall say, "Not only that, but behold, your servant, Jacob, is behind us'. For, he said, I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.


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 He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok.


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 When he saw that he didn't prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled.


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 He said, Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.


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 Jacob asked him, Please tell me Your name. He said, Why is it that you ask what My name is? He blessed him there.


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 Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, he said, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.


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 Therefore the children of Israel don't eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.


text:
 Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. He divided the children between Leah, Rachel, and the two handmaids.


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 He put the handmaids and their children in front, Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear.


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 He himself passed over in front of them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.


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 He lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with you? He said, The children whom God has graciously given your servant.


text:
 Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves. After them, Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed themselves.


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 Esau said, What do you mean by all this company which I met? Jacob said, To find grace in the sight of my lord.


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 Jacob said, Please no, if I have now found grace in your sight, then receive my present at my hand, because I have seen your face, as one sees the face of God, and you were pleased with me.


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 Please take away my blessing that I brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have all things. He urged him, and he took it. 


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 Jacob said to him, My lord knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young, and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die.


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 Please let my lord pass over before his servant, and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the livestock that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord to Seir.


text:
 Esau said, Let me now leave with you some of the folk who are with me. He said, Why? Let me find favour in the sight of my lord.


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 Jacob travelled to Succoth, built himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.


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 Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan Aram; and encamped before the city.


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 He bought the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money.


text:
 Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her.


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 His soul joined to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady.


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 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came.


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 The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; a thing which ought not to be done.


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 Hamor talked with them, saying, The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.


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 You shall dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it.


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 Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, Let me find favour in your eyes, and whatever you will tell me I will give.


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 Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife. Jacob's Sons Take Revenge 


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 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit, and spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister,


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 and said to them, We can't do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us.


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 Only on this condition will we consent to you. If you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised;


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 then will we give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.


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 But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our sister, and we will be gone.


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 The young man didn't wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he was honoured above all the house of his father.


text:
 Hamor and Shechem, his son, came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying,


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 These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.


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 Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised.


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 Won't their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let us give our consent to them, and they will dwell with us.


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 All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor, and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.


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 It happened on the third day, when they were sore, that two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males.


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 They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away.


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 They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field,


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 and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything that was in the house.


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 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.


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 God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.


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 Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, change your garments.


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 Let us arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.


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 They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.


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 They travelled, and a terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they didn't pursue the sons of Jacob.


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 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.


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 He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there God was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.


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 Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth. 


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 God said to him, Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel. He named him Israel.


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 God said to him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body.


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 The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your seed after you will I give the land.


text:
 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.


text:
 They travelled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labour.


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 When she was in hard labour, the midwife said to her, Don't be afraid, for now you will have another son.


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 It happened, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.


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 It happened, while Israel lived in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.


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 The sons of Zilpah (Leah's handmaid): Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.


text:
 Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (which is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac lived as foreigners.


text:
 Isaac gave up the spirit, and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. Esau and Jacob, his sons, buried him.


text:
 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon, the Hittite; and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite;


text:
 Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.


text:
 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, with his livestock, all his animals, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan, and went into a land away from the presence of his brother Jacob.


text:
 For their substance was too great for them to dwell together, and the land of their travels couldn't bear them because of their livestock.


text:
 This is the history of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir:


text:
 these are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau; and Reuel, the son of Basemath, the wife of Esau.


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 Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau's son; and she bore to Eliphaz Amalek. These are the sons of Adah, Esau's wife.


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 These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife.


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 These were the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.


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 These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz,


text:
 chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek: these are the chiefs who came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah.


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 These are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah: these are the chiefs who came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife.


text:
 These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau's wife: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah: these are the chiefs who came of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife.


text:
 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs who came of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.


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 These are the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he fed the donkeys of Zibeon his father.


text:
 chief Dishon, chief Ezer, and chief Dishan: these are the chiefs who came of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.


text:
 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel.


text:
 Husham died, and Hadad, the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. The name of his city was Avith.


text:
 Baal Hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place. The name of his city was Pau. His wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.


text:
 These are the names of the chiefs who came from Esau, according to their families, after their places, and by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth,


text:
 chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. This is Esau, the father of the Edomites.


text:
 This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father.


text:
 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colours.


text:
 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn't speak peaceably to him.


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 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.


text:
 His brothers said to him, Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed have dominion over us? They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.


text:
 He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.


text:
 He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?


text:
 His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind. Joseph's Brothers Try to Kill Him 


text:
 Israel said to Joseph, Aren't your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them. He said to him, Here I am.


text:
 He said to him, Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.


text:
 A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering delirious in the field. The man asked him, What are you looking for?


text:
 The man said, They have left here, for I heard them say, "Let us go to Dothan'. Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.


text:
 Come now therefore and let's kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, "An evil animal has devoured him'. We will see what will become of his dreams.


text:
 Reuben said to them, Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him--that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.


text:
 It happened, when Joseph came to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colours that was on him;


text:
 They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.


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 Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh. His brothers listened to him.


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 Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.


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 He returned to his brothers and said, The child is no more; and I, where will I go? Jacob's Sons Deceive Him 


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 They took the coat of many colours, and they sent it to their father, and said, We have found this. Examine it, please, whether it is your son's coat or not.


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 He recognized it, and said, It is my son's coat. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.


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 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning. His father wept for him.


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 It happened at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.


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 Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her, and went in to her.


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 Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her, and raise up seed to your brother.


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 Onan knew that the seed wouldn't be his; and it happened, when he went in to his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother.


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 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in your father's house, until Shelah, my son, is grown up; for he said, Lest he also die, like his brothers. Tamar went and lived in her father's house. 


text:
 After many days, Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite.


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 She took off of her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she wasn't given to him as a wife.


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 He turned to her by the way, and said, Please come, let me come in to you, for he didn't know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, What will you give me, that you may come in to me?


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 He said, I will send you a young goat from the flock. She said, Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?


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 He said, What pledge will I give you? She said, Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand. He gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him.


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 Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand, but he didn't find her.


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 Then he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the road? They said, There has been no prostitute here.


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 He returned to Judah, and said, I haven't found her; and also the men of the place said, "There has been no prostitute here'.


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 Judah said, Let her keep it, lest we be shamed. Behold, I sent this young goat, and you haven't found her.


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 It happened about three months later, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute; and moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution. Judah said, Bring her out, and let her be burnt.


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 When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man, whose these are, I am with child. She also said, Examine, please, whose these are--the signet, and the cords, and the staff.


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 Judah recognized them and said, She is more righteous than I, because I didn't give her to Shelah, my son. He knew her again no more.


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 When she travailed, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, This came out first.


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 It happened, as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out, and she said, Why have you made a breach for yourself? Therefore his name was called Perez.


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 Afterward his brother came out, that had the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.


text:
 Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down there.


text:
 Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian.


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 Joseph found favour in his sight. He ministered to him, and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.


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 It happened from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that Yahweh blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of Yahweh was on all that he had, in the house and in the field.


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 He left all that he had in Joseph's hand. He didn't concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate. Joseph was well-built and handsome.


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 It happened after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.


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 But he refused, and said to his master's wife, Behold, my master doesn't know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand.


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 He isn't greater in this house than I, neither has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?


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 About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside.


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 She caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me! He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside.


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 she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, Behold, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice.


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 It happened, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and ran outside.


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 She spoke to him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me,


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 and it happened, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and ran outside. 


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 It happened, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, This is what your servant did to me, that his wrath was kindled.


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 Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody.


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 But Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.


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 The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, he was responsible for it.


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 The keeper of the prison didn't look after anything that was under his hand, because Yahweh was with him; and that which he did, Yahweh made it prosper.


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 It happened after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord, the king of Egypt.


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 He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.


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 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them. They stayed in prison many days.


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 They both dreamed a dream, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison.


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 He asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, saying, Why do you look so sad today?


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 They said to him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. Joseph said to them, Don't interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me.


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 The chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was in front of me,


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 and in the vine were three branches. It was as though it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters produced ripe grapes.


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 Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. 


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 Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your office. You will give Pharaoh's cup into his hand, the way you did when you were his cupbearer.


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 But remember me when it will be well with you, and please show kindness to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.


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 For indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.


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 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head.


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 In the top basket there was all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.


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 Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from off you, and will hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from off you.


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 It happened the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.


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 Behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass.


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 Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river.


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 He slept and dreamed a second time: and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good.


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 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.


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 It happened in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all of Egypt's magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.


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 Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker.


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 We dreamed a dream in one night, I and he. We dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.


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 There was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. To each man according to his dream he interpreted.


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 It happened, as he interpreted to us, so it was: he restored me to my office, and he hanged him. Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dreams 


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 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh.


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 Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.


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 and behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass,


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 and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for ugliness.


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 and when they had eaten them up, it couldn't be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke.


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 and behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.


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 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.


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 Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do, He has declared to Pharaoh.


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 The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one.


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 The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine.


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 There will arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land,


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 and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous.


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 The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.


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 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt's produce in the seven plenteous years.


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 Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.


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 The food will be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; that the land not perish through the famine. 


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 Pharaoh said to Joseph, Because God has shown you all of this, there is none so discreet and wise as you.


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 You shall be over my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.


text:
 Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck,


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 and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, Tender father! He set him over all the land of Egypt.


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 Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.


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 Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-Paaneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. 


text:
 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.


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 He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was around every city, he laid up in the same.


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 Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number.


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 To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.


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 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, For, he said, God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.


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 The name of the second, he called Ephraim: For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.


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 The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.


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 When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.


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 The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt.


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 All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.


text:
 Jacob's Sons Meet Joseph in Egypt Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why do you look at one another?


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 He said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.


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 But Jacob didn't send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers; for he said, Lest perhaps harm happen to him.


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 Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph's brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth.


text:
 Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, Where did you come from? They said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.


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 Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.


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 They said, We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.


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 By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here, unless your youngest brother comes here.


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 Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.


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 If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses.


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 They said one to another, We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn't listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.


text:
 Reuben answered them, saying, Didn't I tell you, saying, "Don't sin against the child', and you wouldn't listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required.


text:
 He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes.


text:
 Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore each man's money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done to them. Jacob's Sons Return to Canaan 


text:
 As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.


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 He said to his brothers, My money is restored! Behold, it is in my sack! Their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling one to another, saying, What is this that God has done to us?


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 They came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had happened to them, saying,


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 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan'.


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 The man, the lord of the land, said to us, "By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way.


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 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land'.


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 It happened as they emptied their sacks, that behold, each man's bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid.


text:
 Jacob, their father, said to them, You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.


text:
 Reuben spoke to his father, saying, Kill my two sons, if I don't bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again.


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 He said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.


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 It happened, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little more food.


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 Judah spoke to him, saying, The man solemnly warned us, saying, "You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you'.


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 but if you'll not send him, we'll not go down, for the man said to us, "You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you'.


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 They said, The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, "Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, "Bring your brother down?'


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 Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the boy with me, and we'll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones.


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 I'll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don't bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever,


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 Their father, Israel, said to them, If it must be so, then do this. Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds;


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 and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.


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 May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.


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 The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.


text:
 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Bring the men into the house, and slay an animal, and make ready; for the men will dine with me at noon.


text:
 The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time, we're brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys.


text:
 When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, each man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand.


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 We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don't know who put our money in our sacks.


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 He said, Peace be to you. Don't be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money. He brought Simeon out to them.


text:
 The man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder.


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 They prepared the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there. 


text:
 When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to him to the earth.


text:
 He asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?


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 He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? He said, God be gracious to you, my son.


text:
 Joseph hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there.


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 They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians, that ate with him, by themselves, because the Egyptians don't eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.


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 They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marvelled one with another.


text:
 He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.


text:
 He commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in his sack's mouth.


text:
 Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, with his grain money. He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.


text:
 When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, "Why have you rewarded evil for good?


text:
 Isn't this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing'.


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 They said to him, Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!


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 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord's house?


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 With whoever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondservants.


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 He said, Now also let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found will be my bondservant; and you will be blameless.


text:
 He searched, beginning with the eldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack.


text:
 Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him.


text:
 Joseph said to them, What deed is this that you have done? Don't you know that such a man as I can indeed divine?


text:
 Judah said, What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord's bondservants, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found.


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 He said, Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my bondservant; but as for you, go up in peace to your father. 


text:
 Then Judah came near to him, and said, Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and don't let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh.


text:
 We said to my lord, "We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him'.


text:
 We said to my lord, "The boy can't leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die'.


text:
 You said to your servants, "Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more'.


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 We said, "We can't go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man's face, unless our youngest brother is with us'.


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 and the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I haven't seen him since.


text:
 If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol'.


text:
 Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; since his life is bound up in the boy's life;


text:
 it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol.


text:
 For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, "If I don't bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever'.


text:
 Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, a bondservant to my lord; and let the boy go up with his brothers.


text:
 For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn't with me?--lest I see the evil that will come on my father.


text:
 Then Joseph couldn't refrain himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, Cause everyone to go out from me! No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.


text:
 Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph! Does my father still live? His brothers couldn't answer him; for they were terrified at his presence.


text:
 Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, please. They came near. He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.


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 Now don't be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.


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 For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest.


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 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.


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 So now it wasn't you who sent me here, but God, and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.


text:
 Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, "This is what your son Joseph says, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don't wait.


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 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children's children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.


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 There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have'.


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 Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.


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 You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here.


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 The report of it was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brothers have come. It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.


text:
 Pharaoh said to Joseph, Tell your brothers, "Do this. Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan.


text:
 Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land'.


text:
 Now you are commanded: do this. Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.


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 Also, don't concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all of the land of Egypt is yours.


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 The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.


text:
 He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.


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 He sent the following to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way.


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 So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, See that you don't quarrel on the way.


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 They told him, saying, Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. His heart fainted, for he didn't believe them.


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 They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived.


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 Israel travelled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac.


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 He said, I am God, the God of your father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.


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 I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph will close your eyes.


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 Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.


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 They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt--Jacob, and all his seed with him,


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 his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and he brought all his seed with him into Egypt.


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 These are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn.


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 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.


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 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.


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 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.


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 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, even sixteen souls.


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 To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.


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 These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls were seven.


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 All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct descendants, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were sixty-six.


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 The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy. 


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 He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen.


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 Joseph prepared his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.


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 Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father's house, I will go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and will tell him, "My brothers, and my father's house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.


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 These men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have'.


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 that you shall say, "Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:' that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.


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 Jacob's Family Settle in Egypt Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.


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 Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation? They said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.


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 They said to Pharaoh, We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.


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 The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.


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 Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.


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 Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Raamses, as Pharaoh had commanded.


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 Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and all of his father's household, with bread, according to their families. 


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 There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.


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 Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.


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 When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails.


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 Joseph said, Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.


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 They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys; and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year.


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 When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands.


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 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won't be desolate.


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 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh's.


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 As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it.


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 Only he didn't buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn't sell their land.


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 Then Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.


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 It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.


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 They said, You have saved our lives! Let us find favour in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.


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 Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn't become Pharaoh's. Jacob's Desire to Be Buried in Canaan 


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 Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.


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 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years.


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 The time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found favour in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don't bury me in Egypt,


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 but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place. He said, I will do as you have said.


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 Jacob Blesses Joseph's Sons It happened after these things, that someone said to Joseph, Behold, your father is sick. He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.


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 Someone told Jacob, and said, Behold, your son Joseph comes to you, and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed.


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 and said to me, "Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession'.


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 Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine.


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 Your issue, whom you become the father of after them, will be yours. They will be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance.


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 As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem).


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 Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me here. He said, Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.


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 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn't see. He brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.


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 Israel said to Joseph, I never thought I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your seed also.


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 Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near to him.


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 Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.


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 He blessed Joseph, and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day,


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 the Angel who has ever redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.


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 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.


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 Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.


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 His father refused, and said, I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a multitude of nations.


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 He blessed them that day, saying, In you will Israel bless, saying, "God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh'. He set Ephraim before Manasseh.


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 Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.


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 Moreover I have given to you Shechem, one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.


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 Jacob called to his sons, and said: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.


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 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; excelling in dignity, and excelling in power.


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 Boiling over as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father's bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch.


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 My soul, don't come into their council. My glory, don't be united to their multitude; for in their anger they killed men. In their self-will they hamstrung cattle.


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 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.


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 Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's sons will bow down before you.


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 Judah is a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up?


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 The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be.


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 Binding his foal to the vine, his donkey's colt to the choice vine; he has washed his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.


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 Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea. He will be for a haven of ships. His border will be on Sidon.


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 He saw a resting place, that it was good, the land, that it was pleasant. He bows his shoulder to the burden, and becomes a servant doing forced labour.


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 Dan will be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path, That bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward.


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 But his bow remained strong. The arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),


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 even by the God of your father, who will help you; by the Almighty, who will bless you, with blessings of the sky above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.


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 The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of your ancestors, above the boundaries of the ancient hills. They will be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who was separated from his brothers.


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 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the spoil. Jacob's Burial Wishes 


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 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his blessing.


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 He instructed them, and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,


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 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place.


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 There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah:


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 When Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the spirit, and was gathered to his people.


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 Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel.


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 Forty days were fulfilled for him, for that is how many the days it takes to embalm. The Egyptians wept for him for seventy days.


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 When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favour in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,


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 "My father made me swear, saying, Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again'.


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 Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt,


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 all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.


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 They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and severe lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days.


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 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians. Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.


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 for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.


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 Joseph returned into Egypt - he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father - after he had buried his father. Joseph's Brothers Fear Joseph's Revenge 


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 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all of the evil which we did to him.


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 "You shall tell Joseph, Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you'. Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father. Joseph wept when they spoke to him.


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 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.


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 Now therefore don't be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones. He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them. 


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 Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph's knees.


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 Joseph said to his brothers, I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.


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 Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.


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 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.


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 Yahweh, how long will I cry, and You will not hear? I cry out to you Violence!- and will You not save?


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 Why do You show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.


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 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth; for the wicked surround the righteous, therefore justice is perverted. God's Reply 


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 Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvellously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you.


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 For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.


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 Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar, they fly as an eagle that hastens to devour.


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 Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen siege ramp, and takes it.


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 Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on further. He is indeed guilty; his strength is his god. 


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 Aren't You from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We also will not die! Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.


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 You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do You tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,


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 He takes up all of them with the hook; he catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad.


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 Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good.


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 I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to know what He will say to me, and what answer I will get concerning my complaint. God's Reply 


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 For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it speeds toward the end, and won't prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won't delay.


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 Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him; but the justified one will live due to his faith.


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 Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous. A proud man who doesn't stay at home, who enlarges his desire as Sheol, and he is like death, and can't be satisfied, but gathers to himself all nations, and heaps to himself all peoples.


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 Won't all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, "Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?'


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 Won't your debtors rise up suddenly, and wake up those who now make you tremble, and you will be their victim?


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 Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it.


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 Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!


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 You have devised shame to your house, by cutting off many peoples, and have sinned against your soul.


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 Behold, isn't it of Yahweh of Armies that the peoples labour for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?


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 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.


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 Woe to him who gives his neighbour drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies!


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 You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh's right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.


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 For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the animals, which made them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to every city and to those who dwell in them.


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 What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?


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 Woe to him who says to the wood, "Awake!' or to the mute stone, "Arise!' Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in its midst.


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 Yahweh, I have heard of Your fame. I stand in awe of Your deeds, Yahweh. Renew your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make it known. In wrath, You remember mercy.


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 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth.


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 He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.


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 Was Yahweh displeased with the rivers? Was Your anger against the rivers, or Your wrath against the sea, that You rode on Your horses, on Your chariots of salvation?


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 You removed the sheath from Your bow, You called for many arrows. Selah. You split the earth with rivers.


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 The mountains saw You, and were afraid. The storm of waters passed by, the deep sea roared and lifted up its hands on high.


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 The sun and moon stood still in the sky at the light of Your arrows as they went, at the shining of Your glittering spear.


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 You went forth for the salvation of Your people, for the salvation of Your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot. Selah.


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 You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears. They came as a whirlwind to scatter me, gloating as if to devour the wretched in secret.


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 I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place, because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, for the coming up of the people who invade us.


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 For though the fig tree doesn't flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls:


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 Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer's feet, and enables me to go in high places. For the musical director, on my stringed instruments.


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 Come and Build God's House In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,


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 This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, "The time hasn't yet come, the time for Yahweh's house to be built'.


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 You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don't have enough. You drink, but you aren't filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.


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 Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, says Yahweh.


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 You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says Yahweh of Armies, Because of My house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house.


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 I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground brings forth, on men, on livestock, and on all the labour of the hands.


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 Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Yahweh, their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Yahweh, their God, had sent him; and the people feared Yahweh.


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 Then Haggai, Yahweh's messenger, spoke Yahweh's message to the people, saying, I am with you, says Yahweh.


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 Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remainder of the people; and they came and worked on the house of Yahweh of Armies, their God,


text:
 In the seventh month, in the twenty-first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet, saying,


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 Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remainder of the people, saying,


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 "Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Isn't it in your eyes as nothing?


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 Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel!' says Yahweh. "Be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest! Be strong, all you people of the land', says Yahweh, "and work, for I am with you', says Yahweh of Armies.


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 This is the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, and My Spirit dwelt among you. "Don't be afraid'.


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 For this is what Yahweh of Armies says: "Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land;


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 and I will shake all nations. The precious things of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says Yahweh of Armies.


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 "The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former', says Yahweh of Armies; "and in this place will I give peace', says Yahweh of Armies. 


text:
 In the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet, saying,


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 "If someone carries holy food in the fold of his garment, and the garment touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any food, will it too become holy?'. The priests answered, No.


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 Then Haggai said, If one who is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, will it be unclean? The priests answered, It will be unclean.


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 Then Haggai answered, "So is this people, and so is this nation before Me', says Yahweh; "and so is every work of their hands. That which they offer there is unclean.


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 Now, please consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid on a stone in Yahweh's temple.


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 Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty, there were only twenty.


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 I struck you with blight, mildew, and hail in all the work of your hands; yet you didn't turn to Me', says Yahweh.


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 "Consider, please, from this day and backward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, since the day that the foundation of Yahweh's temple was laid, consider it.


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 Is the seed still in the barn? Yes, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree haven't brought forth. From this day on I will bless you'. 


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 I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow the chariots, and those who ride in them. The horses and their riders will come down, everyone by the sword of his brother.


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 In that day, says Yahweh of Armies, will I take you, Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel', says Yahweh, "and will make you as a signet ring, for I have chosen you', says Yahweh of Armies.


text:
 has in these last times spoken to us in the Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, on account of whom also He structured the ages.


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 Who being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person, upholds all things by the word of his power. When he had accomplished the purification of sins, he then sat down on the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven.


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 He thus became so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they. 


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 For to which of the angels said He at any time: You are my Son, this day have I begotten you? And again: I will be to him a Father and he shall be to me a Son?


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 And again, when He brings the firstborn into the world He says: And let all the angels of God worship him.


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 But of the Son He said: Your throne, O Mighty One, is for ever and ever, and the sceptre of your kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness.


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 You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.


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 And: You, Lord, in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands.


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 and like a cloak You shall roll them up as a garment, and they shall be changed; but You are the same and Your years are without end.


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 But of which of the angels has He said at any time: Sit on my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?


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 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of those that shall inherit salvation?


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 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest attention to the things that we heard, lest we drift away from them.


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 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,


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 how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? Which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those that heard;


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 God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various powers and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will.


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 But one has somewhere testified: What is man, that You are mindful of him? Or the Son of Man, that You visit him?


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 You made him a little lower than the angels, You crowned him with glory and honour and did set him over the works of Your hands;


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 You did put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He subjected all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not see all things subjected to him. 


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 But we behold him who has been made a little lower than the angels- Jesus- crowned with glory and honour because of his suffering of death, whereby, by the grace of God, he tasted death for every person.


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 For it became Him for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.


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 For both he that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all of the same nature. For this cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers,


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 saying: I will declare Your name to my brothers, in the midst of the congregation will I sing Your praise.


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 And again: I will put my trust in Him. And again: Behold, I and the children whom God has given me.


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 Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same nature; so that through his death he might bring to nothing him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil;


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 Therefore in all things he had to be made like his brothers, so that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.


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 Therefore holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus,


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 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, in that he that built the house has more honour than the house.


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 And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken.


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 But Christ, as a Son over his own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope, remaining firm to the end. Learn the Lesson from Israel 


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 Therefore I was displeased with this generation, and said: They do always err in their heart. They did not know My ways.


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 Brothers, take care, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, causing you to depart from the living God.


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 But encourage one another day by day, so long as it is called today, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.


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 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast to our original confidence, remaining firm to the end.


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 And with whom was He displeased for forty years? Was it not with those that sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?


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 Therefore, while the promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any one of you should seem to have failed to attain it.


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 For indeed we have had good tidings preached to us, even as also they did; but the word they heard did not benefit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard it.


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 For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as He has said: As I swore in my anger: They shall not enter into My rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.


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 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.


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 Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter therein, and they to whom the good tidings were earlier preached failed to enter in because of disobedience;


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 He again defines a certain day, a today, saying through David a long time afterwards (in the words already quoted): Today, if you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts.


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 Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no one fall by the same kind of disobedience.


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 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, and pierces even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and is quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.


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 And there is no creature that is not revealed to his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to give account. The Comfort of Christ's Humanity 


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 Having then a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.


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 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things, yet did not sin.


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 Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help us in our time of need.


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 For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.


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 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness;


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 and because of it, he is required to offer sacrifices both for his sins and also for the sins of the people.


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 So Christ also did not glorify himself to become a high priest, but He that spoke to him: You are my Son. This day have I begotten you.


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 Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him that was able to save him from death, and was heard for his Godly fear;


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 And having been made perfect, he became to all those that obey him the author of eternal salvation,


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 For when by reason of the time, you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God; and have become as those in need of milk and not solid food.


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 For everyone that partakes of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.


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 But solid food is for the mature, those who by experience of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.


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 Therefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on to completion. Not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith toward God,


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 the teaching of baptisms and of laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment.


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 For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,


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 but then fell away- it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.


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 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God.


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 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and in danger of being cursed, whose end is to be burned.


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 But beloved, though we speak in this manner, we are confident of better things for you; things that accompany salvation.


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 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work, and the love which you have shown toward His Name, in that you serve the saints and still do.


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 And we desire that each one of you may show the same zeal to have the full assurance of hope until the end.


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 Do not be lazy, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. The Certainty of God's Promise 


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 For men swear by something greater, and in every dispute of theirs, the oath is final for confirmation.


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 Therefore God, determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of His purpose, confirmed with an oath;


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 so that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us.


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 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast and passing into the presence beyond the veil;


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 into which as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.


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 For this Melchizedek, king of Jerusalem, priest of God Most High, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him;


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 to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all. He was first, by interpretation, King of righteousness, and then also, King of Jerusalem, which is, King of peace.


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 He was without recorded father or mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life but presented as being like the Son of God, abiding a priest continually.


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 And they indeed of the sons of Levi that receive the priest's office have the commandment according to the law to take tithes from the people, that is, of their brothers; even though they are also descendants of Abraham.


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 Melchizedek was not descended from Levi by genealogy, but he took tithes of Abraham and blessed him that had received the promises.


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 And here mortal men receive tithes; but there one received them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.


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 And, so to say, when Abraham paid the tithe, Levi, whose descendants receive the tithe, also paid a tithe.


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 Now if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron?


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 For he of whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.


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 For it is evident that our Lord originated from the tribe of Judah. Regarding this tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.


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 And what we say is even more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest,


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 who has been appointed, not on the basis of a law about physical descent, but according to the power of an endless life.


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 On the other hand, there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness


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 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. 


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 The Levitical priests were made priests without an oath, but he with an oath: The Lord swore and will not change His mind; you are a priest for ever.


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 And they indeed have been made priests many in number, because that by death they are hindered from continuing.


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 Therefore he is able to save for ever those that draw near to God through him, seeing he lives forever to make intercession for them.


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 For such a High Priest was fitting for us- holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has been exalted higher than the heavens.


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 Who needs not to offer up sacrifices daily, like those high priests, first for his own sins and then for those of the people. For this he did once for all, when he offered up himself.


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 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.


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 Now in the things of which we are talking, the chief point is this. We have such a high priest who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,


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 For every high priest being appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, it is therefore necessary that this high priest also have these to offer.


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 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are those who offer the gifts according to the law,


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 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses is warned when he is about to make the tabernacle. For He said: See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.


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 But now has he obtained a more excellent service, as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted upon better promises.


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 For finding fault with them, He said: Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-


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 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in My covenant, so I paid no attention to them.


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 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind and in their heart also will I write them, and I will be to them a God and they shall be to Me a people.


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 None of them shall teach his neighbour, and none his brother, saying: Know the Lord. For all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.


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 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will not remember against them.


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 In that He said: A new covenant, He has made the first redundant. Now what is becoming redundant and growing old is ready to vanish away.


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 The Mosaic Rituals Pointed Forward to Christ Now even the first covenant had regulations for Divine service and an earthly sanctuary.


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 For there was a tabernacle prepared, the first section, wherein was the candlestick, the table and the bread of the Presence, which is called the Holy Place.


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 This had the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was a golden pot holding the manna and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.


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 And above it were cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we cannot now speak in detail.


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 Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests went in continually into the first tabernacle, performing the services.


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 But into the second only the high priest went, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins of the people;


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 the Holy Spirit indicating that the way into the Holy Place was not yet made manifest whilst the first tabernacle remained


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 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this system, both gifts and sacrifices were offered which could not make the worshiper perfect as relates to the conscience,


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 being merely foods, drinks and various washings, earthly ordinances imposed until a time of reformation.


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 But Christ having become a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,


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 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, he entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption.


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 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, could sanctify to the cleansing of the flesh-


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 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?


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 And because of this, he is the mediator of a new covenant; that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.


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 For a will is of force where there has been death; it does not have power while he that made it lives.


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 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,


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 Moreover the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry he sprinkled in like manner with the blood.


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 And according to the law, I may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood; and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.


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 It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these things, but the heavenly things themselves had better sacrifices than these.


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 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are only copies of the true ones; but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the actual presence of God for us.


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 Nor must he offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the Holy Place year by year with blood not his own.


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 Or else he must often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now once at the end of the ages has he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.


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 so Christ also, having once been offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.


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 For the law having only a shadow of the good things to come, not the reality of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those that draw near.


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 Else would they not have ceased to be offered? Because the worshipers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins.


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 Therefore when he came into the world, he said: Sacrifice and offering You did not want, but a body did You prepare for me.


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 Then said I: Behold, I come (in the roll of the book it is written about me) to do Your will, O God.


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 First he said: Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor did You have pleasure in them (all of which are offered according to the law).


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 Then he said: Behold, I come to do Your will. He takes away the first, that he may establish the second.


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 By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.


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 And every priest indeed stands day by day serving, and offering often the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.


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 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and on their minds I will write them;


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 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin required. The Practical Result of Christ's Sacrifice 


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 by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;


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 let us draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water;


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 let us hold fast the confession of our hope so that it does not waver. For He who promised is faithful.


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 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the habit of some is; but rather encouraging one another, and so much the more, as you see the day drawing near. 


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 For if we sin wilfully after what we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins,


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 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries.


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 A man that set at nothing Moses' law died without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses.


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 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, shall be considered those who have trodden underfoot the Son of God and have counted the blood of the covenant (with which they were sanctified) an unholy thing, and have insulted the Spirit of grace?


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 For we know Him that said: Vengeance belongs to Me, I will reward. And again: The Lord shall judge His people.


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 But call to remembrance the former days, when you were first enlightened. You endured a hard struggle, with sufferings;


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 partly in that you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly in that you became companions of those who were so treated.


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 For you had both compassion on them that were in bonds, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your own property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an enduring one.


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 But My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, My soul will have no pleasure in him.


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 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.


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 By faith we understand that the ages have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which appear. Abel, Enoch and Noah 


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 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect to his gifts; and through it he, though being dead, still speaks.


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 By faith Enoch was snatched away so that he should not be killed; and he was not found, because God had taken him away. He had witness borne to him, that before his being snatched away he had been well pleasing to God.


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 And without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to Him. For he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards those that seek after Him.


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 By faith Noah, being warned concerning things not seen as yet, moved with Godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.


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 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed, and left for a place which he was to receive for an inheritance afterwards. And he left not knowing where he was going to.


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 By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as yet not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.


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 By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted Him faithful who had made the promise.


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 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude- innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.


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 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them, and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.


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 And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.


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 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them- to be called their God. For He has prepared for them a city.


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 By faith Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son.


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 Abraham accounted that God is able to raise up, even from the dead. From where he did, figuratively, receive him back. Isaac, Jacob and Joseph 


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 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff.


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 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones. 


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 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a goodly child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.


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 choosing instead to share ill treatment with the people of God, rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time;


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 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. For he looked to the greater reward.


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 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the anger of the king. For he endured, because he saw Him who is invisible.


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 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborns should not touch them.


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 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as if on dry land, which the Egyptians in trying to do were swallowed up. Joshua, Rahab and Many Others 


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 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those that were disobedient, having received the spies with peace.


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 And what more shall I say? For time will run out if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.


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 Those who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,


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 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens.


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 Women received their dead by a resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.


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 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tested, they were killed with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated


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 (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and the holes of the earth.


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 And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, did not receive the fulfilment of the promise;


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 God having provided some better thing involving us, that without us they should not be made perfect.


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 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,


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 looking to Jesus the author and completer of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has been sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.


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 Think on him that endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart.


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 In your striving against sin you have yet to resist to the point of shedding your blood. The Reason for Suffering 


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 You have forgotten the word of encouragement which reasons with you as with sons: My son, do not regard lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor become faint when you are reproved by Him.


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 Endure your sufferings as a father's chastening; it shows how God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not chastise?


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 But if you are without chastening, of which all have been made partakers, then aren't you illegitimate children and not real sons?


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 Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them respect; shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?


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 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them; but He for our profit, so that we may be partakers of His holiness.


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 All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields peaceable fruit to those that have been exercised thereby- the fruit of righteousness.


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 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be disabled further, but rather be healed.


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 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many are defiled.


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 Ensure that no one is an immoral or Godless person like Esau, who for one meal sold his own birthright.


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 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no conditions for a change of mind, though he sought it diligently with tears. 


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 For you have not come to a mountain that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest,


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 and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words which they that heard them begged that no more words should be spoken to them.


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 For they could not endure that which was commanded- If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned.


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 But you have come to association with mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels,


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 to the general assembly and church of the firstborns, who are enrolled in heaven; and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,


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 and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.


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 See you do not reject him that speaks. For if they did not escape when they rejected Him that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that warns from heaven.


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 Whose voice then shook the earth, but now He has promised, saying: Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also heaven.


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 And further: Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.


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 Therefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe.


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 Remember those that are in bonds, as if you were bound with them; those that are ill treated, as being yourselves also in the body.


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 Let marriage be held in respect among all, and let the marital bed be undefiled. For fornicators and adulterers God will judge.


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 Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have. For God Himself has said: I will in no way fail you, neither will I in any way forsake you.


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 So that with good courage we can say: The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What shall man do to me?


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 Remember those that had the rule over you, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith.


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 Do not be carried away by various and strange teachings. For it is good that the heart be established by grace- not with food laws, which have not profited those who have been so occupied with them.


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 For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the Holy Place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp.


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 Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate.


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 Through him, therefore, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God; that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to His Name.


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 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive; for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. 


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 Pray for us. For we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honourably in all things.


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 Now the God of peace, who brought from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, through the blood of an eternal covenant,


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 perfect you in every good thing to do His will; working in you that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ. To whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.


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 But I urge you, brothers, bear with this word of encouragement; for I have written to you in few words.


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 Be informed that our brother Timothy has been set at liberty; along with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.


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 The beginning of the word of Yahweh that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. Hosea's Family 


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 When Yahweh spoke at first by Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land commits great adultery, forsaking Yahweh.


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 Yahweh said to him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.


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 She conceived again, and bore a daughter. Then he said to him, Call her name Lo-Ruhamah; for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any way pardon them.


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 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by Yahweh their God, and will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.


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 Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can't be measured nor numbered; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, "You are not My people', they will be called "sons of the living God'.


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 The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint themselves one head, and will go up from the land; for great will be the day of Jezreel.


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 Say to your brothers, "Ammi! <n>[My people]</n>!' and to your sisters, "Ruhamah! <n>[I will have mercy!]</n>'.


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 Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her therefore put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;


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 lest I strip her naked, and make her bare as in the day that she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.


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 for their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; for she said, "I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink'.


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 Therefore behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can't find her way.


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 She will follow after her lovers, but she won't overtake them; and she will seek them, but won't find them. Then she will say, "I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now'.


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 For she did not recognize that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.


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 Therefore I will take back My grain in its time, and My new wine in its season, and will pluck away My wool and My linen which should have covered her nakedness.


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 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hand.


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 I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.


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 I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, about which she has said, "These are my wages that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest', and the animals of the field shall eat them.


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 I will visit on her the days of the Baals, to which she burned incense, when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot Me, says Yahweh.


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 I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she will respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.


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 It will be in that day, says Yahweh, that you will call Me "my husband', and no longer call Me "my master'.


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 For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by name.


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 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.


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 I will betroth you to Me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.


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 It will happen in that day, I will respond, says Yahweh, I will respond to the heavens, and they will echo down to the earth;


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 and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to Jezreel.


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 I will sow her to Me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not My people, "You are My people;' and they will say, "You are my God!'.


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 Yahweh said to me, Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins.


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 I said to her, You shall stay with me many days. You shall not play the prostitute, and you shall not be with any other man. I will also be so toward you.


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 For the children of Israel shall live many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.


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 Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to His blessings in the last days.


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 Hear the word of Yahweh, you children of Israel; for Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.


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 There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.


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 Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells therein will waste away. All living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die.


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 Yet let no man bring a case, neither let any man accuse; for Your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.


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 You will stumble in the day, and the prophet will also stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother.


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 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to Me. Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.


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 It will be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will repay them for their deeds.


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 They will eat, and not feel satisfied. They will play the prostitute, and will not increase; because they have abandoned giving to Yahweh.


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 My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.


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 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute, and your brides commit adultery.


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 I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; because the men consort with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes; so the people without understanding will come to ruin themselves.


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 Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, yet don't let Judah offend; and don't come to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth Aven, nor swear, "As Yahweh lives'.


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 For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow!


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 Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way.


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 The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be unfulfilled in the offering of their sacrifices.


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 Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, and give ear, house of the king! For the judgment is against you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread on Tabor.


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 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute; Israel is defiled.


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 Their deeds won't allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don't know Yahweh.


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 The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity, Judah also will stumble with them.


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 They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Yahweh; but they won't find Him- He has withdrawn Himself from them.


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 They are unfaithful to Yahweh; for they have begotten foreign children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.


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 Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!


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 Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel, I have made known that which will certainly be.


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 The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out My wrath on them like water.


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 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.


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 For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away; I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.


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 I will go and return to My place, until they acknowledge their offence, and seek My face. In their affliction they will seek Me earnestly.


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 Come, and let us return to Yahweh; for He has torn us to pieces, and He will heal us; He has injured us, and He will bind up our wounds.


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 After two days He will revive us. On the third day He will raise us up, and we will live before Him.


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 Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.


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 Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early.


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 Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I slew them with the words of My mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.


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 As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem, committing shameful crimes.


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 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled.


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 When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, also the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood, and the thief enters in, and the gang of robbers ravages outside.


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 They don't consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have engulfed them; they are ever before My face.


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 They are all adulterers. They are burning like an oven that the baker stops stirring, from the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened.


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 On the day of our king, the princes made him sick with the heat of wine so that he joined his hand with mockers.


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 For they have prepared their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait. Their baker sleeps all the night- in the morning it burns as a flaming fire.


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 They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges. All their kings have fallen. There is no one among them who calls to Me.


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 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he doesn't realize it. Indeed, gray hairs are here and there on him, and he doesn't realize it.


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 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to Yahweh their God, nor seek Him, for all this.


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 Ephraim is like an easily deceived dove, without understanding. They call to Egypt; they hop to Assyria.


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 When they go, I will spread My net on them. I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will chastise them, as their congregation has heard.


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 Woe to them! For they have wandered from Me. Destruction to them! For they have trespassed against Me. Though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against Me.


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 They haven't cried to Me with their heart, but they howl on their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and new wine. They turn away from Me.


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 They return, but not to the Most High. They are like a faulty bow. Their princes will fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.


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 Sowing the Wind, Reaping the Whirlwind Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh's house, because they have broken My covenant, and rebelled against My law.


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 They have set up kings, but not by Me. They have made princes, and I didn't approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off.


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 Let Samaria throw out his calf idol! My anger burns against them! How long will it be until they are capable of purity?


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 For this is even made in Israel! The workman made it, and it is no God; indeed, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.


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 For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain; the stalk will yield no head of grain. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.


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 For they have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has hired lovers for himself.


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 But although they sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them; and they begin to waste away because of the oppression of the king of mighty ones.


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 As for the sacrifices of My offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; But Yahweh doesn't accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins. They will return to Egypt.


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 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire on his cities, and it will devour its fortresses.


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 Don't rejoice in jubilation, Israel, like the other nations; for you were unfaithful to your God. You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor.


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 They won't dwell in Yahweh's land; but Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.


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 They won't pour out wine offerings to Yahweh, neither will they be pleasing to Him. Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat of it will be polluted. Their bread will merely be for their hunger, it will not come with acceptance as an offering into the house of Yahweh.


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 For, behold, they have marched off to destruction; Egypt will gather them up, Memphis will bury them. Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver, thorns will come up in their tents.


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 The days of visitation have come, the days of reckoning have come. Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, and the inspired man to be insane, because of the abundance of your sins, and because your hostility is great.


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 A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God. A fowler's snare is on all of his paths, and hostility in the house of his God.


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 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity, He will punish them for their sins.


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 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season; but they came to Baal Peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing, and became abominable like that thing which they so loved.


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 As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird. There will be no birth, none with child, and no conception.


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 Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left. Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!


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 I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place; but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.


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 All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels.


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 Ephraim is struck. Their root has dried up. They will bear no fruit. Even though they bring forth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb.


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 My God will cast them away, because they did not listen to Him; and they will be wanderers among the nations.


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 Israel is a luxuriant vine that puts forth his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.


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 Their heart is divided, and so now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars, He will destroy their sacred stones.


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 Surely now they will say, We have no king; for we don't fear Yahweh; and the king we have, what can he do for us?


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 They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants. Therefore judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.


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 The inhabitants of Samaria will be in terror because of the calves of Beth Aven; for its people will mourn over it, along with its priests who rejoiced over it; because its glory has departed from it.


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 It also will be carried to Assyria for a present to a great king. Ephraim will receive shame, and Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel.


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 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars. They will tell the mountains, Cover us! and the hills, Fall on us!


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 Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah, there they remained. The battle against the children of iniquity doesn't overtake them in Gibeah.


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 When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the nations will be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions.


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 Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim, Judah will plough, Jacob will break his clods.


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 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Yahweh, until He comes and rains righteousness on you.


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 You have ploughed wickedness and you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.


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 Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.


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 So Bethel will do to you because of your great wickedness. At daybreak the king of Israel will be destroyed.


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 God's Love for His People When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt.


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 The more I called to them, so they went away from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to engraved images.


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 Yet I taught Ephraim to walk. I took them by his arms; but they didn't know that it was I who healed them.


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 I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love; and I was to them like those who lift off the yoke on their necks; and I bent down to him and I fed him.


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 They won't return into the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian will be their king, because they refused to repent.


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 The sword will fall on their cities, and will destroy the bars of their gates, and will put an end to their plans.


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 My people are determined to turn from Me. Though they call to the Most High, they certainly won't exalt Him.


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 How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within Me, My compassion is aroused.


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 I will not execute the fierceness of My anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of you; and I will not come in wrath.


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 They will walk after Yahweh, who will roar like a lion; for He will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.


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 They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will settle them in their houses, says Yahweh.


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 Ephraim surrounds Me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit. Judah still remains with God, and is faithful to the Holy One.


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 Jacob to Be Israel's Example Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He daily lies more and more and multiplies his desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.


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 Yahweh also has a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds He will repay him.


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 Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there He spoke with us,


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 Ephraim said, Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won't find in me any iniquity that is sin.


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 But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. I will yet again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.


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 I have also spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.


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 If Gilead is wicked, surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.


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 Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served to get a wife, and for a wife he tended flocks and herds.


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 Ephraim has bitterly provoked anger, therefore his blood will be left on him, and his Lord will repay his contempt.


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 God's Anger against His People When Ephraim spoke with trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he became guilty in Baal, he died.


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 Now they sin more and more, and have made themselves molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, "They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves'.


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 Therefore they will be like the morning mist, and like the dew that passes away early in the morning, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, and like the smoke out of the chimney.


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 Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you shall acknowledge no god but Me, and besides Me there is no saviour.


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 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten Me.


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 I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, and will tear the covering of their heart. There I will devour them like a lioness, tear them like a wild animal.


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 Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges, of whom you said, "Give me a king and princes?'.


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 The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him. He is an unwise son; for when it is time, he doesn't come to the opening of the womb.


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 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol, I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.


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 Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, the breath of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness; and his spring will become dry, and his fountain will be dried up. He will plunder the storehouse of treasure.


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 Samaria will bear her guilt; for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.


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 Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls.


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 Assyria can't save us. We won't ride on horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, "You are our gods!'; for in You the fatherless finds mercy.


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 I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon.


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 His branches will spread, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon.


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 Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, and blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.


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 Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I will answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green fir tree; from Me you will acquire fruit.


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 Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of Yahweh are right, and the righteous walk in them; but the rebellious will stumble in them.


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 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 


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 Hear, heavens and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.


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 The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib; but Israel doesn't know Me, My people don't consider.


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 Ah sinful nation, a people loaded with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged and backward.


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 Why should you be beaten more, that you revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.


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 From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it: wounds, welts, and open sores. They haven't been closed, neither bandaged, neither soothed with oil.


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 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; foreigners devour your land in your presence and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.


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 The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a besieged city.


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 Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom; we would have been like Gomorrah.


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 Hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!


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 What are the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?, says Yahweh. I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed animals. I don't delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats.


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 Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to Me; new moons, Sabbaths, and holy gatherings: I can't bear with evil assemblies.


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 My soul hates your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They are a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them.


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 When you spread forth your hands, I will hide My eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.


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 Wash yourselves, make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,


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 Come now, and let us reason together, says Yahweh: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.


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 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it. 


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 How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice; righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.


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 Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves. Each one loves bribes and follows after rewards. They don't judge the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them.


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 Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says: Ah, I will get relief from My adversaries, and avenge Myself of My enemies;


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 I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counsellors as at the beginning. Afterwards you shall be called "The city of righteousness, a faithful city'.


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 But the destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together, and those who forsake Yahweh shall be consumed.


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 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be confounded for the gardens that you have chosen.


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 The strong will be like tinder, and his work like a spark. They will both burn together, and no one will quench them.


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 It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.


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 Many peoples shall go and say, Come, let's go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.


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 He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.


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 For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled from the east with those who practice divination like the Philistines, and they shake hands with the children of foreigners.


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 Their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures. Their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.


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 Their land also is full of idols, they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.


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 Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of His majesty.


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 The lofty looks of man will be brought low, the arrogance of men will be bowed down, and Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day.


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 For there will be a day of Yahweh of Armies for all that is proud and haughty, and for all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low:


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 The pride of man shall be bowed down, and the arrogance of men shall be brought low; and Yahweh alone shall be exalted in that day.


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 Men shall go into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the earth from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily.


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 In that day men shall cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold which have been made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats;


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 to go into the caverns of the rocks and into the clefts of the ragged rocks, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily.


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 Judgement on Jerusalem and Judah For, behold, the Lord Yahweh of Armies takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah supply and support, the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water;


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 the captain of fifty, the honourable man, the counsellor, the skilled craftsman and the clever enchanter.


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 The people will be oppressed, everyone by another, and everyone by his neighbour. The child will behave himself proudly against the old man, and the base against the honourable.


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 Indeed a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, You have clothing, you be our ruler, and let this ruin be under your hand.


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 In that day he will cry out, saying, I will not be a healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing. You shall not make me ruler of the people.


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 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against Yahweh, to provoke the eyes of His glory.


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 The look of their faces testify against them. They parade their sin like Sodom. They don't hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought judgment upon themselves.


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 As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people, those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths. The Lord Judges His People 


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 Yahweh will enter into judgement with the elders of His people, and their leaders: It is you who have eaten up the vineyard. The spoil of the poor is in your houses.


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 What do you mean that you crush My people, and grind the face of the poor? says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies. 


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 Moreover Yahweh said, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and flirting eyes, walking to trip as they go, jingling ornaments on their feet;


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 therefore the Lord brings sores on the crown of the head of the women of Zion, and Yahweh will make their scalps bald.


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 In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, the headbands, the crescent necklaces,


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 It shall happen that instead of sweet spices, there shall be rottenness; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well set hair, baldness; instead of a robe, a wearing of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty.


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 Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothing: only let us be called by your name. Take away our reproach. Jerusalem To Be Restored 


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 In that day, Yahweh's branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel.


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 It will happen, that he who is left in Zion, and he who remains in Jerusalem shall be called holy, even everyone who is written among the living in Jerusalem;


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 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from its midst, by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of burning.


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 Yahweh will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.


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 There will be a pavilion for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a refuge and for a shelter from storm and from rain.


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 The Song of the Vineyard Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about His vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.


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 He dug it up, gathered out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in its midst, and also cut out a wine press therein. He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.


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 What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?


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 Now I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall of it, and it will be trampled down.


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 I will lay it a wasteland. It won't be pruned nor hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.


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 For the vineyard of Yahweh of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant: and He looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress. 


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 Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!


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 In my ears Yahweh of Armies says: Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful ones, unoccupied.


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 Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!


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 The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; but they don't respect the work of Yahweh, neither have they considered the operation of His hands.


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 Therefore My people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honourable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst.


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 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its desire, and opened its mouth without measure; and their glory, their multitude, their pomp, and he who rejoices among them, descend into it.


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 who say, Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!


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 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet.


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 Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as the dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have rejected the law of Yahweh of Armies, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.


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 Therefore Yahweh's anger burns against His people, and He has stretched out His hand against them, and has struck them. The mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is still stretched out.


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 He will lift up a banner for the nations from far, and He will whistle for them from the end of the land. Behold, they will come speedily and swiftly.


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 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the belt of their waist be untied, nor the latches of their shoes be broken:


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 whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent. Their horses' hoofs will be like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.


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 Their roaring will be like a lioness, they will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar and seize their prey and carry it off, and there will be no one to deliver.


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 They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.


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 God Calls to Isaiah In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and His train filled the temple.


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 Above Him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet and with two he flew.


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 One called to another and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of His glory!


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 The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of Him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.


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 Then I said, Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell amongst a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!


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 Then one of the seraphim flew to me having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.


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 He touched my mouth with it and said, Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin forgiven.


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 I heard the Lord's voice, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here I am. Send me!


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 He said, Go, and tell this people, "You hear indeed, but don't understand; and you see indeed, but don't perceive'.


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 Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.


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 Then I said, Lord, how long? He answered, Until the cities are waste without inhabitant and houses without man and the land becomes utterly waste,


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 If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed: as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stump remains when they are felled; so the holy seed is its stump.


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 It happened in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.


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 It was told the house of David, saying, Syria is allied with Ephraim! His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind.


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 Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field.


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 Tell him, "Be careful, and keep calm. Don't be afraid, neither let your heart be faint because of these two tails of smoking torches, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.


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 Let's go up against Judah and tear it apart, and let's divide it among ourselves, and set up a king in its midst, even the son of Tabeel.


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 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people;


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 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established'. 


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 He said, Listen now, house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of My God also?


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 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.


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 For before the child knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.


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 Yahweh will bring on you, on your people and on your father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.


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 It will happen in that day that Yahweh will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.


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 They shall come, and shall all rest in the desolate valleys, in the clefts of the rocks, on all thorn hedges, and on all pastures.


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 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River Euphrates, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard.


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 and it shall happen, that because of the abundance of milk which they shall give he shall eat curds: for everyone will eat curds and honey who is left in the midst of the land.


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 It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silver shekels, shall be for briers and thorns.


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 All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep.


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 The Sign of Isaiah's Son Yahweh said to me, Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man's pen, "For Maher Shalal Hash Baz;'


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 and I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.


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 I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, Call his name "Maher Shalal Hash Baz'.


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 For before the child knows how to say, "My father', and, "My mother', the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria. 


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 Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;


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 now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River Euphrates: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.


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 It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through; it will reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, Immanuel.


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 Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered!


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 Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us.


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 For Yahweh spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,


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 Don't say, "A conspiracy!' concerning all about which this people say, "A conspiracy!' neither fear what they fear, nor be terrorized.


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 Yahweh of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear; He is the one you must dread.


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 He will be a sanctuary for both houses of Israel, but He will be a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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 Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.


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 When they tell you, Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter: shouldn't a people consult with their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?


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 Turn to the law and to the testimony! If they don't speak according to this word, surely there is no light in them.


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 They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry; and it will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward,


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 and look to the earth, and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.


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 But there shall be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time, He brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time He has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.


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 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them the light has shined.


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 You have multiplied the nation, but You have not increased their joy. They will rejoice before You according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.


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 For the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, You have broken as in the day of Midian.


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 For all the armour of the armed man in the noisy battle and the garments rolled in blood will be for burning, fuel for the fire.


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 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Divine Warrior, Father of the Eternal Age, Prince of Peace.


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 Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on the throne of David, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this. Punishment 


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 All the people will know, including Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart,


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 The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with cut stone. The sycamore fig trees have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.


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 Therefore Yahweh will set up on high against him the adversaries of Rezin, and will stir up his enemies,


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 the Syrians in front and the Philistines behind; and they will devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.


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 Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will He have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for each one is profane and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.


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 For wickedness burns like a fire, it devours the briers and thorns; yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.


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 Through the wrath of Yahweh of Armies, the land is burnt up; and the people are the fuel for the fire. No one spares his brother.


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 One will devour on the right hand, and be hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied. Everyone will eat the flesh of his own arm:


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 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.


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 to deprive the needy from justice, and to rob the poor among My people of their rights, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!


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 What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?


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 They will only bow down under the prisoners, and will fall under the slain. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. 


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 I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people who anger Me will I give him a command to take the spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.


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 However he doesn't mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.


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 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose engraved images exceeded those of Jerusalem and of Samaria;


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 Therefore it will happen, that when the Lord has performed His whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will punish the fruit of the wilful proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the insolence of his arrogant looks.


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 For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. Like a valiant man I have brought down their rulers.


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 My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, have I gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their wing, or that opened their mouth, or chirped.


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 Should an axe brag against him who chops with it? Should a saw exalt itself above him who saws with it? As if a rod should lift those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up someone who is not wood.


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 Therefore the Lord Yahweh of Armies will send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire.


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 The light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day.


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 He will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, both soul and body. It will be as when a standard bearer faints.


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 It will come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel and those who have escaped from the house of Jacob will no more again lean on him who struck them, but shall lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.


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 For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall return. A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.


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 For the Lord Yahweh of Armies, will make a full end as already determined, in the midst of all the earth. 


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 Therefore the Lord Yahweh of Armies, says My people who dwell in Zion, don't be afraid of the Assyrian, though he strike you with the rod, and lift up his staff against you, as Egypt did.


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 For yet a very little while, and the indignation against you will be accomplished, and My anger will be directed to his destruction.


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 Yahweh of Armies will stir up a scourge against him, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb. His rod will be over the sea, and He will lift it up like He did against Egypt.


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 It will happen in that day, that his burden will depart from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing oil.


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 they have gone over the pass; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled.


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 this very day he will halt at Nob. He shakes his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.


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 Behold, the Lord Yahweh of Armies will lop the boughs with terror. The tall will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low.


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 Perfect Justice in Messiah's Kingdom A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit.


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 The Spirit of Yahweh will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.


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 His delight will be in the fear of Yahweh; he will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears;


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 but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.


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 The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them.


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 The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox,


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 the nursing child will play near a cobra's hole, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.


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 They will not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea. The Exiles Will Return 


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 It will happen in that day that the nations will seek the root of Jesse, who stands as a banner of the peoples; and his resting place will be glorious.


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 It will happen in that day that the Lord will set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant that is left of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.


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 He will set up a banner for the nations and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.


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 The envy also of Ephraim will depart, and those who persecute Judah will be cut off. Ephraim won't envy Judah, and Judah won't persecute Ephraim.


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 They will fly down on the shoulders of the Philistines on the west. Together they will plunder the children of the east. They will extend their power over Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon will obey them.


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 Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with His scorching wind He will wave His hand over the River, and will split it into seven streams, and cause men to march over in sandals.


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 There will be a highway for the remnant that is left of His people from Assyria, like there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.


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 In that day you will say, I will give thanks to You, Yahweh; for though You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away and You comfort me.


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 Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and He has become my salvation.


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 In that day you will say, Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on His name. Declare His doings among the peoples. Proclaim that His name is exalted!


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 Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great in the midst of you!


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 Set up a banner on the bare mountain! Lift up your voice to them! Wave your hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.


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 I have commanded My consecrated ones; yes, I have called My mighty men for My anger, even My proudly exulting ones.


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 The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Yahweh of Armies is mustering the army for the battle.


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 They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Yahweh, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land.


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 They will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them, they will be in pain like a woman in labour. They will look in amazement one at another, their faces will be faces of flickering flame.


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 Behold, the day of Yahweh comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it.


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 For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light, the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.


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 I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the arrogance of the terrible.


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 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place in the wrath of Yahweh of Armies, and in the day of His fierce anger.


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 It will happen that like a hunted gazelle, and like sheep that no one gathers, they will each turn to their own people, and will each flee to their own land.


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 Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped.


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 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it.


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 Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children.


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 Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.


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 It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.


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 But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there.


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 Wolves will cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.


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 For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land. The foreigner will join himself with them, and they will unite with the house of Jacob.


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 The peoples will take them, and bring them to their place. The house of Israel will possess them in Yahweh's land for servants and for handmaids. They will take as captives those whose captives they once were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. 


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 It will happen in the day that Yahweh will give you rest from your sorrow from your trouble and from the hard service in which you were made to serve,


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 that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon and say, How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!


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 who struck the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, who ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.


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 Yes, the fir trees rejoice with you, with the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since you are humbled, no lumberjack has come up against us.


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 Sheol from beneath has moved for you to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the dead for you, even all the rulers of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.


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 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, with the sound of your stringed instruments. Maggots are spread out under you, and worms cover you.


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 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star <n>[Lucifer]</n>, son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low!


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 You said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north!


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 Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms;


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 who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities; who didn't release his prisoners to their home?


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 But you are cast away from your tomb like a hated branch, clothed with the slain, who are thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit; like a dead body trodden under foot.


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 You will not join them in burial, because you have destroyed your land. You have killed your people. The seed of evildoers will not be mentioned by name forever.


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 Prepare for slaughter of his children because of the iniquity of their fathers, that they rise not up and possess the earth, and fill the surface of the world with cities.


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 I will rise up against them, says Yahweh of Armies, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son's son, says Yahweh.


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 I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says Yahweh of Armies.


text:
 Yahweh of Armies has sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it happen; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:


text:
 that I will break the Assyrian in My land, and tread him under foot on My mountains. Then his yoke will leave them, and his burden leave their shoulders.


text:
 This is the plan that is determined for the whole earth. This is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.


text:
 For Yahweh of Armies has planned, and who can stop it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?


text:
 Don't rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent's root an adder will emerge, and his fruit will be a fiery flying serpent.


text:
 The first-born of the poor will eat, and the needy will lie down in safety; and I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant will be killed.


text:
 Howl, gate! Cry, city! You are melted away, Philistia, all of you; for smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.


text:
 What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That Yahweh has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of His people will take refuge.


text:
 The burden of Moab: for in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing; for in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing.


text:
 They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Baldness is on all of their heads; every beard is cut off.


text:
 In their streets they clothe themselves in sackcloth. In their streets and on their housetops everyone wails, weeping abundantly.


text:
 Heshbon cries out with Elealeh. Their voice is heard even to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud, their souls tremble within them.


text:
 My heart cries out for Moab! Her nobles flee to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for they go up by the ascent of Luhith with weeping; for in the way of Horonaim, they raise up a cry of destruction.


text:
 For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate; for the grass has withered away, the tender grass fails, there is no green thing.


text:
 Therefore they will carry away the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have stored up, over the brook of the willows.


text:
 For the cry has gone around the borders of Moab; its wailing to Eglaim, and its wailing echoes back to Beer Elim.


text:
 For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; for I will bring yet more on Dimon, a lion on those of Moab who escape, and on the remnant of the land.


text:
 Moab's Hopeless Situation Send the lambs for the ruler of the land from Selah to the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.


text:
 For it will be that as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so will the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the Arnon.


text:
 Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the midst of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don't betray the fugitive!


text:
 Let My outcasts dwell with you! As for Moab, be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer. For the extortioner is brought to nothing. Destruction ceases, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.


text:
 A throne will be established in grace, one will sit on it in truth, in the tent of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.


text:
 We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; even of his arrogance, his pride, and his wrath. His boastings are nothing.


text:
 Therefore Moab will wail for Moab, all of them will wail. You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth, utterly stricken.


text:
 For the fields of Heshbon languish like the vine of Sibmah. The lords of the nations have broken down its choice branches which reached even to Jazer, which wandered into the wilderness. Its shoots were spread abroad, they passed over the sea.


text:
 Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen.


text:
 Gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there will be no singing, neither joyful noise. Nobody will tread out wine in the presses; I have made the shouting stop.


text:
 It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will not prevail.


text:
 But now Yahweh has spoken, saying, Within three years, as a worker bound by contract would count them, the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude; and the remnant will be very small and feeble.


text:
 The burden of Damascus: Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap.


text:
 The cities of Aroer are forsaken. They will be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.


text:
 The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria. They will be as the glory of the children of Israel, says Yahweh of Armies. 


text:
 It will happen in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean.


text:
 It will be like when the harvester gathers the wheat, and his arm reaps the grain. Yes, it will be like when one gleans grain in the valley of Rephaim.


text:
 Yet gleanings will be left there, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outermost branches of a fruitful tree, says Yahweh, the God of Israel.


text:
 They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they respect that which their fingers have made, neither the Asherim nor the incense altars.


text:
 In that day their strong cities will be like the forsaken places in the woods and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel; and it will be a desolation.


text:
 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the rock of your strength. Therefore you plant pleasant plants, and set out foreign seedlings.


text:
 In the day of your planting, you hedge it in; in the morning, you make your seed blossom, but the harvest flees away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.


text:
 Ah, the uproar of many peoples, who roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!


text:
 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters: but He will rebuke them, and they will flee far off, and will be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm.


text:
 At evening, behold, terror! Before the morning, they are no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who rob us.


text:
 that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus on the waters, saying, Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide!


text:
 All you inhabitants of the world and you dwellers on the land, when a banner is lifted up on the mountains, look! When the trumpet is blown, listen!


text:
 For Yahweh said to me, I will be still, and I will be seen in My dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.


text:
 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, He will cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and He will cut down and take away the spreading branches.


text:
 They will be left together for the ravenous birds of the mountains, and for the animals of the earth. The ravenous birds will summer on them, and all the animals of the earth will winter on them.


text:
 In that time, a present will be brought to Yahweh of Armies from a people tall and smooth, even from a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of Yahweh of Armies, Mount Zion.


text:
 The burden of Egypt: Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence; and the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.


text:
 I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they will fight each one against his brother, and each one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.


text:
 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy its wisdom. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards.


text:
 I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; a fierce king will rule over them, says the Lord Yahweh of Armies.


text:
 The rivers will become foul; the streams of Egypt will be diminished and dried up, the reeds and flags will wither away.


text:
 The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.


text:
 The fishermen will lament, and all those who fish in the Nile will mourn, and those who spread nets on the waters will languish.


text:
 The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish, the counsel of the wisest counsellors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?


text:
 Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now; and let them know what Yahweh of Armies has purposed concerning Egypt.


text:
 The princes of Zoan have become fools, the princes of Memphis are deceived. They have caused Egypt to go astray, they who are the cornerstone of her tribes.


text:
 Yahweh has mixed a spirit of division in the midst of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in all of its works, like a drunken man staggers in his vomit.


text:
 In that day the Egyptians will be like women, they will tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of Yahweh of Armies which He shakes over them.


text:
 The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt. Everyone to whom mention is made of it will be afraid, because of the plans of Yahweh of Armies which He determines against it.


text:
 In that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Yahweh of Armies. One will be called The city of destruction.


text:
 In that day there will be an altar to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Yahweh at its border.


text:
 It will be for a sign and for a witness to Yahweh of Armies in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and He will send them a saviour and a defender, and He will deliver them.


text:
 Yahweh will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Yahweh in that day. Yes, they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and will vow a vow to Yahweh, and will perform it.


text:
 Yahweh will strike Egypt, striking and healing. They will return to Yahweh, and He will be entreated by them, and will heal them.


text:
 In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.


text:
 In that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth;


text:
 because Yahweh of Armies has blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.


text:
 In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it;


text:
 at that time Yahweh spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and loosen the sackcloth from off your waist, and take your shoes from off your feet. He did so, walking naked and barefoot.


text:
 Yahweh said, As My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia,


text:
 so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.


text:
 They will be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.


text:
 The inhabitants of this coast land will say in that day, "Behold, this is our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria. And we, how will we escape?'. 


text:
 The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land.


text:
 A grievous vision is declared to me. The treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; attack! I have stopped all of Media's sighing.


text:
 Therefore my thighs are filled with anguish, pains have taken hold on me, like the pains of a woman in labour. I am in so much pain that I can't hear; I so am dismayed that I can't see.


text:
 My heart flutters. Horror has frightened me. The evening of my pleasure has been turned into trembling for me.


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 They prepare the table, they set the watch; then they eat and drink! But "Rise up, you princes, oil the shield!'.


text:
 When he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with great attentiveness.


text:
 He cried like a lion: Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post.


text:
 Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs. He answered, Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground.


text:
 You are My threshing, and the grain of My floor! That which I have heard from Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, I have declared to you. 


text:
 The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?


text:
 The watchman said, The morning comes, and also the night. What hour of the night will it come? Turn back again. 


text:
 They brought water to him who was thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema met the fugitives with their bread.


text:
 For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle.


text:
 For the Lord said to me, Within a year, as a worker bound by contract would count it, all the glory of Kedar will fail,


text:
 and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, will be few; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken it.


text:
 You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.


text:
 All your rulers fled away together. They were bound by the archers. All who were found by you were bound together. They fled far away.


text:
 Therefore I said, Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don't labour to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.


text:
 For it is a day of confusion and of treading down and of perplexity from the Lord Yahweh of Armies, in the valley of vision; a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains.


text:
 It happened that your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.


text:
 He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armour in the house of the forest.


text:
 You saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.


text:
 You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn't look to Him who had done this, neither did you have respect for Him who purposed it long ago.


text:
 In that day, the Lord Yahweh of Armies called to weeping and to mourning and to baldness and to dressing in sackcloth:


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 and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.


text:
 Yahweh of Armies revealed Himself in my ears, Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die, says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies. 


text:
 Thus says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, Go, get yourself to this treasurer, even to Shebna, who is over the house, and say,


text:
 "What are you doing here? Whom do you have here, that you have dug out a tomb here?'. Cutting himself out a tomb on high, chiselling a habitation for himself in the rock!


text:
 He will surely wind you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a large country. There you will die, and there the chariots of your glory will be, you shame of your lord's house.


text:
 and I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your belt. I will commit your government into his hand; and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.


text:
 I will lay the key of the house of David on his shoulder. He will open, and no one will shut. He will shut, and no one will open.


text:
 I will fasten him like a nail in a sure place. He will be for a throne of glory to his father's house.


text:
 They will hang on him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the pitchers.


text:
 In that day, says Yahweh of Armies, the nail that was fastened in a sure place will give way. It will be cut down, and fall. The burden that was on it will be cut off, for Yahweh has spoken it.


text:
 The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in. From the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.


text:
 Be still, you inhabitants of the coast, you whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.


text:
 On great waters, the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue. She was the market of nations.


text:
 Be ashamed, Sidon; for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins.


text:
 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days, whose feet carried her far away to travel?


text:
 Who has planned this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?


text:
 Yahweh of Armies has planned it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.


text:
 He has stretched out His hand over the sea, He has shaken the kingdoms. Yahweh has ordered the destruction of Canaan's strongholds.


text:
 He said, You shall rejoice no more, you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to Kittim. Even there you will have no rest.


text:
 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans. This people was not until the Assyrians founded it for those who dwell in the wilderness. They set up their towers; they overthrew its palaces, they made it a ruin.


text:
 It will come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. After the end of seventy years it will be to Tyre like in the song of the prostitute.


text:
 Take a harp; go about the city, you prostitute that has been forgotten. Make sweet melody. Sing many songs, that you may be remembered.


text:
 It will happen after the end of seventy years that Yahweh will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her wages, and will play the prostitute with all the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth.


text:
 Her merchandise and her wages will be holiness to Yahweh. It will not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise will be for those who dwell before Yahweh, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.


text:
 Behold, Yahweh creates the earth empty, creates it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants.


text:
 It will be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest.


text:
 The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away; the proud people of the earth languish.


text:
 The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.


text:
 Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.


text:
 There is a crying in the streets because of the wine- all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.


text:
 For it will be so in the midst of the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.


text:
 These shall lift up their voice, they will shout for the majesty of Yahweh, they cry aloud from the sea.


text:
 Therefore glorify Yahweh in the east, even the name of Yahweh the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea!


text:
 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs of glory to the righteous! But I said, I pine away! I pine away! Woe is me! The treacherous have dealt treacherously, yes, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously.


text:
 It will happen that he who flees from the noise of the fear will fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the midst of the pit will be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.


text:
 the earth will stagger like a drunken man, and will sway back and forth like a hammock. Its disobedience will be heavy on it, and it will fall and not rise again.


text:
 It shall happen in that day that Yahweh will punish the army of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth.


text:
 They shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison; and after many days shall they be visited.


text:
 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Yahweh of Armies will reign on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before His elders will be glory. 


text:
 Yahweh, You are My God. I will exalt You! I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things, things planned long ago, in complete faithfulness and truth.


text:
 For You have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city; it will never be built.


text:
 For You have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the dreaded ones is like a storm against the wall.


text:
 As the heat in a dry place will You bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the dreaded ones will be brought low. 


text:
 In this mountain Yahweh of Armies will make to all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of choice wines, of fat things full of marrow, of well refined choice wines.


text:
 He will destroy in this mountain the surface of the covering that covers all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations.


text:
 He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of His people away from off all the earth, for Yahweh has spoken it.


text:
 It shall be said in that day, Behold, this is our God! We have waited for Him, and He will save us! This is Yahweh! We have waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation!


text:
 For in this mountain the hand of Yahweh will rest. But Punishment for Moab Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill.


text:
 He will spread out his hands in its midst, like one who swims spreads out hands to swim, but his pride will be humbled together with the craft of his hands.


text:
 He has brought down the high fortress of your walls, laid them low and brought them to the ground, even to the dust.


text:
 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city. God appoints salvation for walls and defences.


text:
 For He has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city. He lays it low, He lays it low even to the ground, He brings it even to the dust.


text:
 Yes, in the way of Your judgements, Yahweh, have we waited for You. Your name and Your renown are the desire of our soul.


text:
 With my soul have I desired You in the night. Yes, with my spirit within me will I seek You earnestly; for when Your judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.


text:
 Let grace be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he will deal wrongfully, and will not perceive Yahweh's majesty.


text:
 Yahweh, Your hand is lifted up, yet they don't see; but they will see Your zeal for the people, and be disappointed; yes, fire will consume Your adversaries.


text:
 Yahweh our God, other lords besides You have had dominion over us, but by You only will we make mention of Your name.


text:
 Their dead shall not live, their deceased shall not rise. Therefore have You visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.


text:
 You have increased the nation, O Yahweh, You have increased the nation! You are glorified! You have enlarged all the borders of the land.


text:
 Yahweh, in trouble they have come to You; they poured out a prayer when Your chastening was on them.


text:
 Like as a woman with child who draws near the time of her delivery and is in pain and cries out in her pangs; so we have been before You, Yahweh.


text:
 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we gave birth, it seems, only to wind. We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.


text:
 Your dead shall live; my dead body also shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast forth her dead. 


text:
 Come, My people, enter into your rooms, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself for a little moment, until the indignation is past.


text:
 For behold, Yahweh comes forth out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain. 


text:
 In that day, Yahweh with His hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and He will kill the dragon that is in the sea.


text:
 I, Yahweh, am its keeper. I will water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I will keep it night and day.


text:
 Wrath is not in Me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle! I would march on them and I would burn them together.


text:
 Or else let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he will make peace with Me.


text:
 In days to come, Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and bud; they will fill the face of the world with fruit.


text:
 Has He struck them as He struck those who struck them? Or are they killed like those who killed them were killed?


text:
 In measure, when You send them away, You contend with them. He has removed them with His rough blast in the day of the east wind.


text:
 Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in pieces, so that the Asherim and the incense altars shall rise no more.


text:
 For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness. The calf will feed there and there he will lie down and consume its branches.


text:
 When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off. The women will come and set them on fire, for they are a people of no understanding. Therefore He who made them will not have compassion on them, and He who formed them will show them no grace.


text:
 It will happen in that day, that Yahweh will thresh from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered one by one, you children of Israel.


text:
 It will happen in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who were outcasts in the land of Egypt, shall come; and they will worship Yahweh in the holy mount at Jerusalem.


text:
 Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine!


text:
 Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one; like a storm of hail, a destroying storm, and like a storm of mighty waters overflowing, He will cast them down to the earth with His hand.


text:
 The fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley, shall be like the first-ripe fig before the summer, which someone picks and eats as soon as he sees it.


text:
 In that day, Yahweh of Armies will become a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remains of His people;


text:
 and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgement, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.


text:
 They also reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink. They are swallowed up by wine, they stagger with strong drink. They err in vision, they stumble in judgement.


text:
 Whom will He teach knowledge? To whom will He explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts?


text:
 For it is precept 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 resting place. Give rest to the weary; and This is the refreshing; yet they would not hear.


text:
 Therefore the word of Yahweh will be to them precept after precept, precept after precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, fall backward, be broken, be snared, and be taken.


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 A Message for Jerusalem's Rulers Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, you scoffers, that rule this people in Jerusalem:


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 Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we in agreement; when the overflowing scourge passes through, it won't come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood'.


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 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He who believes shall not be ashamed.


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 I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place.


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 Your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it.


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 As often as it passes through, it will seize you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be nothing but terror to understand the message.


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 For Yahweh will rise up as on Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon; that He may do His work, His unusual work, and bring to pass His act, His extraordinary act.


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 Now therefore don't be scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord Yahweh of Armies, upon the whole earth.


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 Does he who ploughs to sow plough continually? Does he keep turning the soil and breaking the clods?


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 When he has levelled its surface, doesn't he plant the dill, and scatter the cumin seed, and put in the wheat in rows, the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in its place?


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 For the dill are not threshed with a sharp instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned over the cumin; but the dill is beaten out with a stick, and the cumin with a rod.


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 Bread flour must be ground; so he will not always be threshing it. Although he drives the wheel of his threshing cart over it, his horses don't grind it.


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 then I will distress Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation. She shall be to Me as an altar hearth.


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 I will encamp against you all around you, and will lay siege against you with a mount; I will raise siege works against you.


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 You will be brought down, and will speak out of the ground. Your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will be as of one who has a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and your speech will whisper out of the dust.


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 But the multitude of your foes will be like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like chaff that blows away. Yes, it will be in an instant, suddenly.


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 She will be visited by Yahweh of Armies with thunder, with earthquake, with great noise, with whirlwind and storm, and with the flame of a devouring fire.


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 The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night.


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 It will be like when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his hunger isn't satisfied; or like when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint, and he is still thirsty. The multitude of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion will be like that.


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 Pause and wonder, take your pleasure and be blind. They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.


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 For Yahweh has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, O prophets; and He has covered your heads, O seers.


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 All vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is educated, saying, Read this, please; and he says, I can't, for it is sealed:


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 and the book is delivered to one who is not educated, saying, Read this, please; and he says, I can't read.


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 The Lord said, Because this people draws near with their mouth and with their lips to honour Me, but they have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment of men which has been taught;


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 therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden.


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 Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from Yahweh, and whose works are in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? and Who knows us?


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 You turn things upside down! Should the potter be thought to be like clay; that the thing made should say about him who made it, He didn't make me; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, He has no understanding?


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 Isn't it yet a very little while, and Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be regarded as a forest?


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 In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness.


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 The humble also will increase their joy in Yahweh, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.


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 For the ruthless is brought to nothing, and the scoffer ceases, and all those who are alert to do evil are cut off--


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 who cause a person to be indicted by a word, and lay a snare for the arbiter in the gate, and who deprive the innocent of justice with false testimony.


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 Therefore thus says Yahweh who redeemed Abraham concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall no longer be ashamed, neither shall his face grow pale.


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 But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in the midst of him, they will sanctify My name. Yes, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.


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 They also who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will receive instruction.


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 Woe to the rebellious children, says Yahweh, who take counsel, but not from Me; and who make an alliance, but not with My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin,


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 who set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked My advice; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!


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 Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.


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 They shall all be ashamed because of a people that can't profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.


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 The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, of the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their rich gifts on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to an unprofitable people.


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 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever.


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 who tell the seers, Don't see! and to the prophets, Don't prophesy to us right things. Tell us pleasant things, prophesy deceits,


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 get out of the way, turn aside from the path; cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.


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 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on it;


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 therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant.


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 He will break it as a potter's vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing, so that there won't be found among the broken pieces one piece good enough to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.


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 For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, You will be saved by returning and rest; your strength will be in quietness and in confidence. You refused,


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 but you said, No, for we will flee on horses; therefore you will flee; and, We will ride on the swift; therefore those who pursue you will be swift.


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 One thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five, you will flee until you are left like a beacon on the top of a mountain, and like a banner on a hill. 


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 Therefore Yahweh will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for Him.


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 For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry; when He hears you, He will answer you.


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 Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won't be hidden any more, but your eyes will see your teachers;


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 and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, This is the way, walk in it.


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 You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away as an unclean thing. You shall tell it, Go away!


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 He will give the rain for your seed, with which you will sow the ground; and the bread from the increase of the ground will be rich and plentiful. In that day, your livestock will feed in large pastures;


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 the oxen likewise and the young donkeys that till the ground will eat savoury provender, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork.


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 There shall be brooks and streams of water on every lofty mountain and on every high hill in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.


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 Moreover the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, in the day that Yahweh binds up the fracture of His people, and heals the wound they were struck with. 


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 Behold, the name of Yahweh comes from far away, burning with His anger, and in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue is as a devouring fire.


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 His breath is as an overflowing stream that reaches even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction; and a bridle that leads to ruin will be in the jaws of the peoples.


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 You will have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a flute to come to Yahweh's mountain, to Israel's Rock.


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 Yahweh will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and will show the descent of His arm, with the indignation of His anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, storm, and hailstones.


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 Every stroke of the rod of punishment which Yahweh will lay on him will be with the sound of tambourines and harps. He will fight with them in battles, brandishing weapons.


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 For his burning place has long been ready. Yes, for the king it is prepared; He has made its pyre deep and large with fire and much wood. Yahweh's breath, like a stream of sulphur, kindles it.


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 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they don't look to the Holy One of Israel, and they don't seek Yahweh!


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 Yet He also is wise, and will bring disaster, and will not call back His words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.


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 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When Yahweh stretches out His hand, both he who helps shall stumble, and he who is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together.


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 For thus says Yahweh to me, As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey who will not be dismayed if a multitude of shepherds is called together against him, nor will he abase himself for their noise, so Yahweh of Armies will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its mount.


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 As birds hovering, so Yahweh of Armies will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it, He will pass over and preserve it.


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 For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold-- the sin which your own hands have made for you.


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 The Assyrian will fall by the sword, not of man; and the sword, not of mankind, shall devour him. He will flee from the sword, and his young men will become subject to forced labour.


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 His rock will pass away by reason of terror, and his princes will be afraid of the banner, says Yahweh, whose fire is in Zion and His furnace in Jerusalem.


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 A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a large rock in a weary land.


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 The heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.


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 For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profanity, and to utter error against Yahweh, to make empty the soul of the hungry and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.


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 The ways of the scoundrel are evil. He devises wicked devices to destroy the humble with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.


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 For days beyond a year you will be troubled, you careless women; for the vintage shall fail. The harvest won't come.


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 Tremble, you women who are at ease! Be troubled, you careless ones! Strip yourselves, make yourselves naked and put sackcloth on your waist.


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 Thorns and briers will come up on My people's land; yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city.


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 For the palace will be forsaken, the populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks; Restored Again 


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 Until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest.


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 The work of righteousness will be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.


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 Woe to you who destroy, but you weren't destroyed; and who betray, but nobody betrayed you. When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have made an end of betrayal, you will be betrayed.


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 Yahweh, be gracious to us; we have waited for You. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.


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 At the noise of the thunder, the peoples have fled. When You lift Yourself up, the nations are scattered.


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 There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of Yahweh is your treasure.


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 The highways are desolate, the travelling man ceases. The covenant is broken; He has despised the cities. He doesn't respect man.


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 The land mourns and languishes, Lebanon is confounded and withers away, Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.


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 The peoples will be like the burning of lime, like thorns that are cut down and burned in the fire.


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 The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?


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 He who walks righteously, and speaks blamelessly; he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil--


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 he will dwell on high. His place of defence will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied, his waters will be sure.


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 Your heart will meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers?


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 You will no longer see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that you can't comprehend, with a strange language that you can't understand.


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 Look toward Zion, the city of our appointed festivals! Your eyes will see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that won't be removed; her stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of her cords be broken.


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 But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will go, neither will any gallant ship pass by there.


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 Your rigging is untied; they couldn't strengthen the foot of their mast, they failed to spread the sail. Then the prey of a great spoil was divided, the lame took the prey.


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 The inhabitant won't say, I am sick because the people who dwell therein will be forgiven their iniquity.


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 God's Punishment on the Nations Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear; the world, and everything that comes from it.


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 For Yahweh is enraged against all the nations and angry with all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over for slaughter.


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 Their slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up; and the mountains will melt in their blood.


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 All of the army of the sky will be dissolved, the sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree.


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 For My sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom and on the people of My curse for judgement.


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 Yahweh's sword is filled with blood, it is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.


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 The wild oxen will come down with them and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be drunken with blood and their dust made greasy with fat.


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 Her streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into sulphur, and her land will become burning pitch;


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 it won't be quenched night nor day, the smoke will go up forever; from generation to generation, it will lie waste. Nobody will pass through it forever and ever;


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 but the pelican and the porcupine will possess it, the owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness.


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 They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing.


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 Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches.


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 The wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. Yes, the night creature shall settle there and shall find herself a place of rest.


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 The arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate.


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 Search in the book of Yahweh, and read: not one of these will be missing; none will lack her mate. For My mouth has commanded, and His Spirit has gathered them.


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 He has cast the lot for them, and His hand has divided it to them with a measuring line. They shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation they will dwell in it.


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 God's Promise for Israel The wilderness and the dry land will be glad. The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.


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 It will blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. Lebanon's glory will be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon; they will see Yahweh's glory, the excellence of our God.


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 Tell those who have a fearful heart, Be strong, don't be afraid. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, God's retribution. He will come and save you.


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 Then the lame man will leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute will sing; for waters will break out in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.


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 The burning sand will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. Grass with reeds and rushes will be in the habitation of jackals, where they used to lay.


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 A highway will be there, a road, and it will be called The Holy Way. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it will be for those who walk in the Way. Wicked fools will not go there,


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 no lion will be there, nor will any ravenous animal go up on it. They will not be found there; but the redeemed will walk there.


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 Yahweh's ransomed ones will return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.


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 Now it happened in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all of the fortified cities of Judah, and captured them.


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 The king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to king Hezekiah with a large army; he came and stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool in the fuller's field highway.


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 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder came out to him.


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 Rabshakeh said to them, Now tell Hezekiah, "Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this in which you trust?


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 I say that your counsel and strength for the war are only vain words. Now in whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me?


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 Behold, you trust in the staff of this bruised reed, even in Egypt, which if a man leans on it, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.


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 But if you tell me, "We trust in Yahweh our God', isn't that He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, "You shall worship before this altar?'


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 Now therefore, please make a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.


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 Have I come up now without Yahweh against this land to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it'.


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 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and don't speak to us in the Jews' language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.


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 But Rabshakeh said, Has my master sent me only to your master and to you, to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?


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 Then Rabshakeh stood, and called out with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!


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 Don't let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying, Yahweh will surely deliver us. This city won't be given into the hand of the king of Assyria'.


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 Don't listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, "Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and each of you eat from his vine, and each one from his fig tree, and each one of you drink the waters of his own cistern;


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 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.


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 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, Yahweh will deliver us. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria?


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 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?


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 Who are they among all the gods of these countries that have delivered their country out of my hand, that Yahweh should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?


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 But they remained silent and said nothing in reply, for the king's commandment was Don't answer him.


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 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.


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 It happened, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahweh's house.


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 He sent Eliakim who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.


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 They said to him, Thus says Hezekiah, "This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth.


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 It may be Yahweh your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left'.


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 Isaiah said to them, Tell your master, "Thus says Yahweh, Don't be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.


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 Behold, I will put a spirit in him and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land'.


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 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.


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 He heard news concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He has come out to fight against you. When he heard it he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,


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 Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, "Don't let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem won't be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.


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 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered?


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 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?


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 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?'. Hezekiah's Prayer 


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 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to Yahweh's house, and spread it before Yahweh.


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 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, who is enthroned among the cherubim, You are the God, even You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; You have made heaven and earth.


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 Turn Your ear Yahweh and hear; open Your eyes Yahweh and behold; hear all of the words of Sennacherib, who has sent to defy the living God.


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 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.


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 Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are Yahweh, even You only. 


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 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, "Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria,


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 this is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him. The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.


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 By your servants have you defied the Lord and have said, With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice fir trees. I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field.


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 Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to destroy fortified cities, turning them into ruinous heaps.


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 Therefore their inhabitants had little power; they were dismayed and confounded, they were like the grass of the field and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like a field before its crop has grown.


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 Because of your raging against Me, and because your arrogance has come up into My ears, therefore will I put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.


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 This shall be the sign to you. You will eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from the same; and in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.


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 The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.


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 For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go forth, and survivors will escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this'.


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 Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria, "He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither will he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.


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 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come to this city', says Yahweh.


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 The angel of Yahweh went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.


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 It happened that as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.


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 Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery In those days was Hezekiah sick and near death. Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, "Set your house in order, for you will die, and not live'.


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 and said, Remember now, Yahweh, I beg You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in Your sight. Hezekiah wept bitterly.


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 Go, and tell Hezekiah, "Thus says Yahweh the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.


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 I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.


text:
 Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. ' So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down.


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 I said, In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years.


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 I said, I won't see Yah, Yah in the land of the living. I will see man no more with the inhabitants of the world.


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 My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me like a shepherd's tent. I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life. He will cut me off from the loom. From day even to night You will make an end of me.


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 I waited patiently until morning. He breaks all my bones like a lion. From now until tonight You will make an end of me.


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 I am chattering like a swallow or a crane, moaning like a dove. My eyes weaken looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed. Be my salvation.


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 What will I say? He has both spoken to me, and Himself has done it. I will walk carefully all my years because of that anguished experience of my soul.


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 Lord, men live by these things; and my spirit finds life in all of them: You restore me, and cause me to live.


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 Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but You have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.


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 For Sheol can't praise You. Death can't celebrate You. Those who go down into the pit can't hope for Your truth.


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 The living, the living, he shall praise You, as I do this day. The father shall make known Your truth to the children.


text:
 Yahweh will save me. Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of Yahweh.


text:
 Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover.


text:
 At that time, Merodach Baladan the son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been sick, and had recovered.


text:
 Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah didn't show them.


text:
 Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah and asked him, What did these men say? Where did they come from to you? Hezekiah said, They have come from a country far from me, even from Babylon.


text:
 Then he asked, What have they seen in your house? Hezekiah answered, They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.


text:
 "Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left', says Yahweh.


text:
 "They will take away your sons who will issue from you, whom you shall father, and they will be eunuchs in the king of Babylon's palace'.


text:
 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, Yahweh's word which you have spoken is good. He said moreover, For there will be peace and truth in my days.


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 Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh's hand double for all her sins.


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 The voice of one who calls out, Prepare you the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.


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 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plane.


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 The glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.


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 The voice of one saying, Cry! Another one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.


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 The grass withers, the flower fades, because Yahweh's breath blows on it; surely the people are like grass.


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 You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength- lift it up, don't be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, Behold, your God!


text:
 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one and His arm will rule for him. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before him.


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 He will feed His flock like a shepherd, He will gather the lambs in His arm, and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead those who have their young. 


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 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the sky with His span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?


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 Who did He take counsel with, and who instructed Him and taught Him in the path of justice, and taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding?


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 Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, He lifts up the islands like a very little thing.


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 All the nations are like nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing, and vanity.


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 A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.


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 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skilful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not be moved.


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 Haven't you known? Haven't you heard, yet? Haven't you been told from the beginning? Haven't you understood from the foundations of the earth?


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 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in;


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 They are planted scarcely, they are sown scarcely, their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.


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 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might, and because He is strong in power, not one is lacking.


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 Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?


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 Haven't you known? Haven't you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't faint. He isn't weary, His understanding is unsearchable.


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 but those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run, and not be weary, they will walk, and not faint.


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 Keep silent before Me, islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let's meet together for judgement.


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 Who has raised up one from the east? Who called him to His foot in righteousness? He hands over nations to him, and makes him rule over kings. He gives them like the dust to his sword, like the driven stubble to his bow.


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 Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I Yahweh, the first and with the last, I am He.


text:
 So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith. He who smoothes with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fastens it with nails, that it might not totter.


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 you whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth and called from its corners and said to you, "You are My servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away';


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 don't you be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness.


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 Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded. Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish.


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 You will seek them, and won't find them, even those who contend with you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as a non-existent thing.


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 For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, "Don't be afraid. I will help you'.


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 Don't be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you, says Yahweh, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.


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 Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like chaff.


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 You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. You will rejoice in Yahweh, you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.


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 The poor and needy seek water, and there is none, their tongue fails for thirst. I Yahweh, will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.


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 I will open rivers on the bare heights and springs in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.


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 I will put cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oil trees in the wilderness. I will set fir trees, pine, and box trees together in the desert;


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 that they may see, know, consider, and understand together, that the hand of Yahweh has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. Why Trust in Idols? 


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 Let them announce and declare to us what shall happen. Declare the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come.


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 Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and see it together.


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 I have raised up one from the north, and he has come; from the rising of the sun, one who calls on My name; and he shall come on rulers as on mortar, and as the potter treads clay.


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 Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know? And before, that we may say, "He is right?'. Surely, there is no one who declares like this. Surely, there is no one who shows, surely, there is no one who hears your words.


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 I am the first to say to Zion, "Behold, look at them;' and I will give one who brings good news to Jerusalem.


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 When I look, there is no man; even among them there is no counsellor who, when I ask of them, can answer a word.


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 Behold, all of them, their works are vanity and nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion.


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 The Lord's Chosen Servant Behold, My servant, whom I uphold; My chosen, in whom My soul delights-- I have put My Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.


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 He won't break a bruised reed. He won't quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.


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 He will not fail nor be discouraged until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands will wait for his law.


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 Thus says God Yahweh, He who created the heavens and stretched them out, He who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, He who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it.


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 I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand and will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations;


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 to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.


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 I am Yahweh; that is My name. I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to engraved images.


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 Behold, the former things have happened, and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up. 


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 Sing to Yahweh a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the islands and their inhabitants.


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 Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices, with the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains!


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 Yahweh will go out like a mighty man, He will stir up zeal like a man of war, He will raise a war cry. Yes, He will shout aloud, He will triumph over His enemies. God's Promise 


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 I have been silent a long time, I have been quiet and restrained Myself; now I will cry out like a travailing woman, I will both gasp and pant.


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 I will destroy mountains and hills and dry up all their herbs. I will make the rivers islands and will dry up the pools.


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 I will bring the blind by a way that they don't know, I will lead them in paths that they don't know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them.


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 Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, "You are our gods' will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed. Israel's Failure to Learn 


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 Who is blind, but My servant? Or who is as deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is as blind as he who is at peace, and as blind as Yahweh's servant?


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 But this is a robbed and plundered people. All of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prisons. They have become a prey, and no one delivers; and a spoil, and no one says, "Restore them!'.


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 Who is there among you who will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear bearing in mind the time to come?


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 Who gave Jacob as plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Didn't Yahweh, He against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, and they disobeyed His law.


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 Therefore He poured the fierceness of His anger on him, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire all around, but he didn't know; and it burned him, but he didn't take it to heart.


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 Judah's Saviour But now thus says Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and He who formed you, Israel: Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are Mine.


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 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.


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 For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel your Saviour. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Sheba in your place.


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 Since you have been precious and honoured in My sight and I have loved you; therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life.


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 Don't be afraid; for I am with you. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west.


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 I will tell the north, "Give them up!' and tell the south, "Don't hold them back! Bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth--


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 each one who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made'. Israel, the Lord's Witness 


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 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, That is true.


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 You are My witnesses, says Yahweh, With My servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, neither will there be after Me.


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 I have declared, I have saved, and I have shown; and there was no strange god among you. Therefore you are My witnesses, says Yahweh, That I am God.


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 Yes, since the day was I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand. I will work, and who can hinder it?


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 Thus says Yahweh your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring all of them down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing.


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 who brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty man (they lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched like a wick):


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 Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs forth now; don't you perceive it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.


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 The animals of the field shall honour Me, the jackals and the ostriches; because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen,


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 You have not brought Me of your sheep for burnt offerings; neither have you honoured Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, nor wearied you with frankincense.


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 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices; but you have burdened Me with your sins. You have wearied Me with your iniquities.


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 I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.


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 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; and I will make Jacob a curse, and Israel an insult.


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 This is what Yahweh who made you and formed you from the womb, who will save you, says: Don't be afraid, Jacob My servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.


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 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit on your seed, and My blessing on your offspring:


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 One will say, "I am Yahweh's' and another will be called by the name of Jacob; and another will write with his hand "to Yahweh', and honour the name of Israel.


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 This is what Yahweh the King of Israel and His Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides Me there is no God.


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 Who is like Me? Who will call, and will declare it, and set it in order for Me, since I established the ancient people? Let them declare the things that are coming, and that will happen.


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 Don't fear, neither be afraid. Haven't I declared it to you long ago, and shown it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is not. I don't know any other Rock. 


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 Everyone who makes an engraved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don't see nor know, that they may be disappointed.


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 Behold, all his fellows will be disappointed; and the workmen are mere men. Let them all be gathered together. Let them stand up. They will fear. They will be put to shame together.


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 The blacksmith takes an axe, works in the coals, fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. He is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint.


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 The carpenter stretches out a line. He marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes. He marks it out with compasses, and shapes it like the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to reside in a house.


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 He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir tree, and the rain nourishes it.


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 Then it will be for a man to burn; and he takes some of it, and warms himself. Yes, he burns it, and bakes bread. Yes, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it an engraved image, and falls down to it.


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 He burns part of it in the fire. With part of it, he eats meat. He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. Yes, he warms himself and says, Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.


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 The rest of it he makes into a god, even his engraved image. He bows down to it and worships and prays to it and says, Deliver me; for you are my god!


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 They don't know neither do they consider: for He has shut their eyes that they can't see; and their hearts that they can't understand.


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 No one thinks neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire. Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals. I have roasted meat and eaten it. Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination? Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?


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 He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can't deliver his soul, nor say, Isn't there a lie in my right hand? The Lord, Creator and Saviour 


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 Remember these things, Jacob and Israel; for you are My servant. I have formed you; you are My servant. Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.


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 I have blotted out as a thick cloud your iniquities, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.


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 Sing you heavens, for Yahweh has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees, for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify Himself in Israel.


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 Thus says Yahweh your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: I am Yahweh who makes all things, who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by Myself;


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 who frustrates the signs of the liars, and makes diviners mad; who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish;


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 who confirms the word of His servant, and performs the counsel of His messengers; who says of Jerusalem, "She will be inhabited;' and of the cities of Judah, "They will be built', and "I will raise up its waste places;'


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 who says of Cyrus, "He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure', even saying of Jerusalem, "She will be built;' and of the temple, "Your foundation will be laid'.


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 Thus says Yahweh to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and strip kings of their armour; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:


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 I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth. I will break the doors of brass in pieces, and cut apart the bars of iron.


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 I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, Yahweh, who call you by your name, even the God of Israel.


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 For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel My chosen, I have called you by your name. I have surnamed you, though you have not known Me.


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 I am Yahweh, and there is none else. Besides Me, there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not known Me;


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 that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides Me. I am Yahweh, and there is no one else.


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 I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create calamity. I am Yahweh, who does all these things.


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 Distil, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, Yahweh, have created it. Yahweh's Supremacy 


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 Woe to him who strives with his Maker-- a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask Him who fashions it, "What are you making?' or your work, "He has no hands?'.


text:
 Woe to him who says to a father, "What have you become the father of?' or to a mother, "To what have you given birth?'


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 Thus says Yahweh the Maker and Holy One of Israel: You can ask Me about the things that are to come, concerning My sons, and you command Me concerning the work of My hands!


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 I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens; and I have commanded all their army.


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 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways. He shall build My city, and he shall let My exiles go free, not for price nor reward, says Yahweh of Armies.


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 Thus says Yahweh: The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours. They will go after you. They shall come over in chains and they will bow down to you. They will make supplication to you: "Surely God is in you; and there is none else. There is no other god.


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 They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them. Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together.


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 Israel will be saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation. You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting.


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 For thus says Yahweh who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn't create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: I am Yahweh; and there is no other.


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 I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn't say to the seed of Jacob, "Seek Me in vain'. I, Yahweh, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.


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 Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can't save.


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 Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven't I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Saviour; There is no one besides Me.


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 I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness and will not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath.


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 They will say of Me, "There is righteousness and strength only in Yahweh'. Even to Him shall men come; and all those who were incensed against Him shall be disappointed.


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 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are on the animals, and on the livestock: the things that you carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary.


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 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves have been carried away into captivity.


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 Listen to Me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been carried from their birth, that have been carried from the womb;


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 and even to old age I am He, and even to grey hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry, and will deliver.


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 Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down--yes, they worship.


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 They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands, from its place it shall not move: yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.


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 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me;


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 declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure;


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 calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of My counsel from a far country; yes, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it.


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 I bring near My righteousness, it shall not be far off, and My salvation shall not wait; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel My glory.


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 Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate.


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 Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.


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 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man.


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 Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.


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 I was angry with My people, I profaned My inheritance, and gave them into your hand: you showed them no mercy; on the aged you have very heavily laid your yoke.


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 You said, "I shall be a mistress forever;' so that you did not lay these things to your heart, nor did you remember the latter end of it.


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 Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, "I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:'


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 but these two things shall come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come on you, in the multitude of your sorceries, and the great abundance of your enchantments.


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 For you have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, "No one sees me'; your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you, and you have said in your heart, "I am, and there is none else besides me'.


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 Therefore evil will come on you; you won't know when it dawns: and mischief will fall on you; you will not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come on you suddenly, which you don't know.


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 Stand now with your enchantments, and with the multitude of your sorceries in which you have laboured from your youth; if so be you shall be able to profit, if so be you may prevail!


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 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsellors: let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up and save you from the things that shall come on you.


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 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before.


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 Thus shall the things be to you in which you have laboured: those who have trafficked with you from your youth shall wander each one to his place; there shall be none to save you. 


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 The Lord's Patience with Israel Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Yahweh, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth nor in righteousness


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 (for they call themselves of the holy city, and rest themselves on the God of Israel; Yahweh of Armies is His name):


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 I have declared the former things from of old; yes, they went forth out of My mouth, and I showed them: suddenly I did them, and they happened.


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 therefore I have declared it in advance to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say, "My idol has done them, and my engraved image, and my molten image, has commanded them'.


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 You have heard it; see all this; and you, will you not declare it? I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known.


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 They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day you didn't hear them; lest you should say, "Behold, I knew them'.


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 Yes, you didn't hear; yes, you didn't know; yes, from of old your ear was not opened: for I knew that you dealt very treacherously, and were called a transgressor from the womb.


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 For My name's sake will I defer My anger, and for the sake of My praise will I refrain for you, that I not cut you off.


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 For My own sake, for My own sake, will I do it; for how should My name be profaned? I will not give My glory to another.


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 Yes, My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has spread out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together.


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 Assemble yourselves all of you, and hear; who among them has declared these things? He whom Yahweh loves shall perform His will on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.


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 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.


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 Come near to Me and hear this: "From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I'. Now the Lord Yahweh has sent me, with His Spirit. The Lord's Plan 


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 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go.


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 Oh that you had listened to My commandments! then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea:


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 your seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of your body like its grains: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before Me.


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 Go forth from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say, "Yahweh has redeemed His servant Jacob'.


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 They didn't thirst when He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock also, and the waters gushed out.


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 Israel, a Light to the Nations Listen, islands, to me; and listen, you peoples, from far: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has He made mention of my name:


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 and He has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand has He hidden me: and He has made me a polished shaft; in His quiver has He kept me close:


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 But I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh, and my reward with my God.


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 Now says Yahweh who formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, and that Israel be gathered to Him (for I am honourable in the eyes of Yahweh, and my God has become my strength);


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 yes, He says, It is too light a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the nations, that you may be My salvation to the end of the earth.


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 Thus says Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall worship; because of Yahweh who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you. Judah's Final Return 


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 Thus says Yahweh, In an acceptable time have I answered you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you; and I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage:


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 saying to those who are bound, "Come out!'; to those who are in darkness, "Show yourselves!' They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture.


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 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water He will guide them.


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 Behold, these shall come from far; and behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.


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 Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth; and break forth into singing, mountains: for Yahweh has comforted His people, and will have compassion on His afflicted.


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 Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you!


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 Lift up your eyes all around, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live, says Yahweh, you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and dress yourself with them, like a bride.


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 For, as for your waste and your desolate places, and your land that has been destroyed, surely now you shall be too small for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up shall be far away.


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 The children of your bereavement shall yet say in your ears, "The place is too small for me; give more space to me that I may dwell!'


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 Then you will say in your heart, "Who has conceived these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering back and forth? Who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?'.


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 Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and set up My banner to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.


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 Kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for Me shall not be disappointed.


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 But thus says Yahweh, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children.


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 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Saviour, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.


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 Thus says Yahweh, Where is the bill of your mother's divorce, for which I have put her away? Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were you sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.


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 Why, when I came, was there no man? When I called, was there none to answer? Is My hand shortened at all, that it can't redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst.


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 The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary: He wakens me morning by morning, He wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.


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 I gave my back to the strikers, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair; I didn't hide my face from shame and spitting.


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 For the Lord Yahweh will help me; therefore I have not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed.


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 He is near who justifies me; who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together: who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.


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 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will help me; who is he who shall condemn me? Behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.


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 Who is among you who fears Yahweh, who obeys the voice of His servant? He who walks in darkness, and has no light, let him trust in the name of Yahweh, and rely on his God.


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 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who adorn yourselves with torches around yourselves; walk in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that you have kindled. You shall have this of My hand; you shall lie down in sorrow. 


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 The Lord Comforts Jerusalem Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek Yahweh: look to the rock you were cut from, and to the hold of the pit you were dug from.


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 Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.


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 For Yahweh has comforted Zion; He has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.


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 Listen to Me, My people; and give ear to Me, My nation: for a law shall go forth from Me, and I will establish My justice for a light of the peoples.


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 My righteousness is near, My salvation is gone forth, and My arms shall judge the peoples; the islands shall wait for Me, and on My arm shall they trust.


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 Lift up your eyes to the skies, and look on the land beneath; for the skies shall vanish away like smoke, and the land shall wax old like a garment; and those who dwell therein shall die in the same way: but My salvation shall be eternal, and My righteousness shall not be abolished.


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 Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; don't fear the reproach of men, neither be dismayed at their insults.


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 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but My righteousness shall be forever, and My salvation to all generations.


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 Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn't it You who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster?


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 Isn't it You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?


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 The ransomed of Yahweh shall return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy shall be on their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy; sorrow and weeping shall flee away.


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 I, even I, am He who comforts you: who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who shall be made as grass;


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 and have forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fear continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he makes ready to destroy; and where is the fury of the oppressor?


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 The captive exile shall speedily be freed; and he shall not die and go down into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.


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 For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar: Yahweh of Armies is His name.


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 I have put My words in your mouth, and have covered you in the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, "You are My people'.


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 Awake, awake, stand up, Jerusalem, that has drunk at the hand of Yahweh the cup of His wrath; you have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.


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 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she has brought forth; neither is there any who takes her by the hand among all the sons whom she has brought up.


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 These two things have happened to you; who will bemoan you? Desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort you?


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 Your sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of Yahweh, the rebuke of your God.


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 Thus says your Lord Yahweh, and your God who pleads the cause of His people, Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of My wrath; you shall no more drink it again:


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 and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, "Bow down, that we may walk over you;' and you have laid your back as the ground, and as the street, to those who walk over.


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 Awake, awake, put on your strength, Zion; put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.


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 Shake yourself from the dust! Arise, sit up, Jerusalem! Release yourself from the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Zion!


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 For thus says the Lord Yahweh, My people went down at the first into Egypt to live there: and the Assyrian has oppressed them without cause.


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 Now therefore, what do I do here, says Yahweh, seeing that My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them mock, says Yahweh, and My name continually all the day is blasphemed.


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 Therefore My people shall know My name. Therefore they shall know in that day that I am He who speaks; behold, it is I.


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 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns!


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 The voice of your watchmen! They lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when Yahweh brings Zion back.


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 Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.


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 Yahweh has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.


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 Depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing! Go out of the midst of her! Cleanse yourselves, you who bear the temple vessels of Yahweh.


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 For you shall not go out in haste, neither shall you go by flight: for Yahweh will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your vanguard. 


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 Just as many were astonished at you (his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men),


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 so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they understand.


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 For he grew up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty; when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.


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 He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn't respect him.


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 Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.


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 But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.


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 All we like sheep have gone astray; each one has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.


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 He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn't open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he didn't open his mouth.


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 He was taken away by oppression and judgement; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of My people?


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 They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.


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 Yet it was Yahweh's will to bruise him; He has caused him to suffer. When You make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days, and the will of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand.


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 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.


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 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.


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 God's Promise of Everlasting Peace Sing, barren, you who didn't bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says Yahweh.


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 Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations; don't spare: lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.


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 For you shall spread out on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.


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 Don't be afraid; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be confounded; for you shall not be disappointed: for you shall forget the shame of your youth; and the reproach of your widowhood you shall remember no more.


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 For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is His name: and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall He be called.


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 For Yahweh has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, says your God.


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 In overflowing wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting loving kindness will I have mercy on you, says Yahweh your Redeemer.


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 For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.


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 For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but My loving kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall My covenant of peace be removed, says Yahweh who has mercy on you.


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 You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colours, and lay your foundations with sapphires.


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 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, and your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.


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 In righteousness you shall be established: you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not be afraid; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.


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 Behold, they may gather together, but not by Me: whoever shall gather together against you shall fall because of you.


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 Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and brings forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.


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 No weapon that is formed against you will prevail; and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgement. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their righteousness which is of Me, says Yahweh. 


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 God's Offer of Mercy Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.


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 Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which doesn't satisfy? Listen diligently to Me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.


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 Turn your ear, and come to Me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.


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 Behold, you shall call a nation that you don't know; and a nation that didn't know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified you.


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 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.


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 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.


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 For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky and doesn't return there but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;


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 so shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing I sent it to do.


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 For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.


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 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to Yahweh for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. 


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 Thus says Yahweh, Keep justice, and do righteousness; for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed.


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 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.


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 Neither let the foreigner who has joined himself to Yahweh speak, saying, Yahweh will surely separate me from His people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.


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 For thus says Yahweh, To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, and hold fast My covenant:


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 to them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.


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 Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, to minister to Him and to love the name of Yahweh, to be His servants, each one who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast covenant;


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 even them will I bring to My holy mountain, 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 peoples.


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 The Lord Yahweh who gathers the outcasts of Israel says, Yet will I gather others to him, besides his own who are gathered.


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 His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they can't bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.


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 Yes, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds who can't understand: they have each turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.


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 Come, say they, I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, great beyond measure. 


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 Idol Worship Again Condemned The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the coming evil.


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 Against whom do you sport yourselves? Against whom do you make a wide mouth, and stick out your tongue? Aren't you children of disobedience, a seed of falsehood,


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 you who inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; who kill the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?


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 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; they, they are your lot; you have even poured a drink offering to them. You have offered an offering; but shall I be appeased for these things?


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 Behind the doors and the posts you have set up your memorial: for you have uncovered to someone besides Me, and have gone up; you have enlarged your bed, and made you a covenant with them: you loved their bed wherever you saw it.


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 You went to the king with oil and increased your perfumes, and sent your ambassadors far off, and debased yourself even to Sheol.


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 You were wearied with the length of your way; yet you didn't say, "It is in vain'. You found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren't faint.


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 Of whom have you been afraid and in fear, that you lie, and have not remembered Me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven't I held peace even of long time, and you don't fear Me?


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 When you cry, let those who you have gathered deliver you; but the wind shall take them, a breath shall carry them all away: but he who takes refuge in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain.


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 He will say, Cast up, cast up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of My people.


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 For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a broken and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.


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 For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint before Me, and the souls who I have made.


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 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I angry, and struck him; I hid Myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.


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 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.


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 I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near, says Yahweh; and I will heal them.


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 Cry aloud, don't spare, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to My people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins.


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 Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways: as a nation that did righteousness, and didn't forsake the ordinance of their God, they ask of Me righteous judgements; they delight to draw near to God.


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 "Why have we fasted', they say, "and You don't see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and You take no knowledge?'. Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and oppress all your labourers.


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 Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness: you don't fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.


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 Is such the fast that I have chosen? The day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yahweh?


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 Isn't this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?


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 Isn't it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?


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 Then your light shall break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth speedily; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh shall be your vanguard.


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 Then you shall call, and Yahweh will answer; you shall cry and He will say, "Here I am'. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly;


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 and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then your light shall rise in darkness, and your obscurity be as the noonday;


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 and Yahweh will guide you continually 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 don't fail.


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 Those who shall be of you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.


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 If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day of Yahweh honourable; and shall honour it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words:


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 then you shall delight yourself in Yahweh; and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father: for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it. 


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 Behold, Yahweh's hand is not shortened that it can't save; neither His ear heavy, that it can't hear:


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 but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear.


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 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness.


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 None sues in righteousness, and none pleads in truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.


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 They hatch adders' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he who eats of their eggs dies; and that which is crushed breaks out into a viper.


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 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.


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 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths.


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 The way of peace they don't know; there is no justice in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whoever goes therein does not know peace. 


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 Vindication remains far removed from us and deliverance does not reach us: we look for light, but behold, darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity.


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 We grope for the wall like the blind; yes, we grope as those who have no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the twilight; among those who are lusty we are as dead men.


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 We roar all like bears, and moan bitterly like doves: we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.


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 For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them:


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 transgressing and denying Yahweh, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.


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 Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness can't enter.


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 Yes, truth is lacking; and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Yahweh saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice.


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 He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His own arm brought salvation to Him; and His righteousness, it upheld Him.


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 He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle.


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 According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the islands He will repay recompense.


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 So shall they fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; for He will come as a rushing stream, which the breath of Yahweh drives.


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 As for Me, this is My covenant with them, says Yahweh. My Spirit which is on you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed's seed, says Yahweh, from henceforth and forever. 


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 For behold, darkness shall cover the land, and gross darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and His glory shall be seen on you.


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 Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms.


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 Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.


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 The multitude of camels shall cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of Yahweh.


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 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on My altar; and I will glorify the house of My glory.


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 Surely the islands shall wait for Me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you.


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 Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you: for in My wrath I struck you, but in My grace have I had mercy on you.


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 Your gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive.


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 For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted.


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 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious.


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 The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending to you; and all those who despised you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you The city of Yahweh, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.


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 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no man passed through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.


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 You shall also drink the milk of the nations, and shall nurse from royal breasts; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Saviour and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.


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 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron. I will also make your officers peace, and righteousness your ruler.


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 Violence shall no more be heard in your land, desolation nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.


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 The sun shall be no more your light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light to you: but Yahweh will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory.


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 Your sun shall no more go down, neither shall your moon withdraw itself; for Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended.


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 Your people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified.


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 The little one shall become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation; I, Yahweh, will hasten it in its time. 


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 The Time of the Lord's Grace The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;


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 to proclaim the time of Yahweh's grace, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;


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 to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that He may be glorified.


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 They shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.


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 Gentiles shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plough men and your vine dressers.


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 But you shall be named the priests of Yahweh; men will call you the ministers of our God: you will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast in their glory.


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 Instead of your shame you shall have double; and instead of dishonour they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be to them.


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 For I, Yahweh, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.


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 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 which Yahweh has blessed.


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 I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.


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 For as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. 


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 For Zion's sake will I not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.


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 The nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of Yahweh shall name.


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


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 You shall no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall your land any more be termed Desolate: but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for Yahweh delights in you, and your land shall be married.


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


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 I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: you who call on Yahweh, take no rest,


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 Yahweh has sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength, Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies; and foreigners shall not drink your new wine, for which you have laboured:


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 but those who have garnered it shall eat it, and praise Yahweh; and those who have gathered it shall drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.


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 Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way of the people! Cast up, cast up the highway! Gather out the stones! Lift up a banner for the peoples.


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 Behold, Yahweh has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him'.


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 They shall call them The holy people, The redeemed of Yahweh: and you shall be called Sought out, A city not forsaken. 


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 Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This one who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.


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 I have trodden the wine press alone; and of the peoples there was no man with Me: yes, I trod them in My anger, and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I have stained all My clothing.


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 I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore My own arm brought salvation to Me; and My wrath, it upheld Me.


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 I trod down the peoples in My anger, and made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.


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 The Lord's Mercy on Israel I will make mention of the loving kindnesses of Yahweh and the praises of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His grace.


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 For He said, Surely, they are My people, children who will not deal falsely: so He was their Saviour.


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


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 But they rebelled and grieved His holy spirit: therefore He was turned to be their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.


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 Then He remembered the days of old, Moses and His people, saying, Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His holy spirit in their midst?


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 Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? Who divided the waters before them, to make Himself an everlasting name?


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 As the cattle that go down into the valley, the spirit of Yahweh caused them to rest; so You led Your people, to make Yourself a glorious name. 


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 Look down from heaven, and see from the habitation of Your holiness and of Your glory: where are Your zeal and Your mighty acts? The yearning of Your heart and Your compassion is restrained toward me.


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 For You are our Father, though Abraham doesn't know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us: You, Yahweh, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.


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 O Yahweh, why do You make us to err from Your ways, and harden our heart from Your fear? Return for Your servants' sake, the tribes of Your inheritance.


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 Your holy people possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary.


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 Oh that You would tear the heavens, that You would come down, that the mountains might quake at Your presence,


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 as when fire kindles the brushwood, and the fire causes the waters to boil; to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!


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 When You did awesome things which we didn't look for, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.


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 For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen a God besides You, what God has prepared for him who waits for Him.


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 You meet him who rejoices and works righteousness, those who remember You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time; and shall we be saved?


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 For we have all become as one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is as a polluted garment: and we all fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.


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 There is none who calls on Your name, who stirs up himself to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.


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 But now, Yahweh, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and we all are the work of Your hand.


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 Don't be furious, Yahweh, neither remember iniquity forever: see, look, we beg You, we are all Your people.


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 Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised You is burnt with fire; and all our pleasant places are laid waste.


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 Will You refrain Yourself for these things, Yahweh? Will You hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely? 


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 I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, "Here am I, here am I' to a nation that was not called by My name.


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


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 a people who provoke Me to My face continually, sacrificing in gardens and burning incense on bricks;


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 who sit among the graves and lodge in the secret places; who eat pig's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;


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 who say, "Stand by yourself, don't come near to me, for I am holier than you'. These are a smoke in My nose, a fire that burns all the day.


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 Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yes, I will recompense into their bosom,


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 your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, says Yahweh, who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed Me on the hills; therefore will I first measure their work into their bosom.


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 Thus says Yahweh, As the new wine is found in the cluster and one says, "Don't destroy it, for a blessing is in it:' so will I do for My servants' sake, that I may not destroy them all.


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 I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of My mountains; and My chosen shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there.


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


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 But you who forsake Yahweh, who forget My holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;


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 I will destine you to the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you didn't answer; when I spoke, you didn't listen; but you did that which was evil in My eyes, and chose that in which I didn't delight.


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 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, 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 disappointed;


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 behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for anguish of spirit.


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 You shall leave your name for a curse to My chosen; and the Lord Yahweh will kill you; and He will call His servants by another name:


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


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


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


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 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying.


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 There shall be no more there an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.


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 They shall build houses and inhabit them themselves; and they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.


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 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of My people, and My chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.


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 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Yahweh, and their offspring with them.


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 It shall happen that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.


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


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 Thus says Yahweh, Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool: what kind of house will you build to Me? And what place shall be My rest?


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 For all these things has My hand made, and so all these things came to be, says Yahweh: but to this man will I look, even to him who is poor and of a broken spirit, and who trembles at My word.


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 He who kills an ox is as he who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog's neck; he who offers an offering, as he who offers pig's blood; he who burns frankincense, as he who blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations:


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 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears on them; because when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they didn't listen; but they did that which was evil in My eyes, and chose that in which I didn't delight.


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 Hear the word of Yahweh, you who tremble at His word: Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for My name's sake, have said, "Let Yahweh be glorified, that we may see your joy;' but it is those who shall be disappointed.


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 A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Yahweh that renders recompense to His enemies.


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 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.


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 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? says Yahweh: shall I who cause to bring forth shut the womb? says your God.


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


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 that you may nurse and be satisfied at the comforting breasts; that you may drink deeply, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.


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 For thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and you will be nursed. You will be carried on her side, and will be dandled on her knees.


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 You will see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass: and the hand of Yahweh shall be known toward His servants; He will have indignation against His enemies.


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 For behold, Yahweh will come with fire, and His chariots shall be like the whirlwind; to render His anger with fierceness, and His rebuke with flames of fire.


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 For by fire and by His sword will Yahweh plead judgement on all flesh; and the slain of Yahweh shall be many.


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 Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves to go to the gardens, behind one in the midst, eating pig's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, they shall come to an end together, says Yahweh.


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 For I know their works and their thoughts: the time comes, that I will gather all nations and languages; and they shall come, and shall see My glory.


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 I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the islands afar off, who have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the nations.


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


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


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 It shall happen, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says Yahweh.


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 They shall go forth, and look on the dead bodies of the men who have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they will be loathsome to all mankind.


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 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the dispersion, greeting.


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 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all liberally and without reproaching, and it shall be given him.


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 But let him ask in faith, never doubting. For he that doubts is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.


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 For the sun rises with the scorching wind and withers the grass, and the flower of it falls and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So also shall the rich man fade away in his business. Temptation and God's Word 


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 Blessed is the man that endures temptation. For when he has been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him.


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 Let no one say when he is tempted: I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, and He tempts no one.


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 Then the lust, when it has conceived, carries sin; and the sin, when it is fully grown, brings death.


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 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor shifting shadow.


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 Of His own will He gave us birth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creations.


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 You know this, my beloved brothers! But let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.


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 Wherefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. Self-examination 


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 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like to a man seeing his natural face in a mirror;


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 But he that looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues, being not a hearer that forgets, but a doer that works, this man shall be blessed in what he does.


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 If anyone thinks himself to be religious while he does not hold his tongue but rather just deceives his own heart, this man's religion is vain.


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 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: To visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.


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 For if there come into your synagogue a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, and there come in also a poor man in vile clothing;


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 and you have regard to him that wears the fine clothing, and say: Sit here in a good place; and you say to the poor man: Stand there, or, Sit under my footstool;


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 Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those that are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those that love him?


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 But you have dishonoured the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the courts?


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 However, if you fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture: You shall love your neighbour as yourself, you do well!


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 For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of breaking all of it.


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 For He that said: Do not commit adultery, also said: Do not kill. So if you do not commit adultery but if you kill, you have become a transgressor of the law.


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 My brothers, what good is it if a man claims to have faith but has no works? Can that faith save him?


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 and one of you says to them: Go in peace, be warmed and filled! And yet you do not give them the things needful to the body- what does it profit?


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 Yes, a man will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works and I, by my works, will show you my faith.


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 And the scripture was fulfilled which said: And Abraham believed God and it was accredited to him as righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.


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 And in like manner was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works, in that she received the messengers and sent them out another way?


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 For in many things we all make others stumble. If any does not cause stumbling by his words, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.


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 Now if we put the horses' bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also.


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 Behold the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, they are all the same turned about by a very small rudder, wherever the impulse of the steersman wills.


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 So the tongue also is a little member, and boasts great things. Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire!


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 And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body and sets on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.


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 For every kind of beasts and birds, of creeping things and things in the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.


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 With this we bless the Lord and the Father, and with this we curse men, even though they are made after the likeness of God.


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 Out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.


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 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show his works in his good life, in meekness of wisdom.


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 But if you have bitter jealousy and rivalry in your heart, do not boast about it and deny the truth.


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 But the wisdom that is from above is most importantly pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without variance, without hypocrisy.


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 What causes the wars and fights among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasures that war within you?


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 You want what you don't have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.


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 You ask and do not receive because you ask with the wrong motivation, you want only what will give you pleasure.


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 You adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever would be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.


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 But He gives more grace. Wherefore the scripture said: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.


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 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you doubleminded sinners, and purify your hearts.


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 Brothers, do not speak evil against each other. He that speaks against a brother, or judges his brother, speaks against the law, and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.


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 One only is the lawgiver and judge. He who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge your neighbour?


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 Come now, you that say that today or the next day we will go into this city and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.


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 Whereas you do not know what shall be the next day. What is your life? For you are as a vapour that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.


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 Your gold and your silver are rusted, and their rust shall be a testimony against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days.


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 Indeed, the wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.


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 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts only for a day of slaughter.


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 Therefore brothers, be patient until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain.


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 Brothers, do not complain about each other, so that you are not judged. Behold! The judge stands at the door!


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 Brothers, take for an example the suffering and patience of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.


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 Behold, we call them blessed that endured. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the result that the Lord intended, how the Lord is full of pity and is merciful. 


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 But above all things, my brothers, do not make oaths. Neither by the heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath; but let your yes, mean yes, and your no, mean no, so that you will not fall under judgment.


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 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.


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 And the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he has committed sins, it shall be forgiven him.


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 Therefore, confess your sins to each other, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man avails much in its working.


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 Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.


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 let him know, that he who turns back a sinner from the error of his way, he shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.


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


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


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


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 Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.


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 But Yahweh said to me, Don't say, "I am a child;' for to whoever I shall send you, you shall go, and whatever I shall command you, you shall speak.


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 Then Yahweh put forth His hand, and touched my mouth; and Yahweh said to me, Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.


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 Behold, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. 


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 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? I said, I see a branch of an almond tree.


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 The word of Yahweh came to me the second time saying, What do you see? I said, I see a boiling cauldron; and it is tipping away from the north.


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


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 I will utter My judgements against them touching all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods and worshipped the works of their own hands.


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 You therefore put your belt on your waist, arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Don't be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them.


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


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 They will fight against you; but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you, says Yahweh, to deliver you.


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 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem saying, "Thus says Yahweh, I remember the kindness of your youth, the love at the time of your marriage; how you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.


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 Israel was holiness to Yahweh, the first fruits of His increase. All who devour him shall be held guilty. Evil shall come on them', says Yahweh.


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


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 Neither did they say, "Where is Yahweh who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man lived?'.


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


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 The priests didn't say, "Where is Yahweh?' and those who handle the law didn't come to know Me. The rulers also transgressed against Me, the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that do not profit.


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 Therefore I will yet contend with you, says Yahweh, and I will contend with your children's children.


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 For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see; and send to Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there has been such a thing.


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 Has a nation changed its gods, which really are no gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.


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 For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the spring of living waters, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. Results of Israel's Unfaithfulness 


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 The young lions have roared at him and yelled, they have desolated his land. His cities are burned up without inhabitant.


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 Haven't you procured this to yourself, in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, when He led you by the way?


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 Now what have you to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or what have you to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?


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 Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backsliding shall reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that My fear is not in you, says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.


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 For of old time I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; and you said, "I will not serve;' for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute.


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 Yet I had planted you a noble vine, wholly a right seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to Me?


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


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 How can you say, "I am not defiled. I have not gone after the Baals'? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways;


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 a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that snuffs up the wind in her desire. When she is in heat, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month, they will find her.


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 Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, "It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and I will go after them'.


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 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;


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 who tell wood, "You are my father;' and a stone, "You have brought me forth'; for they have turned their back to Me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, "Arise, and save us'.


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


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 I have struck your children in vain. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.


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 Generation, consider the word of Yahweh. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why do My people say, "We have broken loose. We will come to You no more?'.


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


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 How well you prepare your way to seek love! Therefore you have taught even the wicked women your ways.


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 Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts, even though you did not catch them in the act of burglary.


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 Yet you said, "I am innocent. Surely His anger has turned away from me'. Behold, I will judge you, because you say, "I have not sinned'.


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 Why do you go about so much, ever changing your way? You will be shamed by Egypt, just as you were shamed by Assyria.


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 From there also you shall go forth, with your hands on your head; for Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust, and you shall not prosper with them.


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 They say, "If a man puts away his wife and she goes from him and become another man's, should he return to her again?'. Wouldn't that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to Me, says Yahweh.


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 Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat for them by the ways, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness.


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


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 "Will He retain His anger forever? Will He keep it to the end?' Behold, you have spoken and have done evil things, and have had your way.


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


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 I said after she had done all these things, "She will return to Me;' but she didn't return; and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.


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 I saw, when, for the very reason of committing adultery that I had put away and given a bill of divorce to backsliding Israel, then treacherous Judah her sister didn't fear; but likewise went and played the prostitute.


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 It happened through the lightness of her prostitution, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks.


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 Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to Me with her whole heart, but only in pretence, says Yahweh. 


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 Go, and proclaim these words towards the north, and say, "Return, you backsliding Israel', says Yahweh; "I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful', says Yahweh. "I will not keep anger forever.


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


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 Return, backsliding children, says Yahweh; for I am a husband to you. I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.


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


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 It shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says Yahweh, they shall say no more, "The ark of the covenant of Yahweh!' neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more.


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 At that time they shall call Jerusalem "The throne of Yahweh;' and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh, to Jerusalem. Neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.


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


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 But I thought how I would set you among My children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations; and I thought you would call Me My Father, and would not turn away from following Me'.


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 Surely as a wife faithlessly departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with Me, house of Israel, says Yahweh.


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 A voice is heard on the bare heights, the weeping and the petitions of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Yahweh their God.


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 Return, you backsliding children, I will heal your backsliding. Behold, we have come to You; for You are Yahweh our God.


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 Truly in vain is help from the hills, the tumult on the mountains. Truly the salvation of Israel is in Yahweh our God.


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 But the shameful thing has devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.


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 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God.


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 If you will return, Israel, says Yahweh, if you will return to Me, and if you will put away your abominations out of My sight; then you shall not be removed;


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 and you shall swear, "As Yahweh lives', in truth, in justice, and in righteousness. The nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall they glory.


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 For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and don't sow among thorns.


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 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest My wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.


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 Declare in Judah and publish in Jerusalem; say, "Blow the trumpet in the land!' Cry aloud and say, "Assemble yourselves! Let us go into the fortified cities!'


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 Set up a standard towards Zion. Flee for safety! Don't wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.


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 A lion is gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations; he is on his way, he is gone forth from his place, to make your land desolate, that your cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.


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 For this clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of Yahweh hasn't turned back from us.


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 It shall happen at that day, says Yahweh, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.


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 Then I said, Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem in saying, "You shall have peace;' whereas the sword reaches to the heart.


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 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness towards the daughter of My people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse;


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 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! For we are ruined.


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


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 Tell the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, "Watchers come from a far country and lift up their voice against the cities of Judah.


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 As keepers of a field, they are against her all around, because she has been rebellious against Me', says Yahweh.


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 Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart. Jeremiah's Vision of Destruction 


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 My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can't hold my peace; because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.


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 Destruction on destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents destroyed, and my curtains in a moment.


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 For my people are foolish, they don't know me. They are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are skilful in doing evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.


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 I saw, and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of Yahweh, before His fierce anger.


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 For this the land will mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not relented, neither will I go back from it.


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 Every city flees for the noise of the horsemen and archers; they go into the thickets and climb up on the rocks: every city is forsaken, not a man dwells therein.


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 You, when you are made desolate, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you deck you with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, in vain do you make yourself beautiful; your lovers despise you, they seek your life.


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 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, who gasps for breath, who spreads her hands saying, Woe is me now! For my soul faints before the murderers.


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 Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places of it, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justice, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.


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 O Yahweh, don't Your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.


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 Then I said, Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they don't know the way of Yahweh, nor the law of their God.


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 I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they know the way of Yahweh, and the law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.


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 Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backsliding is increased.


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 How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken Me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes' houses.


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 Shouldn't I punish them for these things? says Yahweh; and shouldn't My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?


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 Go up on her walls, and destroy; but don't make a full end. Take away her branches; for they are not Yahweh's.


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


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


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


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 Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far, house of Israel, says Yahweh. It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don't know, nor understand what they say.


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


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 It will happen, when you say, "Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?' Then you shall say to them, "Just like you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours'.


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 "Hear now this, foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and don't see; who have ears, and don't hear:


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 Don't you fear Me?' says Yahweh "Won't you tremble at My presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it can't pass it? and though its waves toss themselves, yet they can't prevail; though they roar, yet they can't pass over it'.


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 Neither do they say in their heart, "Let us now fear Yahweh our God who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest'.


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 For among My people are found wicked men. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men.


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 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they became great and grew rich.


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 They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don't plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don't judge the right of the needy.


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


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 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and My people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?


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 A Warning for the People Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, blow the trumpet in Tekoa and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem; for evil looks forth from the north, and a great destruction.


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


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


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 For Yahweh of Armies said, Cut down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.


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 As a well casts forth its waters, so she casts forth her wickedness: violence and destruction is heard in her; before Me continually is grief and woundedness.


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 Be instructed, Jerusalem, lest My soul depart from you; lest I make you a desolation, a land not inhabited.


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 Thus says Yahweh of Armies, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine. Turn again your hand as a grape gatherer into the baskets.


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 To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they can't listen. Behold, the word of Yahweh has become a reproach to them. They have no delight in it.


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 Therefore I am full of the wrath of Yahweh. I am weary with holding in. Pour it out on the youths in the street, and on the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him who is full of days.


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 Their houses shall be turned to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand on the inhabitants of the land, says Yahweh.


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 For from their least even to their greatest, everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.


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 They have healed also the hurt of My people superficially, saying, "Peace, peace!' when there is no peace.


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 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I visit them, they shall be cast down, says Yahweh.


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 Thus says Yahweh, Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, "Where is the good way?' and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, "We will not walk in it'.


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 I set watchmen over you saying, "Listen to the sound of the trumpet!'. But they said, "We will not listen!'.


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 Hear, earth! Behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to My words; and as for My law, they have rejected it.


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 To what purpose comes there to Me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to Me.


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 Therefore thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people. The fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them. The neighbour and his friend shall perish. 


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 Thus says Yahweh, Behold, a people comes from the north country. A great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.


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 They take hold of bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, each one set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Zion.


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 We have heard its report; our hands become feeble: anguish has taken hold of us, pains as of a woman in labour.


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 Don't go forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and terror are on every side.


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 Daughter of My people, clothe yourself with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes! Mourn, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.


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 I have made you a tester of metals and a fortress among My people; that you may know and try their way.


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 They are all grievous rebels, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of them deal corruptly.


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 The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed of the fire: in vain do they go on refining; for the wicked are not plucked away.


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 Stand in the gate of Yahweh's house and proclaim there this word and say, "Hear the word of Yahweh, all you of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship Yahweh.


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 Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.


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 Don't trust in lying words by saying, Yahweh's temple, Yahweh's temple, Yahweh's temple, are these.


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 For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbour;


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 if you don't oppress the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, and don't shed innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:


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 then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even for evermore.


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 Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, burn incense to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known,


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 and come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are saved; so that you may do all these abominations?


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


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 But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I caused My name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel.


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 Now, because you have done all these works, says Yahweh, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you didn't hear; and I called you, but you didn't answer:


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


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 I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole seed of Ephraim. The People's Disobedience 


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 Therefore don't pray for this people, neither lift up a cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.


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


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 Do they provoke Me to anger? says Yahweh. Don't they provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?


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


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 Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat meat.


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 For I didn't speak to your fathers, nor command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:


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 but this thing I commanded them, saying, Listen to My voice, and I will be Your God, and you shall be My people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.


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 But they didn't listen nor turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.


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


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 yet they didn't listen to Me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers.


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


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 You shall tell them, This is the nation that has not listened to the voice of Yahweh their God, nor received instruction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. 


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 Cut off your hair and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Yahweh has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.


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 For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight, says Yahweh: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it.


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 They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I didn't command, nor did it come into My mind.


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 Therefore behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury.


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 The dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth; and none shall frighten them away.


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 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall become a waste.


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 At that time, says Yahweh, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves;


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 and they shall spread them before the sun, the moon and all the army of the sky which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung on the surface of the earth.


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 Death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them, says Yahweh of Armies. 


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 Moreover you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? Shall one turn the wrong way, and not return?


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 Why then is this people of Jerusalem sliding back by a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.


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 I listened and heard, but they didn't speak aright: no man repents him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Each one turns to his course, as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.


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 Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but My people don't know Yahweh's law.


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 How do you say, We are wise, and the law of Yahweh is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has worked falsely.


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 The wise men are disappointed, they are dismayed and taken: behold, they have rejected the word of Yahweh; and what kind of wisdom is in them?


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 Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to those who shall possess them: for each one from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest each one deals falsely.


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 They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.


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 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among those who fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says Yahweh.


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 I will utterly consume them, says Yahweh: no grapes shall be on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.


text:
 Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for Yahweh our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh.


text:
 The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles; for they have come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those who dwell therein.


text:
 For, behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be charmed; and they shall bite you, says Yahweh. 


text:
 Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: Isn't Yahweh in Zion? Isn't her King in her? Why have they provoked Me to anger with their engraved images, and with foreign vanities?


text:
 Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? Why then isn't the health of the daughter of my people recovered?


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


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 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. God's Reply to Jeremiah 


text:
 They bend their tongue, as their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don't know Me, says Yahweh.


text:
 Beware everyone of his neighbour, and don't trust in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will go about with slanders.


text:
 They will deceive each one his neighbour and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity.


text:
 Therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how should I deal with the daughter of My people?


text:
 Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceit: one speaks peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he lays wait for him.


text:
 Shall I not visit them for these things, says Yahweh; shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?


text:
 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passes through; neither can men hear the voice of the livestock; both the birds of the sky and the animals are fled, they are gone.


text:
 I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.


text:
 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? Who is he to whom the mouth of Yahweh has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passes through?


text:
 Yahweh says, Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, neither walked therein,


text:
 but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them;


text:
 therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.


text:
 I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them. 


text:
 Thus says Yahweh of Armies, Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skilful women, that they may come:


